Low Cost Tips from the Lilypad #4

Today, a quick and easy tip for any messy medium.

Over the last 6 months or so after washing clothes I have discovered towels that have aged beyond repair. Mostly towels with multiple small wholes and large tears. So instead of throwing them out I decided to put them to good use.



The first thing I did was use the towels to soak up water. Since I live in a small house I often dyed my wool and leave it hanging on a wooden laundry rack. However, no matter how much you try the wool will drip water and the last thing you need is water puddles on the floor. Then later I got a bit smarter in my old recycled towel use. Now, whenever I sort my fiber I will often lay out old towels to pick the fiber over. Since I do small scale picking I can grab my bundle(s) and sit in front of the TV while working. Mostly I'm listening to what's on the TV but it keeps me entertained and focused. This also makes for easy for cleaning up all the fiddly veggie matter and dirt that falls out. Just ball up the towel and shake it out outside (or over the outside trash can.)


Try using old towels as a drop cloth for painting sessions or clay work. Keep the water in check when wet felting and keep the sticky guck (for lack of a proper term) in check when working with papier-mâché. Finally, don't forget kids craft time. It's always better if they decide to decorate the towels then the tables or the walls!



Do you know a great low cost crafty tip? Something you want to share to make crafting easier without breaking the pocketbook? Please email me at adminat...froggyfiberdot...com (using all the necessary email symbols and removing the periods) and I will add it as a post on the blog. Be sure to give me a link to your blog or store so you can get credit. If I get enough I will start posting a new one each week or biweekly.

Low Cost Tips from the Lilypad #3

The last tip for keeping things inexpensive in your crafting mentioned reusing the cutouts from a cardboad light tent. Keeping in that vein I've got a quick and easy fix for people blocking swatches.

Since I only need to support three areas of the light tent I had plenty of cardboard cutouts left. In my case the size of my box was 12x12 so that left me with an approximately 10x10 square. (I've never, ever been able to cut a straight line..... even with a ruler.) In the close up picture you can see that I have pinned a swatch to the cardboard to help set the shape. Obviously this isn't going to work for really large items but it can work. I've seen some really big boxes around. I also don't like to soak my material because it takes longer to dry. Instead I choose to use a spray bottle and get the object signifantly damp on both sides. Then I shape the item and pin it to the cardboard, using the pins to get just a slight tension so the items doesnt pull back up. That may not be the way to block "officially" but its my way.

I don't know how long I will swatch yarn. I really am much more the run with whatever I have type knitter/crocheter/spinner/dyer. However, I get left over yarn all the time so I'm sort of brewing in my head what I should do with them. I'm sure it would make a great piecemill blanket or something. Until then I am very happy to know I have a quick and easy way to "perfect" my sample knits.

(A Disclaimer - this swatch was already blocked but the previous photos weren't great so I "staged" these photos.)

Low Cost Tips from the Lilypad #2

I hate when ideas go by the wayside. I didn't get a real chance to get this recurring theme started due to my internet outage during the month of November throwing me for a huge loop. I am, however, prepared to do so now. So let's begin!

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This post is not a new idea but it's still meant to be a useful add on to the crafty repertoire. So lets proceed to talk about the light tent. There are tons of blogs, youtubes, and instructables for the do-it-yourself light tent. The problem is that sometimes your measurements are off or you pick what you think is a good size to cut the hole in the cardboard only to find out you were wrong and its to big. In some cases, you just don't like the strength of the cardboard structure. I did just that and wanted to share the solution I found.

I simply took the scraps of cardboard from the lid and used them to secure the parts of the lightbox that felt flimsy.

As an example, here is half the flap cut from the top of the box. In the case of the box pictured here, I could get 2 cardboard strips cut from the flap and tape them on either side of the openings with shipping tape to create a more stable setup. Sure, cardboard box light tents don't last for ever but at least with this tip in play it's less likely to fall apart after your first photo session.


Now I can add the fabric or posterboard, set up the lighting and take some pictures without worrying about tearing up my box.

Low Cost Tips from the Lilypad #1

Look at this neat contraption. This is my tubing to keep yarn from collapsing in on its self once I take it off the ball winder. This works especially well for sock yarns and thinner weight handspun yarns. Yes, its bootleg but effective. Plus depending on how much yarn your winding, you can get about 3 tubes of cardboard from one paper towel roll but only one for each toilet paper roll. Plus you can reuse the tubing until it starts to get to soft to hold its structure. I have found this to be a good way to avoid tangling up yarn but I do concede that I use a old plastic gallon ice cream container and knit (or ply - when spinning) these yarn from the outside instead of center pull. That way the yarn can turn and bounce in the bucket and I don't have to worry about the center tangling and pulling apart as much.
Its a great way to reduce, reuse and recycle all in one!

cut cardboard tubing from paper towel holders

(This is something new I just came up with today because I found something I wanted to share. As I was writing this post I decided to try to find a new one each week or two to share with everyone.)

PS - Join in on the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival!