Project Materials:

• 3 skeins of embroidery floss, on hand or about $1
• Size 12 (US) crochet hook, on hand or about $1
• Chain or thread to string, on hand
• (optional) Jump rings and hardware, if you are using a chain, on hand

Total: FREE and upIf you are a beginning crocheter, I recommend making a couple granny squares with regular yarn and hooks just to get the hang of it. After you make a few, you will memorize the pattern, and it will be the perfect thing to crochet on auto-pilot (and a great way to use up your small leftover balls of yarn.

Crocheting with embroidery floss is a little bit challenging. One, it’s small, so it’s a bit harder to work with, and to get a comfortable hand position and work flow. The good news is that it doesn’t take too long to adjust to the reduced scale. Two, the six strands of floss aren’t twisted together like yarn, so the individual strands can get caught in your work a lot more. You can combat this by slightly twisting the floss with your index finger and thumb as you go. You can also pull out the offending stitches as you go and redo them, or pull the loops through your work to hide them.

Hook: My crochet hook was a steel hook, size 12 US (.70mm/size 5 UK). A hook a couple sizes larger would probably be fine!

Pattern:I just used a classic granny square pattern. I don’t need to re-write it for you! If you want to learn how to crochet a granny square, here is an excellent visual tutorial at The Purl Bee: [how to crochet a granny square]

Homemade Simple Gifts

I have always been a huge fan of handmade gifts. As a crafter, it’s only natural, right? I am lucky to be part of a family that also appreciates handmade gifts and makes it a practice to exchange gifts that aren’t store-bought. I know, I’m so spoiled!

While not all handmade gifts exchanged in our family are smash hits, they are all appreciated and they somehow seem more meaningful than something purchased in the $10 or less aisle of a big box store.

The best handmade gifts I’ve given or received have been: duct tape wallets (for the guys), hand-roasted coffee (yum!), quilts, and special items decorated by my three boys (always a win for the mommies, right?).

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Fire Mountain Gems’ largest sale of the year, the Dutch Auction, just hit a new low! With Dutch auctions, discounts get deeper as the sale progresses. Today, over 5,000 beads, gems, jewelry and more have been discounted to 60% off! Inventory is limited, so buy now to get the items you want. Products shown below may contain affiliate links.

Fire Mountain Gems is my favorite online source for inexpensive beading and jewelry-making supplies. Scroll down to see projects I’ve made using items from Fire Mountain Gems.

Mixed Glass Bead Mix Pkg of (5) 30-inch Strands Retail Price: $8.21 Dutch Auction Price: $3.28	Lampworked Glass Bead Pkg of 2 Retail Price: $5.45 Dutch Auction Price: $2.18	Multi-Colored Chevron Bracelet Retail Price: $7.15 Dutch Auction Price: $2.86
Silver-Plated Enamel Bead Retail Price: $11.40 Dutch Auction Price: $4.56	Bead and Finding Mix Approximately 150 Pieces Retail Price: $4.75 Dutch Auction Price: $1.90	Light Blue Glass Bicone Beads 14-inch Strand Retail Price: $4.50 Dutch Auction Price: $1.80
Multicolored Resin Bead Mix 1/4 Pound Pkg Retail Price: $3.16 Dutch Auction Price: $1.00	Amethyst Teardrop Beads 14-inch Strand Retail Price: $4.21 Dutch Auction Price: $1.68	Mini Chip Peridot Beads 36-inch Strand Retail Price: $2.34 Dutch Auction Price: $0.81

My Fire Mountain Gems Projects:

Statement Stone Necklace: This necklace cost me about $4 in supplies from Fire Mountain Gems – including the THREE statement stones I picked up for just $1 (for all three!). Instructions here: Statement Stone Necklace

Shrinky Plastic Charm Bracelets: I used ready-made beaded bracelets (cost 15 cents each!) from Fire Mountain Gems, and then my teen girl crafters created cute charms from shrinky plastic for a cute, updated take on the friendship bracelet. Instructions here: Shrinky Plastic Charm Bracelets.

DIY Painted State Necklace: I always keep readymade necklace chains on hand (from Fire Mountain Gems, of course!) so I can easily assemble pendant necklaces whenever I create a pendant. This necklaces uses a neat technique — painting shrink plastic to create a pretty, colorful textured pendant. Instructions: DIY Painted State Necklace.

The post 3 Jewelry Projects & a Jewelry Supply Sale Alert: Fire Mountain Gems Dutch Auction appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Bibliophiles, check out this adorable leather-bound book pendant necklace I designed! It is super easy to make, so make one for yourself, and all of your book-loving friends! I have posted the instructions over at eBay: [how to make a leather book necklace]

The post Make a Mini Leather Book Necklace appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Take a few pretty focal pendants made of stone, and turn them into a pretty statement necklace. This Statement Stone Necklace takes less than an hour to make, and uses three pretty focal pendants that cost just $1 — for all THREE (from my sponsor, Fire Mountain Gems — affiliate links included in this post). I braided three chains to make a sturdy chain for these eye-catching stones.

I recently got a few goodies from the Fire Mountain Gems $1 sale, and they challenged me to make something with the things they sent me. I was immediately inspired by the group of three focal stones, and I thought they might even look good if grouped together in a single necklace.

Since you can’t often find jewelry-making supplies at the dollar store, I heartily recommend checking out Fire Mountain Gems for their $1 sale, which goes until April 11.

Project Materials:

• 3 Stone Focal Pendants, $1
• 3 18″ chains, $1 each
• Large jump rings, $1 or on hand
• Eye pins, $1 or on hand
• Pliers (Needle nose, chain nose, or round nose will work), on hand
• Lobster clasp, $1 or on hand

Total cost: $4 and up

Step 1: If your chains have clasps on them already, remove them. In my case, my three chains were 18″ unfinished chains. Instead of using an additional lobster clasp, you can reuse the clasp from one of your chains, if you like.

Put the three chains on a jump ring, and then put the lobster clasp onto the jump ring. Close the jump ring.

Step 2: Clip the lobster clasp onto something (like a safety pin on your jeans!!), and then braid the three chains together.

Step 3: Put the three ends of the braided chain through a small jump ring, then add a large jump ring to use with the lobster clasp.

The braided chain makes a sturdy backdrop for the three large focal beads!

Step 4: Insert long eye pins into the holes of each focal bead, and wrap the end of the eye pin around the top, wire-wrapping style. Alternately, use an ice pick bail to mount the focal beads.

Attach each prepared focal bead to the braided chain using a jump ring.

You’re done! You can also add as many additional embellishments as you like. Get creative – there are so many fun beads to buy at the $1 sale!

Disclosure: Affiliate links, and product was provided for free from our sponsor, Fire Mountain Gems.

The post Make a Statement Stone Necklace appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

It’s my favorite jewelry-making time of year — the annual Fire Mountain Gems $1 Sale! I got a few items from the sale to share with you and pique your appetite to check out what else they have! See what I got in my haul, and then go check out the sale yourself!

Watch my video below for the whole haul! Do you have any ideas of what I should make with these goodies? Check back later this week to find out what I make first!

The post Haul Video: $1 Sale from Fire Mountain Gems appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I’ve been busy bringing color to the gray days of winter with my two projects for the Live.Craft.Love blog – DIY Wooden Geometric Wall Art and a Bungee Bling Necklace. Do you need to add some color to your days too? Go check these projects out!

DIY Wooden Geometric Wall Art

I love these wooden canvases – I have been using them for all kinds of fun art projects around my home, from making cute baby photo art, to letting my children paint on them for an instant gallery of kid art. For this project, I layered colored vellum onto the wooden canvas to create these colorful modern pieces of wall art.

Bungee Bling Necklace:

Bungee cord is a fun material to use in jewelry making, and these large hole Mix & Mingle beads just slip right on to create a perfectly easy jewelry project. This would be a fun one for teens to make!

The post 2 Colorful Craft Projects for Spring appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I love to make jewelry, do you love it too? These Swarovski crystal heart and chain drop earrings are a simple project to make, and you can find all the supplies at my favorite jewelry supply site, Fire Mountain Gems. They’ve provided the free tutorial for how to make them (as well as a handy shopping list), so go check them out!

How to make: Earrings with Swarovski Crystal Beads and Drops

And here are some more cool products available at Fire Mountain Gems in time for your Valentine’s Day jewelry making:

Pendants, Drops and Focals	Charms	Beads
Findings	Faceted Gems	Cabochons and Cameos
Clasps	Chain	Cord and Ribbon

disclosure: affiliate links

The post Make Crystal Heart Earrings for Valentine’s Day appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Want to up your jewelry-making game? This bead-wrapped wire heart pendant from Lisa Yang is a great project for those who have a little experience working with wire and want to learn a fun new technique. Once you master the beading technique, you can use this to give a fancy edge to all kinds of crafty projects! [how to make a bead-wrapped wire heart pendant]

Project estimate:

• Wire, on hand or $1 and up
• Beads, on hand or $1 and up

Total: Free and up!

The post Make a Bead-Wrapped Wire Heart Pendant appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Chic, easy, and inexpensive, this twig and yarn brooch from Journey into Creativity is definitely our kind of project! The tutorial is in Greek, but the pictures do a great job of demonstrating the project. The blog post is about brooches, but you could also adapt this project to make hair clips, necklaces, and more. You could even use the yarn-wrapped twig bundles to embellish decor projects like picture frames and jar candles! [how to make twig and yarn jewelry]

Project estimate:

• Twigs, on hand
• Yarn or string, on hand or $1 and up
• Glue, on hand
• Jewelry findings, on hand or $1 and up

Total: Free and up!

The post Make Twig and Yarn Jewelry appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Make fun key necklaces with old keys (or key charms), using nail polish that you already have on hand to create an enamel look. Add a chain or a ribbon to hang the keys from, and you have a quick and easy jewelry project. Find out how to make them at Live.Craft.Love: [diy key necklace]

Project Materials:

• Old keys or key charms
• Nail polish
• Ribbon or a necklace chain

The post Make Painted Key Necklaces with Nail Polish appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.