Inspired by a project she saw in a booklet from Lowe’s, Kristi (aka Cupcake Mama) from Cupcake Daze came up with her own version of a slate tile tic-tac-toe board.  She used a slate floor tile as the base, with felt stick-on pads underneath to avoid scratching your table top.  The X and O markers are made by simply painting the letters onto stones, which her daughter helped to do.  Her blog is full of other fun, kid-oriented ideas as well, so be sure to drop by and look around!  [how to make a slate tile tic-tac-toe board]

While you probably won’t be able to find a slate tile at the dollar store, most home improvement stores should have them for around $2 each.  Her stones are river rocks from the dollar store, but you could easily collect your own off the ground; just make sure you wash and dry them well so that the paint will stick.

Project estimate:

• Slate tile, $2
• 10 stones, free or $1
• Stick-on felt pads, $1
• White paint, on hand or $1
• Polyurethane, on hand or $5 and up

Total:  $3 and up

You could adapt this idea for other classic board games as well.  For example, painting the slate with a checkered grid makes it perfect for both checkers and chess.  Paint stones red and black to make game pieces for checkers; make them stackable by adding stick-on Velcro tabs to the top and bottom of each stone.  For chess pieces, paint the names of the pieces on the stones.  You could also use the initial of each piece name (K for king, Q for queen, and so on) or, if you are artistic, paint images on the stones representing the different chess pieces.

I've always secretly hoped that my first child will be a girl, largely because of adorable projects like this rose petal dress.  DSC reader Emmylou Hart came up with this cute little number for her blog, sewn, using a light pink girls t-shirt and a bag of silk rose petals.  The instructions will make any size dress from infant up to 4t.  Emmylou also has a lot of other great t-shirt altering projects on her blog - be sure to check it out!  [how to make a rose petal toddler dress]

You could also make a fall version of this dress using silk leaves in autumn colors.  To make a shirt larger than size 4t, try using a womens t-shirt rather than a girls size.

Project estimate:

• Girls t-shirt, $1
• Silk rose petals, $1
• Elastic thread, on hand or $1 and up

Total: $2 and up

Sugar skulls are a traditional part of the Day of the Dead (aka Dia de los Muertos) decorations and ritual. Usually they're not made to be eaten, but I found these cool skull ice cube trays at the dollar store, and I thought it would be fun to make edible skull decorations. Making edible skulls is cheap, and so easy even a preschooler can do it. I made a batch of them, and after I was done, my 4 year-old used leftover sugar mixture to make a skull all by himself with no help from me. Check out the video (subscribe), or the written instructions below.

These sugar skulls by Crafty Chica

These differ from traditional skulls because they don't use egg whites or meringue powder, and therefore are not as hard. Traditional sugar skulls (or "calaveras") are hollow, decorated in colorful icing, and put out to commemorate the dead. These are firm, like sugar cubes, but you can bite into them. Use these as cupcake toppers, or as a creepy sugar cube to serve with your Halloween or Day of the Dead tea or coffee. Decorate them with royal icing to make them look more like traditional sugar skulls (or use Crafty Chica's shortcut and use mini tubes of frosting from the grocery store).

This project works with any mold, so think beyond the skulls!

Project Materials:

• 1 cup granulated white sugar, on hand
• 2 teaspoons water, on hand
• Silicone ice cube mold (skull shaped), $1
• Piece of cardboard or cookie sheet, on hand

Total: $1

Put 1 cup of granulated white sugar in a mixing bowl. Make an indentation in the middle of the sugar and add 2 teaspoons (yes, the itty bitty ones!) of water to it. Squish the mixture with your fingers for about one minute until completely incorporated. Make sure there are no lumps of dry sugar. When it's mixed, it should feel like wet sand.

Fill the molds with sugar and pack tightly. Level top off with a flat spatula or scraper.

Put a cookie sheet or piece of cardboard on top of the mold, then turn over and unmold the skulls immediately.

Let the skulls dry 5 hours or overnight, or put them in a 200° F oven for 5-10 minutes to help them dry more quickly. When they're dry, you can decorate them. Use royal icing, mini tubes of frosting from the grocery store, or colored candy melts to decorate the skulls to resemble the colorful Day of the Dead skulls.

Additional Resources:

• Sugar Molding from Wren's Cottage
• Projects: Sugar Skulls from Diary of a Crafty Chica

I bought a suede shirt at the thrift store several years ago and have been hoarding it until the right project came along. A couple months ago, I realized that was silly -- there will always be another unwanted leather garment to be found at a thrift store, so I might as well use this one. In the spirit of stashbusting, I decided to cut the leather shirt up and make a purse. This purse design makes use of the details already present in the shirt: the cuff (with seaming, as well as a button and button hole), the pleating on the cuff, and the nature of leather: it doesn't fray!

If you don't have a leather shirt available, you can easily add a lining to the purse design to add body to the purse and conceal any unfinished edges. I didn't add finishing details for this purse because I made it as a play satchel (in the style of Indiana Jones) for my younger son. I really like the shape of the purse, though, and I think it would be a nice accessory for a woman! If I made a purse like this for myself, I would add a lining and one or two inside pockets (gotta keep track of the keys and phone), but keep the shape of the purse the same.

Key tips for working with leather:

• Buy a leather needle for your sewing machine (less than $2)
• Don't use pins (use binder clips instead)
• Sew slowly

Project Materials:

• Leather or suede shirt, $5 or so at a thrift store
• 4 rings (about 1" in diameter), 2 lanyard hooks, $1 or on hand
• Leather sewing machine needle, $2 or on hand
• Thread, sewing machine, on hand

Total: $5 and up

A note about the metal findings: The metal rings and lanyard hooks were just part of a large package of metal findings I bought at the craft store, so I just used what I had on hand. You can do different kinds of straps depending on what you have available.

To Make:

First, cut the sleeve carefully from your leather shirt, then cut up the underarm seam. Lay flat to see the shape of the sleeve. Cut two small rectangles (about half an inch by 3")  to use as loops on the sides of the purse. You can also use any scraps from the shirt for this (for example, if you cut off the underarm seam from the shirt, a piece of the seam makes a great loop).

Fold shirt along any pleats to bring side seams in. You want to make the sides of the fabric as straight up and down as possible. Also consider how the pleats are laying at the top of the sleeve. This will be the inside front of your purse. I tried to make my pleating as symmetrical as possible, so I added a second pleat on the left top side. Clip pleats in place with binder clips.

Sew a straight line across top to secure pleats in place. Trim excess fabric above the sewn line. If desired, fold over and sew again to create a finished edge.

Fold the purse up to see how it's going to look when it's sewn together. You will fold it roughly in thirds, with the cuff being the front flap of the purse. The top of the shirt sleeve will become the front inside of the purse. Make a note of where you folded, and fold it inside-out in the same way. Insert ring onto loop, then tuck loops between fabric on each side - they should face inward toward the good side. Sew up the sides. When you turn the purse right-side out, the loops should be sticking out on the outside edges of the purse. You can attach a strap to these rings.

For straps, I just used a piece of nylon webbing and sewed each edge to another metal ring by folding the webbing over the ring, then sewing a square where the two layers of webbing meet. Then I attached the rings to each other with a small metal lanyard hook. I like detachable straps so you can adjust the length if desired.

Other strap ideas: Make a nicer strap out of leather. Sew a tube of leather, turn it right-side out and topstitch it, and then fold it around the ring and sew a square where the two layers of leather meet. Alternately, buy a couple of canvas belts at the dollar store and use the metal rings on the belts for your purse and the belt for a strap.

This week, I met up with Breanna for a dollar store crafting date. Breanna is a fan of Dollar Store Crafts, and we met through the DSC Facebook page. I had a great time checking out the Dollar Tree with her. She shared a couple of her favorite dollar store crafting ideas with me, including this DIY apothecary project. It's so simple and cheap, that I made a super short video for her "15 second tutorial." Check it out! And if you're an active YouTuber, please subscribe to the DollarCraft Channel!

Project Estimate:

• Lidded glass jar, $1
• Candle stick, $1 (or you can find shorter ones 2/$1)
• E6000 glue, on hand

Total: $1.50 and up

To make:

Use E6000 glue (or equivalent) to glue glass candlestick to the bottom of glass jar. Allow to dry, according to directions. Fill it up with pretty stuff, and enjoy!

Thanks for the great idea, Breanna!

The dollar store has an entire aisle of faux flowers. I admit, these have stumped me. I am not much of a faux flowers person, so I just never buy them and never make anything with them. This idea, by Holiday Crafts and Creations, is a wedding kissing ball, or pomander. The pomanders shown in this photo are made with handmade paper daisies (awesome!), but the process of making all those paper flowers is way too fussy for me. Instead, I would buy faux flowers at the dollar store and use them to make wedding kissing balls inspired by these. Similar look, but a lot simpler. [click here to find instructions to make these paper flower pomanders]

Use these to decorate for your wedding, as pew decorations, or hanging from a ceiling, awning, or chuppah. You can also carry one as a bouquet (or have your bridesmaids carry them). They'd also make amazing decorations for parties or showers.

Project Estimate (Faux Flower Version):

• 4” Styrofoam ball, $1
• 12 brads (for one ball), $1 and up
• Ribbon, on hand or $1
• 3 faux flower branches (3 different types: small, medium, and large, in complementary colors), $3
• 35 – 40 pearl head pins (for one ball): 6mm, $1
• X-acto knife
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors

Total: $5 and up

I was having one of those antsy days, the kind of day where I have too much energy and not enough ambition.  So to keep myself from going stir crazy, I decided to take a walk to my local Dollar Tree.  (It’s about 4 blocks from my house - dangerously close!)  I find it impossible to walk out the door empty-handed.  Here is the collection of goodies I came home with. First stop:  Halloween aisle.  It’s still pretty sparse right now, but there were a couple of things I couldn’t resist.  I ended up shopping on a skull theme, grabbing one large plastic skull and a package of 9 smaller skulls (shown above).

Since there wasn’t much else that caught my attention in the Halloween supplies, I surfed around the store looking for other things in Halloween-appropriate colors.  Black items are easy to find, but orange can be tough.  These net bath bands were meant for scrubbing hard-to-reach places, but I have an alternative use in mind.  (For now I will have to leave you in suspense, but stay tuned next week to see what I’m up to with these!)

Having satisfied my Halloween cravings, I took a look around for other supplies.  I think my best find of the day was an 18 inch straw wreath.  The holiday season is wreath season, and I always end up making at least one every year.  If you are a wreath lover, this is a great deal; my local craft shop sells very similar wreaths for $5 and up!

Second place for find-of-the-day goes to these faux snaps.  They are actually tack pins that look like the buttons or snaps on a pair of jeans.  They will make perfect fasteners for no-sew fashion projects.

I’ve had a door curtain idea floating around in my head for a while now, but hadn’t found the right supplies for what I had in mind.  Until now!  I found these paper photo frames next to the regular picture frames.  They come 6 to a package and are suggested for use as place cards or party favors.  I think they would be great for all kinds of paper crafting projects, including scrapbooking and card making.  (They are not acid-free, so if you use them in your scrapbook, treat them with a pH neutralizing archival spray first to prevent fading and yellowing of your photos and other mementos.)

File this feather boa in the I’m-not-sure-what-I’m-going-to-do-with-it-but-couldn’t-pass-it-up category.  Hmm, what can I trim in bright purple feathers?  Any ideas?

And finally, one of the things I keep on hand at all times:  Wire-edged ribbon.  I already have a ton of it (possibly literally), but I was drawn to the fun shade of blue and I’m a sucker for polka dots.  Almost everything looks better with a big, structured bow on it, right?

Aside from keeping me sane, my trip to Dollar Tree infused me with the ambition my day was lacking.  I spent the rest of the afternoon with a pair of scissors in one hand and a bottle of glue in the other.  Retail therapy works every time!

For one loathsome year of my life, I worked as a cashier at Kmart.  For a portion of my tenure, I was stationed in the gardening section of the store.  One thing I discovered during this time is that flower pots and other planters are insanely overpriced.  I remember the day that I just about choked when I rang up a chintzy styrofoam urn and a price of $19.99 flashed across my screen.  The idea of spending twenty bucks on a planter that isn’t made to last more than a season or two seems ludicrous to me, especially since I figured out that you can make your own urn from a pair of plastic bowls at a fraction of the cost.

With Halloween sneaking up around the corner, this project makes a great addition to a front yard cemetery when filled with dead foliage.  It also offers an inexpensive way to showcase flowers and plants on a patio, flanking your front door, or even inside your home.  (If you bring this planter indoors, remember to set it on a plate or other drip-catching surface to prevent water damage.)

Project estimate:

• Two large plastic bowls, $2
• Glue, on hand
• Spray paint (optional), $1 and up

Total:  $2 and up

1.  You need two large bowls in different sizes, one with a larger circumference than the other.  I found my bowls at Dollar Tree; one was marked as a large serving bowl, the other as a popcorn bowl.  Experiment with bowls in different shapes and sizes until you find a pairing that you like.

2.  Carefully drill a hole in the bottom of each bowl to provide drainage.  Make sure you drill in the very center of each bowl so that the holes will line up properly.

3.  Apply a layer of glue to the bottom of one of the bowls and stack them with the bottoms together.  Allow the glue to dry completely before you continue.  If you have trouble getting glue to stick to the smooth surfaces of the plastic bowls, use sand paper to rough up the bottom of each bowl before gluing.

4.  If desired, spray paint the urn.

5.  Before you plant your flowers, look at the urn both right-side-up and upside-down, since you can use either side for planting.  This one has a very art deco look when it’s flipped over.  Now all that remains it to add soil and flowers!

Have you made your own flower pots or planters?  What did you use?

Decorchick threw an adorable party for her daughter, and shared some of her dollar store crafted secrets for making the party pretty! She made dollar store hurricane glasses and decorated them with pretty rhinestone decals. Then she filled them with simple but pretty candy-dipped pretzel rods. She got her rhinestone decals at Hobby Lobby, but you could simulate the look with those rhinestone decals in the craft section at the dollar store, or how about taking a fingernail jewel kit from the makeup section and decorating the glasses with those? [see the dollar store decorated party here]

Project Estimate:

• Vase, $1
• Candle stick, $1
• E6000 glue, on hand
• Rhinestone decals, $1 and up

Total: $3

She wrote a post about how she made the hurricane glasses.

She also made a cute serving tray with a dollar store plate (pink polka-dots!) glued to a candle stick. When you're planning a party, remember you want to add varying heights to serving dishes to add drama. Also, notice the blue mason jar vase in the background (it has pink flowers in it - such a pretty combo). Be sure to visit her blog to see the rest of the party.

Additional Resources:

• Tips for Throwing a Fabulous Party
• Thrifty Decor Chick: Williams Sonoma-inspired Hurricane Glasses
• 320*Sycamore: Williams Sonoma-inspired Hurricane Glass - Tutorial (from this roundup)
• Color Pop Tiered Trays

This fall, Dollar Store Crafts will be celebrating its second birthday. It's hard to believe that this site has only been around for two years. We've posted over 800 posts in the last two years (most of which have been written personally by me, Heather). During the past week, I've been having a cross-blog conversation with Jessica at Crafts for Kidlets. We've talked about what our favorite crafting tools are, what crafts our boys like, what has inspired us, and favorite things about writing our blogs. Today, Jessica asked me the last question of the series, which is:

Where do you think Dollar Store Crafts will be in five years? Will you still be writing it? More often, less often, more guest posts, etc.

I have lots of plans for Dollar Store Crafts. In the past two years, we've seen steady growth and have grown to be one of the larger craft blogs on the internet. We reach over 100,000 individuals a month, and have a good sized Facebook fan page, weekly email newsletter, and Twitter account. Most of this has just been because I love crafting, writing, and hanging out on social media. For the first year, my only goal was to post about projects that used dollar store ingredients every day.

It's funny you ask this question because just last week, I invited Rhonda to join the Dollar Store Crafts team as my first high-volume regular contributor. Rhonda has been writing about dollar store crafts for the Grand Rapids Examiner for awhile now, and has posted lots of cool projects and tutorials there. She's posting 3-5 posts a week and doing other fun stuff for Dollar Store Crafts. Care Sanchez from Obsessively Stitching has also been a regular contributor, posting 2-4 projects per month for the past year. In the next few months, I will probably add one or two more people to the team.

Last week, I formed an LLC to make Dollar Store Crafts "legit." Yay, go Dollar Media LLC! In the past couple weeks, I started a Dollar Store Crafts YouTube channel so we could start making Dollar Store Crafts videos. We're working on a new logo (yes, the old one is soooo 1995... and I have even worked as a graphic designer before, but it's true that sometimes your own stuff just doesn't get the attention it deserves), and a new site design.

In short, I am excited about all kinds of upcoming things for Dollar Store Crafts. In five years, I hope I am able to bring in enough money with the site to bring you much better features (more tutorials, more videos, more fun site features), and have a couple other sister sites as well. And maybe I'll organize a US tour. Coming soon to a city near you, dollar store crafting party!

And in 20 years? Well, SOMEONE has to replace Martha Stewart in the hearts of crafters across the globe, right? :)

Thanks for the cross-blog conversation, Jessica. It's been fun to answer these questions, and get to know a little more about you too!

*That photo at the top of the page is what happens when you do a craft project with your four year-old. I like to call it "craftermath."