It has been chilly on and off here in Atlanta, and I have been seeing pictures of snow all over my friends’ Facebook pages. Nothing warms me up on a cold morning like a hot drink, and I hate when my warm cup of coffee goes almost instantly cold in the fall and winter. These DIY coffee cozies are a great way to use scrap or stash fabric. Make them for yourself, or whip some up to gives as gifts!

1. Knit Cozy – Grab this free pattern and whip up cute cozies in your favorite colors.

2. Coffee Cozy and French Press Cozies – Stitch up matching cozies to keep your French press coffee warm from carafe to cup.

3. Button Cozy – Raid your button stash for this cute, simple reusable coffee cozy.

4. Cat Cozy – Wrap your cup in a kitty hug. Download the free pattern for this cute felt coffee cozy.

5. Pencil and Paper Cozy – These would make a great teacher gift.

6. Ruffle Cozy and Gift Card Holder – Include some coffee with that coffee cozy. This ruffled cozy has a space where you can tuck in a gift card to your favorite local spot.

7. Fox Cozy – Grab the free pattern for this super cute fox-themed coffee cup cozy.

8. Hope Mug Cozy – Paper coffee cups aren’t the only ones that go cold in winter. If you use this free pattern, the pattern creator asks that you donate a dollar to St. Jude Children’s Hospital to help fight childhood cancer.

9. Custom Sized Mug Cozy – Mugs come in many sizes, and this tutorial shows you how to create a custom cozy for your favorite one.

10. No-Sew Coffee Cozy – Felt and hot glue are the keys to this simple coffee cozy tutorial.

The post 10 DIY Coffee Cozies for You or for Gifts appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Whether you need stocking stuffers or gifts for your daughter’s besties, these easy DIY tutorials help you churn out impressive looking gifts that tween girls are sure to love!

Manicure Gift Set by Rhonda on Dollar Store Crafts

Gem Cluster Hair Pins from Mined Strawberry

Handmade Bookmarks from Skip to My Lou

Bent Wire Earrings from Wobisobi

 Pixie Dust Necklace by Carissa on Dollar Store Crafts

Friendship Bracelet Kit from Two Oh Two Seven

DIY Ponytail Holders from SheKnows

Sparkly Strawberry Lipbalm from Torie Jayne

Rainbow Bobbypins from Club Chica Circle

Wire Hearts Ring from Stepping Through Crazy

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If you frequent dollar stores (and we know you do), you know that they have deals on all kinds of different stuff.  I don’t know about you, but I am on a serious budget this year, which means I will be looking for those deals as I shop and craft my way through my Christmas gift list!

In addition to gifts destined for under the tree, there are the stockings to consider.  What is your top money-saving tip for filling stockings?  I like to stretch my stocking-stuffing dollar farther by giving useful things that I know the recipient will actually use.  Don’t get me wrong, I love just-for-fun gifts too, but I feel like my money is better spent on practical gifts than on random odds and ends that are destined to collect dust.

I had a chance to go shopping at Dollar General with a mission to stuff a few stockings on a $25 budget.  I managed to fill stockings for my whole household:  My husband, myself, and our two cats.  Check out the video to see my shopping in action, and to see how I made a couple of crafty alterations to some of my purchases!

I bought:

• 3 stockings, $5.50
• Word search book, $3.00
• Amazing Goop glue, $2.85
• Socks, $1.00
• 2 plastic tumblers, $5.00
• 2 packages chocolate truffles, $2.00
• 2 packages catnip mice, $3.00
• Laser pet toy, $3.00
• Catnip, $1.95
• 2 cans cat food, $1.20

Total:  $28.50

Okay, so I ended up going a teeny-tiny bit over-budget, but I found a lot of good stuff and didn’t want to put any of it back!  The stocking for my cats was somewhat of a splurge at $3.50, and putting it back would have put me right at $25 on the button.  But once I saw it…  I had to have it!  Plus, if you already have stockings on hand that you use every year, you can strike those off your shopping list in the first place.  So really, the contents of my stockings cost a mere $23!

Win a $25 Gift Card to Dollar General!

Do you want to fill a stocking too?  One lucky reader will win a $25 gift card to Dollar General for their own holiday shopping spree.  To enter, answer this question: What is your top money-saving tip for filling stockings?

Giveaway open to United States residents only, 18 and older. Ends on Thursday, December 8th, 2011 at 11:59 PM. Full rules here.

Congratulations to our winner:

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First stop, wooden food! I love these little wooden pizzas (and they have two or three flavors), and there are some other play foods, too. Dairy Queen ice cream treats, and cardboard groceries.

This pic is underwhelming, but it’s a pic of a variety of calendars. Must pick up, they’re only a buck!

Aww, I wish I had a little girl! These mary jane tights are too cute!

This pic isn’t great, but you’re looking at a photo cube. Kind of retro cheesy, but I think it could make for a kind of cool jumping off point for a craft and/or holiday gift.

Cute sparkly vinyl clutch – good for holiday parties and/or tweens’ stockings. Oh, go now and pick up stocking stuffers while the pickins are good, by the way!

They have Grinch Dr. Seuss licensed stuff right now – could be a fun theme for a holiday party. They have a few different items. Such as:

These reusable shopping bags (great idea for a gift bag – then they can use the bag too!). There are tons of great Dr. Seuss party ideas out there, too!

Speaking of licensed products, they have a whole slew of Hello Kitty stuff! I would have been in heaven in 1987 if I could just go to Target and get this stuff! Stickers!

Reusable shopping bag! (Remember: holiday gift bag)

Cute little containers!

Socks!

Sparkly notebooks! This stuff is so cute & would cost more like $5 at the mall! Stock up for your kawaii-loving girl’s stocking!

And THESE are so cute to me!! Candy jar slash mini cookie jars! These cost $2.50, and are about 8-10″ tall – I think that’s a great deal!

If you don’t have time to make an advent calendar this year, here’s a cute one for $2.50. It already looks handmade, so no guilt. :)

Cool fashiony colored ornaments – in case you need a color kick to your Christmas decor. Just a buck (and they come in small, too).

I got a few packs of these – they are decorate your own gingerbread house cards. I’m going to have my kids make them and then we’ll give them to the people who would appreciate custom kid art! :)

You’re looking at holiday character slippers ($2.50) and 8″ light up tree (also $2.50). There were taller trees that are not pre-lighted that were also $2.50.

Realistic plastic animals for $2.50 (in the same family as Schleich animals, which I am in love with), but not as nice. Still, these would blend in with your Schleichcollection.

More wooden toys: brightly colored wooden puzzles for toddlers. $2.50.

This is so cute! It’s a wooden puzzle toy that has several different pieces so you can switch the outfits on the puzzle. $2.50.

And lastly, this isn’t from the dollar spot, but these are Target’s decorations right now. It’s hard to tell in the picture, but they’re really cute! I LOVE the green with white – it’s really crisp and clean, and I love folk-art looking stuff anyway.

I saw a bunch more stuff in the regular aisles, but after all these, I’m kind of embarrassed to make the post even longer! I guess that’s it for now, then! Maybe I’ll just make a video with the other stuff…

-Heather

Disclosure: None

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Decorate clothespins with ribbon and stickers to make these adorable embellished clothespins! Use clothespins for all kinds of useful applications. I use mine in the kitchen to close all manner of plastic bags. These would be super cute stocking stuffers. Package them by clipping to a piece of pretty cardstock and slip into a little zip-top bag. [project by flickr user monkeycatt]

Project Estimate:

• Clothespins, package for $1
• Ribbon, $1
• Stickers, $1

Total Cost: $3

The post Make Cute Clothespins appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Tis the season to think of cute crafty stocking stuffers, and this one is super cute! Make a mini snowglobe out of recycled vending machine bubbles, mini ornaments, and glitter. They have vending machines at my dollar store, so you will even be able to get the plastic bubbles at the dollar store! [project: chica and jo]

Project Estimate:

• Vending machine bubble, $.25 or on hand
• Mini ornament, a bunch for $1
• Glitter, $1
• Baby oil/mineral oil, $1
• Silicone sealant, $1

Total Cost: $4.25 plus $.25 for plastic bubbles for each additional snowglobe

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Alexa, aka Swelldesigner, posted these quick and simple flashy costume jewelry projects, and gives tips on where to get supplies as well. You can make awesome jewelry for all the people on your holiday gift list with a few supplies and a keen eye for unique goodies to use for jewelry-making. Alexa advocates the purchase of a few jewelry-making basic supplies, and assures us that they’re a great investment. I concur!

Project Estimate:

• Jewelry-making pliers, $1
• Earring wires, $2 for a big pack
• Ring blank, $4
• Assorted buttons and other flashy stuff, $1 and up
• Glue (like E6000), on hand, or comparable stuff at DS for $1

Total cost: $8 for supplies, but make a bunch of jewelry with them

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Chezlin, the blog that brought us the instructions for the amazing cassette tape wallet, has come up with another great use for cassette tapes in the form of this pretty coin purse! What a wonderful use for both cassette tapes AND those cool metal coin purse frames. I really love the pink cassette tape Rachel chose for this one!

Project Estimate:

• Cassette tape, on hand
• Coin purse, $1
• Lining fabric, on hand

Total Cost: $1 or so

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Handmade Parade posted this nifty tutorial on turning cute notecards into mini notebooks. This would make a great party favor, thank you gift, teacher gift, or stocking stuffer!

Project Estimate:

• notecards (box of 6 = $1 and Target has cute ones ALL the time)
• crayons (package of 4 for $1 or so)
• ribbon $1
• two sheets of paper (on hand)
• paper cutter (on hand)
• corner rounder (on hand, or use scissors to cut by hand to stay in budget)

Total Cost: $3 for 4-6 notebooks + crayons, or about 50 cents each

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