Crafters: Are you throwing your money away? Find Out!

This guide is going to show you a simple and easy way to save money and timeevery time you paint your craft items.Now, if you're only going to paint a couple things, one time,then this guide won't help you. This is geared for the person who regularly paints craft itemson an ongoing basis as a hobby or home based business.I'm always painting the styrofoam centerpieces and the larger foam candelabracenterpieces that I've been making lately for sweet 16s.I typically have about 10 colors that I offer although there's probably only 3 or 4 that arethe most popular.My favorite tool for painting my work is the little 3 inch wide trim or touch up rollerthat gees in it's own little roller tray. You can get these at the local home improvementor hardware store. I don't like the spongy foam rollers - I use the mohair style of rollers.They allow you to put a heavier coat of paint on and help to evenly cover whatever you're painting.Anyways, after every job initially I was just tossing out the roller and the tray that came with it.I didn't want to spend the time to clean all the paint out of the roller and tray when I could just buy another one for less than $3.00After doing this for awhile, it started adding up.3 or 4 colors a couple times a week, several times a month - you get the picture.So I came up with a solution that not only lets me keep using the same rollers and traysbut it also saves me the time from NOT cleaning them and the money from NOT tossing them out.What is this genius solution you ask?Quart size resealable plastic bags with the Zip-Loc kind of seal.I've used the single and the double seal kinds of bags and don't really notice much difference for this purpose although the double seal tends to last a little longer for me..How do these baggies save me time and money?All I do is put the little roller tray with the paint and the roller inside the baggie and seal it shut.If I suspect I won't be using that particular color for at least a month, I'll put a folded up and slightly damp paper towel inside the baggie underneath the roller tray so that it provides humidity. The paint is less likely to dry out this way. Most of the water based latex paint I use will stay perfectly good inside the sealed baggie for a couple months. The colors I use most often I just keep putting more paint in the roller tray as I need it but I just stick it back into the baggie when I'm done. NO cleaning and NO wasting money by tossing it out every time!The only thing I would caution you about is to make sure you store each roller tray / baggie in a flat position so that the paint doesn't leak out of the roller tray and get all over the inside of the baggie. Also periodically check all your colors just to make sure they are OK. I had one cheap brand of paint that actually got mold on it before I had a chance to use it again.I hope this simple tip helps you make more money and saves you some time.