The Princess Costume is a classic for a reason! Who doesn’t want to dress like a princess? It’s simple to create your own no-sew princess costume for use as a Halloween costume, or just for everyday pretend play. 

Even if you don’t sew, this princess costume idea is perfectly simple to construct. You can make this princess dress in under an hour using a few no-sew tricks. The main requirements for a great-looking princess dress are proper length and the right color, so let your child help you pick out the perfect color of fabric and ribbon for a dress she’ll just love.

Don’t let these instructions stress you out! You’re basically making a tube of fabric with elastic. You can do it!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which may provide a small percentage of any purchase you make when clicking on the links, at no additional cost to you.

DIY Princess Costume Materials:

• 1 yard of fabric (color of your—or your child’s—choice)
• 1 spool of coordinating ribbon
• fusible fabric webbing tape (I used Stitch Witchery)
• ¼-inch wide elastic (length depends on your child’s measurements)
• safety pin
• hot glue gun
• hot glue sticks
• scissors
• iron
• measuring tape
• ribbon (at least 36-inches long)

Princess Costume Instructions:

Adjusting the Size: This dress fits a 5T nicely, but if you want to make a different size, measure from your princess’s armpits down to the tops of her feet and get your fabric cut to that length. Once you add the casing and the bottom hem, the dress should be about 3-inches above her feet, to keep her from tripping.

1. Iron the fabric to remove excess wrinkles and creases. Open up the fabric and lay with right side down. You should have a rectangular piece of fabric with two raw edges and two finished edges. Fold over one raw edge about 1-inch and iron to crease. After fabric is creased, iron a piece of fusible fabric webbing tape under the crease and fuse fabric according to package instructions. This is the hem of the dress.

2. With fabric still right side down, fold the other raw edge over about 2-inches and iron to crease (this will be the edge opposite the hem). Use your hot glue gun to glue just the very edge of the 2-inch fold, leaving a casing. You will run the elastic through this casing later, so be sure to leave an unglued area wide enough to eventually feed through a safety pin and the elastic.

3. Lay fabric out flat with right side up. Fold in half so that the plain edges meet. Hot glue the two plain edges together to form the back seam. You should now have a tube of fabric with the hem at the bottom, the casing at the top, and a seam at the back. The dress will be inside-out.

4. Leave dress inside out for now. Flatten the dress so the seam is in the middle back. Cut a 24-inch piece from your ribbon. Fold the ribbon in half to find the middle. Hot glue the very middle of the 24-inch piece of ribbon to the front-center of the dress (over the casing) so it forms a V. This will be a halter strap to keep the dress from falling down.

5. Turn dress right side-out. Flatten dress so seam is in the middle back. Take your remaining piece of ribbon (about 12-inches depending on your child’s size) and fold it in half to find the middle of the ribbon. About 6-inches down from the top of the dress, squirt a 4-inch line of hot glue horizontally on front of dress, and attach the center of the ribbon to the line of hot glue. This will fix the ribbon waist ties to the dress.

6. Use the measuring tape to measure around your child’s chest right at the armpits. Add 2-inches and cut a length of ¼-inch elastic using that measurement. Attach a safety pin to the end of the elastic, and thread through the casing at the top of the tube. When the elastic is threaded completely through the casing, tie ends of elastic together.
 

7. To wear the dress, the elasticized top will be pulled up to the armpits. Tie the neck ribbon around the back of the neck halter-style. Take the long waistband ribbons and criss-cross them around the body as many times as you can and tie at the back or the front.

No Sew Princess Costume Tips

What to Wear With This Costume: Pair this dress with a long-sleeved top or t-shirt underneath, and add tights for warmth while trick-or-treating.

Accessorize: Be sure to glam this dress up with the right accessories. Every princess needs a crown, jewelry, a wrap or feather boa. You can find most of these things at the dollar store or your local department store, or craft them up yourself.

Fabric choices: Plain cotton is the cheapest option, and the easiest to work with in terms of ironing. Polyester can come in many different finishes, and can look very shiny and princess-y, and will have a good drape and fluidity. You can find inexpensive costume fabrics at your local fabric store that will work nicely. You can add additional ribbons and trim to fancy it up as much as you like.

Washability: You can actually wash this garment, even though it’s constructed with hot glue! Hang to dry.

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

These fabric crowns are such a simple no-sew project that your little princes and princesses can create their own with minimal assistance! Jess at Let’s Do Something Crafty shares just how easy it is to whip these up yourself! It’s a great way to use up random odds and ends of supplies – put out a pile of embellishments and let your littles go wild! [how to make no sew felt crowns]

Project estimate:

• Felt, on hand or $1
• String or ribbon, on hand or $1
• Embellishments, on hand or $1 and up
• Glue, on hand

Total: Free and up!

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With back-to-school looming in the not-so-far-off future, it’s time to start thinking once again about teacher gifts!  These cute, glittery mason jars from Crystal at A Pumpkin & A Princess are a fun, practical project that will look fabulous displayed on your favorite teacher’s desk.  We’re especially fond of the pencil-themed jar, cleverly designed with the addition of a few stickers to give it the No. 2 detail.  [how to make back-to-school glitter mason jars]

Project estimate:

• Mason jar, on hand or $1
• Glue, on hand or $1 and up
• Glitter, on hand or $1 and up
• Paint, on hand or $1 and up

Total: Free and up!

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If you haven’t visited Dollar Store Craft’s Facebook group, you really should!  I get so many fun ideas and am often inspired by the other crafters in the group.  Not too long ago, someone posted pictured of Princess inspired wine glasses.  Someone asked how to make them, and I offered to make a tutorial for the project.  It took a while, but here it is:  how to make glittery princess wine glasses!

Project Estimate:

• Wine glass – $1
• Glossy glass paint- $2.50
• glitter glass paint – $2.50
• Printout – free

Total:  $6

You could cut down on the cost by simply using the glitter glass paint.  I like using a gloss color first just because it makes the project quicker and you don’t need to apply as many layers.  You can achieve the same look with just the glitter paint, but you’ll have to apply more layers of paint.  The key to getting an even finish with glass paint is to apply multiple thin layers and to allow each layer to dry completely before adding more paint.  If you put too much paint at once it tends to look streaky or you chip paint off.

Step one:  Paint the stem with the gloss blue paint.  Let it dry, then add another layer of paint.

Step two:  Paint over the blue paint with the glitter paint.  Apply three layers of paint.

Step three:  Print out a silhouette if the desired princess figure.  Tape it inside the glass.  Use a fine tip brush and repeat steps one and two.

Follow the directions on the package to set the paint permanently.  Usually you have to let it dry for about three days, then place the glass in a cold oven and bake according to package instructions. Once the paint is set you can use the glass regularly without worrying about scraping off the paint.  Then you can enjoy your custom made glass!

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Who’s the fairest of them all? YOU are, with this pretty Disney Princess duct tape hand mirror! Transform a boring dollar store hand mirror into a magical mirror fit for a princess, with just a few simple supplies and techniques. Come find out how to make it!

My family and I are getting ready to go on a dream vacation to Walt Disney World in Florida, to attend the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration, and also to have a family vacation. Visiting WDW is a first-time for everyone in my family (the kids have never been to any Disney parks). To celebrate, some of my crafty blogger friends (who are also attending the conference) and I are sharing some Disney-themed craft tutorials with you. For my project, I created this cute and simple duct tape craft, featuring a very pretty printed tape from Duck Brand with Disney Princesses on it!

I recently visited the duct tape aisle at Michaels — big mistake! Or maybe big inspiration – you decide. Check out all the awesome duct tapes I came home with:

I just knew I had to come up with something great to make with the Disney Princesses Duck Tape.  

Disney Princess Duct Tape Hand Mirror Supplies:

• Hand mirror, $1
• Patterned duct tape, $9 (you can get it on Amazon or buy it at Michaels using your coupons!)
• Scissors, on hand
• Ribbon (optional), $1 and up

Total cost: $10 and up (but you will have lots of pretty Princess duct tape left over for other duct tape projects!)

NOTE: You could make this project for $2 if you use dollar store patterned duct tape, or $1 if you use duct tape you already have on hand!

Here’s a quick video showing you the process:  

#Disney princess duct tape hand mirror! #ducttape A video posted by Heather Mann (@dollarcraft) on May 2, 2015 at 9:14pm PDT

Gather your supplies! This project is quick and easy. It will take you about 15 minutes to make.

1. Cover the back of the mirror with overlapping strips of duct tape. Since the Disney Princess Duck Tape is a continuous pattern, you can match up the pattern if you want. Leave about 1″ overlapping duct tape around the sides.

2. Trim the tape around the mirror so the duct tape is an even distance around the outside of the mirror.

3. Cover the front of the mirror handle with duct tape.

4. Cut slits into the duct tape around every curved area (I just cut slits into the whole thing, about 1″ apart from each other).

5. Gently wrap the duct tape tabs you cut around the edges of the mirror, smoothing to eliminate creases, wrinkles, and bubbles.

This is what the back of the mirror looks like — as you can see, I matched up the pattern for most of the mirror.

Next, we are going to make the fringe that goes around the front of the mirror. This is a simple decorative duct tape technique!

1. First, cut a strip of duct tape and fold it lengthwise (long way), leaving about 1/2″ of the sticky part exposed.

2. Cut slits into the duct tape on the folded side. Cut up to the edge of where you folded, but leave the sticky part of the tape intact.

3. Using the sticky part of the fringe, apply the fringe to the edge of the mirror. Because of the fringing technique, these pieces have a bit of give, so they go around the curved mirror pretty easily.

If you don’t have enough fringe, cut another piece and repeat the fringe-making process. You can just overlap a little at the edges of the fringe when you are applying a second piece.

To finish the princessy look of the hand mirror, I added a piece of ribbon (it has Olaf on it – I know he’s not a princess, but he does enjoy warm hugs!). My son gave me this Olaf ribbon for Christmas, so I’m glad I got to use it in a place of honor on a special craft project.

Be sure to watch the short videos I included in this post if you are confused. They will help you figure out this simple and quick duct tape craft!

Maybe I should make a matching dollar store hairbrush featuring the Disney Princesses — what do you think?

Love this Disney Princess duct tape!

Don’t forget to visit my friends who are sharing their own Disney-themed craft tutorials!

8 Disney Craft Tutorials

• Disney Trip Countdown – DIY Washi Tape Chalkboard by Mom Endeavors
• Disney Drawstring Backpack by Pink Cake Plate
• DIY BB-8 Shirt by Desert Chica
• Custom Toy Story Shorts and Shirts by Eclectic Momsense
• Little Mermaid Ears by See Vanessa Craft
• DIY Disney Jewelry with Free Printable by 100 Directions
• Disney Sticker Story Starters by Make and Takes
• DIY Disney Autograph and Activity Book by Clever Pink Pirate
• Disney Bleach Stencil T-Shirt by Teach Mama

Disclosure: Not a paid or sponsored post, by any of the brands mentioned. Affiliate links.

The post Tutorial: Disney Princess Duct Tape Hand Mirror appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

The end of the school year is coming up fast! Coming up with good teacher gifts can be hard, especially on a budget. The ideas below are all  budget-friendly, so you can give your kid’s teacher something handmade with love without breaking the bank. I also included the gift that I gave my son’s teachers last year, which I might just do again! If you’re one of his teachers, look away from #7!

1. Apple Gift Boxes – Turn old soda bottles into cute gift boxes for whatever you want to get your kid’s teacher. A gift card, perhaps?

2. Travel Infinity Scarf – This infinity scarf converts to a blanket. Great for a teacher that loves travel.

3. Mini Post Books – What geography or history teacher wouldn’t love these cute notebooks?

4. Crayon Pencil Holder – What a cute gift for an elementary school teacher. You’d never know that this was made from an old tin can!

5. Jar of Teas – For the tea-drinking teach! Fill a clean glass jar with bags of tea or even a nice loose tea blend, add a cute, puntastic tag, and you’re good to go.

6. Planted Succulent – Decoupage a tin can with book pages, and plant a cute succulent that your teacher can keep on her desk.

7. Glitter Mason Jars – I made these as teacher gifts last year and stuffed each one with fresh herbs and flowers from our garden.

8. Fresh Salsa – Who doesn’t love garden fresh salsa? Make a big batch and jar it up!

9. Peanut Butter Cup Jars – You can make this allergy friendly by using sunflower seed butter instead of peanut and rice milk instead of almond.

10. Wine Cork Letter – This would be great for an English teacher and for busting that – let’s be honest – ridiculous stash of wine corks that we all have in our kitchens.

The post 10 Cute DIY Teacher Gifts (budget-friendly!) appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Project estimate:

 

 

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Do you ever end up with a single sock that’s lost its mate? Somehow this happens to me all the time. Where do they go? I hope they are making new sock friends, wherever they are. My mom always called the lonely socks that come out of the dryer “socks without partners,” and when I was a kid they ended up in our dress up box or as sock puppets for mom’s class. Here are more 10 fun sock crafts for your own socks without partners.

1. Make an Elsa Doll – Delight the Frozen-obsessed kid in your life with a homemade Elsa doll!

2. Coffee or Beer Cozy – I’m always the most bummed when my lost sock is one of my faves. This coffee or beer cozy is the perfect use for a cool sock that lost its mate.

3. Sock Vases – This is another fun sock craft that really showcases a cool, lonely sock.

4. Pin Cushion – Tired of your old tomato pin cushion? I love this cute little sock monster alternative.

5. Sock Snake – This no-sew sock craft would be a cute gift for your favorite kid, or you can nestle it under a drafty door to save on heating by keeping cold air out.

6. Sock Bunny – These no-sew sock bunnies are such a cute Easter craft!

7. Tie Dye Them – Got two kind of similar socks? Tie dye them, and no one will know that they’re from two different pairs.

8. Water Bottle Sock Animals – Make your reusable bottle so, so cute!

9. Make a Socktopus – Raid your ribbon stash and turn some old socks into a family of socktopi!

10. Sock Ornaments – How cozy are these cuddled glass ornaments? You could really do this with any ball ornament. Like maybe that ugly one you got from your mom’s second cousin that you can’t bring yourself to just donate?

The post 10 Sock Crafts for Lonely Socks appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Do you know a little prince or princess?  This super easy DIY from Vanessa at Cafe Craftea will show you how to make them an adorable mini crown out of wire!  This particular type of wire comes in several different colors at Dollar Tree, so you have multiple options.  You could even take this further and add beads or other embellishments to your crown, attaching them using glue or more wire.  And while it’s miniature-sized on a human head, it’s a full-size crown if you put it on a doll’s head!  [how to make a mini wire crown]

Project estimate:

• Wire, on hand or $1
• Pliers, on hand
• Ruler, on hand

Total:  Free or $1

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

Now that foam pumpkins are on dollar and craft store shelves everywhere, the blogosphere is going pumpkin crazy! And who can blame them? Foam pumpkins are the perfect black canvas and never rot so they can be used from year to year. Here are 25 great ideas for ways to give your pumpkin an upgrade.

[Etched Mercury Glass Pumpkins from Morena on Dollar Store Crafts]

[Punk Rock Princess Pumpkin from Carissa on Dollar Store Crafts]

[Macrame Wrapped Pumpkin from Rhonda on Dollar Store Crafts]

[Elegant Pumpkins with Ribbon and Brooches from The V-Spot]

[Easiest Lace Covered Pumpkin from Heather on Dollar Store Crafts]

[Mod Podged Book Page Pumpkin from Creative Green Living]

[Magnetic Pumpkin from Smashed Peas & Carrots]

[Antique Glazed Pumpkins from Delightfully Noted]

[Faux Pewter Pumpkins from Morena on Dollar Store Crafts]

[Decoupaged Damask Pumpkin from The V-Spot]

[Pretty Pink Pumpkin DIY from The Shed by Pet Scribbles]

[Black and Silver Pumpkins from Just Paint It!]

[Punk Rock Pumpkin from The V-Spot]

[State Pride Pumpkin from Sand & Sisal]

[Bakers Twine Pumpkins from The Country Chic Cottage]

[Pin & Pound Pumpkins from Bombshell Bling]

[Cute as a Button Pumpkin from Mom 4 Real]

[Creepy Folk Art Dollar Store Pumpkins from Rook No 17]

[Pumpkin in Chains from The V-Spot]

[Faux Bois Pumpkin from The Country Chic Cottage]

[Burlap Pumpkin from The Country Chic Cottage]

[Gold Leafed Pumpkin from Mad in Crafts]

[Gold Gilded Tack Covered Pumpkins from Madigan Made]

[Coastal Pumpkin Collection from Sand & Sisal]

[Purple Napkin Decoupaged Pumpkins from Just Paint It!]

Can’t get enough fake pumpkins? Check out last year’s Pumpkin Round Up [15 Easy Fake Pumpkin Crafts]

The post 25 Creative Ways to Upgrade Foam Pumpkins appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.