So you can probably guess my favorite way to make inexpensive art look better. I did this on a small scale for my bathroom and loved it. So when I found this Paris theme art at Ikea for  $0.05 (yup five cents) I bought it with no clue what to do with it. Then I cam across some $3 canvas at Biglots and now I have some nice art in my bedroom too!! Here are some pictures of the process. I just used some black paint, glossy mod podge, and cheap art canvas.

   
   

I made this little cuff out of some cotton yarn and 2 buttons. It took about an hour to do and turned out to be sort of cute. I've attached PDF instructions if you want to take a shot at it.  Wrist Cuff PDF

So this is a little something I've been working on for the past few weeks. It's been a long time since I've done a cross stitch. I thought it was cute and matched my living room.  It was a very cheap kit ($5 with coupon) so I thought why not?? I enjoy cross stitching and have forgotten how peaceful the craft is. It was one of the first crafts I mastered, and it taught me how to follow written directions and how to sit still for a very long time. A few tips from me:
1) Always have clean hands when dealing with fabric and thread.
2) Don't eat or drink around your work, spills are the hardest to get clean.
3) Fame and Enjoy ASAP!!!

I believe coupons are our best friends in this world. They were created as incentive to entice consumers to try new products or in the case of crafting, come to the craft store and spend your money. I value my coupons greatly. Where I live we have 3 major craft stores. All of them offer different deals monthly. Most of the time it's 40% one item (not currency on sale) and 25-30% one cut of fabric. They also send out coupons for different holidays where you can find 50% off one item also. I use these coupons to save money on larger ticket items like (light boxes, expensive glue's, and crafting supplies (Martha Stewart's line at Michaels is awesome but pricey). 

I have a golden rule to use a coupon every time I go to the store for something. My coupons come to me two ways. One via Internet, the other via mail. The best way to get these coupons is to ask at the store you patronize. Most likely the will have you fill out a small form with your name, address and e-mail address, the magically they start appearing. What's also nice about these coupons is most craft stores have a home accessory section, so you can also use the coupons to decorate your home, or purchase gifts for others. I always keep my coupons in the car with me so that even when I have no intentions of dropping by the craft store, I have them just in case. Happy Shopping.

I made this quick little art in less than 3 hours and from really easy resources. The highlight of the project came from finding the 5x5 canvas frames for $1 in the clearance section of my local craft store. Normally they are like $4 in the art section. I also got the colored images from Ikea. They sell sets of postcards/art cars for $5. The other supplies and instructions are listed below.

Supplies

Painter canvas to fit your art work
Art work (cards and small art ready for framing work well)
Black craft paint
Mod Podge (Gloss or Matt)
Large Paint Brush

       



This is the $1 canvas that I found. I painted it black.

Then I cut my artwork down so that there would be a 1/4inch boarder when applied to the canvas. I used the Mod Podge to glue the art work down, then when that was dry I painted on 2 coats of the Mod Podge (it's a glue and a sealant). When it was dry I hung the art work up in my bathroom.

Welcome March and National Craft Month, a month dedicated to all things crafts, crafting and crafty. To celebrate I've decided to re-launch this blog in and effort to 1. Share my knowledge of crafting with everybody and 2. Keep my unemployed self busy till that dream job comes along. I want to provide weekly posts on ideas for crafts, tips on saving money, interesting finds from Etsy, things I've created and projects you can do with your kids. For me crafting is a stress reliever and a way to really challenge your inner child. I an going to try and loop all of this together between Facebook, Twitter, Etsy and this blog, so wish me luck and happy crafting.