5 Ways to Save Money on Craft Supplies

Over the past couple of weeks I have been sharing easy DIY craft projects that I feel are great out of the box gifts ideas.  Buying the supplies needed for craft projects can really add up! However, crafting/DIY'n does not have to be expensive. There are some great ways you can keep money in your pockets when purchasing crafting supplies! Want to know how?? Keep reading for more info....

 1. COUPONS! - Popular crafting store like Hobby Lobby and Michael's frequently have 40% off coupons available for use. They can easily be printed or downloaded onto your phone. To NOT take advantage of these coupons would be crazy! Never enter a craft store without one!

2. WRITE A LIST AND TRACK SALES - Another thing with crafting stores, they runs sales every week and tend to rotate the items that are on sale. Write out a list of things you will need and wait for the sale to come. Hobby Lobby runs 50% off sales on different product categories every week!

3. SAVE ALL LEFTOVERS - When you finish a project save all leftovers!  Half gallon of paint left over?? SAVE IT! Leftover wallpaper?? SAVE IT! You never know when these things can come in handy for a future project.

(Check out two projects where I have used leftovers --here and here)

4. REUSE & REPURPOSE - Take a look around the house at thing you may be ready to throw away that might make a good craft supply. Here is a great example {and cute DIY idea} of using a old pop bottle for wall art.

5. SHARE CRAFTING SUPPLIES - Have a friend who is also into crafting/DIY projects? Share and swap some of the tools that you have that the other person may not. It's a good way to save on big crafting supplies needs such as sanders, power drills, jigsaws, etc..

What are some of the way you save on crafting supplies??

DIY Coaster Set {Step by Step Guide}

For those who follow me on Facebook you will remember me mentioning that I wanted to share some crafty ideas between now and Valentine's Day. I think personalized and homemade gifts are the best Valentine's Day gifts! {anybody else over the chocolate and teddy bears like me??}

Anybody feeling crafty or creative lately? I know I have been!

Today I wanted to share How To Make a Coaster Set. It's an easy project that takes a little patience but well worth it in the end!

The great thing about this project is that you can customize your coaster set to any pattern or design that you choose through the use of scrapbook paper, old notes, pictures, or monogram letters.

I chose to use scrapbook paper and really customize the set by using different patterns for one set.

You can easily gift a set of coaster to a friend or family member that shows your creative side!

 
If you want to make some of your own here's what you will need and exactly what to do:

..I'm Making Progress {Home Office}

Ever have an idea in your head for how you wanted a room to be.. you start putting it together and it doesn't quite work out the way you envisioned? {looks around...slowly raises hand...}

That's been me over the past couple of weeks. I have been all over the place trying to figure out what colors I wanted for my office.. it doesn't help that I'm very indecisive. In my previous post I was going to go with Blue, Black & White. When I started putting it together.. I really didn't like it. 

Now thanks to some great fabrics I found at Hobby Lobby and my recent chair rehab I have been able to settle on some colors! 

I'm happy to finally have a color scheme. So I am going with Yellow, Gray, Black and White.  {I'm not changing this time either, I promise}

Here's some progress I have made on my home office....

Furniture is in here and placed..now to paint this green wall!

 I can never wait for anything.. I'm already working in here...

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Pillows for the Sofa Bed

There's goes that window seat..You know how I feel about that window seat. I've added pillows and think I will add a cushion {Thanks to the suggestions of some great readers!}

I'm still trying to figure out what fabrics to put on which pillows.. so for the time being the pillows are just wrapped until I can figure it all out.

Now that green wall...It's gots to go! - I want a neutral wall color. I've got lot's of selections here..but I have a feeling I'll be back at Home Depot looking for more paint chips! :)

I need to find a rug, work on some wall art, sew the fabrics into pillowcases and find something to do with this glassed mirror closet doors {Ya'll haven't seen that yet...come to think of it I haven't posted any before pics. I'll do that when the room is completed}

Catch up on some of my Home Office Journey:
Simple Bookcase Makeover
Rooms: Home Office Sneak Peak

-alaya

Ways to Add {Pantone Color of the Year 2013} Emerald Green To Your Home Decor

Well we are three weeks into 2013.. how many of you have been adding the Pantone Color of the Year 2013: "Emerald Green" to your home decor?

Personally, I think I'd rather see Emerald Green accents rather than full fledged green walls. I'm not a major green fan, but I think pops of the Emerald Green throughout the house would look nice.....somewhere along the lines of a dresser, chair, curtains, or throw pillows. I ran across some great pictures showing ways to add Emerald Green to your home decor without going into overload. 


I love this vintage style Emerald Green Dresser! It has a great paint finish and would pop well in any room! 

Source

I love these Emerald Green chevron print curtains. Bold Color + Bold Print = Gorg!

Source

I love these green chair! Honestly, I love any painted color dining room chairs but these green chair are gorg!

Source

Last but not least.. This easy dresser remake adds a great pop of green!

Source

 What are some ways that you are adding green to your home decor?

-alaya

(Need a crash course on what the Pantone Color of the year is all about... look here.)

Emergency Chair Rehab! {Garage Find Makeover}

Remember that chair I found in my mom's garage?? (Catch up here!) Well it finally got the makeover it deserved!

A little more history about the chair.. my cousin got it from a garage sale {yaay the chair was rescued!} and used it while she was living here in 2006. She moved away and it had been sitting in my mom's garage ever since ....alone, cold, & neglected {poor chair!}.  Six years later, I noticed the chair.  The chair went from it's old home in my mom's garage to it's new home in my garage for about 3 weeks {from one bad situation to the next...poor chair!}. I decided to stop neglecting the chair and used this weekend to devote time and give it the the TLC that it needed. 

 

side

front

back

before & after

I think this is a nice addition to my home office!

Looking to reupholster a chair? Check out my previous post that includes a step-by-step on how to reupholster chairs.

And now the chair's journey to becoming beautiful again...

6 Ways to Create More Deskspace

In the spirit of Home Office set-up I've been thinking of way to maximize my desk space. It's true, home office desk don't usually provide the same amount of space as a work office desk would!

Are you also looking to maximize your desk space? Check out these 6 way to create more desk space!

1. Use desktop organizers to organize pens, paperclips and other small items on your desk.
2.  Get all those papers off your desk and into a desktop storage unit. (I love the chevron pattern on the inside of this box)
3. Replace your table lamps with wall mount lamps.
4. Use memo boards hung on the wall to organize sticky notes and small loose papers
5. Place pictures and other knick knacks on wall shelves.
6. Purge - Decided what to "put away" and what to "throw away"

Follow these easy steps and you'll be on your way to creating more desk space in no time!

Laya

DIY: Beautiful Nightstand Makeover!

This past Christmas my niece Saniya was surprised with Glam Bedroom Makeover from her parents, grandparents, and a tiny bit of help from me.

My contribution was to redo her nightstand by making it cute, glam, and super girly! Her room colors from the room makeover are now black and white with pops of hot pink and turquoise. The room is very glam with an added chandelier night stand lamp and sequined cover lamp shades.

Here's the night stand before...brown, broken and missing door and all! Not exactly something for a 9 year old girls room.

This was my first time painting furniture, and there are alot of things I learned along the way and will use for my next furniture painting project. (I'll share those at the end) The dresser is far from perfect but I think it turned out great for a first-timer!

Getting this nightstand completed was truly the group effort of my family, Ellen, Shelley, Baby girl Rhyan and Friend, Pierre. So THANKS to everyone who helped!!

If you want to recreate this nightstand here's what you'll need:

I've got a love/hate relationship with...

Have you ever had a love/hate relationship with anything? Something that you sometimes love and sometime hate. Or something that gave you the "love at first sight" feeling but once the skies cleared you realized it really wasn't that great... but now you're stuck with it.

I'm developing a love/hate relationship with the sitting window in my Home Office. I've come to have this feeling recently since I'm now paying attention to this room. Before it was a catch all room and I hardly came in here.



I loved the idea of having a sitting window in this room when I first bought my house....but now...mmmm not so much. It's a great feature...but can it be moved out of this room! It's taking up a huge chunk of my wall, making things awkward... I'll never use it! 

But I do love the idea of having a window seat. It's cute, it's unique, it seems fun.. i don't know! See what I mean?? 

I guess I can throw a coat of paint on it and some pillows... any other ideas??

Am I in this love/hate boat alone? What are some things that you have a love/hate relationship with?





Catch up on all my Home Office Journey:
Simple Bookcase Makeover
Thrifty: Garage Find
Rooms: Home Office Sneak Peak
Thrifting: Shopping on a Rainy Day

Images Courtesy of: My Cute Graphics

Simple Bookcase Makeover!

Got some left over wallpaper and an old bookcase... combine the two to update your book case!

I'm halfway through getting my home office together. I pictured this room being a space just for me. No kids, just me! ...well it's not turning out that way! Baby Rhyan is excited about the room and has begun to claim territory in it...starting with book case space. 

We worked yesterday on updating the current bookcase I had in the office. It was a cheap $19.00 bookcase I got from Wal-Mart about 2 years ago that had collected enough dust to start a dust storm.... no seriously..it was pretty bad!

Well we get the thing dusted off and here's what we came up with.

 

Remember this pattern from my Home Office Sneak Peak Post??

I spy a past DIY project...Do you?!? (How to Make Cute & Easy Wall Art)

 

Rhyan's Claimed territory

Tried to get my reflection out of that picture but couldnt! Nevermind that...There's one more DIY project here.. I'll share that in a later post.

If you are interested in recreating this here's what you'll need.