You love to cross stitch but it's costing way too much, you thought. How do you maintain this hobby and not fall into the commercial traps of the cross stitch mania. Here are my tried and true ways of making your cross stitch go a long way and then some.

After your project is done, snip extra fabric, keep the thread and store the needles.

You have to leave at 2-3 inches around your design for framing. But if you have more than that, don't just leave it there or throw it away. Cut them nicely off your design and store them for future projects. Use your creativity and you can use these long thin fabrics to make borders, bookmarks, trimmings for table runners, little patches for your clothes and so many other things you can think of. Your cross stitch project don't have to end here. There are just so much things you can do with the leftovers.

Leftover thread can be used to cross stitch small designs. Even if the free pattern in the magazine uses a red color thread but you only have pink, go ahead use pink! It will still be beautiful, I'm sure.

Don't throw away those needles that come with the kit. I keep them all and although I get another needle in a new kit, I always have old needles in case I lose the one I'm using. Why buy extra needles when you get them for free!

Expensive organizers be gone!

With all the technology and advancements in storage space, cross stitch organizers have gone all over the design block and back. There are some pretty fancy ones out there and I've used some of them too. Some of them are great but some are just a waste of money. I've found that the everyday storage containers are sometimes the best solution.

I get them cheap at the grocery store, you know those little plastic drawers. Those are amazing as thread organizers. I keep my fabrics in a box and I keep my current project in a zip lock bag. Being frugal does not mean I love cross stitch any less.

Sometimes the fun in crafting is more in the ideas we get to create a masterpiece, never the dollars put into it.