Crafting - Possible for Less
Crafting is big business. When I was small, almost every mother did some sort of handiwork.(at least it seemed that way) Now, not only are mothers crafting, (and it's on the rise) but they are making money at it too. Abundance isn't addressing business tips in today's post. We're visiting with the average Do-It-Yourself-er who possesses the hunger to create but lacks the budget to feed that hunger.
How well I remember lacking financial resources for supplies while the creative hunger gnawed inside. As tempting as it was to throw up my hands and surrender defeat, the hunger to create was too strong. What did I do? Why thought outside of the box of course. When I wanted to stamp crafty, "in" looking cards, I invested in the least expensive set of brush tip watercolor markers I could find and created stamped images using my children's thumbs and fingerprints. Hand prints, thumbprints, and even footprints work really well using fabric paint on shirts and gift bags too. I would have preferred to purchase all of the rubber stamps, ink, and nifty gadgets that abounded. However, if I had been able to do what I wanted, none of the original, one-of-a-kind gifts and cards that resulted from thinking outside of the traditional crafting box would have been.
As much as I hate to admit it, creatively, having a small to non-existent budget for crafting materials was far from the negative I then viewed it to be. Less forced me to approach the act of creating from a new angle. An angle which resulted in more. Rather than being locked into the then-current crafting trends, my financial limits freed me to practice abundant creativity.
Freed creativity is wonderful, but even the abundantly creative need some basic supplies. Here are some of the least expensive, most used crafting supplies we at Abundance never like to be without:
How well I remember lacking financial resources for supplies while the creative hunger gnawed inside. As tempting as it was to throw up my hands and surrender defeat, the hunger to create was too strong. What did I do? Why thought outside of the box of course. When I wanted to stamp crafty, "in" looking cards, I invested in the least expensive set of brush tip watercolor markers I could find and created stamped images using my children's thumbs and fingerprints. Hand prints, thumbprints, and even footprints work really well using fabric paint on shirts and gift bags too. I would have preferred to purchase all of the rubber stamps, ink, and nifty gadgets that abounded. However, if I had been able to do what I wanted, none of the original, one-of-a-kind gifts and cards that resulted from thinking outside of the traditional crafting box would have been.
As much as I hate to admit it, creatively, having a small to non-existent budget for crafting materials was far from the negative I then viewed it to be. Less forced me to approach the act of creating from a new angle. An angle which resulted in more. Rather than being locked into the then-current crafting trends, my financial limits freed me to practice abundant creativity.
Freed creativity is wonderful, but even the abundantly creative need some basic supplies. Here are some of the least expensive, most used crafting supplies we at Abundance never like to be without:
- black permanent marker (Sharpie) thick and thin tip
- jute twine
- white kitchen string
- glue stick
- hot glue
- basic colors of acrylic craft paint (basic colors can be mixed to create others)
- black ink pad
- white, black, & cream card stock
- brown craft paper or brown paper bags
- hole punch
- paper and fabric scissors
- colored pencils and/or crayons
- children's books with cute illustrations or other source of cute images to use as inspiration when drawing own designs - no breaking copyright laws
- imagination - this can be developed and strengthened by increased usage