If you haven’t checked out the dollar store (in this case, Dollar Treespecifically because it’s the store I’m familiar with) for its wedding section, it should be your first stop.

Best Wedding Deals at the Dollar Tree:

• Vases: they have several styles, including the straight cylindrical ones that have a classic look
• Vase Filler: river rocks, sand, glass marbles, moss, etc. There are lots of good, cheap choices.
• Packaging for Favors: round tins, foldable boxes, organza bags, and many other options for packaging up your favors.
• Favors: rose petals, favor rings, teeny doves, and a bunch of other goodies

What are your favorite wedding items at the dollar store?

Remember, you can use components from the dollar store to create what you want for your wedding. Don’t be afraid to find inspiration pieces (favors, decorations) and then try to recreate them with stuff from the dollar store. Or, take what you find at the dollar store and further embellish them to give them more personality.  [these lanterns from Happy Together – check this post for some dollar store wedding favor tips]

In the photo at the top of the post, Lacey shows a cookie buffet she had as her wedding favor to her guests. The baskets came from the dollar store, and the signs are handmade. [check out Life Of Lacey for a list of all the great ways she saved money on her wedding, including getting stuff at the dollar store]

Here’s my advice on how to have an affordable wedding.

Number One (remember this): The Wedding industry wants you to believe that you have to spend $30,000 on your wedding for it to be meaningful to you.

If you can’t spend $30K, then they want you to spend $10,000, or any other large amount that you aren’t comfortable with. Wedding magazines are not your friend. Yes, you will remember your wedding day fondly for the rest of your life. But no, the money you spent will not necessarily make it more memorable.

[image via]

[Check out Jess’s advice on saving money for your reception at mad in crafts]

2. Spend money on the things you think are important.

Things that were important to me: photos, and a dress I liked.  I happened to have a friend who is a really great photographer, so I employed her to take my photos. She charged me only for the film (yes, it was before digital cameras were common!) and prints I decided to buy. The dress was about $500, which is as much as we spent on the rest of the wedding put together.

3.  Examine traditions to see if they are for you.

Does he really need a tux? Do you need a big formal dress? Do you want lots of attendants in silk gowns, or would it be all right for them to wear less formal attire? Do all the dresses have to match, or can they all be one color? Must your wedding take place in a church, or would a public park suffice (if so, check the local rules on having an event in your public park)? Could you have it in someone’s yard, garden, or house (that’s what we did). Do you want a big formal dinner reception, or would something more humble be more meaningful to you?

In my wedding, my husband wore a suit he already owned, and bought a tie that matched the bridesmaids’ dresses (regular dresses that I found at a store*). We bought matching shirts, ties, and suspenders for the groomsmen at a discount clothing store. The guys were responsible to wear black slacks and black shoes.  Total cost to us was probably about $150-200, but you could ask your attendants to reimburse you.  We just chose to provide these things. My brother-in-law and his wife bought Hawaiian shirts and matching dresses in Hawaii (where they met and fell in love). The guys wore jeans and Converse All-Stars, and the girls went barefoot.

Basically, what is meaningful to you and your fiance? Don’t worry about tradition or what other people expect. Do the things you care about, skip the things you don’t care about.**

Centerpiece by Holly [art meet craft]

4.  Make whatever you can, or are inclined to.

I bought fresh flowers at Costco the day before (I didn’t know this then, but you can go into Costco a week ahead and order the specific flowers you want for the same low price) and my sister (who is a confident flower arranger) made two bouquets and some corsages and boutonnières.  Total cost was about $100… waaaay cheaper than flowers from a florist. My mom made dresses for the flower girls for the cost of a pattern and a bit of fabric and ribbon.

Just for fun, here are some other things we did:

Cake: We bought two or three big sheet cakes at Costco for $14/each to serve as wedding cake. Someone ended up giving us a little cute wedding cake, but the Costco cakes tasted a lot better than the “official” wedding cake. Our parents and friends made finger foods the day of and the day before for the food at the reception. We served sparkling cider, punch, and coffee for drinks.

Location: We had our wedding in a large house, and the reception in a neighboring house (we were planning an outdoor wedding, but it hailed minutes before the ceremony was supposed to begin, so we had to improvise. If you plan an outdoor wedding, I recommend a backup plan!)

Music: My aunt played classical guitar at the ceremony.

Invitations: We made our own invitations. I picked out neato triangular stamps for postage.

*Bridesmaid dresses: I only had two girls to get dresses for, and they were similar in build and coloring, so that helped. I figured they could wear the dresses again if they wanted to… not sure if they did or not!  I think that’s a bridal cliché – just pick dresses you like because they will NEVER want to wear the dresses again no matter what.

**Skipped: we skipped lighting a “unity candle” and the number of groomsmen and bridesmaids didn’t match. P.S. I hear that lighting a unity candle in an outdoor wedding is a bad idea… the wind can blow them out, and that’s aaaawkward.

P.S. I’m starting a Dollar Store Wedding page where I can collect all our great dollar store wedding ideas. Feel free to send your ideas to me anytime!

[this photo by redcouch; it’s reader heather s’s wedding! hi heather!]

Other Resources:

• There are always good wedding links at One Pretty Thing
• DIY Flower Arranging Simplified by Crafty Smurfette
• Eco-friendly flower girl basket ideas at Crafting a Green World
• Wedding Cake Stacked Cookies at Dabbled
• Red Couch Photo – my sister = amazing photographer
• Oriental Trading Company has deals on wedding stuff too

The post How to Have a Dollar Store Wedding appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Back in December, reader Heidi asked you “What would you do with this beaded cashmere sweater?” You gave a lot of suggestions, including:

• Nora: if you really can’t see yourself wearing them you could refashion it into a purse or pillow.
• Heather H: I think they would make lovely Christmas ornaments. You could make quite a few out of each one, and maybe on one side, embroider your grandmother’s name or initials on it. They could be given to family to remember her by.
• Betz: I would be inclined to get them tailored. If your reader doesn’t want to wear them, I like the pillow and ornament ideas!
• LizAnderson: Oh! If you decide to use the main body of the sweater, use the sleeves to make luxurious mittens. I know there are tutorials all over for that. Pretty, precious mittens. Or mitten liners.
• Jessica: Christmas stockings and pillows. Maybe even put some of the sweaters in embroidery hoops to hang on the wall?
• Tabitha: I would turn those sweaters into stockings.
• Dot: You could turn them into beautiful vests by cutting off the sleeves, facing them with blanket binding or hem tape, and seaming the sides to fit. The sleeves could then be used for the other projects mentioned above.

She sent me a follow up email not long after the post, but I got so busy I didn’t post the photos of what she decided to do with her sweater. Check out what she decided to do:

Heather,

I thought you’d like to see how I ended up using my grandma’s sweaters.  I made stockings for my daughter and me (mine is the “plain one”, according to her) and smaller ornament-sized stockings for my mom and 4 sisters.  The bigger stockings are lined with satin.  I am really happy with how they turned out.  Thank you for posting my question on your blog!

Thanks again,

Heidi

p.s. if you need business cards or any other professional printing, I have happily used PSPrint and their prices and quality are really great! SAVE 15%-60% OFF at PsPrint

The post What Would You Do With? Sweater Follow Up appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

(And thanks to Regina at Creative Kismet who let me use this cool photo!)

Last time I was at the dollar store (the real dollar store, Dollar Tree, where everything is still really just a dollar), I came across Liquid Marbles in the craft aisle. I stood there just rocking the container back and forth and watching them turn from liquid to marbles and back to liquid for a good 10 minutes. But I couldn’t figure out, for the life of me, what one would do with them. I hope you answer because I’m hoping to have a few reasons to buy them. Thanks for any help you can provide!

The post What would you do with Liquid Marbles? appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I read your blog often and love the ideas you share.  I have a problem I thought you might be able to help me with.  A few years ago, my grandma passed away and I inherited a couple of her beautiful cashmere sweaters.  They have very intricate bead work all over them (see pictures).  They are too big (and outdated) for me to wear, but I would love to do something with them.  Any thoughts?

My first inclination would be to felt it, but I haven’t heard of anyone felting a beaded sweater before! (I wonder if Betz White has done it?)

Other ideas:

• Make them into throw pillow covers
• Stretch over a canvas for a wall hanging
• Cut up and sew into hats and mittens
• Alter them to fit you

Now it’s your turn readers!

The post What would you do with a beaded cashmere sweater? appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.