Spring will be here before you know it, which means we’re also on the verge of wedding season! To celebrate, Angie at The Country Chic Cottage is hosting a whole week of DIY wedding ideas, and we couldn’t resist joining in on the fun. After being inspired by some silly, oversized “diamond” rings in the Valentine’s Day offerings at Dollar Tree, I came up with a cute favor idea. I think they would look adorable worked into luncheon place settings or scattered on a buffet table or down a table runner!

Project estimate:

• Oversized “diamond” rings, $1 each
• Ribbon, $1 and up
• Hang tags, on hand or $1
• Letter stickers, on hand or $1

Total: $2 and up

It all started when I came across these big rings. They are too big to wear on a finger, so I figured they had to have a decorative use. And of course, I immediately thought of weddings!

Then I found some thin, wire-edged ribbon that says “with love” on it and I knew it was just what I needed to turn the rings into something more.

Cut the ribbon into segments; I cut mine so that the “with love” sentiment would show on both sides when the ribbon is folded in half. Fold the ribbon around the ring, then twist to secure it in place.

Adding the tag is where you can really go crazy personalizing this project! I used letter stickers to make a simple monogram, but you could also add a love sentiment or an image. Try writing each guest’s name on a tag and use them as place cards!

Finish the favors by attaching a tag to each ring and you’re done! Now on to the next wedding project…. Make sure you stop by The Country Chic Cottage this week for lots more great wedding craft ideas!

The post Tutorial: Engagement Ring Bridal Shower Favors appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Looking for a great handmade holiday gift to give your family and friends this year? Look no further — you can create simple, designer-looking custom glassware with dollar store supplies and some goodies by Martha Stewart. I’ve been experimenting with glass painting on dollar store glassware, and this is one of my favorite results: butterfly silk screened tumblers. These look professional — your family and friends will not believe you made them yourself!

The dollar store (Dollar Tree, specifically) has a great selection of glassware. I used these basic tumblers and silk screened a butterfly image on each one, using Martha Stewart glass paint and silk screens.

A note about the supplies: Let me just take a minute to say that the Martha Stewart glass paints and silk screens are premium supplies, NOT dollar store supplies, but the thing is, these high quality supplies make humble dollar store goodies look very high end. And think of all the money you will save by making a set of these designer glasses (instead of buying a comparable product at a store like Anthropologie). To me, this is the essence of dollar store crafting — making something amazing out of dollar store stuff.

Also, the silkscreens and paints will allow you to make hundreds of glasses or other projects, so the investment will pay off as you make more projects. These butterfly glasses are perfect for your handmade gifts this holiday season! You can make a set for nearly everyone on your gift list. If butterflies aren’t your style, there are many other silk screen styles to choose from.

Project Materials:

• 4 tumblers, $1 each
• Martha Stewart Glass Silk Screens, Butterfly, retail price $12.99
• Martha Stewart Glass Paint in Purple Orchid, $3.49 retail
• Martha Stewart Glass Paint in Copper, $3.49 retail
• Martha Stewart Squeegie Set, $12.99 retail

Total cost: $36.96 to get started

You need about $33 in Martha Stewart glass supplies to get started, but you will be able to make tons of projects using these. If you want to make a gift (set of 4 glasses) for five friends, the cost per glass will be less than $3 a glass.

Save Money On This Project: Use your 40% off coupon at your local craft store when buying the stencils or tools, and look for sales. This will reduce the supply cost dramatically. You can also skip the squeegies, although they make it really easy to do this project, and I don’t know how frustrating it might be to use the wrong tool for this job.

Okay, enough about the facts – let’s see how to make them!

How to Make Silk Screened Butterfly Glasses:

1. Clean your glass surface with soap and water. Thoroughly dry, and then wipe down with rubbing alcohol.

2. Apply silk screen. It is designed to cling to the glass, which helps keep it in place as you apply paint.

3. Apply a small line of paint across one side of the silkscreen.

4. Pull the squeegie slowly and firmly across the silk screen in one smooth motion.

5. If any area of the silk screen is not covered with paint, pull paint gently over that area.

6. Immediately pull the silk screen up from the glass, starting at one corner and pulling up and away from the glass.

7. Rinse the silk screen out immediately, and dry by blotting with an absorbent towel.

8. Repeat for other glasses.

9. Allow paint to dry for a couple hours, then follow instructions on paint bottle for curing.

Thanks to Paint Me Plaid for these glass silkscreening images!

These butterfly glasses would also make great wedding favors!

Disclosure: I received the Martha Stewart Glass Paints from Plaid to try. No payment was received and no obligation to post a project.

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If you’ve ever planned a wedding, you know that one of the best ways to save money is to DIY as much of it as possible.  (My father always says, “Why pay someone else to do what you could do yourself?”  Mind you, that doesn’t make me any more likely to change my own oil, which is more along the lines of what he was usually talking about.  But hey, whatever, right?)  We love cheap wedding ideas, so when we got wind of the Crafterminds Wedding Crafts series, we rounded up a collection of our favorite DIY wedding projects.  Be sure to check out the links at the bottom of the post for more wonderful wedding ideas from some of our friends!

Wedding decor doesn’t have to be expensive to be eye-catching and memorable.  These DIY rope words from Wednesday at Green Wedding Shoes (pictured above) are a great example of how a simple, inexpensive material can be manipulated into something that is much more than the sum of its parts.  Use this idea to create wall art, table decor, or even placecards for your guests.  For large letters use thick rope; to make smaller words, try twine instead.

[10 DIY Garland Ideas by A Beautiful Mess]

Another way to add special yet inexpensive touches to your wedding decor is with a pretty garland.  Over at A Beautiful Mess, Elsie came up with ten different garland ideas that are all as cute as can be.  Can’t decide which one is your favorite?  They are easy and inexpensive enough that you can go crazy and make them all!

[Tablecloth Ball by A Girl and a Glue Gun]

If you like the look of the big tissue paper pom-poms but are having an outdoor wedding, you may find yourself concerned about how they will hold up in the event of inclement weather.  Using a plastic tablecloth from the dollar store, Kim from A Girl and a Glue Gun made this pretty alternative that is just as cute and easy but far more rain-resistant.

[DIY Bath Bombs by Intimate Weddings]

I’m a fan of functional party favors – things your guests will find useful.  Things like these pretty DIY bath bombs by Christina at Intimate Weddings!  A big chunk of the ingredients list are things you probably have in your pantry already!  These bombs are fairly large because they were made using snap-together Christmas ornaments as a mold; for making smaller bath bombs, silicone ice cube trays or candy molds would also work well.

[Hot Pepper Party Favors by Project Wedding]

And how about plants as wedding favors?  Small potted plants make a fun gift that keeps on giving, whether you opt for pretty flowers or for something edible, like these hot pepper plant favors from Project Wedding.  The options for customizing this project are endless between the infinite combinations of plant choices, ways to decorate the pot, and clever sayings to print out and turn into plant stakes!

If you enjoyed these ideas, be sure to visit our friends below for more DIY wedding inspirations!

The post Wedding Roundup: 14+ Creative Ideas appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

These are actually the exact same dress-shaped favor boxes that I used for my wedding.  However, the ones that The Crafting Rebel fancied up over at Crafting Rebellion are far more fabulous!  By adding some pretty scrapbook paper and a few embellishments, she transformed them from nondescript, wedding-specific favors into flashy treat holders worthy of any girly occasion.  I think my favorite part is the tiny wire hangers!  [how to give dollar store favor boxes a fancy makeover]

Project estimate:

• Wedding dress favor boxes, $1
• Paper, on hand
• Wire, on hand or $1
• Ribbon, on hand
• Embellishments, on hand
• Glue, on hand

Total:  $1 and up

The post Give Dollar Store Favor Boxes a Fancy Makeover appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

If you’re looking for a quick-and-easy idea for a little holiday treat, candy is a classic choice.  Can you ever really go wrong with chocolate?  Laura from The Pharma Blog came up with this cute idea for gifting a handful of Hershey’s Kisses, complete with a free printable template.  This project has more possibilities than just Christmas treats, though; I think these would make awesome wedding favors, which could be personalized by adding names and a date to the little paper flags sticking out of the tops.  [how to make merry kiss-mas treat pouches]

Project estimate:

• Scrapbook paper, on hand
• Sewing machine or glue, on hand
• Printable template, free
• Hershey Kisses, $1 and up

Total:  $1 and up

The post Make Merry KISS-mas Treat Pouches appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I’m on a doily kick this week! Chris posted a link to this great idea on the Dollar Store Crafts Facebook Page, and as soon as I clicked on it, my head exploded. As soon as I put it back together, I clicked back over here to tell you about this amazing craft hack. Take a store-bought doily (or crocheted lace tablecloth), and use it as a covering for soap instead of spending hours crocheting your own cover. With the ingenious instructions by Kirsty at kootoyou, you can crank a batch of these lovelies out for Mother’s Day, wedding favors, or teacher’s gifts. Oh, and the covers are reusable! [how to make doily covered soaps in 5 minutes]

Project Estimate:

• Bar of soap, $1
• Crocheted doily, pack of 2 for $1
• Elastic thread, on hand or $2
• Tapestry needle, on hand

Total: $1.50 and up

Note about soap: obviously you can find a better deal on soap than $1 a bar! This would be a fantastic treatment for handmade soap. Ooh, it makes me want to get my soapmaking stuff out again.

The post Make Doily-Covered Soap in 5 Minutes appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I found a photo of some mini office supply matchboxes on kootoyoo, and I was enchanted by them. Maybe it’s the dollhouse miniatures series that Rhonda has been working on, or maybe it’s just because I love little things. I knew I wouldn’t be able to find these products at a store near me, so made my own mini office supply matchboxes. I made four different covers: for rubber bands, thumb tacks, paper clips, and gummed reinforcements. I was inspired by a vintage Dennison Gummed Reinforcements box for the last one. Since I made the covers myself, I’m sharing them with you as a printable (or download it here, alternately) so you can whip these up in a few minutes.

Making mini book covers is addictive! It would be fun to use images of vintage book covers and shrink them down to make a whole bunch of cute matchboxes. I bet this general idea would be a fun one for wedding favors or other types of party favors. Maybe skip the office supplies and stick something else inside the matchbox. (It probably isn’t a good idea to put anything edible in a matchbox that has previously contained matches. If you want to make edible favors, make your own matchboxes.)

Project Materials:

• Matchboxes, pack of 10 is $1
• Glue stick, on hand
• Scissors or craft knife and mat, on hand
• Printable (download here)
• Paper and color printer, on hand
• Office supplies to fill the matchboxes with, on hand

Total: less than $1 for two sets

Printable:>>> DOWNLOAD HERE from Google Docs<<<, or BELOW from Scribd
Matchbox Book Covers Printable

To Make:

1. Print out Matchbox Book Covers printable.

2. Cut book cover images out with a craft knife and cutting mat or scissors.

3. Fold to fit on matchbox. You might need to trim the “book page edge” sides to make them fit well onto the box.

Note: If you want to use these as matchboxes, cut off both book page edges so you leave one working strike strip on the matchbox.

4. Glue to matchbox, smoothing the back of the book cover on first. Then glue the top cover on with top book page edge overlapping over the other.

5. Allow to dry, and then fill matchboxes with corresponding office supplies.

The post Mini Office Supply Bookcovers for Matchboxes appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I made these Victorian-inspired flower cones using a dollar store party hat and ribbon! This was such a fun way to play with my leftover ribbon, trim, buttons and broken jewelry, and it’s an activity you can customize to whoever is working on it. Kids can decorate the party hats with stickers, while adults can do a more elaborate version like my Victorian version. Use these cones to hold flowers (especially on May 1st, May Day) that you can give to your lucky friends. Get the tutorial I posted over at [Amazing Moms]

These would be amazing wedding decorations any time of the year!

Project Estimate:

• Party hats, 8 for $1
• Acrylic craft paint, on hand
• Ribbon and trim, on hand
• Buttons, jewelry, etc., on hand
• Craft glue, on hand

Total: $.13 each!

p.s. These look awesome hanging from my shabby chic hooks!

Bonus idea: Turn them upside-down and use them for fancy birthday party hats!

(Baby G, my crafting partner-in-crime. Okay, I do most of the crafting!)

The post Make a Victorian Flower Cone appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

So does anyone else out there do seasonal craft projects and then practically forget to post about them until it’s too late? No? Guess I’m the only one. Here’s a quick and simple favor for St. Patrick’s Day, using stuff from the dollar store. You can make one of these for less than fifty cents. I made this with the little metal buckets from the wedding aisle at Dollar Tree, and I imagine this being a fun addition to your kids’ lunch or maybe a fun surprise for when they wake up on St. Patrick’s Day.  It’d also be a fun scout or classroom craft (maybe you can substitute the candy out for something else – pretend coins for learning to add and subtract with money?) I also added a printable rainbow (8 rainbows to a sheet) to make it even easier for you to craft with your kids.

You probably don’t need much in the way of instructions, but here’s the cost estimate:

Project Materials:

• Wedding favor buckets, 3 for $1
• Craft felt and/or craft foam, on hand or $1
• Bamboo skewer, on hand or $1
• “Gold” candy, $1
• Craft glue (I used Aleene’s Quick Dry or hot glue will work), on hand
• Markers, on hand
• Scissors

Total: $2 and up for 3

To make:

Cut out a band of green felt or foam (or use ribbon) that will go all the way around the top of the bucket.

Cut out a square of yellow felt or foam. Fold in half, and cut two slits (not all the way to the edge of the square). Thread band through the square “buckle.”

Glue band and buckle to top of bucket.

To make rainbow, draw a rainbow or download my printable. Color, cut out and glue to a craft foam backing.

Tape rainbow to a shortened bamboo skewer, and stick into bucket.

Fill bucket with candy (or other filling – popcorn, play money, buttons) and add a gift tag if desired (or write name on rainbow).

A few other fun St. Patrick’s Day crafts for kids:

• Rainbow Cupcakes by Kami at Make & Takes
• Another Pot o’ Gold craft with a super-adorable pipecleaner rainbow by Marie at Make & Takes
• Easy Shamrock Garland at Craft Jr.
• Unique Shamrock Hanging at Scene of the Grime

p.s. Have you heard of My Parent Rewards? I just learned about it… it’s kind of like those big local coupon books you can buy, but it’s all online. It’s a program that offers coupons, discounts, 2-for-1 deals for restaurants and more. A membership is only $20 and right now you can try it out for free for 30 days. www.MyParentRewards.com/freetrial

In my area, I found discounts like

• Get a free session of bowling with one paid session
• Free minibon with purchase of a Cinnabon
• 25% off total bill at a local sandwich place
• Free ticket to a Portland Winterhawks game with one paid admission
• Free month of martial arts lessons with first paid month
• 25% off tax prep
• Up to 50% off hotel bookings
• Printable grocery coupons

Anyway, if you want to try it out (and help support Dollar Store Crafts): www.MyParentRewards.com/freetrial

The post Make a Pot o’ Gold Party Favor (With Printable) appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.