When I found this red “thing” in the toy section at Dollar Tree I really wasn’t sure what it was.  Several of them were piled in an unmarked box.  I thought they kind of looked like vases, so I bought one with a vague idea of what to do with it.

• Red plastic vase toy, $1
• Acrylic paint,  on hand or $1 and up
• Glue dots, on hand or $3 and up
• Glitter, on hand or $1
• Cardboard or plastic tube, on hand

Total:  $1 and up

The post Tutorial: Make a Mod Christmas Tree appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Our fashion contributor Kirsten from Studs and Pearls made a quick and easy mod necklace over at her blog with some simple items she picked up at the dollar store. This high-impact necklace should only take you a few minutes to make, so what are you waiting for? [how to make a mod stacked necklace]

Project Estimate:

• Long chain, on hand or $1 and up
• 3-pack of barrettes, $1
• E-6000 glue, on hand

Total: $1 and up

The post Make a Mod Stacked Necklace appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Bold, graphic designs are hot right now, but even when they’re not we still love them.  Celebrate bold patterns with this mod pillow featuring stylized peacock feathers by Amy of Positively Splendid, which she shared as a guest post at Tatertots & Jello.  The motif is created using a clever combination of freezer paper stencils, spray paint, and appliques.  She even supplied free printable .pdf files of the shapes used in the pillow, making it easy to make your own.  If you enjoy this peacock feather motif, you can also use the same technique to add it to draperies, table runners, clothing, and more!  [how to make a mod peacock pillow]

Project estimate:

• Fabric, on hand
• Felt, on hand
• Freezer paper, on hand
• Iron, on hand
• Spray paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Needle and thread, on hand
• Pillow form or polyfill, on hand or about $3 and up
• Feather and circle templates, free

Total:  Free and up

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I’m a huge fan of sunburst mirrors, and especially when they use inexpensive materials! This pretty sunburst mirror, by The Nester, has pretty leaves on it which are made by a material that is always available at the dollar store. Can you guess what it is?

It’s poster board! This cheap material is folded to add dimension to the mirror, and it works very well to add interest to the mirror. [how to make a sunburst mirror] [via Curbly] [via]

Project Estimate:

• Round mirror, $1
• 4 sheets of poster board, 2 for $1
• Hot glue and glue sticks, on hand
• Scissors, on hand

Total: $3 and up

We love sunburst mirrors! Check out some others we’ve made or featured:

Cocktail Fork Sunburst

Silver Starburst Mirror

Atomic Starburst Out of Recyclables

Starburst Mirror Tutorial

The post Make a Sunburst Mirror appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

This mobile is a great way to bring some mid-century modern into your home for less than a buck. Yep! I said a buck. In fact, if you work from materials in your stash, or your recycling bin, your only expense will be the two pennies you use to weigh the mobiles down. I used two main colors for the two sides of the mobile, plus a couple accent colors , so when the mobile hangs freely in the air, the pieces rotate gently and the look of the mobile constantly changes.

I love this print by artist Jenn Ski. I am in love with her color choices, the shapes, and the way she put them all together. I bookmarked the print months ago, and recently found it again and was inspired to create a mobile for myself, using the print as inspiration. (In a separate incident last year, I bought some of Jenn’s awesome Actopus To Zelephant paper products at Michael’s. I didn’t even know they were by the same artist! I am a confirmed fan of Jenn’s now!) She’s a terrific artist, and Jenn is also a super nice person, and she graciously agreed to let me share my mobile instructions and templates with you. Because this project is based on another artist’s work, please use these instructions only for personal use (no selling mobiles based on this pattern.)

A few weeks ago I got a Cricut Expression (if you aren’t familiar with Cricuts, they look like a printer, but they cut lines instead of printing them) from another crafter, and I found out about a software called Sure Cuts-a-Lot, which allows you to cut any shape you want using the Cricut. This mobile was my first project using Sure Cuts-a-Lot. I have to use the software a little more before I review it for you, but let me just say, in a word, love.

I have been on a cut-out-paper project kick for a few months anyway, and the Cricut reduces production time (read: tracing and cutting) from hours to minutes. I was able to make this mobile in about an hour, from making the shapes on my illustration program, to cutting them on the Cricut, to assembling the mobile.

But don’t worry if you don’t have a Cricut. You can do this project without one. You can even do it without a printer. I’ll tell you how to do it no matter what tools you have at your disposal.

But first, the

Project Materials:

• 2-4 pieces of 12×12″ card stock, $.50 each
  (OR) recycled cardboard like cereal boxes, on hand
• Page of text, (like newspaper, love letter, book page, etc.) on hand
• Fishing line or thread, on hand
• 2 pennies, $.02
• Craft glue
• Clear tape
• Scissors, X-acto knife, or Cricut with Sure Cuts-A-Lot
• (optional) Computer printer
• (optional) 2 rings (like binder rings) for mounting, $1

Total: $.02 and up

Go to Page 2 for Instructions

The post Make a Mod Mobile appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Dishtowels make great aprons, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dishtowel apron as cute as this one before! Aly at polkanuts designed this sweet apron that uses two dishtowels, has a pocket, and helps you use up a few fabric scraps while you sew it. It’s also slightly fitted to give it a more attractive silhouette than some apron patterns. We’ve featured quite a few apron patterns, but this one was so nice I had to share. [please visit polkanuts for the tutorial]

Project Estimate:

• 2 dishtowels, $1 each
• Scrap fabric, on hand
• Sewing stuff, on hand
• Elastic (optional), on hand

Total: $2

The post Make a Two-Towel Apron (Part Deux) appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Use an old technique to make a cool new lamp! Use string, a balloon, and some kind of stiffener to make this cool string lampshade, found at Pickles. You can pick up a pendant lamp kit at your local home improvement store or IKEA for ten bucks or less. Or, you could play around with using twinkle lights  as illumination. Pickles used wallpaper paste to stiffen the string, but other  makers had good luck with Elmer’s glue or other types of stiffeners. You can use a big punch-balloon (find at the party store if your dollar store doesn’t stock them) for the round form or an inflatable beach ball like x4duros did. [click here for how to make a string lamp]

Project Estimate:

• Ball of string or yarn or two, $1 and up
• Elmer’s glue, 3 large desk bottles, about $1 each
• Inflatable beach ball or punch balloon, $1
• Vaseline, on hand

Total: $5 and up

The post Make a String Lamp appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I guess I’m into pretty jewelry this week! Check out this necklace found at Pretty Ditty. You can use any scrap fabric and beads you happen to have on hand to make this necklace. I love this black, white, and red combination! It’s classic and fun, with a dash of romance but not TOO girly. You could wear it with a little black dress or a little black tee and jeans. [click here for beaded fabric flower necklace tutorial] [via]

Project Estimate:

• Long strip of scrap fabric for necklace part, on hand
• Coordinating scrap fabric for flowers, on hand
• Beads, on hand or $1
• Needle & thread, on hand

Total: FREE and up

The post Make a Fabric Beaded Necklace appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Here’s a brilliant idea from Christine at Jane Avion, who has been posting up a whole lotta great ideas lately (remember the feather tree?)! She used dollar store craft foam to create these pretty silhouettes to use on jewelry! She also found a jewelry kit at the dollar store that had chains, clasps, and jump rings, all for a buck – awesome! Go check out her project details and her other cool projects, too! [click here for how to make a silhouette necklace]

What are you going to cut a silhouette of? And would you wear a necklace, earrings, or use this technique for another kind of craft? Sound off in the comments!

Project Estimate:

• Craft foam, $1
• Jewelry kit, $1
• X-acto knife, on hand
• Sharp scissors, on hand

Total: $2

The post Make a Silhouette Necklace appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Reader Ashley at Ashley’s Thrifty Living has a lot of nifty money-saving decor ideas. She made this cool silver starburst mirror using coffee stirring sticks (genius!), a plate, and a mirror. She was inspired by this project at CraftyNest. I personally can’t get enough of the starburst mirror crafting ideas, so I thought I would pass this one along to you too, since it uses a completely different construction technique than my tutorial. Check out Ashley’s Thrifty Living for a bunch of cool ideas, plus her [starburst mirror project tutorial].

Project Estimate:

• Coffee stirring sticks, $1
• Mirror, $1 and up
• Plate, on hand or $1
• Glue, on hand
• Spray paint, on hand

Total: $3

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