Hi there.  Hopefully you are a crafty ol’ crafter looking for ideas to use paint chips in your next DIY project.  You won’t find creative ideas here on how to use paint chips to make Easter egg garland and you won’t find a DIY guide to creating a paint chip curtain.  In fact, if you are seriously looking for ideas, take a quick gander at the THOUSAND art projects on Pinterest with crafty little ways to make use of those STACKS of paint chips you’ve got just floating around your house, waiting for the next project.

However, before you go all clicky crazy over at Pinterest and then rush out to Home Depot or your nearest paint store to hoard paint chips just because they are free, please take a moment (and a deep breath) and hear me out.

A bit of back story first.  I was sitting in my daughter’s room earlier tonight and I was doing a search on Pinterest for Easter crafts that my daughter might enjoy doing.  Specifically, I was looking for fun, edible crafts that used things that we already had in our fridge / cupboards.  However, I was sort of derailed in my search when I saw this one post about a DIY Easter egg garland using paint chips.

The author of said blog post wrote, “I’m a bit of a hoarder when it comes to paint chips.  They all look so lovely in the hardware store that I have a hard time sticking to my intended color scheme.  As a result, I have quite a collection.”  Now, I’m not going to include the photo here because I don’t want to violate some copyright law but click through to the post above to see the small mountain of paint chips that this blogger has “hoarded.”

My first thought, when reading the title and clicking through was, “Oh wow, this could be a cool way to recycle the one or two paint chips you pick up when you are looking for a new paint color” but when I saw this crafter’s STACK of paint chips, many in the EXACT SAME COLOR, I knew this wasn’t just a matter of grabbing a few variations to see what looks best on your wall.  I then felt a little perturbed that the blogger was obviously trying to avoid saying, “I go to the hardware store and I pilfer stacks of paint chips and oh lookie, here is what I can make with them” but rather was trying to make the audience think that she really does have many of these because, “They all look so lovely in the hardware store that I have a hard time sticking to my intended color scheme.  As a result, I have quite a collection.”

Reading through the comments, I felt myself getting more and more irate.  Here were these other crafters saying that they too had stacks of these paint chips at home and that they gobbled up stacks of them whenever they were at the hardware store.  Others, who obviously did not partake in this behaviour beforehand decided that they MUST run out to the store to grab some paint chips too.  You know, because construction paper is probably too expensive and recycling cereal boxes or other materials already in the home is probably not quite as “pretty” as these magnificent paint chips.

You might be reading this and you might be wondering why paint chips have me so fired up.  Well, I think it’s completely wasteful and as someone who owns a company, I think it’s completely absurd that the three common arguments for the stealing of paint chips for arts and crafts is: (a) they are free, (b) it’s a great way to recycle them and (c) it is good advertising for the paint company.

I’m going to break down these myths surrounding the use of these paint chips so that hopefully, it helps to shed light on why you should be using other materials in your DIY projects.

Myth #1 – Paint Chips are Free Therefore It’s Okay to Use Them in Your Arts & Crafts Projects

Ladies… lemme let you in on a little secret.  These paint chips are not free.  The hardware stores have to purchase these paint chips from the paint companies.  This means that every paint chip you steal to turn into a Valentine or into a coaster (really?!), someone out there has to pay for that out of their pocket.  If the store you are taking them from is privately owned, it’s even worse.

Even if the paint companies provided them to the stores for free, they still need to be produced, which costs money.  They don’t just magically appear into thin air so therefore, they are not free.

If you’re still unconvinced, ask yourself this: would you grab the roll of toilet paper from a public washroom stall simply because it’s there, it’s free to use and there is no barcode on it?  If you do, that is just awful but most people wouldn’t do it.  Same goes with ketchup packets at a fast food restaurant.  They are there for free but it doesn’t translate into, “Take eighteen of me home so you can have ketchup on your fries later.”

Nobody wants to go into a stall and find the toilet paper roll missing or reach for ketchup for their fries and find none left, just like nobody wants to go to a store for a paint chip and find the slot emptied by crafters.

Myth #2 – This is a Great Way to Recycle Unused Paint Chips

Agreed.  When you have one or two of them from a real-to-life paint project that required a couple of paint chips.  You hoarders that have eighteen of each color are not doing real paint projects and are therefore not really using them and then recycling them.  You are not doing Mother Earth any favours here because those Valentine’s you just made ended up in the recipient’s trash and that Easter garland will end up there someday too.

You’d actually be doing Mother Earth a favour if you left them in the store, to be used only when needed and that way, the company could produce less of them, use less paper, cut down fewer trees and the pollution created from creating these paint chips and then delivering them to all the stores across North America would be way less.  See what I mean?

Myth #3 – It’s Great Advertising for the Paint Company

Ummmmm… no.  In fact, very few of you leave the company logo or the paint color name on your DIY projects.  Very few of your blogs that you post the DIY project to get read and very few of you have lines of people moving through your house to take in your craft projects and get inspired to go buy paint.

Let’s get real here, this is no more an advertisement for the paint company than the toilet paper sitting in my bathroom upstairs is.  It’s in your home, it’s for your enjoyment and IF you blog about it, you still aren’t encouraging anyone to go buy paint.  You’re only encouraging them to go steal paint chips.

What Do the Paint Companies Have to Say and What Will They Do?

Here’s what is actually going to happen to these paint chips.  Paint companies are going to start charging for them.  Or, they’ll charge the hardware stores more and then they will have to charge us for them.  Either way, the costs will get too high (especially with the explosion of DIY projects on Pinterest) and we will pay.  You, Miss Crafter Lady, are going to ruin it for people like me who may genuinely need a paint chip someday and will end up having to pay for it.

If you’re curious about what the big paint companies had to say on this subject, this blog post over at CraftGossip.com has actual, written responses from various paint companies.

What to Do if You REALLY Need Paint Chips

I wanted to end with some valid advice for those of you who really can’t survive without making that pinned paint chip project.  Call up your local hardware store, the one you are currently pilfering the paint chips from, and ask them if they could jot your number down.  Ask them if they wouldn’t mind calling you when and if certain paint chip colors are discontinued so that you can pick up the paint chips they are more than likely going to recycle / throw out.  This way, you can use those paint chips in your art projects and leave the other paint chips to find their way into the hands of people looking to remodel a room in their home.

Alternatively, you can also call up the paint companies and ask them how you might be able to purchase a fan deck of paint chips.  This would give you an entire book of them and you’ve legitimately purchased your craft supply.  Or, you could also call the paint company and ask them if they have a location where you can pick up paint chips that may be recycled for whatever reason.

Or, consider an alternative altogether.  Use scrapbooking paper, try cereal boxes (especially those with blocks of color in the paper), use catalog or magazine covers… the alternative are endless and can produce a very similar result.

Comment Below!

Do you think taking paint chips without the intention of buying said paint is stealing?  Do you think it’s unethical, rude or inconsiderate?  Or, do you find it a great addition to your craft supplies cart?  Comment below!  I’m curious to see what you think.