Arts and crafts are just a few of the hobbies that benefitted from the COVID-19 pandemic, with many getting a renewed interest in low-stakes DYI creativity that continues to this day.
Starting and maintaining the craft of your choice costs money, however. So, today, we’ll share all the ways to pay for your new or existing arts and crafts habit — without spending a fortune.
Related: The best credit cards for everyday spending
Best credit cards for crafting supplies
You may as well use a credit card to buy crafts so you can be rewarded for your spending. Below are our picks that will give you the biggest bang for your crafting buck.
Amex EveryDay Preferred Credit Card from American Express
Some crafts require more tools than others. For instance, if you’re starting quilting, you’ll need plenty of fabric and batting, a sewing machine, a cutting mat, a rotary cutter and blades, scissors, a tape measure, a seam ripper and more.
If you’re making a lot of purchases, the Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express can be a good choice. Normally, it offers 1 Membership Rewards point per dollar spent. However, you can earn a 50% bonus when you make 30 transactions or more in a billing cycle — which you’ll likely hit easily with a hobby like this.
This card has a $95 annual fee but allows you to earn Membership Rewards points that can be transferred to Amex’s airline and hotel partners, including Air Canada Aeroplan, Avianca LifeMiles, British Airways Executive Club, Delta SkyMiles and Marriott Bonvoy.
The information for the Amex EveryDay Preferred card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Related: Choosing the best American Express credit card for you
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Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card earns 2 miles per dollar on all purchases, making it an ideal option for crafters looking to maximize rewards while stocking up on supplies. It’s also ideal for those new to the points and miles world who don’t want to keep track of myriad spending category bonuses.
Whether you’re buying 10 skeins of yarn, a pack of painting canvases or embroidery needles and floss, you’ll earn 2 miles on everything. The annual fee on this card is also a reasonable $95.
The current sign-up bonus on this card is 75,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening. TPG values those miles at 1.85 cents apiece, making the bonus worth $1,388 — enough to buy a nice sewing machine.
Apply here: Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
Capital One Walmart Rewards Mastercard
With the cobranded Capital One Walmart Rewards® Mastercard, you’ll earn an unlimited 5% cash back on Walmart.com purchases, including crafting supplies. The retailer is very popular with crafters because of the wide variety of products offered, along with its famously low prices and the chance to snag some great bargains during sales and clearances.
You earn 2% cash back on restaurants, travel, Walmart stores, Walmart and Murphy USA Fuel Stations, and 1% back on all other purchases.
This card is no longer available to new applicants. The information for the Capital One Walmart Rewards card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Related: The best Capital One credit cards
Prime Visa
Amazon is a crafter’s paradise that offers thousands of supplies for many hobbies. Want to learn how to embroider? Amazon has kits for that. Want to let loose your inner Vincent van Gogh and take up painting? Amazon sells kits and supplies, including easels, canvases and brushes.
The Prime Visa is only available to Amazon Prime members, and you’ll get a sign-up bonus of an Amazon gift card. Beyond this bonus, crafters can get a generous 5% cash back on Amazon and Whole Foods purchases, along with 2% back on restaurants, gas stations and on local transit and commuting (including rideshare). All other purchases earn 1% cash back.
Those who don’t already have Amazon Prime will have to decide whether an annual Prime membership is worth it, especially if they don’t shop on the site often.
Apply here: Prime Visa
Related: The best credit cards
Target Circle Credit Card
Target has limited crafting supplies for adults, but if you’re looking to keep the kids busy, Target.com is the place. It has more than 5,000 items that can be filtered by age, craft type, brand, skill level and more. Kids’ crafting supplies include kits for rock painting, beading and soap making, along with crayons, markers and coloring books.
Those with the Target Circle™ Credit Card will receive a 5% discount on all eligible Target purchases, plus 2% back on dining and gas purchases and 1% back everywhere else. You’ll also receive 30 extra days for returns and free two-day shipping on most online Target purchases.
The information for the Target Circle Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Shopping portals
Shopping portals are great because they let you earn bonus points, miles or cash back at hundreds of online retailers. All you have to do is visit the portal and click through to the retailer’s site (rather than starting at the merchant directly). You’ll earn rewards on your purchase through the portal, plus additional points or miles through the actual rewards credit card you use, making this an easy way to double dip.
I shop regularly through the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Shopping portal, where I can earn bonus points at more than 850 retailers. One of those retailers is Michael’s, the largest specialty provider of arts and crafts supplies.
Keep in mind that if you use a coupon that isn’t listed on the shopping portal’s site, you will not earn rewards. Luckily, lots of shopping portals list coupon codes on their merchant pages. You can use these to save extra cash while maximizing your arts and crafts purchases.
Cash-back sites
Another type of shopping portal is one that offers cash back on your purchases. These are a solid option if you’re not into the points-and-miles game. Shopping portal aggregators such as Cashback Monitor can help you find the highest payouts. Just visit the site, enter the merchant you want to shop with and you’ll get a list of shopping portals offering the biggest rewards.
In the past, for example, Mr. Rebates has offered 5% cash back at TV shopping channel HSN and 4% at QVC. Both sell items that are very popular with crafters, including sewing machines, art supplies storage, yarn by the bulk, Cricut paper-making cutters and supplies and more.
Top Cashback, meanwhile, has offered 4% cash back at Hobby Lobby, the largest privately owned arts-and-crafts store in the world, with more than 900 stores nationwide.
Related: How to use Rakuten to earn bonus cash back or Amex points
Offers and deals
American Express, Bank of America and Chase all have sites that offer extra points, coupons and cash back for spending at targeted retailers.
Amex Offers has had deals for companies including Envelopes.com, Zazzle.com, Paper Source and GotPrint.com.
Chase Offers, meanwhile, has had deals for Kindle (where you can buy how-to crafting books), along with Big Lots and Zazzle, which both sell crafting supplies.
Coupons from store mailing lists
JoAnn, a competitor to Michael’s, calls itself the nation’s leading fabric and craft retailer, with over 800 stores across 49 states and the Joann.com website. Both of these sites are well known for the myriad of coupons they offer to help crafters stretch their dollars. Finding ways to redeem them is a major sport among crafters.
JoAnn and Michael’s offer many coupons, but be warned: You must read the fine print. They tend to exclude items such as gift cards, sewing patterns, irons and steamers, and sewing machines.
Bottom line
Learning a new craft or stepping up on an existing one can be comforting and a great way to kill time. I’m a quilter, but I’ve switched to making things using my scrap materials — and saving money with the options listed above.
If you play your (credit) cards right, your crafting hobby could even help pay for your next big trip.
