Baskets, baskets, baskets.  There are shelves full of them at every dollar store and thrift store in which I’ve ever set foot, and a giant box full of them at most yard sales (likely located somewhere near the table full of flower vases and coffee mugs).  What can you do with all of those baskets?  Haeley from Design Improvised took a bit of yarn and turned a few plain ol’ baskets into beautiful and functional decor pieces.  Heck, even if you don’t have a place to use these to hold various odds and ends, you could make a few to hang up on the wall as art!  [how to decorate baskets with yarn]

Project estimate:

• Baskets, on hand or $1
• Yarn, on hand or $1 and up
• Tapestry needle, on hand

Total:  Free and up!

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Weaving is hot, hot, hot right now.  We’re not really ones to jump on every passing bandwagon, but if this is what the technique’s latest incarnation looks like, count us in!  Cintia at My Poppet wove simple patterns into these yarn-wrapped bangles, giving them a cozy character that will be great for fall!  This is a fabulous way to use up odds and ends of scrap yarn you may have laying around.  Try weaving different patterns and using different combinations of colors – you could make a bunch and stack your arm in sweater-like fashion!  [how to make woven yarn bangles]

Project estimate:

• Yarn, on hand
• Bangle bracelets, $1 and up
• Double sided tape, on hand or $1
• Tapestry needle, on hand

Total:  $1 and up

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When I was putting together our camp crafts roundup the other day,  it got me thinking about all of the crafty things I used to do when I was a kid.  One of my favorite things to do was weaving on a drinking straw loom, a project I learned in girl scouts.  The result is a strip of woven fabric, perfect for use as a belt or scarf.  You can vary the width of the finished piece by changing the number of straws; more straws yields a wider strip.

Project estimate:

• Drinking straws, on hand or $1
• Yarn, on hand or $1 and up
• Cardboard, on hand
• Tape, on hand

Total:  Free and up

Figure out how many straws you are using.  (I recommend at least three.  You can add as many straws as you want, but once you get to more than 5 or 6 they start to become a little unruly and more difficult to handle.)  For each straw, cut a  piece of yarn a few inches longer than you want the finished piece to be.  Tie the ends of the strands together with an overhand knot and use tape to anchor them to a piece  of cardboard.

Feed each strand of yarn through a drinking straw, sliding the straws all the way up to the knot.

Tie the end of another piece of  yarn around the first taped-down strand.

Weave the yarn over and under the straws.  Keep the weaving as tight as possible.  As the straws become wrapped  in yarn, slide the straws down to re-expose them.  Continue weaving  until your  piece reaches the desired length.

To finish the end, tie the weaving strand and all of the base stands together in an overhand knot.  Now the only question is, what are you going to do with your yarn weaving?  Whatever you choose, you’ll have fin making it!

The post Make a Drinking Straw Weaving Loom appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Make a sculptural hanging lamp with this simple supply found at the home improvement store. Arounna of Bookhou created this lamp for poppytalk using an Ikea pendant light and some wood veneer strips. Although it’s not strictly from dollar store supplies, I thought you would be interested in this idea! Arounna suggests using paper strips if you can’t get wood veneer strips. Now paper, that’s what I’m talking about. [how to make a wood veneer pendant lamp]

Project Estimate:

• strips of wood veneer, $6 (at Amazon)
• white glue, on hand
• large clips (or clothes pins), on hand
• HEMMA ikea light, $4

Total: $10 and up

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Apparently measuring tapes are inspiring me this week, since this is the third project I’ve brought you that uses measuring tapes. You have to see this thread at Craftster wherein user BigMouth posted about six different woven measuring tape projects! I love the yellow pouch with the ric rac accent- too cute! The red and black one with the big black button was made with dollar store measuring tapes.

The process doesn’t sound like the easiest thing ever (BigMouth called herself “masochistic” for starting a 2nd woven measuring tape project!), but the payoff certainly is big! BigMouth says: “They’re woven like baskets.  Bottom first, then sides.  Self-adhesive Velcro doesn’t work on measuring tapes.  Even E6000 requires a bunch of clamps and a lot of insistence.” After a couple of pouches, BigMouth changes her tune and says: “I figured out a better way to weave it (do the bottom AND one side first, then fold and finish).  It ended up neater, too–it’s a more consistent weave and it doesn’t have tighter and looser rows.”

And then later in the thread, she gives us more info:

I think I used 6-7 tapes for the large purse.  Most of those were long ones (120″).  It’s a little hard to pin down exactly how many I used, because I included salvageable pieces from my misguided first attempt and ended up with leftovers.

Jo-Ann (in their Jo-Ann Essentials stuff) has the lavender measuring tapes for $.49 each.  They’re 60″ long and 1/2″ wide, and they may not be there much longer (they don’t seem to be restocking).  I found the store-brand 120″ x 3/4″ tapes are only $.79 at Michaels (white), but about twice that at Jo-Ann.  I found several different styles and color combinations just by looking around.  Check out the “Jo-Ann Essentials” for other color combinations, too (like the white & blue).

I used E6000 glue to help keep the tapes in place.  I slathered some on one of the surfaces with a toothpick before I stuck them together.  I also put a tot staple (Hello Kitty, circa 1983, if you must know ) to connect the ends of each tape.  I made sure all those were “hidden” on the inside–but I don’t know how to line a bag, so they’re visible from the inside (I made sure the top of the staple faced inward).  As the bag took shape, it required less glue until I reached the top.  At the top, I used a lot of glue and clamped it down with bag clips from the kitchen until it dried.  I cut the ends off, and put trim on the top.  Then I obsessively rolled off all the visible globs of E6000.  Yum.

The glue and staples make it easier to put the bag together, but I don’t think they’re necessary for reinforcement.  The measuring tapes are fiberglass and they’re woven–so it’s a double thickness at every point on the bag.  It’s pretty stiff.

The measuring tapes are sturdy, but they’re still quite floppy and annoying.  They’re made to be flexible, after all.  At one point, I rolled the loose ends up and held them in place with bent paperclips or something.  That helped a bit, but then they were really heavy.  I don’t remember whether it actually helped. The glue helped a lot for keeping the tapes in place while weaving.  I don’t know whether it even matters in the final product (except at the top, where it definitely matters).

Oh, and a little warning:  E6000 can discolor some measuring tapes.  I saw some yellowing on the white tapes, as well as some discoloration on the yellow and lavendar tapes.  So don’t overdo the glue.

So, that should get you started on your path to tape measure weaving! Looks like it’s cheaper to get these at a fabric or craft store than at the dollar store.

Project Estimate:

• 6-7 tape measures, $7 (or about $3.50 if you get them for $.49 each)
• E6000 glue, on hand
• Staples, on hand

Total cost: $3.50 and up

The post Make Woven Measuring Tape Pouches appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Use dollar store plastic placemats cut into strips to liven up a woven metal trash can! (project: fantasticmio from fantasticmio.com)

Project estimate:

• Trash can $1
• 4 Placemats $4

Total cost: $5

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