I didn’t spend one extra DIME on these supplies and I’ve used them so much already!

Above you’ll see a collapsible water dish (my cat’s old travel dish), a roll of tape (one of many washi tapes I was given), a travel paint palette (a DVD case), and a mini water-color easel (a piece of road for my son’s train set).

My husband and I’ve been working hard to practice simple, and frugal living more lately and so at the start of the summer I remember looking online and talking about the travel painting backpack and easel I wanted so badly. Since then I’ve completely re-evaluated what to spend my money on and how. It helped that Caleb encouraged me to pay for things like the art supplies with money I’ve earned from creating and selling my art (very good incentive!). I’ve taken that to reconfiguring other purposes for things I already have but don’t use for their primary purpose and it’s been highly satisfying to think of how much money I’ve saved simply by getting creative, practicing thankfulness, and re-prioritizing what I want vs. need.

A big stumbling point for me has been procrastinating on my creative process simply on the basis of not having the “right” tools. I realized how stupid this logic was with my application of it. I’ve tried a few different palettes over the years, starting with a beautiful wooden one, and yet more recently I’ve been using a DVD case! Turns out that the it’s quite easy to clean dried, acrylic paint off of the plastic inside and the size makes it highly transportable! I’ve also been experimenting with tape on my canvases and washi tape has been a success.

Don’t let the cost or materials stop you from creating art, especially when the whole point is to be expressive and think differently.