The MLP Arena
Pony Talk => Pony Corral => Topic started by: lovesbabysquirmy on September 11, 2017, 02:00:21 PM
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So I'm the extreme budget collector.... :shocked:
Share with me some fun ways that you increase the enjoyment of your collection for small amounts of money!
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Hmm well the simplest (and most inexpensive) way for me to enhance my collection is a trip to the craft store to buy pretty ribbons at half-yards or so. :biggrin: then making cute bows to dress the ponies up :happy:
Also, having a plain mirror tile on the shelf behind a group of ponies instantly doubles your collection :devious:
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I have to be one most of the time too, as I still don't have a job yet so most of my collection was bought with my parents' money. :P
For the most part, I look for ponies themselves (and merch) at thrift stores, which while very hit-or-miss (miss, most of the time), I have found ponies many times. There's also a small toy store that sells secondhand toys ~45 minutes away that I can occasionally go to for buying ponies of any gen, but they price ponies based on how much they're actually worth, so some are under $10, some are over. Maybe try seeing if there's any place similar to that around you! Then I also get one or two new single ponies every two weeks or so.
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Hmm well the simplest (and most inexpensive) way for me to enhance my collection is a trip to the craft store to buy pretty ribbons at half-yards or so. :biggrin: then making cute bows to dress the ponies up :happy:
Also, having a plain mirror tile on the shelf behind a group of ponies instantly doubles your collection :devious:
That last ones great! :snicker:
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If you're in to the current ponies you can usually get one of the standard brushables for $5 or a blind bag pony for a little less. Target sometimes has MLP items in their dollar section usually crafting kits, stickers, erasers etc.. If you have pony DVDs you can watch your favorite episodes. Take new pictures of your favorite pony or set up a scene with them.
Ponyfan
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Trading is helpful.
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Trading :)
Ive been on a tight budget for about 10 years and so I used fleamarkets and such to find ponies and trade them for those I wanted. (buying ponies one month, trading them the next month to keep me in my budget)
Collecting G4 BlindBag ponies is also a good way. Most are not expensive and they are really cute :)
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A couple of years ago, the company I used to work for got new desks. I was allowed to take home some of the styrofoam blocks used in their flatpacks. If you can get your hands on something similar, I recommend it. It's highly useful for elevating the second / third row of ponies on your shelf, and it doesn't cost a thing.
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OK, how to explain...? So on some shirts the manufacturer sews in two loops of ribbon that they believe will be helpful in hooking said shirt onto the hanger. They aren't. They just like to hang out of the shirt neckline and look ghastly. So I always cut them off. However they work great as baby pony tail ribbons. And they are, technically, 'free'.
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Lol I do that all the time too :D <3 Sometimes they need a little ironing but then they are super great! And they come in nice pastell colors <3
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Trading
Having a search watch set for $5-$10 on ebay, I've come away with some real steals.
Using cheap craft stuff;
Ribbon spools for under a buck.
Gloria Vanderbilt jeans come with short, purple ribbon thats perfect for babies and G4s.
Cheap, plastic baby barrettes are perfect for sea ponies.
Bandanas for a buck, instead of paying through the nose for the real bandana, works great for Big Brothers. Just cut off a corner and the rest can be used for model horse blankets, and backgrounds for photo-shoots.
Fakies of course. There seems to be a resurgence in G3 type fakies which is marvelous!
I occasionally luck out at Swapmeets for G3s.
Pony packaging makes great backgrounds for photo-shoots.
Old nature calenders that I get from the charities I donate to also work well.
I sometimes use my towels or sheets for background photoshoots.
Dyed glass food jars, stickers and colored glass rocks make great displays and stands for my sea ponies.
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Lol I do that all the time too :D <3 Sometimes they need a little ironing but then they are super great! And they come in nice pastell colors <3
I heard that using hair straighteners is a quick way to flatten out the crinkles (of course, test the temperature, especially for synthetic ribbons!) :)
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Rotate and reorganize. :)
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Decorating your pony shelves (or wherever you display your ponies) is always fun! I also find that reorganizing helps, as well.
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Crafts and Pony Meets. I love to sew, and i am always looking foe pony things to sew! Any craft would work, though. My wishlist is pretty much all expensive and hard to find now, so i save my pennies for when a good one comes along.
Pony meets are my favorite way to get my pony fix without NEEDING to spend lots of money. I still do, but i also get to see other peoples collections, sales, drawings, whatever! We did a show and tell a couple weeks ago with an amazing variety of things- g1, g4, crafts, merchandise- and stories of great finds. Dont have one near you? Post a message to see if anyone wants to meet for pony lunch!