10 Great Ways to Save Money on Craft Supplies!
1. Garage Sales
Buying secondhand requires patience, but can really pay
off. Use Craigslist and your local
newspaper’s website to look for garage sales near your neighborhood where
crafting, scrapbooking, or stamping supplies are listed. Be careful, though, as sometimes the folks
selling stuff off have hoarded over-priced supplies and will be trying to get
some of their money back. Do your
research and be knowledgeable about prices.
2. Thrift Stores
Some thrift stores will carry more crafting supplies than
others, so shop around and find ones that you can hit up regularly. Thrift store inventory is constantly
changing, so you never know what you're going to get. You may also want to check to see if you have
a pay by weight thrift store (like a Goodwill Outlet) near you. Many craft supplies are lightweight and can
be bought very cheaply (I came home with a big shopping bag full of foam paint stamps
for less than a dollar from our local Goodwill Outlet).
Thrift stores and garage sales are also great places to
find glassware (jars, vases, candleholders) and other household decorations (lamps,
baskets, wall art, tchotchkes) that you can repaint or remake into something
wonderful. And if you like to sew, you
can find lots of projects waiting for you in mountains of used clothing.
Not only is shopping at thrift stores and garage sales
easy on the pocket book, it also keeps stuff out of the landfills.
These skeleton key wall hangings used to be gold. I picked them up at the local Goodwill for about 3 bucks and painted them black.
3. Dollar Stores
There’s an entire website dedicated to Dollar Store Crafting. It’s an art form in
itself. Dollar Tree regularly sells
wreath forms, glitter, candle holders and vases, craft paints, fun foam, and various
other crafting supplies at a fraction of their regular price. Their wreath forms are great and just as high
of a quality as the craft store versions; however, they are often limited in
their size and selection.
Some of the products sold at dollar stores are of a lower
quality (for example I don't generally recommend their silk flowers). So check out the items carefully before
buying.
These chevron stamps were made with fun foam from the dollar store that was just glued onto some cardboard.
4. Recycle Crafting
One of the easiest ways to save money crafting is to recycle
and repurpose items that you were thinking about getting rid of. Turning your own trash into treasure requires
very little money. Save those plastic and
metal containers to turn them into storage containers or bird feeders. Turn cereal boxes into magazine holders and
turn shoe boxes into craft containers.
Take that old painting you were starting to hate and paint right over
the canvas to create something new. Turn
those jeans with a hole in them into a bag.
The sky’s the limit!
I made the fridge caddy on the right out of an empty crystal light container covered in scrapbook paper.
5. Wal-mart
Depending on where you live, your local Wal-mart could be
scary, picked over and messy, or just large and time consuming, but they have some of the
best prices on basic crafting supplies. Wal-mart is the cheapest place to pick up things like crafting glues
(like Mod Podge and Tacky Glue) and kid’s crafting supplies (like felt and plastic beads). They also have great reasonably
priced craft paint, and they have spray paint over in the hardware section.
If you're lucky enough to have a Wal-mart nearby that
includes a fabric section, you can also pick up reasonably priced sewing supplies
and fabric.
The best part about buying craft supplies at Wal-mart is
that the prices are always reasonable. They
may not have all of the specialty items in stock, but it’s the best place to go
to if you're looking for supplies to finish a project and you can’t wait for a
sale.
6. Michael’s Coupons and the Dollar Sections
Shopping the sales and using the coupons at Michael’s is
one of the best ways to get the crafting staples. Craft paint, foam brushes,
and scrapbook paper will regularly (a few times a year at least) go on sale for
fractions of their regular price.
Those 40 and 50% off coupons allow us to buy things that
we normally wouldn't try out, and it’s even better when you get a 20 or 25% off
your entire purchase coupon. My
recommendation is to not buy anything that isn't on sale when you're shopping
at Michael’s. It’s easy to run in for
something you need to finish a project, but unless you have a coupon, you’re
probably overpaying. Most stores will let you use multiple coupons, so be sure to check their website or their phone app before you go.
The other great bargain at Michael’s is their dollar
bins. They rotate in different rubber
stamps, ink pads, paper punches, blank note cards, and a variety of other great
supplies that are only a buck. Check
this section every time you go to the store—you never know what you're going to
find. Of course the tricky part is if
you pass on something and go back for it, they may no longer carry it.
These paint chip bookmarks were all decorated with stamps I picked up from the dollar bins at Michael's (and are also a recycle craft).
7. Tuesday Morning
Tuesday Morning has the best crafting section of any of the
overstock discount stores. They
regularly carry great paint brushes, scrapbooking supplies, and sewing
supplies. But like any overstock store, their
merchandise varies in quality and supply.
I have picked up many great finds from Tuesday Morning—most at 1/2 or
1/3 the regular retail prices. My best find was sets of knitting looms that retails for over 20 bucks that I picked up 7 dollars.
Another nice feature of Tuesday Morning stores is their
Product SKU hotline (explained on their customer service page). If you pick up an
item at a store and you want to know if they have more in stock or if another
local store has more in stock, you can call 1-800-901-0881 and enter the SKU number
on their UPC sticker and the zip code of your store to find out.
8. Big Lots
Like Tuesday Morning, Big Lots is an overstock discount
store, so sometimes you strike out. I
usually go to Big Lots to buy things like paper plates and laundry detergent,
but every once in awhile there will be some great craft supplies. I recently picked up Elmer’s Washi Tape for
$3 for 3 rolls. I've also found
inexpensive scrapbook paper (3 and 4 dollars for a 12 inch bundle pad that
normally costs $10+), cheap ribbon, and jewelry making kits. Be aware of the prices there, as sometimes
they are only an ok price without too much of a discount from the regular
retail, and sometimes they are marked at a good discount.Big Lots also has a free customer loyalty program that offers multiple 20% off everything shopping weekends each year and chances to earn additional coupons. The added discount makes their deals even better.
The washi tape tea lights project used some of the tape I picked up at Big Lots.
9. Shop the Remnants
Most stores that sell fabric have a remnant section, even
Wal-mart. It’s a great place to pick up
fabric for smaller projects at a discount. This is especially true if you're doing a small upholstery or curtain
project and would like some heavier weight fabric. Buying the smaller quantity at a discount is
really your best bet. I've also picked
up small portions of fleece and knits for little projects like my homemade rope bones.
10. JoAnn's Coupons for Fabric
Like Michael’s, JoAnn’s stores often have 40% off
coupons in their circulars and on their website. You get the best deals when using those
coupons to buy fabric. So if you need a
specialty fabric for a project—or more than a yard or two for just about
anything—be sure to check for a coupon! Of course you can buy other craft supplies with the coupons there
too. I have also heard that most JoAnn's
will honor competitor’s coupons (like Michael's or Hobby Lobby, etc...), but that may be at the store’s discretion as I
can't find confirmation from the JoAnn’s website.
Finding Free Inspiration
And the ultimate money saver is finding inspiration,
ideas, tutorials, and patterns online.
Websites like Craftgawker and Pinterest are awesome for collecting all
of the best ideas on the internet and making them easy to compile and read
through. These websites were the
inspiration for most of my recent crafting ideas, and I’m so grateful to all of
the bloggers and crafters out there who help to inspire people to create!
Bonus Idea: A Craft
Swap Party
I didn't include this in the
list because I've never hosted or been to a swap party. I've seen articles and posts online about folks having
clothing and accessories swap parties, and they sound like so much fun. What if you took that idea and had a party
just for the supplies you bought but had too much of or decided you no longer
wanted. What a great excuse to come home
with new crafting supplies and hang out with like-minded friends (not to mention getting rid of stuff you don't want any more)!
Please share your ways to save in the comments below!
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