I, as mentioned in my intro, am a stay-at-home mom. My job, no matter how wonderful, time-consuming and demanding it may be, does not bring in any money. (Sad, right?!) With only my husband’s salary for us to live on, I like to get creative and think of inexpensive ways to do a lot of things around the house, but especially art supplies!!! As time goes on and I think of new ways to do this, I’ll happily share them. For now, here are a few of my favorites to date.
-Plastic smocks. I took a standard white trash bag (new and clean, of course) and made a few simple cuts to create a wonderful smock. I folded it in half longways, and on the closed end, I cut a strip on the fold at the center, about half the size i needed to get it over my son’s head (when you unfold the bag, the hole will be the right size). While it’s still folded (I love things to be even) I cut the two armholes from the outer corners with one simple straight cut.
-Styrofoam trays. Now, I balked at this idea at first, but have tried it and now love it! I saved (well, I am still saving them to be honest!) the styrofoam “meat trays” that come with the hamburger meat and such. I wash them very well (I use the dishwasher) and then use them for all sorts of crafts! They are perfect for seperating small objects (such as beads and googley eyes) and keeping them from rolling off the table. Paint washes off the styrofoam easily, and since they are so inexpensive, you could easily make each color it’s own tray! They are also great for making easy homemade printing plates (stamps); that’s one of the projects I’ll discuss later!
-Multipurpose cups. If you save the little white cups that frosting comes in, you have wonderfully diverse containers! They can be used to store crayons, paintbrushes, beads, buttons, etc, and if you save the lids, they can also be stacked on a shelf. I like the clear lids from the frosting with the little sprinkles and nut packets on top best because they are tall enough to close over brand-new crayons. It is also fun to decorate paper labels for these handy-dandy canisters, and because of their simple design, a little double sided tape will hold them in place. (Yet another good project for your little ones!) If you do not put a paper label on the outside, though, they are waterproof and can also be used for paints, paint water, etc. I can’t imagine life before frosting cans! 
-Art table. Now, I’ve seen these great little kid sized tables at Pottery Barn and the like, and as anyone would, wished I could afford to buy my kids one. Being me, though, I made my own from an inexpensive side table I bought at the Salvation Army. I know, I know, but really, you can buy a solid wood table, trim the legs if you need to (check the height of the chairs or storage boxes you plan to pair with it ), maybe sand and paint it and you’re done. I bought ours for $10, spent an hour or two re-furbishing it, and now my kids and their friends love to sit at it! Plus, I don’t mind if paint gets on it or if the younger kids color directly on it like i would my dining room table. (Mine also doubles as an all around the house stool; he can reach the counters to help me cook and my art easel and the kitchen window to paint… It’s really handy!)
-Kid sized storage chairs. Strapped for art supply storage? I took two small, sturdy plasitc storage bins, filled them with all my paints and stuff, and put them at the kids’ table in place of chairs. It’s a cheap, functional, easy to cart around solution to both the storage and seating issues.
-Super inexpensive wall easel. I read somewhere that toddlers draw on walls (and lay on their stomach with the page directly below their nose) because develpomentally they are working on improving hand-eye coordination and need their hand as close to their eyes as possible to really fine tune the skill. After reading this, I began to hang large coloring book pages on the wall for my toddler to scribble on, but couldn’t figure out how to convince a two year old to stay on the paper if I walked away for a moment or two. Finally, after scrubbing off some rouge crayon one day, I tought, “Why haven’t I hung up anything behind the coloring pages?” I immediately pulled out some brown packaging paper I happen to keep around the house (wrapping paper and paper bags would work just fine!) and covered a large portion of the wall (about 3′x3′ starting near the floor), attaching it with painter’s tape. I then hung the coloring pages on the thick brown paper, and have yet to clean that wall again! My son and his friends get a kick out of coloring on the wall, and because it’s allowed in that one ’special spot’ they never try to draw on any other wall.
-Design your own table top. Ok, this isn’t necessarily an art supply, but it’s something people always comment on and I love to share. I, as mentioned before, have a roll of brown packaging paper around the house. My son and I love to cut a large piece (you can substitute with opened paper bags) and cover the top of his little table with it. Then we draw roads, train tracks, trees, houses, lakes, or whatever on the table top. It saves the table from wandering art and craft materials and keeps him busy for hours. I just had to add it in here somewhere while I was thinking about it.
-Water container. This is a new idea I had the other day and decided I should share for others. I took an empty 2 liter soda bottle (you could use a juice carton or milk jug) and cut off the top so that there was a very large opening. I washed it out and filled it with water, and presto! A water container for him to use while painting! (Be careful, though. With the top cut off the edge is a little sharp and it’s not as sturdy as it was before I cut it. Even so, it worked really well.)
I’ll have to keep adding to this list over time. There are a lot of little things I do and have around the house. It might take a while for me to recall all of them, plus I’ve been comming up with quite a few new ones lately! As always, if you have ideas or suggestions, please post them!
