My Etsy Store

Monday, July 16, 2012

Craft Store-oholic: 3 steps for not going broke

So I think we all know where this is going, but I'll start with this...If I had all the money in the world, I would buy a JoAnn store fully stocked with all those wonderful craft items & employees to train me in all those crafts. But alas, I do not, quite the opposite actually since I've decided to stay home with our kids I'm trying to bring in some of that missed income by making money off the products I get at craft stores.
I figure most of you are in the same boat as well, if not please consider buying me a JoAnn's...I'll give you free products for life, so I'm going to share what I do when visiting these stores to try to stay in the black. Most of you are probably better at this than me, please share your tips in the comments!! But here are my little "tips"
Craft Store Tips
  1.  Never go without a coupon! So almost all craft stores provide coupons. Get on the mailing list, look thru the sale papers, they are out there. JoAnn's almost always has an active coupon that I get in my email & print at home. Hobby Lobby has a 40% regular price item on their website permanently for you to print & use once a day I think. Michaels sends them in the mail & provides them online. Also when you make a purchase, your receipt often has a coupon on it for use on a future date.  I have literally gone with my coupons and bought 1 item at a time over a few weeks to get what I needed with coupons. If you have time to do this, the saving can really add up.
  2. Shop Clearance!  All craft stores have a clearance section. You can find all sorts of things in these sections and it changes all the time! I love finding a good deal here. Be creative and let the items inspire you. I like to look through everything slowly & picture what I can do with the little treasures found here. It can be really fun!
  3. Remnants,  Remnants, Remnants!!!  My favorite thing about JoAnn's is the remnant fabric section. I'm more of a knitter than a seamstress, but as my skills grow in this area the remnant bins have become my new favorite place to shop. As I've become more of a "professional" yarn artist, craft store yarns just don't do it for me anymore. All that acrylic is just boring to me now. I have come to LOVE natural fiber, quality yarns but I have to order those online. Don't get me wrong, I'm not hating on acrylic yarn. I use it frequently & there are lots of projects where it just makes sense to use acrylic, but it just doesn't excite me anymore. It's kind of like frozen pizza & my favorite sushi restaurant. I like frozen pizza especially after a day at the pool, but I don't get excited about it like I do when a special date night arises & we go out for sushi. So here I am off on a tangent now, back to the fabric. Remnants are always 50% off the regular price of the fabric AND if that fabric happens to be on sale on the bolt, you get 50% off the sale price. You might not know if the remnant you're holding is sale fabric or not, and that can be a GREAT surprise when you check out.  
         I made my monthly weekend trip to JoAnn's today while my little one was taking a nap, and I
saved more money than I spent just on my remnant shopping without using any of my coupons.  I will show you everything I got and how much I paid for it. If you are anything like me, you are going to LOVE this!!


So those are the 3 things I do to not go broke when I visit a craft store.  It is hard to stay in control sometimes when I want it all, but I love getting a get deal & I use that as my motivation.
Please share with everyone your favorite tips so we can all shop more!

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