I have used a three-fold fire screen to hold cloth for the backgrounds of objects. That was another casualty of my move, but the person who snatched it up had the same idea for using it. I found that had all kinds of uses around the house.
If you don't have Adobe for fooling around with your images, you can get access to a very nice online editor that has many of the same effects:
Picnik - edit photos the easy way, online in your browser
I, myself, may finally be able to get some pictures done because I am in the midst of getting another camera to work. Thought I was going to use it today, but someone had killed the battery by leaving it packed in with the camera and the manual said to disconnect it whenever it was not in use
I envy those of you who have the patience to use "real" cameras.