Does your child love ladybugs? You can make this simple, No-Sew Ladybug Costume in less than an hour and your little critter will look adorable. Remember the grade school trick to making symmetrical hearts? If you can fold a piece of paper in half and cut out a heart, you can make this project! Just remember to tie the cape around your child’s shoulders; never tie it around your child’s neck.

Want more Halloween ideas? Take a look at more No-Sew Halloween Costumes.

Materials:

• 1 piece of red felt, measuring 18-inches by 18-inches
• 2 sheets of black craft felt
• 2 red or black pipe cleaners
• 1 piece of red or black ribbon, measuring 54-inches by ¾-inch
• hot glue gun (adults only)
• chalk
• 1 roll red or black duct tape
• scissors
• black t-shirt
• black pants
• 2 red or black pom-poms (optional)
• 1 headband (optional)

Instructions:

Make the Ladybug Wing Cape:

1. To make the ladybug wing cape, fold the 18-inch by 18-inch piece of red felt in half. Draw a half-heart shape on the felt with chalk. Be sure the curved part of the heart is facing away from the fold on the fabric. Cut out the heart along the chalk line.
 

2. Open up the heart shape, and make sure the curves are at the bottom and the point is at the top. Cut the point off, making the top end flat.

3. Hot glue the center of your ribbon 1-inch from the flat top of the lady bug wing cape, then fold over top inch of felt and hot glue it to the ribbon, leaving both ends of the ribbon loose so they can be tied around your child’s shoulders—always avoid tying this around your child’s neck. (See photo.)

4. Cut several hearts out black felt. Turn cape over and glue black hearts to back in a ladybug spot formation.

Make the Antennae:

There are several ways to create ladybug antennae for your costume:

1. Create antennae by bending a pipe cleaner in the middle and duct taping the bent part to a headband.

2. Add hearts or pom-poms to ends of the pipe cleaners with hot glue.

2. Alternately, cut a band of felt 1-inch wide and long enough to wrap around your child’s head with about 1-inch extra. Hot glue the felt into a headband, and attach a bent pipe cleaner with hot glue. Cover the bent part with a small felt heart. Curl the ends of the pipe cleaner around a pencil.

3. Or, if your child is wearing a hooded sweatshirt as part of her costume, attach two pipe cleaners to the front of the hood with duct tape. Curl pipe cleaners around a pencil, and hot glue hearts or pom-poms to the ends of the pipe cleaner with hot glue.

Put the Costume Together:

1. Have your child wear a black, white, or red long-sleeved shirt or turtleneck and black white or red pants.

2. Put the antennae on your child’s head.

3. Secure the cape on your child using the ribbon. It’s best to avoid tying anything around your child’s neck for safety reasons, so I take each ribbon end and lop it around my child’s shoulders, going over his shoulders and then under his armpits so the ribbon ends come out dangling down his back. Then I tie both ends together at his back leaving them loose and giving him plenty of room.

The post No-Sew Ladybug Costume Tutorial appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Welcome to day 4 of Homemade Costume week. This bumblebee Halloween costume looks great in person, and could not be simpler to make. A black shirt, yellow duct tape, some pipe cleaners, and a pair of dollar store wings. You can make this no-sew bee costume in about 15 minutes.

Project Estimate:

• Black hooded sweatshirt, on hand
• Yellow duct tape, $3
• 2 yellow chenille stems, on hand
• 2 yellow pom-poms, on hand
• 1/4″ elastic, $1
• Hot glue gun and hot glue stick
• Pair of bee wings from dollar store, $1

Total: $5

To make a no-sew bee costume:

I originally made this costume for Kaboose.com, a site that closed down several years ago, and unfortunately, there is no longer an internet archive of the instructions, and my version of the instructions are long-lost on my old defunct computer.

Basically, add yellow duct tape stripes to a hoodie, then hot glue pom-poms to a couple of chenille stems, then duct tape them to the inside of the hood. Curl the stems around a pencil.

Add a pair of yellow dollar store fairy wings to complete the look.

My Design Process:

I don’t know if you folks care about seeing my sketches or not, but it amuses me, so I’ll just keep posting them. My original sketch was slightly more complicated than the costume ended up — I originally envisioned a black hoodie with a yellow t-shirt over it, but when I started making the costume, I eliminated the yellow t-shirt and just went with yellow duct tape stripes. I also called for the costume to be stuffed with grocery bags (to make it more round) but I decided the stuffing was unnecessary when I put it on my model (my 4 year-old).

My craft planning process is this:

• sketch the project and label what each part is
• think through the actual process of making it and what supplies I will need
• write down the process as I imagine it (so I have “instructions” to follow)
• then take a step back and see if there is anything I can eliminate in terms of supplies or extra work
• collect my supplies (from my stash, or shop for them)
• do the project and change something (usually!)
• make sure to photograph most of the steps so I can remember how I made it

How do you plan for your craft projects? Do you have a sketchbook?

The post Make a No-Sew Bumblebee Costume appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Holy moly, Halloween is tomorrow! Do you need a few last-minute ideas for decorations, costumes, or healthy-yet-delicious Halloween treats? Don’t worry. We’ve got you.

1. Glowing Ghosts – Turn a couple of solar lights into super simple ghost decorations.

2. Paper Bag Jack-O-Lanterns – Your kids can help you whip out a bunch of these today for your porch.

3. Alice in Wonderland Costume – Blue dress, white apron and tights, black shoes. Bam! Costume. Bonus if you have a stuffed bunny in a top hat to carry with you.

4. Fairy (or insect of your choice) – Turn an old wire hanger and tights into wings that you can use for a whole range of costume ideas. Just mix up the colors accordingly.

5. Book Pumpkin – Turn an old paperback book into a cute pumpkin decoration. Quick and easy!

6. Bat Branches – Black ribbon, white puffy paint, and a few fallen branches are all that you need to make this cute Halloween decoration.

7. Healthy Witch Fingers – Trick your kids into eating some healthy treats. These witch fingers are delicious, spooky, and shockingly healthy.

8. Candy Corn Nails – Sometimes pulling a costume together just isn’t happening, But your nails never need to know that you let them down.

9. Apple Bites – Sneak another healthy treat into your Halloween party spread with these cute no-cook apple chompers.

10. Halloween Terrariums – What a spooky spin on classic terrariums!

The post 10 Last-Minute Halloween Ideas to Make Right Now appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Halloween will be here before you know it, and if you’re planning to make costumes, you know that the time to get started is NOW!  This is the costume I made for my son last year:  a carnival sideshow strong man.  I lost track of how many compliments I received on this costume!  It was incredibly easy to make, and by using items from the dollar store, like the t-shirt, I saved a bundle over a store bought costume.

Project estimate:

• Black T-shirt, $1
• Paint, on hand
• Styrofoam balls (2), $3
• Dowel rod, $1

Total:  $5

Step one:  Use a shirt that is large enough to go from the child’s shoulders to mid-thigh.  Turn the shirt inside out.  I used a one piece romper as a pattern, otherwise you can measure your child to determine where to cut.   Cut as pictured.

Step two:  Sew along the edges that you cut.  I sewed it while the shirt was still inside out, then flipped it right side out for the next step.

Step three:  Paint a buckle and belt onto the costume.  I use washi tape or painters tape to help make straight lines.  Let it dry.

Step four:  Now to make the weight for muscle man to carry!  First, carve out a small hole in each styrofoam ball, and push the dowel rod in.  You can use a small amount of hot glue (not too much or you’ll melt the styrofoam) to hold the rod in place.  Paint everything black.

I had added a tattoo sleeve, found at Dollar Tree, to the costume, but he did not keep that on.  Draw on a loopy mustache, and your muscle man is ready for the carnival….I mean, Halloween!  I live in South Texas, where it’s still pretty hot at Halloween, so during the day he wore the costume as is, and at night I just had to put a shirt underneath to keep him warm.

If you’re going as a group, you can add lots of side act characters to accompany your strong man.  I went as the bearded lady, and my husband was a sword thrower.  Who says Halloween is just for kids?

The post Tutorial: Sideshow Strong Man Costume appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

[Marionette from Club Chica Circle]

[Pippi Longstocking from Mom 4 Real]

[Captain America & Thor from The Scrap Shoppe]

[Cookie on a Pan from Cleverly Inspired]

[Mike Wazowski  of Monsters Inc. and Monsters University from 30 Minute Crafts]

[80’s Girl Costume from The Country Chic Cottage]

[Rockstar from 30 Minute Crafts]

[Fisherman Costume from Creative Green Living]

[Jellyfish Costume from Cleverly Inspired]

[Dusty from Airplanes on Desert Chica Rambling]

The post 10 Last Minute Halloween Costumes for less than $10 appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I had a great time getting dollar store crafty this month with my dollar store candles and some Martha Stewart Halloween craft supplies! For this month’s 12 Months of Martha, I’m going to show you how to decorate some super adorable Halloween candles in just minutes. Oh, and don’t miss my appearance on the Martha Stewart show, where I shared my $5 dollar store Halloween costume idea!

Project Materials:

• Dollar store candle, $1
• Martha Stewart Crafts Adhesive Border Pad, about $14, or $.23 per border
• Orange ribbon, $1
• Twine, on hand or $1

Total: about $1.25 per candle, $15 total for the project

Supplies: I got the candles and ribbon at the dollar store.

How to Save Money on This Project: Substitute the adhesive border pad for washi tape, ribbon, or cut strips of Halloween-themed scrapbooking paper out to glue to your candle. Don’t forget to check your craft stash to see what you can use up!

Why the Martha Stewart Adhesive Border Pad is a good choice: There are 60 adhesive borders per pad, so they cost about 23 cents per border, so this is a VERY quick and easy craft if you are going to make a lot of candles. They’d be great for craft bazaars, teacher gifts, or hostess gifts. If you were going to sell them at a craft bazaar, you could easily charge $5 a piece and make about $3.75 profit per candle!

I used two different type of candles — scented and lidded candles I found in the candle/craft section at the dollar tree, and glass prayer candles.

For the prayer candle, I also used a strip of burlap, and some Martha Stewart Halloween decoupage papers (for the owl). If you are making the candles to sell at a craft fair, remember to add about $.23 per border you use per candle. So, for the owl candle shown here (with 4 borders), you would add $.92 to your cost per candle, plus the cost of the owl. I would retail the owl prayer candle at about $7.50.

To Make Super Easy Halloween Candles:

1. Remove labels from candles. Some are easy to peel off, and some will require the use of an adhesive remover like Goo Gone (you can get it for $1 at the dollar store!).

2. Clean glass with rubbing alcohol, and allow to dry.

3. Choose your favorite adhesive borders from the Martha Stewart, and wrap around the candle, trimming to fit. (Save the extra bit for a patchwork candle, or for card-making!)

4. If needed, secure the edge of the adhesive border with a bit of glue or invisible tape.

5. Tie a piece of ribbon or twine around the top of the candle.

The post Tutorial: Super Easy Halloween Candles appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Who wants five new craft books? You do! This weekend, we’re pulling five of the newest, coolest crafty books off our prize shelf to give to you. To enter, scroll down to the bottom of the page and follow the instructions. But before that, check out the books we’re giving away. All five of these will go to ONE lucky person!

1. Doodle Stitching: Embroidery & Beyond: Crewel, Cross Stitch, Sashiko & More
by Aimee Ray

This book has a whole bunch of cute projects that use needlepoint techniques such as embroidery (a quilt, a pouch, a doll skirt, among other projects), applique (apron, cuff, and cuckoo clock project), redwork and crewel (scarf, messenger bag, family tree), Sashiko and Shisha (placemats, curtain, skirt), and cutwork and stumpwork (pincushion, bookmark, and throw pillow).

2. New Dress a Day: The Ultimate DIY Guide to Creating Fashion Dos from Thrift-Store Don’ts
by Marisa Lynch

This is the book that was born of the fabulous blog New Dress a Day in which author Marisa Lynch took on a challenge to DIY ONE OUTFIT every day on a budget of just $1! The following 365 days resulted in tons of cute looks that were refashioned from thrifted or cast-off clothing. Imagine a muu-muu being transformed into a cute little dress, and you get the picture. You’ll love the blog, and the book is awesome too! You’ll find a whole variety of DIY fashion projects, from dresses, to t-shirts, to making costumes from thrift store finds.

Knit Your Own Zombie: Over 1,000 Combinations to Rip ‘n’ Reassemble for Horrifying Results
by Fiona Goble

You can probably imagine that my three boys were pretty big fans of this book when it arrived in the mail. The knit zombie patterns are really adorable (adorably creepy!), and you can customize them by assembling the dolls any way you want, using different parts of patterns for ghoulish torsos and malformed limbs. Patterns for a classic zombie, Frankenstein’s Monster (the original zombie!), a zombie cop, and even a female zombie fatale are including, among other patterns.

Return of the Stupid Sock Creatures: Evolutions, Mutations, and Other Creations

by John Murphy

I tell ya what you’re gonna do. You’re gonna buy some funky socks at the dollar store, then you’re gonna make a whole load of cute “stupid sock creatures.” This book is full of lots of fun creatures to make out of socks! Visit John’s site for more Stupid Creatures.

Adventures in Pompom Land: 25 Cute Projects Made from Handmade Pompoms

by Myko Diann Bocek

Using yarn and wool roving, author Myko Diann Bocek creates the most adorable pompom creatures, such as the bluebird featured on the cover. Other adorable creatures in the book are a bushy-tailed squirrel, a woodland fox, and a swan.

Win these 5 Craft Books!

 
It’s super easy! Just log in with your Facebook account to sign into this giveaway widget below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The post Giveaway: 5 New Craft Books! appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Last year, I went to the Martha Stewart show where they filmed an entire episode devoted to dollar store Halloween costumes! At the end of the show, I got to share my $5 dollar store costume idea with Martha. Just recently, Martha Stewart made a deal with Hulu to show a lot of her video content on their site, and I was jazzed to find a clip of myself on Hulu to share with you! Would you believe this week is the first time I have seen the episode since I flew to New York to attend the show?

It was such an honor to attend the show that was ALL ABOUT my favorite topic: dollar store crafting! Pair that with Halloween costumes, and you know I was excited!

Dollar Store Halloween Costumes Links:

• The costume I shared was the first ever dollar store craft I designed for this site, three years ago: a hard candy costume.
• Here are the Five Halloween Costume Ideas shared on that episode of the Martha Stewart Show
• Watch the full episode here: Affordable Costume Ideas on the Martha Stewart Show

The post Video: Heather and Dollar Store Craft Halloween Costumes on Martha Stewart appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Meet Our Guest Judge

Before we count down our favorite contest entries, let’s meet this month’s guest judge!  When we think of Halloween crafters one of the first folks to come to mind is Alexa Westerfield from The Swell Life and I Love to Create.  This season she has been dazzling her readers with a ton of great no-carve pumpkin decorating ideas, but her holiday talents don’t end there.  She also has some awesome Halloween costume ideas, including these comical outfits:

[Deviled Egg Halloween Costume at The Swell Life]

[Mona Lisa Halloween Costume at The Swell Life]

Thanks for joining us this month, Alexa!

Halloween Costume Contest Top Picks

Now that we’ve taken care of that business, we know you’re anxious to see who won the contest.  It was tough to narrow it down this month with so many great contest entries!  Here are our top five picks; did your favorites make the cut?

5.  Placemat Bug

[Placemat Bug Costume by Sandy P.]

We couldn’t resist how adorable this bug costume is!  Reader Sandy P. shared this idea via the DSC Community; the majority of the costume is constructed using dollar store placemats!  [how to make a placemat bug Halloween costume]

4. Mother Nature

[Mother Nature Costume by Re-Creations]

When Shiela from Re-Creations went shopping at Dollar Tree to put together this costume, she hit almost every department in the store!  We love how she incorporated both seasonal items and year-round stock.  It’s such a cute idea!  [how to make a Mother Nature Halloween costume]

3. Dirty Laundry

[Dirty Laundry Costume by Love2Dream, Do You?]

Everyone at the party will chuckle when they see you dressed up in this clever costume.  Over at Love2Dream, Do You? we got a good laugh out of this dirty laundry costume.  As an added bonus, it’s a great costume for a cold climate.  If the temperatures fall, just add more laundry!  [how to make a dirty laundry Halloween costume]

2. Spine Chilling Chia Pet

[Spine Chilling Chia Pet Costume by My House is Cuter Than Yours]

We’re suckers for adorable animals, so of course we had to include this costume for a four-legged friend.  My House is Cuter Than Yours dressed up her pup as a spooky, deteriorating Chia Pet, complete with creepy-crawlies.  Too cute!   [how to make a spine chilling Chia Pet Halloween costume]

And The Winner Is…

1. Chinese Takeout Box

[Chinese Takeout Box Costume by A Turtle’s Life for Me]

Natalie from A Turtle’s Life for Me entered a post with so many great costume ideas that we were completely amazed!  Our favorite was this super cute Chinese takeout box costume.  (Check out the finishing touch of using chopsticks in her hair!)   Be sure to stop by her blog and see the rest of her hilarious homemade costumes from other years as well!)  [how to make a Chinese takeout box Halloween costume]

That also means that Natalie is the lucky winner of a $100 Dollar Tree gift card!  (That’s enough to make a whole army of takeout box costumes!)  Congratulations, Natalie!  Thanks to all who entered.  And of course…  have a spooktacular Halloween!

The post Halloween Costume Contest: 7 Dollar Store Costume Ideas (including our contest winner!) appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Attention, all Pet Parents! How are you dressing your animal companions for Halloween? Or are you against animal costumes? Awhile back, I polled the Dollar Store Crafts Facebook page about dressing cats up for Halloween, and many people indicated that only fools with a deathwish would try to put a hat on a cat. That didn’t stop me from brainstorming some fun ideas for cat costumes this year, and some for dogs as well. Check out my article at Homemade Simple: [make your own pet costumes]

This photo here is the Office Dog costume – costume idea by Erika and Sebastian at Sew Doggy Style: Dog Cuffs and Collar.

How are you dressing your pet this year?

The post Cat and Dog Halloween Costume Ideas appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.