How to Build a Witch’s Cupboard on a Budget
Of course, some items are more important than others, and some items are more expensive than others.
I would like to share with you my tips and tricks for saving money and building an elaborate witch’s cupboard at the same time.
The most important thought in creating your cupboard is to start simple. You do not need every herb, oil or colored candle there is. You can always add more to your cupboard later. Start with your own personal essentials first.
There are many different ways to store your witchy wares. Whichever way you choose, this will become known as your witch’s cupboard. Any type of container that will hold all of your items is suitable. You can use a basket, box, trunk, crate, even a dresser drawer (and then expand into more drawers as your need arises).
You don’t need to spend a lot of money on your actual cupboard either. A cardboard box (preferably with a removable lid), can hold all of your supplies and be decorated anyway you like.
Check with fabric stores for remnants you like to line your cupboard with. It’s not a necessity, but as you have the resources available, this is a good way to improve your cupboard, make it more attractive and personalize it to your taste. Your cupboard may become an heirloom passed down to your own little witch someday.
I use a wicker box that was part of a bath gift set given to me. It’s a beautiful, large box and it fits my personality. It also didn’t cost me a penny!
For a new witch without a photographic memory, there a few items your witch’s cupboard should not be without. Luckily, many of these items are also really inexpensive or free. They are the lists you can’t do without. Your cupboard should include lists of:
1. Colors and their magickal associations.
2. Herbs and their magickal associations.
3. Oils and their magickal associations.
4. Days of the week and their magickal associations.
5. Crystals and stones and their magickal associations.
6. Full moons and their meanings along with phases of the moon and their magickal associations.
There are other similar lists you may want to include such as the Zodiac signs and their elements, planets and their energies, a list of when the full moons take place, a copy of the Charge of the Goddess, the Wiccan Rede, or your own invocation of the elements.
Anything that you may have problems remembering should be written down. You may keep all of this information in your personal Book of Shadows which can then be kept in your cupboard.
These lists are easy to find. Check in books or on the internet. Write them down or print them out. Again, start with the basics and keep it simple. There are entire books devoted to each one of these subjects. Make sure you have the information you need. You can always add to it later on.
There are two items I believe every witch can not do without: 1) an athame for casting your circles, and 2) a Book of Shadows.
The athame you choose is entirely up to you. This is one item you will probably have to spend money on. There are many styles available with a wide price range. Start with something small and inexpensive. As long as the athame fits your personality and is blessed and charged properly, the price and size doesn’t matter.
Your Book of Shadows also does not need to come with a huge price tag. You are free to invest in a beautiful locked leather bound book, or you are just as free to pick up a couple of spiral notebooks for $.20 a piece in August when they go on sale at the start of the school year. These can be decorated to suit your taste and will work just as well as more expensive books. You can also make a Book of Shadows with loose leaf paper and some ribbons tied through the holes on the side binding the pages together.
I have several books I use. Many of them I bought at the local Kmart after Christmas for 75% off their normal price. They are glittered and prismed notebooks that were part of gift sets. I think they are great, and they suit both my needs and eclectic tastes.
The after Christmas sales are a great time to find many of the supplies you will be using in your magick. Baskets, candles, ribbons, paper, journal style books and containers for oils, herbs, and waters can all be found at these sales. You just need to use your imagination a little and try to think of other uses than what the item was typically designed for. Any of these items can find a comfortable home in your witch’s cupboard and will be put to plenty of use.
Many of my daily used tools have come from unconventional places. Not having any stores near me that specialize in Wiccan supplies, I had turned to the internet and found that many of the items I wanted I simply could not afford. I began to look for these items in other places. My local thrift store was a gold mine.
I couldn’t afford a minimum of $30 to spend on a cast iron cauldron, and although I looked at several different thrift shops, I couldn’t find one there either – even at Halloween. I decided to start looking for something similar to a cauldron to see what I could come up with. I now have a wonderful artistically designed steel pot thing! I don’t
know what it was even supposed to be, but it works so well for my purposes it doesn’t matter what it was supposed to have been, it is now my cauldron. I also have many glass goblets, chalices and other interesting containers I bought at the thrift stores. Items like these often are very inexpensive because they were supposed to be part of a set, only the rest of the set is gone.
Thrift stores are a great place for digging around to find what you need. Scarves can be made into altar cloths. Plates or trays can be made into censers. You may also find old corked wine or oil bottles which once they are cleansed thoroughly are good for holding your own oils or moon waters. Mortars and pestles can either be found in thrift stores, or items that can easily be used as a mortar and pestle.
When buying these used items it is important to remember that each item needs to be fully cleaned and cleansed before adopting it as your own and using it. Make sure you do a banishing of negative entities ritual and a purification ritual along with a sterilization process before incorporating these items into your life.
Other items you will want to add to your cupboard depend on the kind of magick you plan on working. If you only plan on using herbs and oils, then candles wouldn’t be
necessary. Most likely, you will use candles, oils and herbs to give your spells the most power and energy you can.
There are plenty of ways to save money while buying these supplies, which will also need to be replenished often.
First of all, always use the same size candles, this way you cut down on the cost of candle holders. If you use many different sizes of candles, then you will have to buy several different sizes of candle holders. You can look into places that sell candles in bulk, hit the sales, or make your own.
After holiday sales are a great place to stock up on candles. Many grocery stores and discount department stores offer candles (both taper and votive) for as low as $.10 a piece after their promotion is over. After Halloween you can find orange and black, after St. Valentines Day reds and pinks are clearanced, and after Christmas red, green and white are readily available, with silver and gold appearing more and more often. Craft stores are another good place to check for these sales, and many of them will have reduced prices right before the holiday.
The most money consuming items you need for your cupboards will be your herbs and oils. There is simply no way around it, they are something you need and they can be costly. However, if you work hard on your studies, you will know exactly what types you need and won’t be wasting money on buying herbs you won’t be using.
Most herbs and oils can be used for more than one spell type. For example, jasmine can be used for love, money, sleep and dreams – so if you have jasmine you
probably don’t need lavender which is used for health, peace, relaxation, sleep, purification and love. Check to see what magickal associations herbs and oils have in common so you can buy as few herbs and oils as possible, yet still have what you need.
When just starting out make sure you do a lot of research and know what your oils and herbs are used for! Your hard brainwork may be what saves you the most money!
Buy herbs and oils in bulk when you can – especially those that you know you will be using the most. Check internet sites and health food stores for comparing prices too.
Buy your herbs and oils with a friend in bulk sizes and then split cost and the item. Save, clean and cleanse bottles and containers that can be used for storing your herbs and oils after splitting your purchases.
Although it would be very difficult to make your own oils, you can grow and dry your own herbs – even if you live in an apartment. Small herbal plants can be grown in containers and pots indoors as long as they get the needed sunlight.
Finally, use your herbs and oils sparingly. Remember the old rule of waste not, want not.
Although you may need to start out slow and small with your purchases, remember that many of your items won’t need to be replenished and so your cupboard can begin to grow in variety by adding more herbs, more oils, and different colored candles. Save for your bigger purchases. Study hard to know what you need and when you need it. As your magickal studies and abilities grow, so will your witch’s cupboard.
