A stroll down the aisles of your local craft store may be enough to make you rethink the DIY crafting all together. Fill your cart here and you'll probably simultaneously empty your wallet. There are cheaper and more earth friendly ways to start your craft stash.
Let's start with the basic items you WILL want to pick up at the craft or fabric store:
scissors (a good quality pair of shears will be easier on your wrist and help keep your fabric from fraying)
glue (Aleene's Tacky Glue is a great all-purpose or you can invest in a hot glue gun)
mod-podge (a must for anyone interested in decoupage! It's like making a collage only the mod-podge does double duty as glue and sealant, allowing you to cover anything from lampshades to dining room tables! You'll see plenty of decoupage projects show up on this blog because it's fun and kid friendly.)
needles and straight pins (for fabric projects, no need to splurge here just buy the cheapest packs you can find)
As you figure out what kinds of crafts you and your kids enjoy most you can invest in more specific doodads and gadgets but this is a good jumping off point. Add in felt, glitter and other fun extras when they are on sale. Next it's time to start looking at everything you'd normally toss into the trash or recycling bin. Here's what I routinely set aside:
cardboard anything (paper towel rolls, boxes etc. all shapes and sizes! small ones become treasure chests and bird feeders and the next time you or someone you know buys a large appliance you're just a few steps away from an awesome playhouse, choo-choo train or rocket ship!)
egg cartons (they make great paint cups and you can make a whole zoo's worth of animals from them as you'll see in an upcoming DIY)
milk jugs (paper mache a pinata or a piggy bank!)
plastic and glass jars (use them to store all of your small craft supplies and keep things organized, buy value packs of buttons and sort them by color, shape and size)
Scavenge whatever you can from your own recycling and ask your friends to do the same. Stores are great resources as well. They're usually happy to accommodate someone willing to take "trash" off their hands. One stop at your local appliance store and you can make a whole tiny town's worth of playhouses or a great play kitchen!
Now that you're in the mindset that one man's trash can be turned into your treasures, start thinking outside the box. Garage sales and thrift stores are riddled with amazing finds to add to your growing collection. Cut up old clothes, linen and towels for sewing projects. Keep an eye out for interesting magazines, old photographs, and other paper items to use for decoupage and collage. Once at the Salvation Army I found a huge ziplock full of someones discarded stamp collection!
Finally, get together with your friends and family and organize a supply swap. Have everyone bring anything they have left over from finished projects or whatever they just way too much of and trade around. You can also go in together on a bulk purchase online or at the craft store and then divide it up. It's also a great opportunity to share project ideas!
