Dollar Store Crafts

Make a Pretty Magnet Board

heather — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 13:24:12 +0000

I’m happy to have Heather from My Frugal Family guest-posting a tutorial today! I first became aware of Heather’s dollar store crafting skillz when she posted some great projects at the Dollar Store Crafts facebook page! Heather is a black-belt frugal crafter who has a lot of great ideas, so go check them out over at her blog. And now, on with the tutorial! – Heather

Frugal Magnet Board
by Heather Herber from My Frugal Family

My niece is turning 3 soon, and in the spirit of craftiness, I’ve been making the gifts she’ll be getting from our family. Today’s gift is a Dollar Store magnet board!

Project Materials:

1 tin sign, $1 (found in the wall art or frame section)
Scrapbook paper, on hand
Promotional magnets, on hand
Mod Podge, on hand
Fake flowers, $1 (though, I wound up HATING these, so I didn’t use them)
Ink pad and stamps, on hand (the alphabet stamp set was $2 at JoAnn, and the floral stamps were $1 each at Michaels)
Sequins, buttons, rhinestones, on hand

Total: $1 and up

This project was pretty easy, but oh so cute in the end!

First, measure your paper. I left mine about 1/2″ wider all around so that it could wrap around to the back of the tin piece. I have one of those 3M paper cutters, and it worked great for cutting this nice and quick.

Once the paper is cut, sand down the front of the “art” lightly, so that the mod podge takes better. You might be able to skip this step, but it was easy and quick to do.

Make sure to use a soft cloth to wipe all the paint dust off the art, then coat it with Mod Podge. From there, smooth your paper over it, and use something flat to help seal out air bubbles. Once it’s dry, turn it over and fold the paper against the edges of the tin, so that you are forming a crease before using the Mod Podge. This made podging it a LOT easier.

From there, podge it 1 edge at a time. When you come to the corner, fold the excess in a triangular pattern, before folding the next edge down. This will help make nice tidy corner seams.

Apply a coat of Mod Podge to the seams and hold them flat as they dry. Some of them kept popping up at the corners. It’s easier to do this one edge at a time, as opposed to applying it to all the edges at once. Before sealing the front, I used my cheap stamping sets to decorate it a bit. Michaels sells some cute stamps in the $1 bins, and I had two flowery stamps. I also have a cute set of alphabet stamps I found at Jo-Ann’s back before Christmas for $2. It’s come in very handy!

I stamped her name on the bottom, then added the flowery stamps to the bottom corners. Lastly, I used my red Distress Ink to distress the edges ever so lightly. I love how it turned out. While waiting for it to dry, so that it won’t smear when you seal it, I dug out a snack.

This little tub was only $1, and has only 50 calories. Sold! Once the front is dry, seal it with another coat of Mod Podge. Make sure to get the edges good, so the paper won’t scrape off. Next, it’s time to make some magnets for it. My original idea was to take the little pink flower buds, and make magnets out of them. The end result was… hideous, so I didn’t do that in the end. I didn’t even photograph it.

Instead, I took complimentary shades & patterns of scrap paper out, and made little round flowers out of them by cutting various sizes of circles.

Once you have the circles cut, crumple them up, smooth them out, distress the edges, then hot glue them in stacks of 2-3 circles. Hot glue a chunk of magnet to the back, and let them dry. Because these are going to a 3 year old, I mod podged the flowers as best I could, so they can last a wee-bit longer. I then glued a rhinestone to the center of each flower.

I plan to pick her up an alphabet set to use more frequently, but the paper flowers were cute if it’s being used decoratively.

These would be great gifts for teachers, and would make excellent changeable photo frames as well.

I hope you enjoyed this craft! I really enjoyed being able to guest post here at Dollar Store Crafts today!

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Roundup: Good Organizational Ideas (for cheap!)

heather — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 13:14:00 +0000

Yes, you can get organized without spending a lot of money! You’ll be impressed with the great organizing ideas I’ve found for you this week!

Dollar Store Shoe Storage: $1 each
Amanda’s blog, A Lovely Place to Land is rapidly becoming one of my favorite blog stops, and her closet makeover proves why! She only spent $36.75 to completely organize her closet with tons of shoe and accessories storage, and it looks GOOD, too! This photo shows her shoe storage solution: dollar store plastic shoeboxes, and photos of their contents. Smart! Go check out the rest of the closet makeover!

“Transient” Storage Shelves: $25 (or on hand)
Awhile back, Amy at the Red Chair Blog posted what is one of my favorite home organization tips: dedicate a storage tower to “transient” items: those things that need to leave your home and go somewhere else, but usually end up cluttering an unfortunate corner in your house. She used a wire cube and some banker’s boxes, and labeled them so everyone would know where to put those pesky items.

You can find similar cube-storage towers at the thrift store, or maybe you have some on hand already. Or, if you’re feeling ambitious, build your own with these excellent plans from Knock-Off Wood. Banker’s boxes are fairly inexpensive (the dollar store has similar boxes for $1 each, but they’re a slightly different size, and usually located in the laundry section). You can get a 10-pack of banker’s boxes at Costco for about $12.

Check out Amy’s Red Chair Transient Storage Post.

Dollar Store Basket Makeover: About $3
Annelise at quarterlife lifestyle shows us how to make over a tacky dollar store basket (yep, I said tacky) into a fabulous basket (she used pretty designer fabric, but you can use whatever you have in your stash. Yep, I said stash. Don’t deny it.) Check out the tutorial here.

Fun Craft Closet Storage: $10 and up
Jane at Finding Fabulous reorganized her kiddos’ craft closet with the help of some colorful dollar store items. The basket section at my local dollar store is brimming with brightly colored baskets (a LOT of green and turquoise right now) that can cheer up your closet clutter. Check out Jane’s closet remake here.

Organize and Hide your TV Cables: $2
Chica and Jo are always good for some great ideas, and this idea for disguising TV cables is sheer genius. I estimated $2 because I’m thinking you could substitute some dollar store boxes, but you could spend a few bucks more for some fancy boxes, too. Click here to find out how to hide those unsightly cords!

Additional Articles:
5 Ways to Organize and Display Your Child’s Artwork by Heidi at Make & Takes
7 Organizing Myths Debunked by Mandi at Simple Mom
For you bloggers: Planning & Organizing Blog Posts for the Year by Pam at Gingerbread Snowflakes
Five Organizing Books in Five Minutes by Amy at the Red Chair Blog
Organize your wardrobe with My Trusty Outfit List by Sally at Already Pretty

Books:
Totally Organized by Bonnie Runyan McCullough
Sink Reflections by Marla Cilley (aka The Flylady)

Have you done any organizational craft projects lately? Share them here!

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Make Scrappy Love Birds

heather — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:35:07 +0000

Remember those ceramic doves we spotted at the dollar store? Well, reader Molly at the Creative Maven altered them with fabric to make a pair of sweet love birds. They turned out so cute! This seems like it would be a fun project to do with the girls on a Saturday crafternoon, or maybe a fun wedding shower activity (you know, instead of those cheesy games?). You could have your shower guests help you make them for wedding table decorations! [get the dish on how to make these love birds]

Project Estimate:

Ceramic dove, $1
Fabric, on hand
Hot glue, on hand
White glue or Mod Podge, on hand

Total: $1 and up

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Supply Challenge: Placemats

heather — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:37:55 +0000

Announcing our first theme challenge! You will use the theme item to craft up a project. The theme? A placemat! You have until March 30 to make and post your placemat craft project (bonus points for a tutorial… okay, there aren’t any points, but tutorials are so awesome!) Submit your project link at BlogCarnival (scroll all the way down to that page and click on “submit an article”), and I’ll do a roundup of the posts on (or around) April 1st.

To inspire you, here are a few past dollar store craft projects featuring the placemat:

Placemat clutch by Happy Together (shown above)
Pin the tail on the donkey game
Pleated handbag
Placemat brush roll

Get crafting! Be creative!

Participating? Grab a button and put it on your blog!

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Make a Bulletin Board Center

heather — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 13:37:19 +0000

Remember those cool framed bulletin boards I found at the Dollar Tree recently? Well, reader Joanne brilliantly grouped them with some pretty ribbon to make this great organizing wall. Don’t you feel more organized just LOOKING at it? I went back to DT and picked up six of these bulletin boards, too. My idea is slightly different (and you’ll have to wait to see it), but it’s inspired by a great item found at a famous designer furniture company whose initials are PB. [click here for more photos and info about Joanne's project]

Project Estimate:

Bulletin boards, $6
Ribbon, $1
White board, on hand
Clock, on hand

Total: $7

p.s. Okay, I just found out if you decide to buy from Dollar Tree online, they will ship for free to your local DT store, which is GREAT for those of us who want to craft with stuff and KNOW we can get it when we go to the store! Ship it to your local Dollar Tree store for FREE!

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Make a Ruffly Wreath with Paper Sacks

heather — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:03:00 +0000

Wreaths are a favorite project of dollar store crafters, and no wonder; they’re cheap, relatively simple to make, and very gratifying! Check out this pretty ruffly wreath made from the humblest of material: the brown paper lunch sack! Taylor from MaryJanes and Galoshes made it for less than five bucks–isn’t it pretty? She thinks it would be great for a wedding, and I agree, but I think a lot of us could find room in our regular decor for such a wreath. [how to make a ruffly paper sack wreath]

Project Estimate:

Wreath form, $1
6-8 brown paper lunch sacks, $1
2.5″ Scallop circle punch, on hand (or buy with 40% off coupon)
Glue gun, on hand
Scrap paper for butterflies, on hand

Total: $2 and up

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Question: Kentucky Derby-Themed Party?

heather — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:41:26 +0000

Time for more brainstorming!

Alicia posted on the DSC Facebook group wall:

My daughter wants a Kentucky Derby themed party for her 12th birthday (on May 1, same day as the KY Derby this year). Any ideas for inexpensive decorations, favors, etc?

Here are my ideas:

1. Have a “derby hat” making activity, using these instructions from Family Fun (there are also instructions on the same page for making pretty fans, which would be a good derby activity).

You need:

Wrapping paper
Colored tape
Tape
Tissue paper (for flowers)
Any other fun adornments like faux jewels, flowers, etc. (Look in the dress-up aisle of the dollar store)

2. Make horsie award ribbons (blue, of course!) using this technique for making medallions with coasters & crepe paper. Just add long streamers to the bottom of the medallions.

3. Get party supplies at Oriental Trading Company. I found a lot of cute things when I did a search for “horse,” like the horsie balloon bouquet shown at the top of the post.

Now it’s your turn, readers, please weigh in with your ideas!

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Rhinestone Bracelets from Shoelaces!

Care — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:01:06 +0000

I’ve been eying the “fashion shoelaces” at the dollar store for ages, trying to come up with a fun project to use them in. With my son’s pirate-themed birthday party over the weekend, my brain was finally nudged into gear! These skull-and-crossbone shoelaces were the perfect thing to fashion bracelets out of for the girl guests at the party — myself included, of course! [Come see how it's done!]

Project Estimate:

fashion shoelaces, $1
rhinestone applique, $1
scraps of 1/4″ elastic, on hand
tweezers
iron

Total: $2 for 12 bracelets!!

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Make a Phone Recharge Station

heather — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:23:55 +0000

I’ve been meaning to make a dollar store phone charging station for awhile now. I was going to design a project that looked more like this, but when I found an endcap of metal desk organizers at the dollar store, I knew they would work for different kind of docking station. You can make this station slash organizer for less than five dollars, and it will take you about an hour to put together. (I know, it doesn’t look like it, but gluing all that ribbon on takes a bit of time!)

Project Materials:

2 metal upright paper organizers, $1 each
Metal tray desk organizer, $1
Sheet of craft foam or felt, $.50 or on hand
Ribbon, $1 or on hand
Power strip or surge protector, $5 and up or on hand
Glue (I used both Aleene’s Quick Dry and hot glue), on hand

Total: $3 and up

Because this starts out as three separate desktop organizing pieces, I added craft foam on the bottom as well as pieces of ribbon to stabilize and keep all the pieces together. You can omit the ribbon if you don’t like the look, but I suggest connecting the different pieces together another way, like wiring them together.

To Make:

Start by gluing ribbon all the way around the tray organizer, overlapping at the edges of the ribbon, and gluing securely.

Place the three pieces together in desired configuration on top of the craft foam and trace around them on the foam to create cutting template. (I had to add a couple of small pieces on the ends where the craft foam didn’t quite reach).

Cut out craft foam. Glue to the three pieces.

Add ribbon around the tops of each of the rows of the upright organizers. Add ribbon to inside of tray organizer trays, if desired.

Add a power strip behind the docking station, and either glue or wire in place (if you wire it, be sure to keep the wire clear of any outlet on the strip, of course!)

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Dollar Scores: March 14

heather — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 17:47:04 +0000

You seemed to like my dollar store finds from a couple weeks ago, so I thought I’d share more from a recent trip to the Dollar Tree (I won’t say “most recent” trip, because I’ve been to DT a LOT in the past week!) First up we have these faux moss-covered rocks. These were new to me, and I thought some of you would really like to incorporate these into your decor!

Another new-to-me item was this colorful bamboo placemat. I’m intrigued with this! I bought two of them with absolutely no clue what I’m going to do with them. My initial impulses were making them into lampshades or DIY roll-up shades (itty bitty ones, though!)

This magnetic plastic organizer pocket isn’t so classy, but it does seem like it might be useful. Can you think of any good projects for this one?

These doves have been in my stores for a few months now, but they’re pretty cute, and might be great bases for makeovers like this or this! Anyone have a new bird look in mind that they’d like to try? Here’s a new bird makeover idea, too: the gladiator bird.

This is just a plain frame, but I thought it looked kind of nice.

My littlest helper liked the princess wand!

So, what would you do with

the faux moss rocks?
the colorful bamboo placemats?
the plastic magnetic organizer?
the doves?
the picture frame?

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