8 Ingenious Painting Ideas for the Thrifty Crafter

November 3, 2015 by DIYIdeaCenter 1 Comment

Do you love to save money by creating your own DIY home decor? Check out these ingenious painting ideas and you’ll want to make one of these thrifty projects for your own home. When you make your own home decor rather than buying something already put together and made for you at a store, you’re already saving your wallet some pain. When you’re transforming some thrifted items that you found at a bargain — that’s even better! There’s something so fun and satisfying about seeing an item nobody else wanted turn into the same trendy item everyone is shelling out the big bucks for. It definitely pays off in the end when you’re able to see a piece’s potential to be great!

We can’t get enough affordable DIY home decor ideas because we’re always looking for a chance to change up or freshen up our spaces without spending a fortune. Painting projects aren’t just for kids: these modern and trendy craft ideas will compliment any home’s decor and will prove to be fun older ages. Plus, since some of these require a hunt for some thrifted goods, you get to go on a bargain hunt! It’s so much fun to discover a new treasure and to make it your own. No one will believe you that you didn’t buy it in a store. We can’t believe that these projects weren’t purchased at big box stores! So, scroll through this list and you might be surprised and find your next craft project idea. You might even discover that you have these materials around the house already and all you need is the paint. Feel free to have fun with bright colors too. A pop of color in a home is like a ray of sunshine and can be so refreshing!

8 Ingenious Painting Ideas for the Thrifty Crafter

Trendy Repurposed Porch Light Planter

Wooden DIY Coasters

Chalky Paint Mirror Finish

Personalized No Sew Pillow

Beautiful DIY Chalkboard Cutting Board

DIY Rustic Concrete Garden Planter

$20 Sofa Paint Makeover

Thrifty Painted Wood Bowls

Comment below and let us know, what are your favorite painting projects?

The M O S T Sophisticated Paper Flower Crafts

August 10, 2015 by FaveCrafts 1 Comment

I used to just brush off paper flower crafts like they were just something to use scraps for, but these fun paper crafts have become a new way of saving money and putting a personalized touch to any home or decor. You mostly see paper flower bouquets for weddings and center pieces on Pinterest, but they can be for more than just weddings! These delicate paper flowers will look great in your home as some colorful accents with any pattern or color of your choosing.

The M O S T Sophisticated Paper Flower Crafts

I know it’s a little difficult to craft with paper without it looking like a five year old’s room (trust me, that’s how my room currently looks), so that’s why I picked out the most adult-looking flowers—and by that I mean they look like actual flowers. I think the comparison is a little uncanny sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, I love fresh flowers as much as the next person, but buying them bi-monthly gets so expensive, and I don’t exactly have an expansive garden where I can just pick and propagate bushes and clusters of perennials. These are a way to do some cheap decorating, but still get a sophisticated look. Thrifty crafting to decorate and cut corners is awesome, but we don’t want our living rooms to look like the craft room threw-up.

Although I love using vintage book crafts, the English major in me still cringes when I think of tearing out book pages and cutting it up. For these easy crafts, you can use every paper flower color of the spectrum or recycle old books to make unique patterned flowers. Unlike real flowers, you aren’t limited to the laws of nature. If you want black or blue roses, you can simply just pick out the paper. What you decide to do with them, you’re sure to love these super realistic paper flowers. Just for comparison purposes, a picture of the *real deal* is on the left, while the craft is on the right.

Quilled Spider Chrysanthemum Flowers

from thegardenhelper.com

So having the petals quilled gives the craft a little more texture, even if it doesn’t look exactly like the real thing. It’s a little reminiscent of the Art Deco era, so these would make great Gatsby party decorations.

Soft Pink Paper Peonies

from crickethillgarden.com

These look just as delicate as the actual peonies. Clusters of these to make a bouquet would be beautiful.

Deep Purple Paper Dahlias

from stepbystep.com

These meticulous flowers look great in the metallic paper, and they look just like the flower.

Dazzling Orange Tiger Lily

from fineartamerica.com

Speckled with black, the bright orange paper is a sleek flower paper craft.

Incredibly Realistic Paper Hydrangeas

from plantingdirections.com

Hydrangeas are my absolute favorite, so this paper flower craft look incredible compared to the real thing. Can you see the difference?

Romance Rose

from fineartamerica.com

Despite the colors, these single-roses include the leaves and the blossoming petals.

Mulberry Paper Roses

Well, I guess Mulberry Roses aren’t real—or at least I couldn’t find any pictures of real ones, but they’re still just as cute!

Perfect Paper Succulents

from crateandbarrel.com

These are a simple way to get the rustic succulent decor going. Even though succulents are a very low maintenance plant, these paper crafts have absolutely no maintenance whatsoever.

Which paper flowers surprised you the most on the similarities?

4 Ways to Refashion Your Wardrobe from Fleece Fun: National Sewing Month 2013

September 23, 2013 by AllFreeSewing 42 Comments

It’s Day Twenty-Three of National Sewing Month! Too see the daily blog posts, projects of the day, and more National Sewing Month details, click here.

Hello fellow sewists! I’m Angel from Fleecefun.com – a blog that features free PDF sewing patterns with video tutorials! I have several patterns and tutorials that I know you’ll love.

Trying to stay on top of trends can be difficult (and expensive!). Here are some simple tricks and tips on how you can keep your wardrobe up to date and keep cash in your wallet.

1. Have a Good Foundation.

Having some good key pieces that are in style no matter what are a worthy investment. You can wear them year after year and dress them up with on trend accessories. A simple white button up top, a couple of nicely
cut but simple blouses in neutral colors, a black skirt and/or pant, blue jeans (a couple of good pairs), a good over coat. These core items need to be in good condition and look good on you. If they don’t meet those criteria – they aren’t helping your wardrobe. It’s time to upcycle them.

Some great patterns for core wardrobe elements that you can find on AllFreeSewing are:

2. T-shirts are a Girl’s Best Friend.

It seems like with every event there’s a t-shirt that goes with it! They can stack up pretty quickly in the closet. Fortunately because fabric doesn’t unravel there are a million fun and fast refashions you can make with t-shirts. T-shirts can become scarves, shrugs and number of other accessories with minimal sewing!Some fabulous t-shirt refashion projects on AllFreeSewing are:

3. Think Outside the Gender Box.

Just because a shirt was once designed for a man doesn’t mean it can’t have a second life as a feminine addition to your closet. Be willing to look at your fella’s rarely worn items to see if a fashion gem can be made.

An amazing tutorial on AllFreeSewing is:

The Men’s Shirt Apron

4. Know When to Call It.

Sometimes no matter what you do you can’t save a piece. If it has too many holes, a huge stain, or the fabric doesn’t lend itself to an easy refashion, give it an honorable retirement to the rag drawer and call it a day.Be sure to check out my free PDF patterns with video tutorials on FleeceFun.com!

Tell us truthfully, do you think your wardrobe could use a refashion?

Pit Pretty: Carved Avocado Pit Art

April 25, 2012 by FaveCrafts 2 Comments

This guest post was written by Cristin Frank from The Eve of Reduction.

Today’s green crafting posts are sponsored by Eco Green Crafts! Check out how to enter to win a $25 gift card and you’ll also get a coupon code for 20% off your order!

Spring marks the start of the California avocado season. And while Americans across the nation are delighting in avocado salads and guacamole, I’d like to show you a fun, easy, earth-friendly craft idea made from avocado pits.

You’ve probably scooped a slimy pit out of an avocado before in your life. But have you ever considered them to have artistic potential? I’m always looking for ways to use things I’d otherwise get rid of. So, I must admit, I marveled at that soft, wood-like pit and wondered – could it be upcycled?

I cleaned a pit off and let it sit on my desk for a couple days until I noticed the outer “skin” started to flake off. Being the picker that I am, I got right to chipping off the rest. I noticed where my fingernail dug a little too hard into the fleshy inner pit, the areas turned orange. Hmm. What would happen if I were purposeful with my gouging?

How to Make Carved Avocado Pit Art

Supplies:

Avocado Pit
Metal Paperclip
Optional Supplies:
Toilet paper roll
Decorative Paper
Eye screw

Instructions:

After removing the pit from the avocado flesh, wash and dry it.
Carefully peel off the thin brown coating to reveal a light, nutty looking pit. Be careful not to jab into the under-layer.
Peeling Tip: If you wait a day, the thin skin layer will start to peel as the pit shrinks a bit from dehydration.
Next, straighten a paperclip to use as a carving tool to make a design in the pit. Be sure to use enough pressure to score the top layer of the pit flesh.
Design Tip: Go ahead and use lightly applied masking tape or stickers to trace along with your paperclip. Just be careful that you don’t jab your nail into the pit when you remove the stickers.
In about ten minutes, the area where the paperclip dug into the pit will turn orange, revealing your design.
Over the next week, the pit will begin to turn brown, but the carved lines remain orange. Wait out the color change process until you’re left with a brown and orange pit. It will look like an ancient artifact – how cool is that!
To display your decorative pit, cut a one-inch ring off the end of a toilet paper roll and cover it with decorative paper. Cut the ring to adjust the circumference so that the pit sits up properly in it.
Your pit may split in half lengthwise. If this happens, you can twist an eye screw into the top to make two nature-inspired necklace pendants.

Please leave a comment and let us know what you think!

About the crafter: Cristin Frank is the founder of The Eve of Reduction, a resource for employing creativity, common sense and upcycling to achieve a positive lifestyle. Cristin has been featured in Money Magazine, CNNMoney.com and NPR’s Marketplace Money. Cristin is also a Fave Craft contributor and freelance craft contributor at FamilyFun Magazine.

12 Ways to Upcycle Old Sheets

April 24, 2012 by FaveCrafts 1 Comment

This guest post was written by Mandy from Sugar Bee Crafts.

When I think Earth Day I immediately think of recycled crafts – you know, crafts using upcycled materials. Give new life to something old. My favorite favorite thing to repurpose is ….. SHEETS!! They are so cheap at thrift stores and yard sales and give you so much yardage! And they come in such a great variety of colors and patterns.

I’ve rounded up a dozen of my projects using sheets…

Rag Rug – cut those old sheets up into strips and make a rug!

Bulletin Board – wrap a ceiling tile in an old sheet and use it as a bulletin board:

Pajama Pants – a whole family worth of pjs out of one discarded flannel sheet set:

Pillowcase Dresses – something to make from the pillowcases that come with the sheets:

and don’t forget that you use the plain white ones too – like in this Ghost Dress:

Tree Skirt – use a sheet as the base because it takes a lot of fabric:

Skirts – the possiblities are endless:

Light Box – use sheets to make a box for taking photos of small things:

Necklace – rolled flowers out of sheets can be made into necklaces and headbands:

Bag Lining – use your nice fabric on the outside, but on the inside use sheets as lining!

Lounge Pants – use the top edge of sheets so you don’t even have to hem them!

Tablecloths – great cheap way to cover tables at craft fairs and parties:

Quilts – here the white space is all from a sheet:

Thanks for letting me share my love of Upcycling Sheets!! I pick them up whenever I see them, so I have a whole stack in my craft room, ready and waiting for the right project to come along…..

Hope to see you over on my blog, Sugar Bee Crafts!!

Link Love: DIY Dollar Store

December 22, 2011 by FaveCrafts 4 Comments

I personally cannot go into a dollar store without buying random things to craft with. Something about knowing the price of ever single item in the store makes me want to buy it all! And there are so many different things you can make with materials from the dollar store. Check out some of my favorites from around the web.

Fancy Pants Frames from Ruffles and Stuff
Jump Rope Necklace from Dollar Store Crafts
Dollar Store Mirror Revamp from Homespun with Love
Carnival of Tiered Trays from Joy’s Hope
Kitchen Art from Crap I’ve Made
50-Cent Ornament Art from Craftily Ever After
Tiered Baby Top from T-Shirts from Obsessively Stitching
Dollar Store Glass Hurricanes from 321 Sycamore
DIY Chandelier from Brassy Apple

Guest Blog: Frugal Wedding Gift Ideas

May 5, 2011 by FaveCrafts 2 Comments

This guest post comes from Kira Cowan of Tip Hero

There are thousands of articles out there about how to have a wedding on a budget, but what about those of us who are in attendance? Going to weddings, especially several in a row, can really add up. Between the gift, the attire, the transportation and the lodging, you could easily spend hundreds of dollars, and that’s if you’re not a member of the bridal party.

This is a topic that’s close and personal to me at the moment. I’ve attended 2 weddings in the last three months and I have 3 more coming up within the next year. While weddings can really be a blast, there’s just no getting around this simple fact: receiving a wedding invitation in the mail can bring about feelings of anxiety just as much as, if not more, than feelings of excitement.

Let’s focus specifically on wedding gifts here and how you can hope to avoid spending an arm and a leg:

Wedding Gifts

Be Early to the Registry: If a couple has a registry, you don’t want the most reasonably priced items to be taken by the time you get there. Head to your couple’s registry as soon as you can. Also, look for printable coupons, online coupons or promo codes when shopping the couple’s registry. Recently, I save 20% on a wedding gift from a Macy’s registry because I found an applicable promo code!
Utilize Free Shipping: Buying your gift online can be extremely helpful if you’re flying to a wedding. You don’t want to be charged extra baggage fees for traveling with your gift. Utilize free shipping opportunities early and have your gift shipped to the couple’s home. That way, you also won’t have to worry about lugging a gift around with you.
Make Your Own Gift: If the couple doesn’t have a registry or the price of the items there make you want to crawl under a bed and hide, you can try your hand at homemade gifts. These can be extremely personal and meaningful, not to mention that they have the potential to save you serious cash. Here are just a few ideas for homemade gifts:
- Scrapbooks with pictures of the couple throughout their relationship (and even before if you’ve known them for a long time or have access to old pictures)
- Take a leaf out of Penniless Parenting’s book and create a homemade cookbook with all of your favorite recipes. You can also call up family members and add recipes utilizing the couple’s favorite foods.
- Crochet or knit a blanket or make a quilt for the couple. My best friend had a registry for her wedding and one of her favorite wedding gifts was a crocheted blanket that was handmade by the groom’s aunt. It was extremely beautiful and perfect for the new couple to cuddle under!
- Gift baskets are easy to personalize and easy to make. You could fill a picnic basket with all the fixings for a picnic or make a movie night basket for when the couple just wants to have a night in. Head here for some great gift basket ideas.
Split the Cost of a Gift: This is an especially great option if you have other friends or family members attending the wedding. Pitch in with a few others to purchase one of the more expensive items on the couple’s registry. Recently, when I was a bridesmaid in a wedding, a few of the other bridesmaids and I pitched in for a wedding shower gift. Combined, we were able to get the bride a present she may not have received otherwise and we each spent less than we would have if we had bought separate gifts.
Everyone Loves Money: If all else fails, give the couple the amount that you deemed reasonable for spending on the gift in the form of a check or cash. No one will complain about receiving money. Trust me.

A Preview of FaveCrafts Radio May Episode

May 2, 2011 by FaveCrafts 2 Comments

FaveCrafts Radio is a monthly radio show hosted by Pat Sloan. Pat interviews your favorite craft experts and celebrities and they offer tips about and discuss some of their favorite projects on FaveCrafts.com. FaveCrafts Radio airs live on BlogTalkRadio on the first Wednesday afternoon of each month from 3 – 4:00 pm (ET) (2 pm Central, 1 pm Mountain, noon Pacific). Archived podcasts can be streamed directly from the website or downloaded for free through iTunes. Visit FaveCraftsRadio.com.

Tune in on May 4 at 3 pm Eastern Time (2 pm Central, 1 pm Mountain, 12 noon Pacific) for FaveCrafts Radio.

As for our May guests, we have:

Betz White talking about some great projects and her new sewing pattern line!

Theresa Cifali offering tips on a favorite paper technique and a home decor project.

Kathy Peterson providing great information about crafting for health and some favorite projects.

Heather Mann of Dollar Store Crafts giving insights into some great thrifty crafts.

and Drew Emborsky, The Crochet Dude, discussing all things crochet.

So tune in!

Pat Sloan is our happy host.

FaveCrafts Radio Host Pat Sloan is a frequent contributor to FaveCrafts.com. She also has a website http://www.PatSloan.com, Blog – http://patsloan.typepad.com, Quilt Forum – http://www.quiltmashup.com, Facebook http://www.facebook.com/PatSloanQuiltFun and twitter http://twitter.com/QuilterPatSloan. In 1998 Pat took her 6 quilt patterns to Houston to Quilt Market and had her first booth to share her designs. From there she’s been published in all the quilt magazines, has over 20 books with Leisure Arts, and many fabric lines with P&B. Over the years, she’s taught around the country, hosted quilters cruises, and generally spread her joy of quilting to as many people as she can. All in all, Pat loves to motivate people to create. Pat also hosts American Patchwork & Quilting Radio with Pat Sloan.

National Craft Month: Which Home Decor Project is Next on Your List?

March 16, 2011 by AllFreeSewing 51 Comments

As experts and enthusiasts of all things crafty, FaveCrafts decided to host a special National Craft Month blog series for all of our lovely readers. Check back for a new blog post every day featuring our favorite projects, new craft videos, how-to’s from the FaveCrafts editors, and a GIGANTIC, ENORMOUS, AMAZING craft giveaway at the end of the month. That’s right–we’re giving away the biggest prize ever, a gift basket chock full of crafting goodies from our craft closet. There’s something for everyone in this gift basket.

Leave a comment below, and on any blog post labeled “National Craft Month” in the headline, and your comment will count as an entry into the giveaway. You are free to comment as often as once per blog post (for a total of 31 chances to win!). At the end of the month, we’ll pool all of the comments together and pick one lucky winner.

In the AllFreeSewing newsletters, I try to test out different themes. Some seem to be more popular among readers than others. Whenever I put together a collection of Home Decor projects though, I know they’ll go over well – Probably because everyone loves to put their sewing projects on display! Why wouldn’t you? You work hard to create projects fitting for your home. Check out some of our most popular Home Decor projects and get inspired to make something beautiful for your living space.

More Home Decor Projects:
Anthro Inspired Lampshade
Vintage Hankie Pillow Covers
Make a Frilled Cushion
Easy Breezy Window Dressings
Pillowcases With Ruffles and Appliques

Which Home Decor Project is next on your list?

National Craft Month: Kirsten’s Favorite Project

March 13, 2011 by AllFreeSewing 143 Comments

It’s hard to pick a favorite from the hundreds of projects on AllFreeSewing.com. Whenever I add something new and fabulous to the site, I think it’s my favorite project. But then I remember the projects I added the day before, or the day before that… as you can see, I’m conflicted. Since I can’t narrow it down to just one, I’ve chosen a few. These are my favorite projects (as of right now).

Placemat Clutch: I love the colors and unique materials that make this stylish clutch
Anthropologie Ruffled Skirt: It’s versatile; wear it in Fall or Spring, out with friends or to the office
Retro Pin Cushion: Easy to make and has a vintage vibe
Sweater Into Infinity Scarf: Great way to use material you already have and perfect as a staple accessory

What’s your favorite project?