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[A705]Arts & Craft Supplies

by Paul Easton, Pau

Do you find yourself looking at a room with bits everywhere, let alone a house with knitting in one room, Painting gear in another, card making supplies in another? Does this sound like you? If so lets look at a 3 step plan to get you and your craft gear organized....

1. Start by collecting all your craft supplies into one room, I mean everything! If you have the space then at the same time, put like with like ie Paint brushes with your paints and canvases. Wool and needles together with patterns. Card, cutting pads, embellishment's and the like for card making all together and like wise with scrap booking supplies and any other craft that you par take in. Whilst doing this, take time to get rid of things that you don't use anymore. If you haven't used it in six months, out it goes. If you have a lot of magazines on crafts that you enjoy, keep them together as well.

2. Now that you have all your craft supplies in one room and organized into piles, its time to look at what you have around the house to tidy them into. If you can afford it, then maybe its time to go and have a look at Target or Walmart for some storage containers. If your like me and have a lot of little embellishment's then a lot of small plastic containers is perfect. What you can do is put all like small supplies into these containers and then keep them together in a larger container (this can be a shoe box). Keep all your scrap booking papers together (I have an open file that I keep all of mine it, makes it easy to see what you have too) The other option is if you have a filing cabinet, you can use one draw for papers, patterns, cutting pads, and even canvases and another for all the other more bulky supplies. The idea is to keep it simple, but all together and easy to access. You don't need to spend a lot of money doing this, you can even cover a few boxes with pretty paper and keep supplies in these.

3. Lastly, make sure you keep your craft supplies where you can access it easily. After all, its really not worth it to put these things that you use at least once or twice a week on the top shelf of a storage cupboard. If you are lucky enough to have a room that has space then make the most of it. I have a desk in the spare room, and under it I have a plastic wheelie bin, with the things I use lest often, on top of that I have my canvases so they are easier to get hold of. Next to the desk I have a set of plastic coated baskets, which hold all my main craft supplies in shoe size boxes, and a few other containers I found around the house. It really does work, because you come to learn where everything is. It also means that if you run out of something its easy to see that its not there....you don't find yourself running around looking for the particular item for days on end, swearing you had it the other day.

Good luck with sorting out your supplies.

Anyone of us could walk into the craft store and spend a fortune on supplies. Personally, I have enough fabric and patterns to make clothes for my family for a year, but I still go back for something new! When making craft projects like scrapbooks or pictures, I like to look around the house to see what craft supplies I can find.

You don't have to spend a fortune on craft supplies to make stunning works of art. You can find wonderful supplies in common places. For instance, look outside. You can find stones, sand, shells, sticks, dried leaves, and dried flowers. All of these can be used to create beautiful projects. Leaves and the right colors of paint can make creative pictures or stamps to use on your walls. Take a look around the house as well. You can find pictures, quotes, and other decorative patterns in magazines, cards, and even junk mail. Thumb through them before you throw them away. Cut out anything you like and keep it in a file.

You can save other items around your house to use as craft supplies. Save cans, glass jars, paper towel tubes, and shoe boxes. These items can come in handy, especially if you have school age children that need craft supplies for school.

If you want to create a special photo or scrapbook from a vacation, collect your craft supplies along the way. Collect brochures and take lots of pictures along the way. I created a decorative matte for a family photo at Disney World from the brochures, free gifts (a small keychain with the ring removed), and our room keys. Don't discard items like plane tickets, movie or amusement park tickets, or room keys. They can add a personal touch and a great reminder to any photo. Seeing the plane ticket stubs again may remind you of something that happened during the flight that you may other wise have forgotten.

When you are shopping for craft supplies, you should try looking online or at the dollar store. You never know where you are going to find great supplies. You can also buy supplies at wholesale, or in large quantities if you know that you are going to use the supplies. It is not a bargain if you are not going to use it all! Ask your local art supply, craft store, or child's school for left over materials that would otherwise be thrown out. Sometimes you can get left over paint, remnants, or other materials at a discount ? or free!

There are also some inexpensive craft supplies you can keep on hand if you or your children decide to do an impromptu project. Keep simple materials like white and colored paper, colorful felt pieces, craft paint in primary colors, crayons, white glue, scissors, and paint brushes. Your kids will love using piper cleaners and googly eyes, too.

In the end, what supplies you need or use will depend on your project and your taste. No matter what you need, follow these suggestions to find great craft supplies without spending a fortune!

Article Source : Coming Out To Family

About Author

Both Paul Easton & Sammy Kay are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Paul Easton has sinced written about articles on various topics from Engagement Rings, Herbal Supplements and Cosmetic Surgery. Paul Easton is a home organizing professional and the owner of a Home Organizing Blog, which helps anyone looking to organize their home environment and get more out of life, by providing helpful free idea's and ways of clearing the clutter from your home. Paul Easton's top article generates over 201000 views. to your Favourites.

Sammy Kay has sinced written about articles on various topics from Samsung Cell Phone, Massage and Family. For more information on crafts, try visiting http://www.craftguidance.com - a website that specializes in providing craft related tips, advice and resources to include information on. Sammy Kay's top article generates over 22200 views. to your Favourites.