If you made our patriotic windsock project from yesterday, you’re going to have some plastic tablecloth strips leftover. Don’t want to toss them in the trash?  Use them to make this festive last minute wreath! Even if you didn’t make the windsock, this wreath is a quick and easy project.

Project estimate:

• Paper plate, on hand
• Red rectangular tablecloth, $1
• White rectangular tablecloth, $1
• Blue rectangular tablecloth, $1
• Scissors, on hand
• Metallic star shape, $1
• Star shaped noise maker, $1
• Hot glue gun and glue, on hand

Total: $5 or less

 Step 1: Cut Tablecloths.

Cut the tablecloths into long strips that are 1.5 inches wide.

 Step 2: Make the wreath.

Cut a circle out of the middle of your paper plate. (Don’t worry. It doesn’t have to be perfect.) If your plate is thin, you may want to stack 2-3 plates together.

 Take one of your tablecloth strips and fold it  into a shorter strip that is about 8 inches long and trim the ends through the loops so that you have a small bundle of 8 inch plastic strips.

 Tie the bundle around the paper plate and then pull the pieces apart to fluff them.

 Continue tying small bundles of strips around the plate, alternating colors between red, white and blue. To make the colors stand out more, I tied two bundles of each color at a time.

Step 3: Make the center.

Cut the stars off of the noisemaker. Cut the tab off the bottom as well.

 Center a red star from the noise maker in the middle of your metallic star cut out (these came in packs of 5 at my local dollar store) and attach with hot glue.

Use hot glue to attach the points of the star to the wreath before hanging on your door!

The post Tutorial: Patriotic Wreath from Picnic Supplies appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

The other day, reader N sent me a link to this CB2 Pebble Mat and said she didn’t have time to work on the project now, but that it would be a fun dollar store craft. I agreed with her: it would be fun (and also, I don’t have time right now either! So many ideas, so little time.) As luck would have it, I stumbled across this project, posted by Meli Melo at After I Finish This Row. She’s already done it for us, so I get to post about it, and you get to make your own! You can use the multicolored river rocks like Meli did, or as reader N noted, Dollar Tree has black river rocks available as well. [click here for how to make a river rock pebble mat]

Project Estimate:

• 2 bags of river stone pebbles, $2
• 1 placemat or suitable sturdy fabric cut to preferred size, $1
• e6000, on hand

Total: $3

Additional Resources and Ideas:

• Felted stone rug at yes, i MADE that
• Tree Trimmings doormat at Anthropologie

The post Make a Pebble Mat appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Here’s a cute idea for patriotic-themed decor from Better Homes and Gardens: make a map banner. This totally reminds me of when I lived in Texas and the shape of the state was on everything, and hey, this example highlights Texas! Don’t mess! This is a great craft to do with a readymade placemat from the dollar store. Just apply the map, make a casing for the dowel to go through, and go. [click here for inspiration project]

BHG suggests using high-tack fabric adhesive to adhere the map shape, but I think you could do this using standard (and budget-friendly) applique materials: fabric, Stitch Witchery, and an iron.

To make: Trace map on fabric with dressmaker’s chalk or washable marker (trace your state in a contrasting colored fabric), apply Stitch Witchery according to manufacturer’s directions, iron onto placemat. Zig-zag stitch around applique with your sewing machine, or embroider around it with an edging stitch like the blanket stitch. For the casing, I wouldn’t try to fold the placemat over and sew a casing (unless it is a lightweight placemat, and then I would!), but I would pin grosgrain ribbon along the back of the placemat and sew a seam very near to each horizontal edge of the fabric. Slip a dowel inside (or a bamboo skewer if you’re cheap, which I know you are because you’re reading this blog!!), glue ribbon to each edge of skewer, and hang!

Project Estimate:

• Placemat, $1
• Ribbon, $1
• Bamboo skewer, on hand or $1 for a pack
• Fabric, on hand
• Stitch Witchery, $4 a package or buy by the yard, or on hand (it’s very useful!)
• Embroidery floss (optional), on hand or $.25

Total: $2 and up

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