Cheap Plastic Plants

I'd be careful of putting plastics and other household items in the aquarium - some are fine, some are toxic to fish or will break down over time. You could check out aquascaping websites, use Google and you'll be amazed at the information you can find.
How much lighting have you got on the tank? If you have at least 1.5 watts per gallon there are many plants that could do fine in your tank, but keep in mind with real plants you may need to fertilize them which costs money - there are some inexpensive ways to do this, but it's still not free.

I will never do the plastic plant thing again, after seeing my ghost knife with a shredded fin. (healed now) I see these plastic jobs for sale, anywhere from 4 to 20 dollars each. I bought 3 live plants for 10 bucks. I have 1.5 watts per gallon. I leave the lights on 12 hours a day. I dose twice a week with flourish. 2mls per week. (a 3 month supply 10 bucks) The plants are so green it amazes me everytime I walk by. If I have afew extra bucks, I'll pick up a plant every now and then, or I divide the ones I have to fill in holes here and there. My tank is constantly changing. Plastic plants just get icky and dirty and when I pulled out my 2, I found a bunch of crud collecting at the base, and also the live plants use the crud as fertilizer too and help clean the water. Nope, no more plastic for this newby. The live plants are cheaper in the long run and alot purtier too. Experiment with anubis, valsineria, anachris, saggitarius, and java, and you won't go wrong. Oh and the smal sword 'tropica' is fairly easy too.

you can make spawning mops out of yarn

For $3 i bought myself a clump of watersprite. At my meager .72W/G they had grown enough that i could spread it around my whole 55g tank and my 20g.

pm me i might have a box of plants somewhere