Have you noticed the high prices of craft supplies? Me too!

To find cheaper crafting materials, crafters often visit flea markets, garage sales, and consignment stores. These are all wonderful sources for less expensive craft supplies, but there's one place even cheaper - and everyone has access to it.

The outdoors. Mother Nature has a spectacular array of materials useful for craft projects, and it's free.

For free craft supplies, try looking in your own yard, open spaces and trails, friends' yards, city parks, or even next to roadways. Be aware that removing items from some areas, such as national parks, is illegal.

I've used several natural items in my craft projects. Here is a short list to help you with ideas:

Pine cones Rocks big and small Bark Sticks, twigs and branches Flowers Leaves Sea shells Sand Abandoned bird nests Feathers

Natural materials often need some type of treatment to be usable. Pine cones, for example, have sap and bugs and so should be heated in an oven before using in your craft projects.

Flowers and leaves will need to be dried for use in certain projects, like collage or card making. You can press between newspaper and heavy books, or even make your own flower press to accomplish this. Look for instructions online.

Rocks, sea shells, sticks, and bird nests need to be cleaned prior to use. Sand can be sterilized by heating in an oven.

Take a step outside. It's amazing what you can find in nature to use in your craft projects. And best of all, nature's craft supplies are free.

Making handmade decorations for your home is easy. This is another way of giving your home a makeover without spending too much. As long as you have the right materials, you can make these handmade charms provide new life to your home.

- Come up with a budget that will work with your plans. Since you will make handmade decorations, check if the materials you will use won't burn a hole in your wallet.

- Select the area that needs decorating. Making handmade decorations are fun, but to make it less overwhelming, you need to do it by area. Working by area helps maintain your momentum.

- The first thing you have to do is to come up with a pattern for your handmade decors. If there's a theme or an occasion, you can work around it to be able to come up with interesting home handmade charms. Don't know where to start yet? You can go online in search for an inspiration. You can even go outside and look around for ideas.

- Inspiration can be found everywhere; the same thing can apply when you look for your materials. You can purchase the materials of your handmade charms at local craft stores. The tools you need will depend on how big and intricate your handmade decorations will be.

- Once you are able to come up with a design, make a pattern out of it. Since you will work with a lot of handmade decorations, to avoid any confusion during the work process, a pattern will help serve as a guide. Make many patterns as you can. You can make a prototype or you can trace your design using a tracing paper. Choose which best works for you. After tracing your design, it's time to work on your handmade charms.