Saving Money on Craft Supplies: Featuring Sally of EatBreatheBlog

We are excited to have Sally share some tips on saving money on craft supplies...

Save Money on Craft Supplies

All the inspiration here at A Lil Bird got me thinking about ways to find discounts on craft supplies. I tend to stockpile supplies for later. When I want to work on something, I like to pull supplies from my shelves instead of shopping as needed, because I love to shop online. And that means waiting on my things to be shipped. I've also found that sometimes bargains online are better than they are in-store. But not always. So no matter which way of shopping you prefer, I've put together some tips for saving money on your online and offline craft supply shopping:

Search Google for Bargains

A simple search on Google for inexpensive craft supplies is a good way to begin. This will call up sites that offer various sorts of discounts and sales. The internet is a great place to find the best deals because it is easy to compare a wide variety of different providers on the web. Note whether or not the online store is cheaper than the physical store. Don't forget to include the price of shipping in your calculations. I've found that some retailers are including the cost of shipping in the unit price.

Coupon Sites

You can search the internet not only for sites with inexpensive items but for coupons. You can collect coupons on the types of craft items you need and then use them all at once when you shop for craft supplies.

Retailmenot.com is a site that offers coupons on all kinds of items. You can visit this site and search for coupons of all types. This website offers online coupon codes, printable coupons, and even grocery coupons. Valpak has online coupons available as well.

Shipping

Always pay close attention to shipping cost. Choose companies that offer fast shipping for a decent price or even free with a purchase. The shipping cost should always be factored into the price comparisons you do for online art and craft items. You may be able to save money on domestic or worldwide shipping if you are willing to settle for slow rather than fast shipping. Air freight is often expensive and adds to shipping cost. Different shipping companies have different rates, and online art and craft supply providers may use different shipping companies and even have special shipping service agreement with them in order to offer much reduced pricing.

Craft Stores with Donated Supplies

There are certain art and craft stores that deal with donated supplies. These are often offered at extremely low prices. Though it is harder to select specific art and craft brands from these stores, they can be a great way to save money. The supplies are often good even though they represent a cross section of many different types of craft items.

Thanks for sharing your tips Sally! Don't forget to check out her blog, EatBreatheBlog. Lots of great information on health, wellness, and life.

Would you like to do a guest post on A lil bird? We would love to have you feature a project, your blog, or anything that strikes your fancy. Email us at bagsnrags3 (at) gmail (dot) com, we look forward to hearing from you!

Mother's Day Kid's Craft featuring Sally of EatBreatheBlog

We are so excited to have Sally sharing a fun craft with us today. We will let her introduce herself....

My name is Sally, and I am a sucker for a great infomercial or flashy advertisements. When it comes to dieting and fitness, I spend way too much money each month on massages, hair products, diets, food, fitness equipment, personal trainers, and gym memberships. Read my musings on active lifestyles, parenting, and green living on EatBreatheBlog.com.

Making Mother’s Day cards with potato stamps

When you were a kid – or, you know, in your early 30s – you might’ve experienced the joy that is creating art with potato stamps. Yep – a raw potato cut into a design and then dipped in color. A simple, cheap, and easy craft that generates delightful results, especially considering Mother’s Day is rapidly approaching and we’re in a recession. To make your stamps, you’ll need:

Enough potatoes to accommodate your designs. If you purchase more than a truckload, you might want to let Hallmark know they have competition.

A knife that can cut through a raw potato. You can probably use a plastic knife from a fast food restaurant but… don’t.

A pen or marker to sketch out your masterpiece. It’s tempting to get all Picasso with your spud but keep in mind that you need to carefully cut out your design, so start simple. If you end up with a design you didn’t intend, just call it abstract art.

Paint (poster, acrylic, or fabric), ink, or food coloring.

Construction paper, blank notecards, grocery sacks, the backs of window envelopes – whatever you want to stamp your design upon

Ok, let’s do this:

Wash your potato to keep dirt out of your artwork.

Cut the potato in half and blot away the resulting potato juice. (Don’t worry – the potato isn’t crying. It wants to be a part of your opus.)

Sketch out your design on each potato half. Get creative! It’s a little labor intensive, but consider cutting out an “M” and an “O” so you can spell out “MOM” in semi-ransom-note style. You can also sketch flowers, a jesus fish, geometric shapes, or something that will result in a Rorschach print. The world is your…okay, let’s move on.

Cut around the shape you created, no more than ½” into the potato, so that your design is raised from the rest of the potato surface. If you mess up, put your starchy buddy aside and make soup later.

Dip your tater into your color and then get stamp happy. Rinse with water and dry thoroughly when switching colors. Or, again, don’t – it’s your artwork and “abstract” is a nice, broad definition.

This craft will obviously work well for any occasion. Try your hand at birthday cards, design the border of a handwritten letter (another lost art), or create a piece of art to hang in your home. I recommend making the fridge your personal art gallery.

Thanks for sharing such a cute idea and fun craft Sally! Be sure to check out her blog, I love it! I have found tons of great tips to incorporate in my daily life.

Would you like to do a guest post on A lil bird? We would love to have you feature a project, your blog, or anything that strikes your fancy. Email us at bagsnrags3 (at) gmail (dot) com, we look forward to hearing from you!