Project Materials:

• 3 skeins of embroidery floss, on hand or about $1
• Size 12 (US) crochet hook, on hand or about $1
• Chain or thread to string, on hand
• (optional) Jump rings and hardware, if you are using a chain, on hand

Total: FREE and upIf you are a beginning crocheter, I recommend making a couple granny squares with regular yarn and hooks just to get the hang of it. After you make a few, you will memorize the pattern, and it will be the perfect thing to crochet on auto-pilot (and a great way to use up your small leftover balls of yarn.

Crocheting with embroidery floss is a little bit challenging. One, it’s small, so it’s a bit harder to work with, and to get a comfortable hand position and work flow. The good news is that it doesn’t take too long to adjust to the reduced scale. Two, the six strands of floss aren’t twisted together like yarn, so the individual strands can get caught in your work a lot more. You can combat this by slightly twisting the floss with your index finger and thumb as you go. You can also pull out the offending stitches as you go and redo them, or pull the loops through your work to hide them.

Hook: My crochet hook was a steel hook, size 12 US (.70mm/size 5 UK). A hook a couple sizes larger would probably be fine!

Pattern:I just used a classic granny square pattern. I don’t need to re-write it for you! If you want to learn how to crochet a granny square, here is an excellent visual tutorial at The Purl Bee: [how to crochet a granny square]

Homemade Simple Gifts

I have always been a huge fan of handmade gifts. As a crafter, it’s only natural, right? I am lucky to be part of a family that also appreciates handmade gifts and makes it a practice to exchange gifts that aren’t store-bought. I know, I’m so spoiled!

While not all handmade gifts exchanged in our family are smash hits, they are all appreciated and they somehow seem more meaningful than something purchased in the $10 or less aisle of a big box store.

The best handmade gifts I’ve given or received have been: duct tape wallets (for the guys), hand-roasted coffee (yum!), quilts, and special items decorated by my three boys (always a win for the mommies, right?).

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Take a few pretty focal pendants made of stone, and turn them into a pretty statement necklace. This Statement Stone Necklace takes less than an hour to make, and uses three pretty focal pendants that cost just $1 — for all THREE (from my sponsor, Fire Mountain Gems — affiliate links included in this post). I braided three chains to make a sturdy chain for these eye-catching stones.

I recently got a few goodies from the Fire Mountain Gems $1 sale, and they challenged me to make something with the things they sent me. I was immediately inspired by the group of three focal stones, and I thought they might even look good if grouped together in a single necklace.

Since you can’t often find jewelry-making supplies at the dollar store, I heartily recommend checking out Fire Mountain Gems for their $1 sale, which goes until April 11.

Project Materials:

• 3 Stone Focal Pendants, $1
• 3 18″ chains, $1 each
• Large jump rings, $1 or on hand
• Eye pins, $1 or on hand
• Pliers (Needle nose, chain nose, or round nose will work), on hand
• Lobster clasp, $1 or on hand

Total cost: $4 and up

Step 1: If your chains have clasps on them already, remove them. In my case, my three chains were 18″ unfinished chains. Instead of using an additional lobster clasp, you can reuse the clasp from one of your chains, if you like.

Put the three chains on a jump ring, and then put the lobster clasp onto the jump ring. Close the jump ring.

Step 2: Clip the lobster clasp onto something (like a safety pin on your jeans!!), and then braid the three chains together.

Step 3: Put the three ends of the braided chain through a small jump ring, then add a large jump ring to use with the lobster clasp.

The braided chain makes a sturdy backdrop for the three large focal beads!

Step 4: Insert long eye pins into the holes of each focal bead, and wrap the end of the eye pin around the top, wire-wrapping style. Alternately, use an ice pick bail to mount the focal beads.

Attach each prepared focal bead to the braided chain using a jump ring.

You’re done! You can also add as many additional embellishments as you like. Get creative – there are so many fun beads to buy at the $1 sale!

Disclosure: Affiliate links, and product was provided for free from our sponsor, Fire Mountain Gems.

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I’ve been busy bringing color to the gray days of winter with my two projects for the Live.Craft.Love blog – DIY Wooden Geometric Wall Art and a Bungee Bling Necklace. Do you need to add some color to your days too? Go check these projects out!

DIY Wooden Geometric Wall Art

I love these wooden canvases – I have been using them for all kinds of fun art projects around my home, from making cute baby photo art, to letting my children paint on them for an instant gallery of kid art. For this project, I layered colored vellum onto the wooden canvas to create these colorful modern pieces of wall art.

Bungee Bling Necklace:

Bungee cord is a fun material to use in jewelry making, and these large hole Mix & Mingle beads just slip right on to create a perfectly easy jewelry project. This would be a fun one for teens to make!

The post 2 Colorful Craft Projects for Spring appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Want to up your jewelry-making game? This bead-wrapped wire heart pendant from Lisa Yang is a great project for those who have a little experience working with wire and want to learn a fun new technique. Once you master the beading technique, you can use this to give a fancy edge to all kinds of crafty projects! [how to make a bead-wrapped wire heart pendant]

Project estimate:

• Wire, on hand or $1 and up
• Beads, on hand or $1 and up

Total: Free and up!

The post Make a Bead-Wrapped Wire Heart Pendant appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Make fun key necklaces with old keys (or key charms), using nail polish that you already have on hand to create an enamel look. Add a chain or a ribbon to hang the keys from, and you have a quick and easy jewelry project. Find out how to make them at Live.Craft.Love: [diy key necklace]

Project Materials:

• Old keys or key charms
• Nail polish
• Ribbon or a necklace chain

The post Make Painted Key Necklaces with Nail Polish appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Pencils are a staple back-to-school supply – but they are also equally fabulous as a craft supply!  At Curly Made, Daniela used some pencils to make an assortment of coordinating jewelry, and we think they’re absolutely adorable!  There are lots of options for customizing this project, since pencils come in so many varieties.  (And this is a great excuse to buy some with pretty or funky patterns!)  [how to make pencil jewelry]

Project estimate:

• Pencils, on hand or $1
• Glue, on hand
• Jewelry findings, on hand or $1 and up
• Clear nail polish, on hand or $1

Total: Free and up!

The post Make Pencil Jewelry appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

What better way to preserve the memory of your beach vacation this summer than bringing a little piece of the beach home with you?  The beach is a treasure trove of tiny shells, rocks, and bits of glass; gather up some of these itty bitty pretties and use them to make your very own beach-in-a-bottle necklace.  (Not headed to the beach any time soon?  You can also buy small shells from the dollar store to fill your necklace!)

Project estimate:

• Small bottles with corks, $1
• Small seashells, on hand or $1
• Eye screw, on hand or $1
• Resin or clear nail polish, on hand or $1 and up
• Super glue (gel type), on hand or $1
• Ribbon or string, on hand or $1
• Sand or salt, on hand

Total: $1 and up

Make sure your bottle is completely clean.  Add the sand (or salt if you do not have clean sand on hand) and seashell(s).  Slowly add the resin or clear nail polish with your bottle sitting on a level surface.  Let your bottle sit in a warm, dust-free place to dry.  (This may take up to several days.) If you are using salt it may absorb some of the liquid, so you may need to add a little bit more after the first round dries.

Screw the eye hook in the top of the cork. Remove it carefully, put a drop or two of super glue in the hole it created and screw the eye hook back in place.

Put the cork back in the bottle and note where the cork touches the bottle.  Add a generous amount of super glue to that area of the cork and put it back in the bottle so that it fits snugly.

Put a ribbon through the eye hook and tie a knot at the hook, to cover it. Tie another knot at the end of the ribbons and slip it over your head to wear.

The post Tutorial: Seashell in a Bottle Necklace appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I’m pretty sure that just about every crafter on the planet has an abundance of buttons – I know that personally I have thousands of them, enough to constitute several lifetime supplies for most folks.  as such, I’m always on the lookout for cute and clever button crafts.  I really love these simple pensant necklaces by Shellie at Craftbits!  It’s a great way to dress up a plain button, or to showcase a unique button in a special way!  [how to make wire wrapped button pendants]

Project estimate:

• Buttons, on hand or $1 and up
• Wire, on hand or $1 and up
• Chain or cord, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  Free and up!

The post Make Wire Wrapped Button Pendants appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Is there a place that is close to your heart?  Perhaps you have fond memories of special times in a certain city, or maybe you need a going away present for someone who is spreading their wings and leaving their hometown.  There are lots of great reasons why you might want to make this beautiful map pendant by Adrianne at Happy Hour Projects!  Similarly, you could use dictionary pages to make pendants highlighting words of significance to you.  There are so many possibilities for a wonderfully custom piece of jewelry!  [how to make a map necklace]

Project estimate:

• Map, free and up
• Jewelry bezel with cabochon, about $2 and up
• Chain, on hand or $1 and up
• Mod Podge, on hand

Total:  about $2 and up

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

Mother’s Day s on the horizon!  Have you started thinking about what to make for mom yet this year? Jewelry is a classic Mother’s Day gift option, and handmade jewelry is sure to make mom happy.  This bib-style necklace is a great project if you have a stash of buttons on hand; even if you have to go out and buy buttons, it shouldn’t cost you more than a few bucks!

Project estimate:

• Felt, on hand or $1
• Buttons, on hand or $1 and up
• Hot glue, on hand
• Colored wire, on hand or $1
• Ribbon, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  Free and up!

This coated wire is very pliable and easy to bend and cut. Make two pieces in the shape shown above. These need to have a smaller end so that the ribbon will stay in place. The rest of the pieces are leaves and you can make them any shape you like. Do use an odd number as this will make your necklace look nicer.

To make the felt backing, I folded a piece of felt over and cut a “smile” shape. Hold it up to your neckline and look in the mirror to establish if it is large enough or too large.

Attach the side hooks and add the buttons.

To add the side hooks, one at a time, place them on the corner of your felt, apply hot glue and fold the corner over as seen as seen in the image. Find two buttons that are the same and hot glue them over the top of the felt, hiding where the side hooks are attached.

Place your leaves where you want them, and hot glue them into place.

I used a lot of shank buttons. Shank buttons are the ones that have the hole on the bottom of the button. I used my wire cutters to cut that part off, making it flat as shown in the image. I then hot glued it into the middle of an ordinary button.

I began using buttons all around the edge of the felt and then work Dan towards the center. The center buttons will be mostly covered so I didn’t have to worry about gluing shank buttons in the center. The rose buttons came in an assortment from a local dollar store. When I got the first layer down, I then added my prettier buttons. Also, for a little extra durability, I added one more button behind each of my side hooks.

Add the ribbon.  Cut two pieces of satin ribbon about 15 inches long each. Most satin ribbon has a pretty side and a not-so-pretty side. Make sure that the pretty side is out. Thread them each through the side hooks and hem them using hot glue. Also hem the ends of the ribbon with hot glue as well.

Tips:

• For safety’s sake, when you cut the shank off the button, cover it with your other hand.
• If you want to use regular buttons, please do, they will work the same way and look awesome. There are many different kinds, shapes and colours of buttons.
• Place several buttons where you want them and then, when you are sure that is where they are going, hot glue them in place.

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