Saving money on craft supplies in 2024

Hello lovely followers. Last year I made videos reflecting on 2023 and making goals for 2024. With another twirl around the sun, we are about to complete 2024 and spin into another year.

I have been saving hard for various things in my life, so I haven’t had the budget for craft supplies I once enjoyed.

I have made a YouTube video on today’s topic, however, I always like to have an accompanying written article for our readers.

Do let us know if you’ll be using any of these tips or if you have new ones for me to try.

Number One

Get creative with your scraps. All those little bits we save and don’t know how to use, or even throw away. I’ve really been making use of the odds and ends in my stash box. Some have even made projects I can give…so double whammy for saving money there.

Try our no-sew book cover tutorial. Click here.

I made beautiful quilted hot water bottle covers from my fabric scraps. Just let me know if you would like me to draft a pattern and make a tutorial.

Number Two

Ask friends for their stash. I know my friend, Jacqui, likes to make tinsel hedgehogs every year, so I asked if she had any tinsel yarn I could have. Jacqui kindly let me have a couple of meters, which meant I had saved a couple of quid and I didn’t have excess leftover in my stash. In return, I have been able to fulfil requests for safety eyes and reduce my stash too.

Don’t be afraid to ask…everyone’s a winner. If you don’t have crafty friends, another option could be online marketplace groups to see if anyone is willing to give things for free in return for clearing some room and a good deed (it may be an idea to offer postage costs if they are not local, but do be scam aware). Charity shops is another idea to obtain materials at a reduced cost.

For me, the best thing about asking friends for use of their materials was that I took just what I needed and I wasn’t left with excess in my stash that I’m not going to need or use (cue the safety eyes!).

Click here for the Book-cycle Christmas Tree tutorial, featuring the tinsel yarn.

Number Three

The Stash. We’ve mentioned scraps, but not The Stash. I have been through my yarn stash and looked at the complete balls of yarn I have in. These have accumulated from having over ordered on projects (can’t risk running out!), falling out with the initial project or simply not getting round to using it.

And you know what, I managed to make some really nice gifts from it. A win for me reducing the stash and gifts costing me nothing, as I already had the yarn lying there.

Mum’s socks are featured in the video. Why not try the Barlow Cowl? I made this using a spare hank of DK yarn I had in and there was plenty left over.

Number Four

Reconnect with your stash. Whilst re-arranging my stash to free up a box, I reconnected with projects and wonderful memories of where I bought the yarn. Me and mum also went through our old card making stash and had a few pleasant evenings crafting together and being creative.

We usually do crafts that follow a chart or pattern, so it was nice to stamp, colour in and enjoy each other’s company. Best of all it cost us nothing as it was already in our stash…and we saved money by not having to purchase Christmas cards.

Number Five

Using your stash to complete projects, rather than buying new. This has also helped me to let go of things looking shop-bought and perfect.

One example is the pom poms on top of my Book-cycle Christmas Trees. Ideally, I’d have used silver or gold sparkly poms with matching tinsel yarn. But, I used my stash of poms, and Jacqui’s green tinsel yarn and they don’t look bad at all. One even looks like a cluster of berries as the poms were too small for just one.

This jumper was very wool-hungry jumper to crochet. I used left over yellow, orange and grey on the sleeves. You know what – it doesn’t look half bad! With a bit of careful planning, I was able to make it look intentional by adding a row of yellow to hem of the main body.

Sometimes, you just know when a garment calls for all the yarn to be the same colour or same brand, but I have really been enjoying opening myself to the possibility of saving money by finishing projects with what’s in my stash. Frankenstein projects, you could say.

Well, that’s my top tips for saving money on craft supplies in 2024. I will certainly be keeping this up in 2025, as well as coming up with 5 more new and exciting tips for next year. Remember to let us know if you follow any of these tips, or have your own.

Take care, Rachel G x