Take these elephant and dinosaur toys from the dollar store and use them to make some fun photo holders to display on your desk, shelf or playroom. Add a dash of whimsy to any room. You’ll be surprised at the way these clever photo holders are constructed, so check out how easy it is to make this dinosaur photo frame craft!

Hi there! Katie here today from Punk Projects! I love using inexpensive items in my crafting. If it involves upcycling, I’m all for it! I took a trip to the Dollar Tree to get some inspiration for today’s post and I found these awesome plastic toys.

Supplies Needed:

Project estimate:

• Toy animals, $1
• Flat magnets, on hand or $1
• Super glue, on hand or $1
• Craft knife or box cutter, on hand

Total:  $1 and up

1. Decide on your animals. I loved the brontosaurus, and the elephant is for a friend.

2. Use a craft knife to cut through the animal. Most plastic animals have a seam where they were put together, cut on that seam and it will be easier. Just don’t cut yourself.

3. Once you have your animal cut in half, trace around him onto a magnet.

4. Cut out 2 magnets for each animal.

5. Go around the cut edge of your animal with super glue and glue your magnet to it.

6. Let it dry completely.

Once your magnets have been glued on and dried, slide a photo in between the animal piece and stand him back up! I love these little dinosaur photo frames!

What do you think? Would you make a dinosaur photo frame craft for yourself, or for a friend?

Pin the Dinosaur Photo Frame Craft:

I’m Katie, a lover of anything artsy. I doodle on everything I can get my hands on, however my favorite projects are scrapbooking, restyled/upcycled crafts and sewing. I write my blog, Punk Projects, where I post tutorials, inspiration and other fun things as well as designing custom shoes in my etsy shop.

You can also find me here on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

The post Tutorial: Toy Animal Photo Holders appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

The dollar store is one of my favorite places to pick up inexpensive seasonal crafting items.  A perennial favorite across all seasons is their glitter table scatter. Over on Creative Green Living, I show you how to take some wired burlap ribbon and combine it with Valentine table scatter to make a cute bunting perfect for a mantle, door, or mirror.  [how to make an easy burlap and glitter valentine heart banner]

Project estimate:

• burlap ribbon, $1
• Glitter heart table scatter, $1 and up
• Scissors, on hand
• Jute twine, on hand or $1 and up
• Hot glue gun & glue, on hand

Total: $3 and up

The post Make a Dollar Store Valentine Bunting appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I decided I wanted a Valentine’s Day wreath this year.  I’ve never been a big wreath person, but Pinterest can change a girl.  I wasn’t sure exactly how my wreath would look, I just knew I wanted it to be big, bold, and red.

I headed to Dollar Tree and just started picking up red Valentine items that “spoke” to me.  I liked the sparkly garland, and the heart picks were too cute to pass up.  I had a ton of red ribbon left over from Christmas, and some wood heart frames I had purchased at Michael’s.  I looked at my collection for several days, still not sure what to do with it.  So I just started playing with my supplies, and I wound up with a wreath that I absolutely LOVE.  Here’s how I ended up making it.

Project estimate:

• Wreath form, $1
• Wire edged ribbon, on hand or $1 and up
• Valentine garland, $1
• Heart Picks, $1
• Wood heart frame, $1
• Puffy hearts, $1 for 6
• Stickers, on hand

Total:  $5 and up

Step one:  Wrap the wreath form with ribbon (optional, but I can’t stand floral foam shedding!)  Paint the heart shaped frame.

Step two:  Cut the wire garland into 24 inch pieces.  Wrap one end of wire around the wreath form, and coil the rest into a loose spiral.  Repeat.

Step three:  Cut the wire edged ribbon into 32 inch strips.  Attach it to the wreath form by doubling the ribbon, and pulling the ribbon ends through the loop.  Repeat.

Step four:  Slide the ends of the heart picks into the base of the ribbon loops.

Step five:  Glue the wood heart to the front, and attach the puffy heart with a ribbon.  Add a cupid sticker (optional).

Step six:  Curl the ends of the wired ribbon in different directions.

Isn’t this a fun wreath?  If you don’t care for my red/gold combo, you could easily make it white/pink or any other colors that say “Valentine’s Day” to you.  Have fun crafting and creating!

The post Tutorial: Valentine’s Day Dollar Store Wreath appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

This quick, easy project doesn’t just have to be for Valentine’s Day.  You could easily use different stamps to create custom decorative candles for your home, for parties, or for gifts.  I made several winter themed candles as gifts for my neighbors for Christmas, and they loved them!  So pull out your inks and stamps, and let’s decorate some candles!

Project estimate:

• Candles, on hand or $1 and up
• Stamps and ink, on hand
• Tissue paper, on hand
• Hair dryer or heat embossing tool, on hand

Total:  Free or $1 and up

It’s a good idea to do a few practice runs with old candles or dollar store candles.  I often find bags of new to barely used candles at thrift stores, and they are great for practicing this technique.  The candle I used in this project was purchased at Dollar Tree, and while it is a battery operated votive candle, it has a wax coating on the outside, so it works for this project.

To make your own stamped Valentine’s Day Candle:

Step one:  Cut a piece of tissue paper to fit around your candle.

Step two:  Stamp the tissue paper.  First, I covered my paper with a text stamp that has the definition of love. Then I stamped the heart image over the text.

Step three:  Wrap the stamped tissue paper around the candle.

Step four:  Heat the tissue paper with a heat embossing tool or a hair dryer.  As the wax melts, the tissue paper will seem to disappear into the candle, leaving only the image.  Be careful to keep moving your heat tool so you don’t burn the tissue paper or create uneven dimples in your candle.

If you want to, you can further embellish your candle with ribbon, string, rhinestones, etc.  I’m decorating a few candles with blue and green damask stamps to match my living room.  Which stamps are you going to reach for?  Have fun creating!

The post Tutorial: Stamped Valentine’s Day Candle appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

There are a million ways to make a wreath, and one of our favorites methods uses a pool noodle as an inexpensive wreath form.  Dollar Tree has started getting spring and summer seasonal items in stock, so it’s the perfect time to stock up on noodles for all of your wreath making needs!  This wreath won’t warp or melt when using hot glue.

Project estimate:

• Pool noodle, $1
• Wire hanger, on hand
• Packing tape, on hand or $1

Total:  $1 and up

Straighten the coat hanger except for the top. With pliers, bend it together to form a hook. Bend the other end to form a small U shape.  Measure the pool noodle to the end of the hanger and cut it.

Bend the pool noodle to form a circle. IT WILL NOT MEET at the ends. Hook the U part of the hanger to the hook.

Cut several small pieces of the left over pool noodle and add them to the wreath. The last piece will be in the shape of a V.

Take the packing tape and wrap it completely around the wreath. This will keep the smaller pieces together and keep the pool noodle from melting when you apply hot glue.

The post Tutorial: Pool Noodle Wreath Form appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Create a simple and elegant magnetic organizer from a dollar store cookie sheet — you can use it as a kitchen command center, a makeup organizer or a handy memo board. Dollar store cookie sheets are great for crafters; they’re made out of steel, which means they are magnetic! This gorgeous idea is from The Crazy Crafty Lady: [DIY a Magnetic Organizer]

Project Estimate:

• Cookie sheet, $1
• Scrapbook paper, on hand or $1
• Mod Podge, on hand or $1

Total: $1 and up

The post DIY Magnetic Organizer from Dollar Store Cookie Sheet appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

There are many ways to decorate dollar store glassware, but this has to be one of the classiest I’ve seen! Transfer any image to dollar store glassware (like candle holders) using this method described over at The Graphics Fairy: [DIY Packing Tape Transfers]

Project Materials:

• Candle holder, $1
• Printed image, on hand
• Clear packing tape, $1

Project total: $2

The post How to Transfer Any Image to Dollar Store Glassware appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Wow, can you believe that this chandelier is made from ANY materials you can find at the dollar store? That’s right, over at Ciburbanity, Charlotte created this stunning chandelier using bottles she found at the dollar store. You can read all about her innovative process in making this chandelier (and learn how to make one for yourself) here: [dollar store chandelier]

Dollar Store Material Used:

• Plastic travel bottles

Check out our Dollar Store Beaded Chandelier Project:

One of our most popular projects ever: Make a Beaded Chandelier

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

The reason I started this website was because of inspirational projects like this stylish crocheted twine and leather basket. Yes, it’s actually made from dollar store materials! How would you use a pretty basket like this one? I think I’d like to use it in my bedroom to add some quiet style to my bedside (and I could keep some of my extra books in there). Find the instructions for this basket over at Make and Do Crew: [Dollar Store Twine & Leather Basket]

Supplies Needed:

• 6 balls of dollar store twine, $6
• Thrift store leather belt, $1 and up

Total: $6 and up

The post Make a Stylish Twine & Leather Basket appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Don’t let your budget limit your decorating options! Over at Small Home Soul, Toni used dollar store materials on a small budget to create an eye-catching backsplash. Find out what she did: [Dollar Store Glass Backsplash]

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