Love the look of a fancy wall sconce, but don’t think you have the decor budget to get one?  Think again! This lovely faux DIY wall sconce can be used to hold seasonal silk branches or with a built in shelf, a night light with battery operated candles.  Or any other lightweight items you can fit into it!

Project estimate:

• Foam core board, on hand or $1
• Poster board, on hand or $1
• Rope or cord, on hand or $1 and up
• Battery operated tea lights, on hand or $1
• Tissue paper, on hand
• Rhinestones, on hand or $1 and up
• Tape, on hand
• Hot glue, on hand
• White glue, on hand
• Paint, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  Free and up!

Decide the size you want to make. I made this one 7″ wide and 21″ long. Measure and cut your foam board. I use a metal metre stick and cut against it, just scoring the foam board. I then bend the board at the cut and finish cutting it from behind the board.

Decide how deep you want it. I used an extra piece of poster board and pinned it on each side to determine this. Mine is 12″ deep.

Measure and cut a piece of poster board to the correct size. After cutting my piece of poster board 12″ wide and 21″ deep, I folded it in half and pinched one end to mark it. From that mark, I used my ruler and measured to the point of the 12″ top. Repeat this step and cut along the pencil lines.

Pin the poster board into the foam board enough so that you can tape the two together with the transparent tape. Once they are together, run a piece of packing tape down the side to hold it in place.

Repeat Step 4 on the other side. When you get to the point at the bottom, use a small piece of tape to hold it together and give it a back.

Using the packing tape, go around the cone from the top to the bottom. You can do this neatly, but I wanted more texture so I was pretty sloppy.

Now for the fun! Glue the rope in any pattern you like. The jewels are optional.

Wad the tissue into tight balls and straighten them out. Tear them into 4″x 4″ pieces. Add 1 part water to 5 parts white glue and mix it together. Sparingly dab the glue mixture onto the sconce in a small area and put on a piece of tissue paper. Starting in the middle of the tissue paper, take the brush and tap the tissue down. Continue doing this until the entire decoration is covered. You don’t have to do the entire back, but make sure the tissue laps over the sides. If you have a tear in the tissue paper, don’t worry, you’ll be putting two coats of the tissue paper on the sconce.

After the first coat has dried, apply a second coat. Let dry completely before painting. I let mine dry shoved over the kitchen faucet since it was wet on all sides.

Wad some newspaper and put it in the point of the sconce. This does two things: 1. Helps the point stay pointed and 2. If it is dropped on the point it won’t break.

Paint your sconce.  I used silver acrylic paint then antiqued it with black acrylic paint.

If you are going to use the sconce as a night light, you’ll need to build a little shelf so you can see the light of the battery operated candles. Measure and cut a half circle out of foam board that will fit about 4″ into the sconce. Glue two braces on to the bottom of it then glue the backs of the braces and carefully place it inside of the sconce.

To hang the sconce I literally used a push pin, it is that lightweight.

The post Tutoral: Faux Wall Sconce appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

A wreath made out of ornaments has become a classic Christmas decoration. If you’ve always wanted one, you will be happy and surprised to find out just how easy and cheap it is to create your own! You can even use scratched or damaged ornaments for this project, making it a great way to give new life to old decorations that might otherwise be destined for the trash.

Project estimate:

• Wire hanger, on hand
• Round plastic ornaments, on hand or $1 and up
• Hot glue, on hand
• Pipe cleaners, on hand or $1
• Tinsel garland, on hand or $1
• Wired ribbon, on hand or $1
• Assorted Christmas decorations in different shapes, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  Free and up!

The hangers on the ornaments often break easily or the hole is too small. Do yourself a favor and go ahead and remove the top. Cut the pipe cleaners to 1 & 1/2″ and bend them in the center. Put a bit of hot glue inside the top of the ornament and immediately put the pipe cleaner in. You’ll save a lot of time and no one will see this part, anyway. (I learned this the hard way – you’re welcome!)

Take the hanger apart at the neck. DO NOT CUT IT. Fold over the hook part and fashion it into a loop.

Thread the ornaments onto the other end of the hanger.

I didn’t count how many ornaments I used because I was using several different sizes, but keep adding the round ornaments until you have 3/4 of the hanger covered.

Bend the other end of the hanger and hook it to the loop at the beginning.

Shape the hanger so that it is round. At this point you will be certain that you don’t have enough ornaments, but you’re not finished. Arrange the ornaments to where they are symmetrical all the way around.

Take the tinsel garland and wrap it around the hanger. Please don’t try to wrap it between each ornament, it won’t be noticeable when we’re done. I had enough garland to go around the wreath twice. Notice in the picture that the ornaments aren’t perfectly spaced around the wreath. We’ll fix
that, I promise.

At this point, add the assorted shaped ornaments working in the triangle method. Put a generous amount of hot glue on the back and hold the ornament down for a few seconds to make sure it takes hold.

You are going to notice that your wreath seems a little sturdier now. This is what we want, you should also put spots of glue between the round ornaments.

When you’re finished, the ribbon and put it under the wreath and tie it on top, like you tie your shoes. Position the wreath to where you want the tails of the bow to be away from your body and tie a bow, again, like you tie your shoes. By tying the bow this way, the tails will automatically be at the bottom of the bow.

The last thing I did was add an ornament, bell and piece of tinsel to the center of the ribbon. Stand back and admire your wreath. If it seems a little unsteady, spot glue that area in between the ornaments.

The post Tutorial: Ornament Wreath appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I’ve always loved books.  As a child, I spent my allowance at the book store and my weekends in the library.  When I visit thrift stores and garage sales, I’m always on the lookout for interesting books, not just to read, but to craft with.  I found this wonderful dictionary at Goodwill and picked it up so I could use the text in projects.  The cover was so nice that I decided to use it, as well.  Now I have a fun mail holder in my office that matches nicely with the books on my shelves!

Project estimate:

• Hard cover book, on hand or $1 and up
• Cardboard, on hand
• Mod Podge, on hand
• Twine or string, on hand
• Hot glue gun, on hand

Total:  Free or $1 and up

Step one:  Cut the binding to remove the text portion of the book.

Step two:  Place the book at a 45 degree angle on cardboard and trace.  Add “wings” to the edge of your tracing.  Cut as pictured, and fold as pictured.

Step three:  Use Mod Podge to adhere some of the book pages to the binding and both sides of the cardboard.

Step four:  Make two holes in the back of the book cover.  (Optional:  I added eyelets to the holes.)  Pull string through the holes and tie to make a loop.

Step five:  Glue the “wings” of the cardboard to the book cover.

Your new mail holder is now ready to be hung on the wall!  You could make one for each person in your home, or one for “incoming” and another for “outgoing” papers.  With hardcover books every where (even the dollar store), you could make one in any color or size you like!

The post Tutorial: Turn a Book into a Mail Holder appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Alligators are ravenous reptiles – better give them something to put in their mouths before they bite!  Turn ordinary wood clothespins into hungry-gators note holders; add a magnet on the bottom and they are prefect for sticking to your fridge or filing cabinet.  Making your own version of this classic craft is easy -all items were bought from the Dollar Store, and these alligator fridge clips can be put together in about 10 minutes.

Project estimate:

• Foam sheets, on hand or $1
• Wood clothespins, on hand or $1
• Jagged-edge craft scissors, on hand or $1 and up
• Sheet magnets, $1 and up
• Googly eyes, on hand or $1
• Green indelible marker, on hand or $1

Total: $1 and up

Once you’ve gathered your materials start by removing the spring from one of the wood clothespins.

Colour all surfaces of each half of the clothespin with green marker. Some of the crevices of the clothespin might be too small to get the tip of your marker in, but you don’t have to worry about complete coverage, just make sure most of the surfaces are green. Replace spring in wood clothespin

Using white glue, attach small googly eyes to either the top of one side of your alligator or on either side of one half – this will give your alligator two eyes on top or two eyes pointing outwards.

With regular scissor cut a small rectangle of green foam sheet roughly the same length and height as your clothespin. Then using the jagged-edge scissors, cut diagonally through foam rectangle to create a ridged spine for your alligator. Dab a small amount of white glue on flat length-wise portion of the green foam spine cutout and affix to back of clip behind the eyes.

Lastly, cut a small rectangle of sheet magnet roughly the same dimensions as the underside of the clothespin. If your sheet magnet is self adhesive then you can press on the magnet cutout, otherwise use dabs of while glue to adhere the magnet. Leave for about 5 minutes for glue to set.

Once the glue is dry they are ready to hold your note and be stuck on a magnetic surface, or left on your desk. Have fun!

The post Man Crafts: alligator clips appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

When I was about 12 years old I saw a book about making shoes out of paper, and ever since I have been interested in shoes made out of unusual materials.  Using traditional weaving techniques, Agy from Green Issues recycled a stack of old t-shirts into pairs of flip flop sandals for her entire family.  They’re fashionable, environmentally friendly, and, perhaps best of all, if you use waterproof glue they are machine washable!  how to make recycled t-shirt flip flops]

Project estimate:

• T-shirt fabric, on hand
• String, on hand
• Glue, on hand

Total:  Free

The post Make Recycled T-shirt Flip Flops appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Here’s an extremely easy way to carry your fall or winter shoes into spring.  Dollar store ribbon, a favorite of DIY fashionistas, replaces boring shoe strings.  This is also an inexpensive workaround if you are having trouble finding shoes to match a particular outfit; just find ribbon to match instead.  (It makes it a great idea for weddings, formal dances, or other fancy-dress occasions!)

Project estimate:

• Lace up shoes, on hand
• Ribbon, on hand $1

Total: Free or $1

Simply remove the existing shoe strings. Measure an equal (or longer) length of ribbon.

Lightly burn the ends to prevent fraying.

Lace your shoes.

Adorable, right?  (And generally cheaper than actual shoelaces too!)

The post Dollar Store Ribbon as Stylish Shoelaces appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Have you ever tie dyed anything?  I dyed a t-shirt when I was a kid and I remember that it was an involved process. When Tulip sent me a tie dye kit recently, I was excited to see that their dye was simple and easy to use. Instead of multiple steps with vinegar and soda ash, you just mix their color-fast dyes with water and apply them!

I wanted to create a pretty pattern with the dye and then create something fun out of that fabric. I decided to make fabric jewelry. I was inspired by this braided silk necklace at Martha Stewart and the fabric jewelry closure method for braided bracelets at Henry Happened.  I searched my closet for some old cotton t-shirts for the base fabric.  I also had some dollar store clear ponytail holder beads that I thought would be fun to add.

Want to learn how to create your own tie dyed jewelry?  Just follow these steps below:

Project estimate:

• An old, white, cotton shirt, on hand
• Clear ponytail holder beads, $1
• Needle and thread, on hand
• Craft glue, on hand
• Strong ceramic magnets, less than $1-2
• Tie dye kit (optional), $8 and up

Total: $3 and up

Tulip makes tie dye kits of all sizes, but they sent me this huge tie dye kit that contained: 8 bottles, 12 colors of dye, rubber bands, gloves, surface protector and instructions. I had such a hard time picking what colors to use but I settled on lime, coral and teal.

Step one: Prep your fabric for dye.

If you are using a new garment, be sure to prewash your fabric. I cut apart two old tees and used the front and back panels of each shirt for my project. When you are ready to dye, dampen your fabric.  Pleat the fabric lengthwise and wrap rubber bands tightly every 3-5 inches to create stripes. Repeat the process for all of the panels of fabric.

Step two: Mix and add your dye.

Lay your tied fabric on a plastic surface protector. Wearing gloves, pick out your favorite colors and mix each color in the bottles as directed by the instructions. Carefully apply each color to the desired sections with dye. Be sure to flip your fabric over to get the other side and do not oversaturate the sections.

Tightly wrap your fabric in plastic (I just wrapped the surface protector around the fabric) and allow the dye to set for at least 4-6 hours.

Step three: Rinse and wash.

Now for the exciting part!  You will start to get an idea of what your tie dyed pattern looks like after you carefully unwrap your tied fabric. (Again, wearing gloves!) Rinse out the remaining dye and wash the fabric in your washing machine and dry it. Ooooh and aaahhh over the fancy new color pattern you created!

Now let’s use this fun fabric to make a pretty necklace and bracelet!

Step four: Cut fabric strips for your necklace.

Using scissors, cut approximately 1” wide strips of fabric from your dyed tees. It does not need to be perfect, since you will be braiding it. I like how the frayed edges added texture to the pieces. Depending on how long you want your jewelry to be, one t-shirt should be plenty to create enough strips to  make a long necklace and one bracelet.

Step five: Braid your fabric.

Take 3 strips of fabric and tie a knot at one end. Secure the knot down (with a clip board or under a box lid like I did) and start to braid your strips. When you get to the end of each strip, just tie another strip onto each piece. Keep braiding and adding fabric until you reach well beyond your desired jewelry lengths. (It is better to have a little extra.)

Step six: Attach your magnet closures.

Carefully consider where the fabric knots are on your length of braid. We will be adding beads to those sections in the next step and you want the placement to make sense when you cut your braid down to create a necklace.

Measure how long you want your necklace or bracelet to be. (My necklace was ~24 inches and the bracelet was ~7 inches long.) Trim the braid and attach the fabric ends to a magnet with glue. Repeat on the other end.

(I should warn you that these magnet closures are not super-duper secure. They will hold up to wear, but if someone pulls on the necklace or bracelet, the piece will fall off. If you are worried about that happening, just make a necklace long enough to fit over your head and tie a permanent knot in the two ends instead.)

After the glue on the magnets dry, take two small strips of fabric and fold each one over with adhesive for a finished look. Wrap a folded strip around the magnets on each end and attach them with more glue so the fabric edge is flush with the magnet surface.

Step seven: Add beaded embellishments.

If you want, you can add clear bead to sections of the jewelry. Where there are knots and fabric ends, string a clear bead over the loose fabric end. Use needle and thread to tack the fabric strip down to the necklace. To add a few more beads to any “empty” spots, take a small strip of fabric and tied another bead around the braid in the desired area (sewing any loose ends down, too).

You might choose to use a solid color bead instead, but I like how you can still see the color of the fabric and pattern through the clear beads.

Once the beads are added you can just put your braided jewelry on and enjoy your modern tie-dyed creations!

Wear one around the neck …

or around the wrist another day… or wear them together!

I must confess, it was a lot of fun… yet a little scary to dye my own fabric. I’m kind of a Type A crafter. I like having a vision and plan before I make something. But when I dyed this fabric, I was powerless while the dye set. I kept wondering how it was going to turn out… it was nerve wracking!

But once I saw the color variations and pattern I created, I decided that can’t wait to dye something else with the leftover colors in the kit!

Want to try your hand at tie dye? Tulip Tie Dye Kits are available at Walmart, Walmart Canada, Michaels, JoAnn, A.C. Moore, Hobby Lobby, Hancock Fabrics, Meijer. Tie dye kit contents and colors may vary by store.

And for more fun, crafty inspiration, be sure to follow Tulip and @ilovetocreate on Twitter, on Pinterest or like them on Facebook here or here.

Find tons of tie dye ideas here:

And great tips for tie dye techniques in here:

For more great tie dye projects:

Find my post disclosure here.

You might call Shannon the Clark Kent of craft blogging. By day, she works as a pharmacist and by night she helps readers find simple and elegant solutions for their home. Shannon enjoys blogging at Madigan Made where she shares easy crafts, DIY décor and much more. She also craves chocolate, loves a thrifty find and strives (often unsuccessfully) to avoid glue gun burns. Shannon resides in the Philadelphia suburbs with her husband and dog (and always anticipates miracles).

The post Tutorial: Tie Dyed Fabric Jewelry appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

We’re big fans of the DIY beaded chandelier (as evidenced here, here, and here).  Here’s another take on the concept by Sarah at Lovely Home Life,whose design incorporates some nice details like the turquoise beads encircling the top edge.  I also like the casual feel of the draping, which gives the finished project an “I-don’t-take-myself-too-seriously” attitude; it eliminates any pretentiousness that might be implied by the very idea of a chandy!  [how to make a beaded chandelier]

Project estimate:

• Mardi Gras beads, about $5
• Embroidery hoop, $1 and up
• Beads, on hand or $1 and up
• Wire, on hand or $1

Total:  about $6 and up

The post Make a Draped Bead Chandelier appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Happy Earth Day!  It’s one of our favorite holidays here at DSC, since we are avid recyclers all year ’round.  We just adore recycled craft projects!  One of the most innovative we’ve seen in a while is this soda-bottles-turn-jewelry-stand from Jen at Epbot.  (She’s full of amazing ideas for accessory storage – remember her flip flop hangers?)  She discovered that the dimpled bottoms from 2-liter soda bottles make great trays for sorting jewelry, small trinkets, or any other tidbits you want to store in it.  And it looks really cool too!  [how to make a recycled soda bottle jewelry stand]

Project estimate:

• Soda bottles, on hand
• Sandpaper or Dremel tool, on hand
• Drill, on hand
• Threaded rod, about $2
• Nuts and washers, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  about $2 and up

The post Make a Recycled Soda Bottle Jewelry Stand appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Fun, educational playthings don’t have to cost a lot of money.  For instance, Rena from The Cheese Theif came across some large foam letters at Dollar Tree and, using only a little bit of glue and some packaging foam saved from a fate in the landfill, turned them into a set of rubber stamps for her little one.  They provided hours of entertainment!  It’s a great way to learn about the alphabet and writing for children who have yet to master using pencil, crayons, or markers.  [how to make oversized alphabet stamps]

Project estimate:

• Foam letters, $1
• Foam, on hand
• Glue, on hand

Total:  $1

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