Kids love to create — especially when they are making a special gift for someone that they love! Thankfully, you don’t need to spend a lot to get them supplies. Many great crafting supplies can be found in your house right now!

My daughter is already excited for Mother’s Day, and has been sneaking a wide variety of things into her room which leads me to believe that an awesome Mother’s Day card and/or gift is in the works.

In about a week or so she will be asking me to go “out” so that she can work without me seeing what she is up to. Dad will help, and it will be the perfect surprise

But, if the Dad in your house is anything like mine, you will have to point him in the right direction so he can find the craft supplies.

Here Are Some Of Our Favorites From Around The House:

• Buttons – For some reason, I keep all of those extra buttons that come with clothes. I put them all together in a drawer, then I usually totally forget about them. I recently dug them out and I was amazed by how many loose, random buttons I had for clothes that I no longer wear! My daughter was thrilled, and I could see her dreaming up tons of projects to make with these buttons. Buttons are perfect for crafting flowers and bracelets.

Your child can create a flower two ways – by gluing the buttons to papers in a flower design, or by getting three buttons in different sizes and stringing them together on the end of a green pipe cleaner, beginning with the largest button. Once you get all three on, loop the pipe cleaner over, and bring it back through the buttons, going through a new hole. Once all the way, twist the pipe cleaner together to create a stem.

• Glitter – My house is stocked with glitter! We have regular glitter, plus glitter glue and even glitter stickers. According to my daughter, you can NEVER have too much glitter!

• Old Magazines – If you are a magazine reader, don’t throw them out when you are done!! Save them for your child to use for craft projects. You can use magazines for paper mache or for creating colorful collages.

• Macaroni – There are so many things that can be created with different shaped macaroni noodles. Necklaces, pictures, garland, bracelets and more this is a cheap and versatile crafting material!

• String, Yarn, Embroidery Thread and Ribbon – I keep all types of string and ribbon that I receive for my kids to make projects with. They use them to make bracelets, as embellishments, and everything in between.

• Fabric Scraps – I have been known to save old shirts and skirts that I really love but no longer wear. I try to repurpose them as much as possible by using the fabric for new projects. I always end up with a decent amount of fabric scraps, and my daughter snatches them right up. She uses them for all types of project – making doll clothes, knot jewelry, gluing them to her pictures, and much more.

• Tin Foil – We have recently been using tin foil for a lot of projects. It is a fun material to add to projects because it is such a great texture and color. We have used it to cover cardboard, and even as a tool to paint and stamp with.

• Paper – We always have a large collection of paper products … notebooks, card stock, blank paper, lined paper, computer paper, tissue paper, and construction paper. My kids tend to prefer the computer paper because it is blank and easy for them to fold and cut. Tissue paper is great for creating pop-out projects, giving texture and adding color to cards and pictures.

• Crayons, Colored Pens and Pencils, and Markers – This one is pretty self explanatory, but you do need to have a supply of writing, drawing and coloring utensils

• Flour and Water – I am sure this one is a tiny bit confusing, but you need paste (glue) for so many projects, and I cannot tell you how many times I have run out of store bought half way through a making a paper projects! You can quickly and easily make paste out of flour and water. There is no exact recipe, you just make it as thick or as thin as you need by adding more or less water to your all purpose flour. Easy peasy paste!

What are some household items your kids like to use for craft projects?

My kids are both super creative. They love to make projects, paint and draw … anything that keeps both their hands and their imaginations busy. We are frequently pulling out our craft supplies and making fun, colorful messes while we create.

If your kids are anything like mine, you will know how much space craft supplies can take up and how expensive some of the materials can be. We don’t have lots of extra space (as we currently live in an apartment) and honestly, I don’t have extra cash to spend on super pricy materials. But that doesn’t hinder my kids crafting – we just get creative with things we already have.

Some of the best projects have been made with things that I have had laying around the house.

• Jewelry gift boxes
• Ribbon
• String
• Buttons
• Old Clothes
• Food (potatoes, apples, carrots, flour, pasta)
• Marbles
• Tin Foil
• Paper
• Stickers

All of these items are readily available here and they lend themselves to so many fabulous project!! You can easily make stamps for paint out of the potatoes and apples, and the carrots make a neat pattern if you use them to paint with (by rolling them around on the paper). The same is true of the marbles, and even tinfoil can be shaped and used so many ways — as a stamp, as a template, or even as your project base.

The great outdoors can also be the perfect place to find craft supplies! Rocks, leaves, sticks, acorns, and pine cones can all be used to create fun projects.

Easy Projects Using What You Have On Hand

Pasta Creations – Pasta can be used for SO much. You can string different shaped (uncooked) pasta together to create fun bracelets, necklaces and even decorative garland. Color your pasta with paint or markers, and you have a super colorful and unique accessory. My daughter also likes to make pictures with different shaped pieces of macaroni – she uses elbow noodles, wagon wheels and any other fun shapes I can find. We have even made sentences with alphabet noodles.

Paper Mache is another fun, easy, and super inexpensive project that you can make at home using anything that you have on had. Your paste is made out of flour and water, and you can literally use any type of paper available – computer paper, newspaper, magazines, tissue paper, wrapping paper … ever paper towels! Ultimate Paper Mache has two basic paste recipes (a cook and a no-cook version) and tons of project ideas.

Make a Rock Buddy! When I was little, we would go for long walks through the woods and down dirt paths. I would always take a bag to collect any goodies that I found, and I always seemed to focus on rocks (something my kids also do). Once I got home, I would clean up the rocks and paint them! I made lady bugs, smiley faces, letter rocks and rocks that just had pretty designs. They were fun and easy, and the perfect outdoor craft.

Salt Dough can be used for so many projects – you can harden your child’s creations for lasting keepsakes or gifts, or they can use it as play dough. Best of all, you only need three basic ingredients to make it – salt, flour and water!

What To Buy

There are a few items that you will have to head to the store for. But most these items are reusable, so they are worth the small investment.

• Paint Brushes – Pick up a package that has many different sized brushes, including a foam brush.

• Paint – If your kids are like mine and love to paint, then the larger bottles are probably your best bet. If you are just starting out, or thinking that you don’t want the mess of too much paint, start out with a smaller starter pack to see how it goes. When my daughter first started painting, she got into the paints by herself and painter her whole body, the kitchen table and the floor. I was VERY happy that it was only the small paint pots and not large bottles!

• Crayons, Markers and Colored Pencils – If you stock up around back to school time, you can pick up these items for less than a $1 a package. Crayons are even as low as $0.25 around this time, so stock up! You can do so much with crayons, that it is worth the small investment. And don’t throw away broken crayons – save them to melt and turn into candles or new, fun shaped crayons.

• Paper – It is inevitable that you will need a lot of paper. We keep sketch pads, computer paper, card stock in tons of colors, drawing paper, and construction paper on hand at all times.

• Scissors – I also pick up scissors at back to school time. I get two pairs for each of my kids because it is guaranteed that they will each loose a pair quickly. I also keep a larger pair that I use just for crafting with them – these scissors get very gunked up depending on what we are cutting and it is nice to have a dedicated pair.

• Glue and Tape – Same as before, stock up on these items right around back to school time for the best deal. Tape usually goes on sale right after Christmas to clear out some of the overstock that stores have.

• Plastic Bins – I find that it is easiest to craft when everything is in one place. I use plastic bins to store all of our supplies, and then I can quickly pull out what my kids want to create with. I have some that I keep under the bed, and others that are stored on a shelf, but having these craft boxes has saved me a lot of time and frustration searching for supplies.

Shop At Yard Sales And Thrift Stores

You can pick up great craft supplies for next to nothing. Some things to keep an eye out for are

• Fabric
• Greeting Cards
• Baskets
• Stamps
• Stickers
• Ribbon
• Yarn
• Embroidery Thread
• Beads
• Buttons
• Holiday Garlands
• Old Magazines
• Glitter
• Craft Sticks
• And anything else that jumps out to you!

Crafting with kids is so much fun! Take your kids with you to yard sales to look for items that inspire them. You may be amazed at what they pick out!

I have wanted to learn to knit for a while, and as soon as my daughter saw me giving it a try, she begged me to teach her as well. Being as she has just turned 5, I knew the knitting needles would be too much for her to handle (I was struggling with them!) and decided to find an easier way for her to knit with me.

I found a wonderful tutorial for teaching kids how to finger knit on NurtureStore, and knew right away that this was something Little Miss would be able to do.

We picked out the perfect yarn and set out to make some fabulous accessories for her Barbies, baby dolls, and her Amma (that is what my kids call their grandmother).

We decided to set up in the living room, nice and comfy on the couch, and got to work.

The method:

Finger knitting is really very simple.

• You start by making a slip knot with a loop in the bottom of your yarn. Make sure to leave a fairly long tail for tying later.
• Place the loop over your index finger. This is the start of your chain.
• Holding your piece of working yarn (the piece coming out of your yarn ball) in your opposite hand, wrap the yarn around your finger in front of the first loop.
• Pull the first loop forward over the second loop and off of your finger.
• This is your first stitch.
• Repeat the process until you reach the desired length for your chain. Tie off the end with a simple knot through your last loop to prevent the chain from unraveling.

Here’s a video that shows you everything:

Want a thicker chain? Use multiple pieces of yarn to bulk up each stitch!

There are so many things that your child can do with this new skill. They can make scarves for their baby dolls, funky and unique bracelets, or even a really neat brooch – what a great gift that would be!

Once your child has mastered a simple one finger chain, you can add more rows to make a larger product! There are many different methods, but I like the tubular result from this How to Finger Knit video and the fancier look from this Finger Knitting video.

This is a fun and super affordable hobby for your child! Keep an eye out for different colors and textures of yarn at garage sales, resale stores, and the clearance bin of your favorite craft store.

Happy Finger Knitting!!