Save Your Scraps: Frugal Uses for Leftover Paint and Colored Pencils

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Thrifty and resourceful ideas to use up leftover paint and colored pencils.

Author: Elizabeth Barboza

Whether it's leftover paint or leftover pot roast, extra odds and ends are usually inevitable. In my culinary world, the sign that it is time to clean out the fridge is when I have no luck finding a storage container for the remnants of tonight’s dinner. When there is not even one butter tub to be found, I know the inevitable task must be performed. Ugh. And each time I don my gas mask and elbow length rubber gloves to uncover the biological warfare surging in my Frigidaire, I ask myself, why can’t we be better about finishing things off and not being so wasteful?

My friend has an ingenious plan. She holds “Make-Your-Own” night at least once a week in her home. On this night, all those whose age would allow them to do so, are responsible for finding their own dinner. And on these nights, 99% of the time the accumulated leftovers from the past few days are devoured. Some are eaten just as they are. Others are transformed into new delectable dishes. Either way, there are no rubber gloves required.

Similarly, whenever I finish a crafting project there are little bits and pieces of half-used supplies left over. I have big envelopes for cardstock scraps and jars for tiny ribbon lengths. There is even a box for those miscellanious items such as single stickers, die cuts and printed chipboard shapes. But what to do with those few ounces of leftover paint and dozens of pencil stubs that remain after completing a paint-by-number or pencil-by-number project?

Read on to find a list of ideas and challenge yourself one evening to hold your own “Make-Your-Own” Craft night. Gather all those project remnants and jump into creating some modern, funky and functional designs. Gas mask and elbow length rubber gloves are optional.

Pencils

• On a piece of solid color mat board, lightly sketch a monogram in a thick style font. Cut and sharpen pencils to fit within the boundary of the letter and hot glue into place. Frame with a wide black molding.
• Use a leftover pencil to make a handmade album with a rubber band binding. Layer sheets of paper together and cover with a front and back piece. Punch two holes in the binding area of the album. Push the looped ends of a rubber band through each hole respectively, going from the back to the front. Run a pencil through the looped rubber band ends to secure the album together.
• Cover a clean tin can with various lengths of pencils, keeping the smooth ends even with the can’s bottom edge.
• Frame a frame with pencils. Align the flat pencil ends flush with the inside opening of the frame, allowing the uneven pointy ends to create a wavy silhouette.
• Last resort; send the pencils to school with your child. Teachers will always welcome donated supplies for the classroom.

Paint

• Create your own patterned paper. Let loose and have fun designing your own backgrounds. Try plaids and stripes which will not require a lot of paint but will use up a ton of colors.
• Use the few drops left for dry brushing your projects. Dry brushing is a perfect distressing technique and is a great alternative to inking.
• Modify or unify printed die cuts. A coat of paint can transform a simple die cut into an accent that is just right for your project or can help to tie mismatched die cuts together.
• Water the paint down and color wash items such as tags, paper accents or paper flowers to achieve a unique and subtle look.
• Paint swaths of color on a solid background then punch each color block with the same shape and create a graphic display with them.
  

Hopefully these ideas will stretch your imagination and inspire you to use up the pigments in the bottom of your leftover paint pots, or rescue your colored pencil nubs from the bottom of the kids' art bin. See where your creativity takes you and be sure to post your leftover paint and pencil projects in the gallery!