Don’t throw that milk container away! Recycle it into a Halloween Treat Bucket, perfect to take along with you when you go trick-or-treating. Kids will have fun making this recycled Halloween container, and taking it along on night to collect their candy haul.

Recycled Halloween Treat Bucket Materials:

• 1 recycled milk container, washed well
• 2 sheets of orange paper (construction, card stock, or scrapbooking)
• 1 sheet of black felt or craft foam
• 2 green chenille stems (pipe cleaners)
• markers
• glue dots
• scissors
• hole-punch
• pencil

Instructions:

1. Fold a piece of paper in half and draw pumpkin stem in the top area of the paper. To draw it, make a round or oval shape, then draw a few lines going down from the side edges and the middle.

2. Draw the round part of the pumpkin around the stem, and add a few wrinkle lines coming down from the stem. Draw 3 more pumpkins the same way on your remaining orange paper. Note: make two of the pumpkins shorter, to better fit on the handle sides of the jug.

3. Cut out each pumpkin around the outline.

4. With a washable marker, draw a line around the lid area of the milk jug, and down around the front of the jug. Cut around this line with a pair of sharp-pointed scissors, leaving the handle intact. (See photo.)

5. Attach the four pumpkins to the sides of the milk container with glue dots.

6. Make a hole in one of the front pumpkins with the hole-punch.

7. Thread a chenille stem through the hole. Twist the stem to secure it to the pumpkin, and then twist it around the pencil to make the curly pumpkin vine tendrils.

8. Do the same with the other front pumpkin so it also has a chenille vine.

9. With felt or craft foam, cut pumpkin eyes, noses, and mouths to decorate your pumpkins as jack-o’-lanterns. Attach the facial features with glue dots. Alternately, draw faces on the pumpkins before you attach them to the container.

Additional Recycled Halloween Bucket Tips:

Different Decorations: Instead of jack-o’-lanterns, cut out different shapes to adorn your treat bucket. How about black cats or ghostly shapes?

For Younger Tots: Give your toddler or pre-schooler a half sheet of paper and let them draw or color. Cut scribbles into a pumpkin shape.

Personalize: Use foam letter stickers to put your child’s name on the container and keep everyone’s treat bucket straight!

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Today I would like to show you how I took my favorite gift wrap from the holiday season and re-purposed it into a new wreath! I used stuff I got at the dollar store, and things I already had in my craft stash to make a cute and funny wreath that I’m excited to hang up in my office. Do you have extra gift wrap with a cute design that would make a great wreath? Then read on for instructions on how to transform your gift wrap into a simple and fun wreath project.

Note: This post contains affiliate links to the products I used, in case you want to shop for them.

Wreath a Day: #1

I bought this winter taco gift wrap on the first day it was for sale (for $2 a roll) at Target. I had to have it — who doesn’t love tacos? And I get sick of the samey-samey holiday gift wrap. I instantly gravitated toward the cute tacos wearing scarves and their avocado compadres. (I admit, I am a bit of a gift warp hoarder… it’s hard for me to pass on cute gift wrap.)

My favorite gifts under the Christmas tree were definitely wrapped in this taco paper! So when I went looking for supplies in my craft hoarder’s paradise, ahem, I mean my garage, I was immediately drawn to this paper once again. I grabbed it, and some dollar store stickers (that I also found in my CHP — yeah, Craft Hoarder’s Paradise), and went to town.

How to Make a Recycled Gift Wrap Wreath:

Supplies Needed:

• A foam wreath form, $1
• Roll of gift wrap, on hand or $1
• A sheet of card stock, on hand
• Stickers, on hand or $1
• Glue (I used Aleene’s Clear Tacky Glue)
• Hot glue gun and Glue Sticks
• Baker’s twine, on hand or $1
• Ribbon, on hand or $1

Total cost: $1 and up

Step 1: Cut out all the cute things printed on your gift wrap.

In my case, I carefully cut out tacos wearing scarves, avocados, and tomatoes. Your gift wrap probably has something different on it, and that’s okay! Notice what colors are used in your gift wrap, and pick one of the colors that you’d like to highlight when you choose your card stock. I chose to use a red striped card stock I had on hand.

Step 2: Glue the gift wrap cut outs to the card stock, leaving enough space around them to cut them out and provide a card stock border.

Alternately, if you don’t want a card stock border, you can skip step 1, and glue gift wrap directly to the card stock, then cut out the figures in one step.

The card stock IS important to provide stability to the gift wrap, which is lightweight and too floppy to glue directly to the wreath.

Step 3: Cut out the figures from the card stock, leaving a small border.

Step 4: Cut strips of wrapping paper about 1″ wide (doesn’t have to be exact).

Step 5: Secure gift wrap strip to the foam wreath form with a dab of hot glue. Wrap the strips around the wreath, overlapping as you go, to cover the entire wreath form. When you reach the end of a strip of gift wrap, glue it to the wreath, then start a new strip where the old one ends.

And, the wreath form is all covered! Now it’s time to decorate it.

Step 6: Tie a piece of baker’s twine to the top of the wreath for a hanger. Then tie a piece of ribbon into a bow to put on the top of the wreath and glue it in place with hot glue.

Step 6: Prearrange the pieces of the wreath to decide where they will go, then when you are happy with their placement, glue them into place with hot glue.

Step 7: Add dollar store stickers to the rest of the wreath to finish it.

Then you’re done! This wreath is a great lightweight wreath to use for home decor, or put in your cubicle at work.

The post Make a Recycled Gift Wrap Wreath appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I am a huge fan of making new crafts out of things I would otherwise recycle or throw away. Check out these pretty DIY envelopes I made from an old catalog! You can use recycled magazine pages, scrapbooking paper, or just about any other pretty paper to make your own envelopes, too! Find my instructions for making these envelopes at Live.Craft.Love: [DIY Envelopes from Recycled Magazines]

For my tutorial, I used the Martha Stewart Scoring Board and Envelope Template (which is a SUPER handy tool), but you don’t have to have any special tools to make your own envelopes. Instead, just open up an envelope you already have, trace it onto a piece of scrap paper, then cut it out, fold it, and glue it closed. Simple!

The post Make Envelopes from Recycled Magazine Pages appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Don’t recycle your cans, reuse them! These charming ideas take cans destined for the recycling bin and transform them into adorable decorations that are perfect for Mother’s Day, party or wedding decorations, or hostess gifts. Find instructions for all three crafts in my article at eBay: [recycled can crafts]

The post 3 Charming Crafts to Make from Recycled Cans appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

We have been asked by many folks for more craft ideas that use recycled K-cups.  Here’s one that is a great last-minute holiday project: a bucket of snow!  These would be great for use as Christmas tree ornaments, as place card holders, or as embellishments for your gift wrapping.

Project estimate:

• Empty K-cup, on hand
• Silver pipe cleaner, on hand or $1/package
• Quilt batting, on hand or about $5/package and up
• Foam snow flakes, $1
• Hot glue, on hand
• Silver craft paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Silver glitter glue, on hand or $1

Total:  $1 and up

Paint the K cup “bucket” silver on the top, bottom, and 1/2″ inside. Repeat with the silver glitter glue. Make two small holes in each side of the cup, adding the silver pipe cleaner. I poked the pipe cleaner through the hole then wrapped it around itself, cutting off the excess.

Place a wad of batting inside the bucket.  You do not need to glue it to the cup; just pack it in tightly to about 1/4″ from the top of the cup.

I used several sizes of snowflakes. Start with the smallest and cut them in half. Put a small amount of hot glue on the snowflake and, working around the circumference of the cup, glue it to the batting.  Glue them at different angles. Do the same thing with medium size snowflakes, filling toward the center of the bucket.

Add a small snowflake to the handle using hot glue.  Put the hot glue on the snowflake, wait a few seconds for the glue to cool slightly and place it on the bucket.  This will help you avoid accidentally melting the cup! Put one last, larger snowflake to the center of the bucket.

The post Tutorial: Bucket of Snow Decoration from a K-Cup appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Here at Dollar Store Crafts, we love crafting with Duck Tape®! The only thing better is adding recycled materials to the mix. In today's project, we've done both, and created a Glitter Duck Tape® desk organizer made from recycled paper towel tubes. We're celebrating spring and Earth Month with this blingy project made from recyclables.

For this project, we've used Duck Tape's new Glitter Tape in pink and silver to add some bling, along with their adorable mini Duck Tape Ducklings in silver and black.

Project Materials:

• Recycled paper tubes (paper towel, wrapping paper, etc.), on hand
• Recycled cardboard, on hand
• Glitter Duck Tape®, about $6 a roll
• Ducklings Duck Tape®, about $2 a roll
• Coordinating colored cardstock paper, on hand or $.25 each
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks, on hand
• Scissors
• White glue

Total: $8 and up (or use on-hand Duck Tape to reduce total cost!)

1. Cut a 5 x 5" square piece of recycled cardboard, and cover it with silver glitter Duck Tape.

2. Trim four cardboard tubes to the following sizes:

• 2 inches tall
• 3 inches tall
• 4 inches tall
• 5 inches tall

3. Cover each tube with Glitter Duck Tape®. Add coordinating stripes of Duck Tape® Ducklings Tape in silver and black around the top of each tube.

4. Optional: For each tube, roll up a rectangle of colored cardstock paper and insert it into the inside of the tube. Glue the paper to the inside of each tube.

5. Glue the tubes to the cardboard square base with hot glue.

Like this project? Try our other Duck Tape® crafts!

Want to get your hands on the new Spring Duck Tapes? You can find Duck Tape here.

Connect with Duck Tape®:

• on Pinterest
• on Facebook
• on Twitter

What Easter/Spring craft projects will you be making this year?

The post Tutorial: Make a Glittery Duck Tape Pen Organizer (from Recyclables!) appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I am a huge fan of recycled materials in crafting. I love the spirit of recycling, and it works especially well in kids’ crafts! Do you drink Coffee-mate creamer or Coffee-mate Natural Bliss creamer? If so, this craft is a great way to recycle your creamer bottles into an adorable kids’ craft: Creamer bottle snowmen. And don’t forget to check out our giveaway below!

Crafting With Kids: My Favorite Simple Moments

One of my favorite simple ways to enjoy life is by volunteering in my sons’ classrooms at school. This year, I have been leading the kindergarteners in art projects every week (you can find out all about our kindergarten art at Dollar Store Mom). This week, I arrived in the kindergarten class and discovered these adorable recycled Coffee-mate creamer bottle snowmen crafts the kids made. I guess I’m not the only crafty mom in the class!

Lucky for me, my son was able to demonstrate how to make this craft, so I can share it with you!

Recycled Coffee-mate Creamer Bottle Snowman Craft

Project Materials:

• Recycled Coffee-mate creamer bottle (washed, rinsed, and dried), on hand
• White paper shreds, or shiny package filler, $1 (or use shredded recycled paper for FREE)
• Scrap of fabric, on hand
• Buttons, on hand or $1
• Googly eyes, on hand or $1
• White glue, on hand

Total cost: FREE and up, depending on your stash

We used the classic Coffee-mate bottle, which has a cheery red cap, but for a look that’s all snow, go with the Coffee-mate Natural Bliss bottles, which have white caps.

If you don’t have some of the materials listed on hand, feel free to look in your stash to substitute things you DO have. For instance, cut eyes out of felt instead of buying googly eyes.

To Make:

1. First, fill the bottle with white shredded paper. You can find pre-shredded and crinkled package filler paper at the dollar store, or use recycled shredded paper, or another all-white material like batting or cotton balls.

2. Next, glue the scarf on around the neck of the bottle. Our scarves were scraps of fabric about 1″ wide and about 10″ long. Glue with regular white school glue.

3. Finally, add eyes and buttons going down the front of the snowman. Glue with regular school glue.

4. Allow glue to dry, and you’re done!

Coffee-mate Natural Bliss Prize Package Giveaway

We’re giving one Coffee-mate Natural Bliss prize package! The package includes:

• Reduced value coupon for Natural Bliss
• $5 Target Gift Card
• Coffee Tumbler
• Vanilla Bean Scented Candle
• Italian Biscotti Cookies

To enter, log into the Rafflecopter widget below (you can log in with your Facebook account, or create a new account at Rafflecopter.com). US entries only, 18 or older, void where prohibited. Giveaway ends on 12/27/2013.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: This post and giveaway sponsored by Coffee-mate Natural Bliss, who provided the prize pack and compensated me. All words & opinions are my own.

The post Recycled Creamer Bottle Snowman Craft with Coffee-mate appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Earth month is almost here, and I am looking for fun recycled craft ideas to share with you. I absolutely love these beautiful table centerpieces found at Bump Smitten — they’re so simple and pretty, and made with recycled cans and your leftover scrapbook or wrapping paper. These would be great for teacher gifts, shower favors, or just a pretty way to bring some spring into your home. Click the photo to go to the post where I found this example picture, but follow this link to get the instructions for this project: [how to make recycled can centerpieces]

The party planner who made these wrote: For the main center pieces, I used old cans and food containers and covered them with decorative paper. I planted plants in the containers, each guest was able to choose a plant bring home. I loved the different sizes of the cans.

Project Estimate:

• Scrapbook paper, on hand or $.50 each
• Decorative ribbon, on hand or $1
• Spray Adhesive, such as Aleene’s Tacky Spray, about $7, or on hand
• Empty cans, on hand

Total: FREE and up

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What is it about piñatas? We keep buying them for every birthday, but it’s kind of a drag to watch blindfolded kids wave sticks around. Like they need a legit excuse for that! And it always takes like three times longer than it should, and everyone ends up waiting like, forever, for that little burro to just bust open, already. Over at Oh Happy Day, Jordan has solved this problem for us by creating adorable personalized mini piñatas made out of recycled cereal boxes. Set them next to party-goers’ plates. Just fantástico. [make mini piñatas]

Project Estimate:

• Recycled light cardboard box, on hand
• Tissue paper, $1
• Tape, glue, scissors, on hand

Total: $1

The post Make a Mini Piñata appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

No, these beautiful stars aren’t made out of glass.  Or crystal.  They’re not even acrylic.  They are actually made out of recycled cellophane!  (Are you having the same OMG moment that I had when I saw them?)  Rena from The Cheese Thief folded the glass-like stars using strips cut out of the packaging from some note cards.  Imagine the strung across your windows, used as wedding decor, or with many strands hung vertically on a wall for a photo booth backdrop.  Or wrap them around your Christmas tree!  [how to make a recycled cellophane origami star garland]

Project estimate:

• Cellophane, on hand
• String, on hand or $1

Total:  Free or $1

The post Make a Recycled Cellophane Origami Star Garland appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.