Top 11 'Zero-Dollar-Drawer' Craft Supplies to make at home using only kitchen scraps. - Goh Ling Yong
Welcome, fellow creators and kitchen wizards! Take a moment and think about your kitchen bin. What do you see? Limp carrot peels, used coffee grounds, the papery skins of an onion? Most people see trash. But we see treasure. We see a hidden world of colour, texture, and possibility just waiting to be unlocked. This is the magic of the 'Zero-Dollar-Drawer'—the ultimate collection of craft supplies that costs you nothing and saves beautiful, useful materials from the landfill.
Here at the Goh Ling Yong blog, we believe that creativity shouldn't be limited by a trip to the art store. It’s about resourcefulness, ingenuity, and finding inspiration in the everyday. Your kitchen is more than just a place to cook; it's a vibrant, ever-renewing source of materials. From the deep magenta of a beetroot to the rustic texture of an eggshell, the building blocks for your next masterpiece are already at your fingertips.
In this guide, we're diving deep into the world of upcycled art. We’ll show you how to transform common kitchen scraps into 11 amazing, high-quality craft supplies. Forget expensive paints and specialty papers. It’s time to open your eyes to the potential in your compost pile and build a craft stash that is not only free but also beautifully natural and eco-friendly. Let's get started!
1. Vibrant Natural Dyes from Peels & Pits
Forget those tiny, expensive bottles of synthetic dye. Your vegetable drawer holds a rainbow of pigments! Creating your own natural dyes is a magical, almost alchemical process that connects you directly to the colours of the earth. The best part? The results are always a surprise, yielding soft, earthy tones that you simply can't replicate with store-bought products.
The process is wonderfully simple. Just collect your chosen scraps (the more, the better for a concentrated colour), place them in a non-reactive pot (like stainless steel), and cover them with about twice as much water. Simmer the mixture for at least an hour, or until the water is richly coloured. You can then strain out the solids and use your dye immediately. For colours that last, you can pre-soak your fabric or paper in a 'mordant' like a solution of 1 part vinegar to 4 parts water, which helps the colour bind.
- Top Tips & Colour Guide:
- Avocado Pits & Skins: Don't throw these away! They create a stunning, dusty millennial pink.
- Yellow Onion Skins: Yields a range of yellows, oranges, and rustic browns. A true workhorse of the natural dye world.
- Red Cabbage: Creates a brilliant magenta dye that can be shifted to blue with a little baking soda or to pink with a splash of lemon juice. It's a fun pH experiment!
- Beetroot Peels: Produces a deep, ruby-red dye, though it can fade over time. Perfect for projects you're not expecting to last for centuries.
- Used Coffee Grounds or Black Tea Bags: For beautiful, vintage-inspired browns and sepia tones.
2. Eggshell 'Gesso' and Texture Paste
Every artist knows the value of a good gesso—a primer that prepares a surface for painting, giving it a bit of 'tooth' for the paint to grip. Well, you can make a fantastic, textural version using nothing but dried eggshells and a bit of glue. The fine, chalky powder adds body and a rustic, fresco-like quality to any paint or can be used on its own to build up texture.
First, you need to collect and clean your eggshells. Rinse them thoroughly and let them air dry completely (or speed it up in a low oven for 10 minutes). Once they are bone dry, you need to crush them into a very fine powder. A mortar and pestle works beautifully, but you can also place them in a sturdy bag and roll over them with a rolling pin or even blitz them in an old coffee grinder dedicated to crafts.
Mix your fine eggshell powder with a simple white craft glue (or our homemade starchy glue from item #8!) until you get a thick, spreadable paste. You can make it as thick or thin as you like. Use it to prime a canvas, add a three-dimensional effect to a painting, or create a textured surface on a plain wooden box before painting it.
3. Rustic Fruit & Veggie Stamps
This is a classic craft for a reason: it's simple, fun, and yields incredibly beautiful results. Before you toss that potato that's starting to sprout or the end of a celery bunch, see it for what it is—a perfectly formed, custom stamp. The natural shapes and patterns found in produce are often more intricate and organic than anything you could buy.
The key is to get a clean, flat cut. For potatoes, apples, or pears, an adult can simply slice them in half. You can then use a small knife or a pen tip to carve a simple design into the flesh—think stripes, dots, or a simple star. For things like celery, okra, or bell peppers, the shape is already there when you slice it. The base of a celery stalk looks just like a rose, while a cross-section of okra is a perfect five-pointed flower.
For best results, pat the cut surface of your veggie stamp with a paper towel to remove excess moisture. Then, dip it into paint and press firmly onto your paper or fabric. These are perfect for creating handmade greeting cards, custom wrapping paper, or even decorating a plain tote bag.
4. Homemade Paper from Vegetable Pulp
This is a slightly more involved project, but the results are absolutely breathtaking and well worth the effort. Making your own paper from kitchen scraps is the ultimate form of recycling, turning fibrous waste into beautiful, one-of-a-kind sheets of art paper. Papery onion skins, leek tops, corn husks, and even the pulp left over from juicing carrots can be used.
You'll need a blender (again, one you don't mind using for crafts), a shallow tub of water, and a mould and deckle (which you can make yourself with two old picture frames and some window screen material). The process involves boiling your fibrous scraps until they are very soft, blending them with water into a smooth pulp (a slurry), and then dipping your mould and deckle into the slurry to capture a thin, even layer of pulp.
Once you lift the frame from the water, you let the excess water drain before carefully transferring the wet sheet of pulp onto a piece of felt or absorbent cloth (a process called 'couching'). Press out the excess water, let it dry, and voilà—you have a sheet of textured, beautifully imperfect, handmade paper ready for your next project.
5. Coffee & Tea 'Watercolor' Paint
Have you ever spilled coffee on a piece of paper and, after the initial panic, noticed the lovely, warm, sepia-toned stain it left behind? You can harness that effect to create a beautiful, subtle 'watercolor' paint. This is perfect for aging paper to look like an old map or for creating monochrome paintings with a wonderfully vintage feel.
Simply take your used coffee grounds or a few old tea bags and re-brew them with a very small amount of hot water. You want a highly concentrated, dark liquid. The more you reduce the water, the darker your 'paint' will be. You can create a whole palette of shades from light tan to deep espresso brown just by varying the concentration.
This 'paint' works just like watercolour. Use it with a soft brush on thick paper that can handle moisture. It's a fantastic way to practice brush strokes and layering techniques without using up expensive art supplies. I remember seeing a project by Goh Ling Yong that used this very technique to create stunning, minimalist landscape paintings that looked like old photographs.
6. All-Natural Salt Dough Clay
Clay is an incredibly versatile medium, but it can be pricey. Salt dough is the classic, kitchen-pantry alternative that has been used by creative families for generations. It’s non-toxic, easy to make, and can be used to sculpt ornaments, beads, small figurines, and more. While flour isn't technically a "scrap," this is a perfect way to use up the last bits of a bag or flour that's nearing its expiration date.
The classic recipe is foolproof: two parts all-purpose flour, one part table salt, and one part water. Mix the dry ingredients together first, then slowly add the water until a firm, pliable dough forms. If it’s too sticky, add a bit more flour; if it’s too crumbly, add a splash more water. Knead it for a few minutes until it's smooth.
You can then sculpt it into any shape you desire. Once your creations are finished, you have two options for hardening them: you can let them air dry for a few days (depending on thickness), or you can bake them in an oven at a very low temperature (around 120°C / 250°F) for an hour or two until they are hard and dry to the touch. Once cooled, they can be painted and sealed.
7. Seed & Nut Shell Mosaics
Don't throw away those pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, or pistachio shells! When cleaned and dried, these become fantastic mosaic 'tiles' or 'tesserae'. They offer a wonderful range of natural shapes, sizes, and textures that you can use to create stunning, tactile art pieces.
The preparation is simple. For seeds, just rinse them well to remove any pulp and let them dry completely on a paper towel. For nut shells, a quick wipe is usually all they need. You can leave them in their natural state for an earthy, neutral palette, or you can dye them for a pop of colour using your homemade natural dyes from item #1!
Arrange your seeds and shells on a piece of cardboard, wood, or a jar and glue them down to create intricate patterns or pictures. Pistachio shells are wonderful for creating layered, scale-like patterns (like fish scales or flower petals), while pumpkin seeds are perfect for outlining shapes or filling in larger areas.
8. Starchy 'Mod Podge' Glue
Why buy commercial glue or decoupage medium when you can make a perfectly effective, non-toxic version from the water you were about to pour down the drain? The water left over from boiling potatoes, rice, or pasta is full of starch. When you reduce this liquid, that starch becomes concentrated, creating a surprisingly strong natural adhesive.
After boiling your pasta or potatoes, carefully reserve the starchy water. Pour it into a small saucepan and gently simmer it on low heat. As the water evaporates, the liquid will thicken. Keep simmering until it reaches the consistency of a thin white glue. Let it cool completely before using it.
This starchy glue is perfect for paper mâché projects, creating a 'crackle' finish on paint, or as a light sealant for kid's art projects. It won't be waterproof like commercial sealants, but for indoor projects, it works like a charm and you can't beat the price!
9. Corn Husk Weaving Strips & Dolls
Before you toss the husks from your summer corn on the cob, save them! Corn husks are an incredible natural fibre. When dried, they are brittle, but when rehydrated in a bowl of warm water, they become soft, pliable, and surprisingly strong—perfect for weaving or sculpting.
This is a traditional craft in many cultures. You can tear the rehydrated husks into uniform strips and weave them together to make small baskets, placemats, or decorative braids. They are also famously used to make charming, rustic dolls. By folding, tying, and shaping the husks, you can create little figures without any glue or sewing.
Once your creation is complete, simply let it air dry. As the moisture evaporates, the corn husks will stiffen and hold their shape permanently. It's a beautiful way to create something lasting from a fleeting summer treat.
10. Dried Citrus Peel Ornaments & Potpourri
The peels from oranges, lemons, and grapefruits are packed with fragrant essential oils. Instead of letting that incredible scent go to waste, you can easily dry the peels to create aromatic decorations and potpourri that will perfume your home naturally.
You can cut the peels into interesting shapes with small cookie cutters before you dry them, or simply slice them into spirals or rounds. To dry them, you can either lay them on a rack in a warm, dry spot for several days, or speed up the process by baking them on a cookie sheet in the oven at its lowest possible temperature for 2-3 hours, until they are dry and curled.
Once dry, you can string them into a beautiful garland, use them as Christmas ornaments, or mix them with other natural elements like cinnamon sticks and cloves to create a bowl of fragrant potpourri. It’s a craft that engages not just your hands, but your sense of smell, too.
11. Natural Brushes & Mark-Making Tools
Our final 'supply' isn't a material, but a tool. Step away from the uniform, factory-made brushes and look for interesting textures in your kitchen scraps. Creating your own mark-making tools will push your creativity and introduce an element of beautiful unpredictability into your artwork.
The woody stems of herbs like rosemary or thyme make fantastic, rustic brushes that create interesting, scratchy lines. The cut end of a leek or a scallion creates a fascinating circular pattern. A bunch of celery stalks held together with a rubber band can be used to stamp a beautiful rose-like shape.
Experiment with everything! Dip these natural tools into ink or paint and see what kinds of marks they make on paper. You’ll discover textures and patterns you never could have achieved with a standard brush. This is all about play and exploring the happy accidents that make art so exciting.
Your Kitchen, Your Art Studio
So there you have it—eleven ways to transform the things you once called 'trash' into a rich and rewarding 'Zero-Dollar-Drawer' of craft supplies. The next time you're cooking, we hope you'll look at that avocado pit, those onion skins, or that potato peel with new eyes. You'll see not waste, but potential. You'll see colour, texture, and the spark of a new creative project.
Creating with kitchen scraps is more than just a fun, frugal hobby. It’s a mindset. It's about reducing waste, appreciating the resources around you, and understanding that creativity isn't something you buy, but something you cultivate.
Now it's your turn. Which of these ideas are you most excited to try? Do you have a favourite kitchen scrap craft that we didn't mention? Share your thoughts and your amazing creations in the comments below or tag us on social media. We can't wait to see what you make!
Happy crafting
About the Author
Goh Ling Yong is a content creator and digital strategist sharing insights across various topics. Connect and follow for more content:
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