Buying Craft Supplies on the Cheap.

With the rising cost of our living expenses I know we need to tighten down on our budgets now more that ever it seems. But your crafting doesn’t have to be the area that ends up being neglected. I’m going to share with you some ideas on how and where to get your craft supplies. Just know that this will take a little creativity on your part.

First of all if you have a tax number you can buy your craft supplies wholesale. But you know sometimes you can get supplies at even lower prices. For instance your local craft store may be having a sale. If they have a great discount on things that you use regularly, now may be a good time to stock up. Often these stores will offer a discount coupon, so I suggest you check out their websites and sign up for their emails, but you should also check out the local paper, usually once a week you can find coupons. Use these, the best way to use them is to buy your most expensive item and get the discount taken off it.

A little more non traditional place may be at those dollar type stores. Now this is where you may need to be creative. So say you need jingle bells or you use jingle bells for your crafts. They sell these there but they are packaged as christmas ornaments, go ahead and buy them take the ornament apart and rust the bells if you need it to look primitive. Also check out the linens in the kitchen utensil isle. Sometimes they have napkins or table clothes etc that you could stain and make look primitive, you can then use the fabric in your craft for dolls, clothes, or as accent pieces for your displays. This is also a great place to find cheap plastic fruit. Now don’t roll your eyes at me. This is perfect to prim up and use for tons of different things.

Now onto one of my favorite places to find goodies, yard sales and auctions. If you listened to me in the past you’ll remember my segment on the christmas decorations I bought and was able to recycle into many different primitive crafts. These are great places to find just about anything. Often you’ll find fabric, yarn, pattern books, wooden items that could be repainted. Also, quite often I see electric candles. These are great to prim up as well. And they are perfect accents for the prim decorator.

And don’t forget to check on line. There are lots of on line auctions and yard sales. But check out your favorite message boards too. Sometimes if there is something that you need you may be able to trade with a friend. Just post a quick message asking if anyone is willing to part with something that you use a lot of. You just never know.

Until next time have fun crafting.

 

Vanilla Bath Cookies

Vanilla Bath Cookies

 

 

I have a great homemade gift idea that is perfect for all the celebrations that are coming up this season. From Mother’s Day to Bridal Showers to Baby Showers and even teachers this is a perfect gift for you to make and give. And the best part it won’t tip the scale and there won’t be any guilt after you indulge.

I’m talking about making Vanilla Bath Cookies. Of course these look real and they smell great but you definitely will want to make sure they are not eaten.

So to make them you will need to gather 2 C. finely ground sea salt, 1/2 C baking soda, 1/2 C cornstarch, 2 Tbsp light oil such as canola or corn oil, 1 tsp vitamin E oil, 2 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla fragrance oil (the kind that is safe for your body or made for soaps). You will also need your oven, electric mixer, cookie sheet, bowls and spatula.

Now this recipe will make about 30 bath cookies.

To make you’ll first want to preheat your oven to 350 F. Next lightly beat your eggs and add in the oil and vanilla and set this aside.

In a separate bowl mix together salt, baking soda, cornstarch. Add these dry ingredients to the egg mixture and combine it until it resembles cookie dough.

Roll the dough gently into 1″ balls and place them on an ungreased cookie sheet. Just DO NOT flatten them they will spread nicely on their own as they bake.

Now bake them for a bout 5-7 minutes. Now you don’t need them to be browned just make sure they are melted down and well set. Now take them out and let them cool well before storing them.

You’ll want to keep them in an airtight container. And you will want to let them sit for atleast 24 hours before using them.

To give these as a gift you may want to be creative. You can go to your favorite craft store and purchase containers like those chinese take out style boxes or you could buy the boxes with the handles that resemble a happy meal box. Or if you’re really gung ho you could just recycle the actual happy meal box. You can use some of your favorite scrapbooking paper and decorate the box to meet your style. Use a clear cellophane bag and tie with pretty ribbon and don’t forget to add a personalized tag.

On the tag you’ll want to make sure that you state that these are not to be eaten but to be enjoyed in the bath. And the directions which are: Drop two cookies into a warm bath and allow them to dissolve slowly. And note that if your impatient and break or crumble the cookies too early will cause you to have a “crummy” bath.

I always like to add some alternatives to the fragrance and I certainly encourage you to do the same. Perhaps you could add Almond oil instead of vanilla. Or a mint oil for an energetic charge. Be creative and as always have fun.

Primitive Grungy Fruit

I love coming up with new ideas and this one is so clever and simple. Don’t we all just feel like we need to simplify our lives? I’m going to walk you through some very basic steps on how to make these prim little wonders.

First off you will need some plastic fruit, I prefer using apples and pears, but hey its your project you can use whatever you want. You may have some old fruit hanging around your home you can use these. You can also buy your fuit at a dollar store for you guessed it $1. With yard sale season starting up why not go for the big bargains and see how many you can find while you’re out.

You will also need some brown paint, doesn’t matter the exact shade whatever you have is fine. Modge podge (water this down a tad) and in a baggie mix in spices of your choice like cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin spice, nutmeg. You can even use coffee grounds if you want, or just plain cinnamon. And a mat sealer to finish it off.

Now that every thing is gathered start by painting your fruit with brown paint. Let this dry. Now brush on your watered down modge podge (or any glue) and toss into your baggie of spices and coat the fruit well. If you want to make it more grungy just keep layering the spices. Let this dry over night or at least several hours to make sure its set. Then seal it with two light coats of mat sealer and let dry. While these are drying you can come up with some cute decorating ideas for them. Lets brainstorm a few.

Place them in a cute basket with a prim tag. Place them in your big treenware bowl or antique dough bowl with some pip berries and a few seed lights. You could even put a hole through the fruit before gunging and string them on a piece of twine to make a very nice and lightweight fruit garland to hang over your mantle or old window sill.

You can alway contact me through my site to get your seed lights and to find directions on making the prim tags. Go to www. briarpatchprim.com

And I would like you to share your prim fruit ideas.