Household Items You Can Use in Your Arts and Crafts

Many of the items in your home are good for more than just one purpose. As an artist, or someone who just enjoys arts and crafts, you can find multiple uses for common household items which can also help you in your arts and crafts. Here area just a few examples of how you can use some items you probably already have in your home for arts and crafts, as well as working in the fine arts.

Rubbing alcohol----Rubbing alcohol is a must-have item for anyone, but especially if you have little ones who constantly get scraps and boo-boos. If you do watercolor painting, you'll find rubbing alcohol is a great item to splash into a wet paint, as it repels color. I use it often the lighten up the blues in my watercolor skies. And, if you toddler colors a "masterpiece" on your walls, you can erase it with rubbing alcohol. Just make sure to gently rub, as the harder you rub, the more the chance of lifting out color from your wall. What's more, rubbing alcohol will also removed permanent markers "drawings" on your walls.

Laundry baskets---Not only are laundry baskets used for hauling and sorting laundry, but they're also great for all types of sorting. Personally, I use them to store my yarns, needlework, and fabrics for quilting.

Rubber bands----Besides their traditional office use, rubber bands are also a must for knitters. When you're knitting, you never know when you have to stop and do something else. By rubbing banding your knitting needles, the yarn won't come unraffled, ruining all your hard work.

Knitting row counter---Besides helping you keep tract of the number of rows you knit, a knitting row counter can also be used for your crochet work. It's especially useful when you're crocheting in rounds and have trouble counting the rows as they're in the same color. And, this simple device used to count rows when you knit is a handy little tool for Weight Watchers, using the "points" program. Every time you eat your Weight Watchers points, simply record it on your knitting row counter. It's an excellent way to stay on track when you're away from home, on vacation, and don't have access to paper and a pen to record your points.

Toothpicks----You probably already have toothpicks in your kitchen cupboards for getting out particles of food between your teeth. But did you know that toothpicks are also good for watercoloring? By scraping out color you can create everything from seaweed to distance tree limbs What's more, toothpicks are also a handy little tool for cutting scotch tape when you're doing crafts. If you've ever ruined rolls of tape because you lost your place, you'll want to try using toothpicks the next time you have to use scotch tape.

Hairspray---If you have aging eyes, like mine, you probably know how frustrating it is to thread a needle. If so, then spray your thread with hairspray to stiffen it. You'll be amazed how much easier it is to thread your needle. This is especially good news for cross stitching, as well as basic sewing.

Toothbrush---An old toothbrush is an item watercolorists use to create such landscape items as grass and brush. It can also be used to spatter paint, creating snow and rain in a painting. Just load it up with wet pain and spatter for an instant snow scene. Or, dip it in plain water and spatter. The water will repel paint to look like raindrows.

These are only few uses of common household items that can be used in your arts and crafts. With a little imagination, you can discover other items in your home that can be used in your creative endeavors.