The new year has begun, and it is time to put away the old and make way for the new. Area retailers are doing the same—making way for all of the new colors, patterns, and materials for this year's products. This means they will be retiring samples and doing away with discontinued items. You can make many elegant gifts for the home using these items.
Items that are discarded from area retailers:
- Carpet Samples
- Grout Samples
- Ceramic tiles and Vinyl Squares
- Wallpaper Sample Books (discontinued)
- Fabric Sample Books
- Scrap Fabric
- Premium Quality Paint
Carpet Samples
Carpet samples are great for high traffic hallways and corridors. These are frequently outdated at flooring centers and may be given away or sold for less than $1. Try stenciling one for a great gift item.
Housewarming Welcome Mat
Items needed:
- Carpet sample (standard size is 17" x 27”), a tight weave is best.
- Stencils (check craft stores for one that says "Welcome" and maybe one that has a pineapple)
- Spray Paint
- Brown Paper Bags
- Tape
Here's how:
Center design on carpet and mask off the rest of the carpet by taping brown paper to the outer perimeter of the stencil with tape. In well-ventilated area, spray paint over stencil and carefully remove the stencil and paper. Repeat this process for any other design that you wish to paint. These make useful welcome mats and floor rugs.
Grout Samples
Grout is the decorative cement or mortar that is sponged in between tiles after they are set into a floor. Any flooring center will have these samples; they pile up in little plastic cases after they are discontinued. Ask for these colorful little metal-sided sticks, and use them to make beautiful gifts. To start with something simple, try making a trivet with them.
Southwestern Trivets
You will need:
- Grout Sample Sticks (3 1/2" long)
- Tile (6" x 6”)
- E-6000 or 527 Adhesive (found at craft stores)
- Felt (at least a 6" x 6")
- Craft Glue
Here's How:
Choose four grout sample sticks of different color and remove any labels on them. Use a pencil to mark the center of each one. Take one stick and place on a table. Make a T by placing the next stick at the pencil mark (perpendicular to the first stick). Repeat this process again with sticks 3 & 4. Now put the two sets together so that the two T's are upside down to one another and you have a 2" square in the middle. Glue this shape onto the tile. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s directions, and let it dry overnight. Use craft glue to secure felt to the bottom of your trivet so that it won't damage furniture. This triv-et also doubles as a candle hold-er. The 2- inch space in the middle will hold votive candles and tea lights!
Tiles
Ceramic and vinyl tiles are frequently discarded when a job is finished. Some flooring companies will stick them in a bin and forget about them. Some might give them away or sell them for pennies. There may be enough of one color to tile an area near an entryway. You can revive an old wood-en table by tiling the top. The table's surface might be marred and not worth refinishing, but tiling over it will make it new again. Tile-topped tables are beau-tiful and you can likely lay the tile yourself. Tiling videos are available at every lumber center. This is a great week-end project, or you can barter for services from an area craftsman.
There are many other uses for these tiles. You can add a back-splash in the kitchen or a looks-like door-mat on the patio. Tile also makes great flooring for a playhouse! You can even use tiles to make tic-tac-toe games for the kids.
Wallpaper Sample Books
Wallpaper is one of the most versatile of all raw materials that retailers discontinue and dispose of. These sample books are filled with beautiful vinyl papers and are discontinued several times a year. Retailers will usually be only too glad to let you have as many as you want. These books come in a variety of sizes and have coordinating patterns through-out each volume. I use this paper to make desk sets, gift boxes, and gift wrap. Children will want to get in on the act and make bookmark-s, cards, and booklets with the many colored paisleys, stripes, and floral prints. Specialty scissors and inexpensive pre-cut mats can help you make decorative picture frames for relatives and friends.
Decorator Wallpaper Photo Frames
You will need:
- Wallpaper Sample Book
- Decorative Cut Scissors
- Glue Stick
- Precut Mat Board
- Adhesive Magnetic Strip
- Poster Board
Here's How:
Chose a page of wallpaper from your samples and cut it out of the book. Place the mat face down onto the back side of the wallpaper. Now trace around the inside and outside of the mat. This is also a good time to make the back of the frame by simply tracing the outer perimeter of the mat onto poster board and cutting it out. Now use the pencil marks to guide your scissors and cut right up to, but not over, the lines. Apply glue stick to the mat front and, using the lines as a guide, press the back of the wallpaper to the mat front. Place your photo behind your wallpaper frame and tape into place. Apply glue stick to the outer perimeter of poster board back and press onto the back of wallpaper frame. You can add magnets. Just peel the paper off 1" pieces of mag-netic strip and press them to the back of the frame. Your brand new, decorator picture frame is now ready for the gallery on your refrigerator door!
Fabric Sample Books
Approach Interior Decorators about discontinued fabric sample books. These are wonderful for projects that take smaller pieces of fabric. Quilters everywhere are always on the lookout for that perfect color or pattern and these are ideal. Usually these come in easily carried sample books that contain a variety of colors in various textures. I enjoy using this discarded fabric to make quilt blocks with paper piecing. Paper piecing is a meth-od by which one pieces a quilt block by actually sewing the fabric down onto a piece of paper. It is similar to the paint-by-number kits we did as children, and is by far the easiest way to piece and can be quickly laid down and taken up again. This, of course, is done on the sewing machine and is not as overwhelming as traditional quilting. If you always want-ed to learn to quilt and felt too intimidated to try, this is for you! Most quilt shops carry packages of paper piecing for all of the traditional quilt blocks.
Scrap Fabric
Both interior decorators and upholstery workrooms have boxes of scrap fabric available for the taking. Much of what is there can be given away, though heavier fabrics are usually available for a small charge. Ask for these beautiful wo-ven fabrics and carry them home to make your own designer pillows, tea cozies and table runners. A commercial pattern will come in handy for these afternoon projects. I enjoy seek-ing out table remnants at my local fabric store. Then I look for medium- sized bargain teapots and make a tapestry tea cozy to match the solid color teapot. You may even have enough fabric for a few place mats, too. These make great gifts for any occasion wheth-er it is a house warming or an anniversary. When you get these raw materials free or at a small price, you can make gifts up ahead of time and save.
Fabric chain stores have their standard bargain tables full of economical cottons and poly-cot-ton blends at great savings. A wise craft-er will consult the sale pages and get this fabric for $.50 a yard. This is an excellent way to accumulate large quantities for projects that require lots of yardage. Quilt shops carry patterns for heart-shaped cro-cheted rugs that require about 14 yards of fabric. The bargain hunter can make this rug for less than ten dollars! Curtains are another project that necessitates buying in bulk -- this is an excellent way to shop for this type of project as well.
Paint
Most paint retailers find themselves holding mis-tinted paint at the end month. If you inquire, you may find this paint at very low prices. One gallon of paint will paint a 12' x 5' room (approx. 300 square feet). My local paint retailer sells these premium quality, mis--tinted gallons for about $3 each. For a larg-er room, mix two similarly tinted gallons to-gether. Hunters can paint deer stands economically by buying paint in camouflage colors. Many craft projects begin with a base coat. This is the way to go! It would be wise to stop by your paint store regularly for the best selection.
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