Finding Free Craft Materials Around the House

by Alyssa Davis

If you love doing craft projects or have children who like to be creative and work on art projects, you've probably realized just how expensive craft supplies can be. Instead of spending money on new craft supplies, you can be thrifty and environmentally responsible at the same time by using items you can find around the house for your craft projects. Here are some ideas that you can utilize for creative projects that will get you thinking about ways you can recycle and craft at the same time.

Fun Paper Crafts

There are plenty of specialty papers available at almost any store, such as scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, construction paper and drawing pads. However, many of these papers can be quite expensive, and can easily be replaced in your art projects with paper you already have around the house. For example, if you have a simple roll of brown craft paper or plain white paper, you'll have everything you need for many craft projects. Making your own wrapping paper is a craft project that you can enjoy by yourself or with the help of your children. Take a sheet of white or light colored paper, and place it on the ironing board, taking care to put a pad of newspaper underneath to protect the ironing board surface. Then, using a pencil sharpener, sharpen a few crayons, allowing the shavings to fall onto the paper. You don't need to cover the entire paper, but you should distribute them in an interesting way over the surface, using a combination of colors for variety. When finished, put another matching piece of paper on top, and cover with a couple of sheets of newspaper to protect the iron's surface. Then, iron the two pieces of paper together. The heat will melt the crayon shavings, producing two pieces of beautifully marbled wrapping paper when you pull the pieces of paper apart.

Popcicle Sticks and Other Small Wood Scraps

If you look around the house you are sure to find wood scraps that can be used for a variety of craft projects. For example, if your kids love popcicles, you probably have a steady supply of interesting wooden sticks that are perfect for many craft projects. If the sticks are stained from the color of the popcicles you can wash them in a mild soapy solution, adding a little bit of bleach to remove the stains. Then, rinse the sticks thoroughly and allow them to dry. These sticks are safe and a lot of fun for kids to use when making art projects. Just give them a good supply of sticks, a bottle of glue, and some scraps of paper to see what they can come up with.

Plastic Grocery Bags

It seems like almost every household has more plastic grocery bags than they know what to do with. It can be environmentally irresponsible to just throw them away, but they really can add up after a while. If you cut the bags up into strips, you can use them just as you would yarn for knitting and crocheting projects. They are the perfect material to use when crocheting a shopping bag, since they are strong, easy to clean and waterproof. It's also a good way to keep these bags out of the landfill.