Make Your Own Decor

If you lean toward the crafting side, you likely have a healthy stash of fabric, paint, and paper supplies. It's pretty easy to put these leftovers to work for you in your house decor. Repaint this, cover that and you can whip up a new frame, an art display or embellish an existing something. I have a personal love for using stuff I already have to make something new. Here are a few things I have made lately:

The picture board on top was made from leftover fabric, foam board and stick pins. A Lizzy original!

I used up a whole bunch of fabric to cover these sticky bulletin board squares from Target.

A re-painted frame, more leftover fabric and some scrapbook chipboard letters colored with pastels made up the impromptu art piece in my play room.

Email us a photo and description of something you have made using materials on hand and we'll spotlight you!

Back to School: supplies

Lucky for me, kindergarten supplies don't cost that much. But I imagine families with multiple kids in school (Christy!!) can easily spend $100-150 on school supplies. Yikes! Here are a few ways to save some money on back to school supplies:

1. Dig through last years supplies and your craft storage to see what you already have. Shiny new markers are cool, but not necessary.
2. Scour the online and newspaper ads to find the best deals and sales. I saw a fill and save bag in my paper this weekend, and sale adds everywhere for crayons, glue and calculators.
3. Hit the discount stores or store brands for classroom donation items.
4. Swap supplies with a friend. This works especially well for calculators and other spendy items
   

If you don't have kids in school yet, this is the best time to stock up your craft caddy. Glue won't be 20 cents again for a year!