by Noreen Doll.
One way to be frugal is to make your own paint.
I don’t mean to actually make your own paint from scratch, but to combine colors to make new colors or shades of colors.
The other day I was working on a Halloween craft and I needed orange spray paint. For most crafting, unless I’m making an heirloom item, I use cheaper paints. So I like to use Walmart’s 98 cent spray paint.
Unfortunately, Walmart no longer carries a big variety of colors in their cheap spray paint, and they don’t have orange. I didn’t want a $5 can of paint that I might not want to use again.
My project was not one that needed expensive paint, and I usually try to craft on a shoestring.
I already had several bottles of a liquid tempera paint for kids. I had the inspiration to mix red and yellow paints in a small spray bottle, which I bought in the toiletries travel section of Walmart for $1. And I can reuse the bottle as much as I like.
I ended up dumping a glop of red paint and another glop of yellow paint into the spray bottle, then adding a little water to make it thin enough to go through the tiny hole in the spray nozzle.
I shook it well and then tested it on a piece of paper. I liked the color and it worked well enough to do my project. I did use a lot and needed to make 2 more batches, but I had lots of paint.
I really liked the interesting shade of orange I ended up with.
After I finished my project, I washed the spray bottle thoroughly with a few drops of liquid dish detergent and water, spraying it until the color was clear. So I can use the bottle for another craft.
With only a few primary colors of paint, you can mix almost any shade or color you like.
A few years ago I wanted to paint a Santa on a can but I didn’t want it bright red. None of the colors I looked at were quite the shade of antique red I was looking for.
Using acrylic craft paints, I dumped a large glop of red paint in the middle of a plastic lid. Then I began adding black paint drop by drop, stirring while adding, until I had a shade I liked.
The result was this wonderful color
to create this perfectly colored Santa.
So don’t be afraid to combine colors to find your perfect shade.
Another way I used paint was to make a camouflage paper for gift wrapping.
I used the brown kraft paper that comes in packaging and splotched areas of green, brown, and black randomly all over the paper. It made a great finished camouflage look, and the recipient loved it.
Noreen Doll
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