Shopping for DIY Supplies ♫ (My Tips and Suggestions)

Hey everyone │︵　　︵│ I recently did some haulage, so I thought it would be a good time to give out some tips guided by my purchases.

Firstly, let me point out that you can find supplies anywhere. Really! Well...almost anywhere.

Most craft stores will have SOMETHING that you can use ><

This might sound strange, but it really does take practice. I started getting into DIY in about 8th grade (age 13), and the first time I went shopping hardly anything I picked out was usable X)

Quick tips:

• Try not to look for anything in particular. When you stay restricted to certain things, you can really miss out on awesome buys!
• Know your style. This is probably the most important tip, so I probably should have put it first X) Anyway, super important! Focus on what you like, rather than what you think you should be buying for the style that you're inspired by. This is where I went wrong my first time. The items that I had purchased were probably usable for the style, but I couldn't inspire myself to do anything with them because I wasn't excited by them.
• Set a price limit. This is one that I have a hard time with myself >< Just try keeping a running total in your head whenever you toss something into your basket.
• Check the sale racks. Do I need to explain? Most of my supplies were purchased while on sale.

Onwards! Let's see some examples ^^~

Golden thread rope thing. This was on sale for $0.25/yd, and I snagged all 4 yards that were left. I have a tutorial in mind where this may be useful ^^

$1.00

Teddy bears. I've done quite a few tutorials already where small animals have come in handy. I found these in the baby shower aisle. They weren't a spectacular deal, but I know for a fact that I'll need them eventually.

$2.99

Jewelry parts! It's been a long while since I've made any jewelry (I used to make jewelry ALL the time), but these were such a good deal that I couldn't pass them up. Would you guys be interested in a jewelry tutorial?

$0.97 each

Plain wide ribbon. Things like this run out sooo quickly. This is one of the most useful items because it can be used to make quick bows ^^ These were found in a sale bin. It took some digging to find the good ones >:)

Patterned ribbon. This was in the same sale bin. Well, there's always room for variety, right? :)

$1.99

Lace trim and a quarter yard of fabric. I'm not even sure that I've done a tutorial where I have not used lace trim X) It's always good to have ^^ The fabric was the same price as each of the lace spools, and I thought it would make a nice usamimi headband :)

$1.99 each

This craft store always has spools of lace trim at cheap-o prices. I love it because lace trim is usually so expensive >< Hence, I bought five spools.

Misc. others (things that weren't such good deals)

Permanent fabric glue: $3.99

Patterned ribbon: $3.79

Pack of 40 small bows: $4.29

Victorian heart buttons: $2.29

Now for one of the most helpful tips. This applies to shopping at thrift stores...

CURTAINS!!

Materials are so expensive. Just buy cheap curtains from thrift stores instead >_> You'll get several yards of fabrics for what you would usually pay for half of a yard.

Just make sure that you wash them first.

I'm planning on using this one soon for a tutorial ^^

The curtains were $3.99 each.

Anyway, I hope this was helpful for someone with questions :) If you have any more questions or a request, tweet me @magicpearlheart

...or you could always email me. My email is on my blogger profile page...so yeah, there's that.