Have you ever seen the little wooden boxes that Dollar Tree sometimes gets?  They are hinged with a magnetic closure and they always fly off the shelves so fast at my store that whenever I see them, I always snag a few more, so that when an idea hits I won’t have to wait months to find them for $1 again.  Which of course means I have a whole box full of these boxes.  As part of my effort to work though my supply hoard, I came across the box of boxes and was struck with the idea to paint one to look like a slice of watermelon.  (I guess I must be in a summery mood!)  I wrote an easy how-to on Mrs. Greene showing how I did it.  [how to paint a wooden watermelon box]

Project estimate:

• Wooden box, $1
• Paint, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  $1 and up

I think that it would be a cute way to give a small hostess gift at a summer get-together.  Personally, mine is now on my desk holding paperclips.  It’s so much cuter than the plain ol’ wire mesh holder they were in before!  I still have a ton of these boxes left, so what else should I paint on them?  Should I stick with a food theme, or change it up and paint all kinds of different stuff on them?

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I have a “thing” for knick-knacks that double as storage, especially since I don’t have a lot of closed storage around my house.  It’s nice to have all those extra little places to hide bits and pieces of stuff that I don’t want laying out in the open!  Extra batteries, matches for lighting candles, spare tubes of chap stick…  Around here, they’re all tucked away inside some decorative whatnot on a shelf.  I’ve always loved the way birdhouses look in decor, but most of them lack the storage element that I prefer.  But these aren’t most birdhouses!  Made from house-shaped gift boxes, they have plenty of room inside to hold whatever needs a home!

Project estimate:

• Gift boxes, $1 each
• Wood grain contact paper, $1 and up
• White paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Paper, on hand or $1 and up
• Sharpie, on hand
• Felt, on hand or about $0.33/sheet
• Glue, on hand
• Embellishments (optional), $1 and up

Total: $2 and up

I first picked up a couple of the house-shaped gift boxes at Halloween, knowing that I wanted to do something with them but not sure exactly what.  I saw more house-shaped boxes at Christmas time.  Then, just after Easter, I found a small one on clearance for half price in the holiday leftovers.  I took it as a sign and brought it home, thinking that now I really had to find a use for them!  Once the birdhouse inspiration struck I knew it was the perfect idea.

To give the boxes the look of wood, I wrapped the bottom part of each one with wood grain contact paper.  Cut the contact paper so that there is a little extra to wrap around the top and bottom edges of the box.  Fold the excess down; the excess around the bottom edge will fold to the bottom side of the box, and the excess around the top edge will fold to the inside of the box.  (If you’re not happy with how the inside edge of the contact paper looks, you can glue a length of ribbon around the edge to hide it.)

Since the paper I used to cover the tops of my boxes was a little bit see-through, I painted them white before applying the paper so that the original graphics would not show through.  If you are using heavier paper, you can skip this step.  I chose some wrapping paper left over from making a mini album because a) I already had it on hand, and b) the pattern vaguely reminded me of shingles.  Cut the paper to size and use Mod Podge to adhere it to the roof.

Cut a piece of felt the same size as the bottom of the box.  Brush a layer of Mod Podge onto the bottom of the box and cover it with the felt.  This will also cover the excess contact paper that is wrapped around the bottom edge.  Avoid pressing or rubbing the felt more than necessary; if the glue soaks all the way through the felt it will cause the felt to lose its soft texture.  To keep it firmly in place while the glue dries, you can place the box on a piece of wax paper or freezer paper and fill it with something heavy – I used a bag of river rock pebbles as a weight.

Once all of the glue is dry, you can add embellishments if you wish.  Add flowers, butterflies, little birds…  Or just leave them as they are!  (Bonus: since my boxes are three different sizes, they will nest inside of each other so if I put them in storage, they take up less space!)

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Now that Halloween has come and gone, it’s time to start thinking forward to the rest of the holidays!  As Christmas approaches (and trust me, it will be here faster than you want), one thing is always on my mind: gift packaging.  I like to present my gifts in reusable wrappings whenever possible.  It’s greener, and it’s like giving an extra gift!

The other day after I finished using a couple of pots of glitter, I set aside the empty containers, thinking they would be the perfect size for gifting a pair of earrings or other dainty gifts.  Using little bits and pieces from my stash, I turned them into teeny-tiny gift boxes that can hold treasured trinkets for years to come.

Project estimate:

• Empty glitter containers, on hand
• Spray paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Nail polish, on hand or $1
• Felt, on hand or about $0.33
• Glue, on hand
• Buttons or other small embellishments, on hand

Total:  Free and up

Start by giving your glitter containers a few coats of spray paint.  I did one of mine in a textured gunmetal finish, and the other in a hammered copper finish.

Pick a coordinating color of nail polish and use it to paint the inside of each little gift box.  I chose a dark royal blue for inside the gunmetal container and a shimmery pink for inside the copper container.

Cut a circle of felt to fit in the bottom of the gift box.  (This is great for using up some of those little scraps you’ve been saving!)  Use a few dabs of glue to hold it in place.

Glue buttons or other small embellishments to the lid of the gift box.  Now it’s ready for giving the teeny-tiniest of gifts!

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Got any leftover gift boxes from the holidays? Here’s a fun craft to do while you’re waiting for the New Year: make recycled gift box crowns for your New Year’s Eve celebration. Don’t worry if you don’ t have any old gift boxes, recycled cereal boxes will work too!  Thanks to DSC fan Bingsy for the link on our FB Fan page. [project by Kathy Barlow at HomeWorkshop; tutorial here: how to make a recycled gift box hat]

Project Estimate:

• An old shirt-sized gift box, on hand
• Non-toxic craft glue, on hand
• Paintbrush to apply glue, on hand
• A few colors of glitter, on hand

Total: FREE

More New Year’s Crafts:

• Personalized Kid Cups for the New Year at Make and Takes
• Pipe Cleaner Tiaras by Naughty Secretary Club
• New Year’s Craft Roundup by One Pretty Thing

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Whether you are planning Christmas dinner for your immediate family or you’re entertaining a party of 100,  favor boxes of candy or small gifts are a fun addition to your place settings.  Continuing with our series of post about printables, we bring you a snowflake favor box.  Just print, cut out, fold along the lines, and apply a small amount of adhesive to the tabs.  It is designed with an interlocking bottom that gives it enough strength and stability to hold heavier items. [click here to download the snowflake box template]

Project Materials:

• 1 sheet of card stock, on hand
• Printer, on hand
• Scissors or craft knife, on hand
• Cutting mat or kitchen cutting board, on hand
• Craft glue, on hand
• Free printable snowflake box template, on hand

Total: FREE

The snowflake box printable is in black and white and intended to be printed on colored cardstock.  This was done with cost in mind; color ink gets more and more expensive every time I go out to buy a replacement cartridge!  Cheapster sidenote: be sure to switch your printer to “black ink only” when you print it to conserve your color ink.

You could also print the template out on white cardstock and color in the snowflakes with colored pencil, markers, or watercolor paints.  Add sparkle to your favor boxes by gluing glitter or gemstones (or both!)  to the snowflakes.

What can you put in these boxes?  Here are some ideas:

• Candy
• Small Christmas ornaments
• Votive or tealight candles
• Jewelry
• Lip balm
• Small toys

To Make:

Print template on cardstock, and cut out using a craft knife and cutting surface (self-healing cutting mat or regular kitchen cutting board). Alternately, use scissors to cut along the outer line.

Fold according to lines.

Glue tab to side of box, and fold bottom tabs. Fold square tabs first, then insert triangular tabs.

You could also use the cut-out template as… a template. Trace it onto recycled cardboard (like cereal boxes) to make nifty recycled gift boxes.

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Recently, I told you that I met up with Breanna, a DSC fan, for a day of Dollar Store Craft shopping at Dollar Tree. She shared a great 15 second tutorial for making cool glass pedestal apothecary jars. I made another video that shows some of the things we found on our trip. If you aren’t a video watcher, I rounded up the highlights from the video here in this post. If you YouTube, be sure to subscribe to the DollarCraft YouTube channel. [How to make an apothecary jar]

Cupcake Gift Boxes: I found several cute cupcake gift boxes that ranged from small (about 3″ cube) to pretty large (about 7″). These were along the bottom of the gift bag section, which is an aisle I usually speed through or skip altogether. These are really cute, though!

Tinkerbell Notebooks: Dollar Tree has a lot of licensed merchandise with Disney characters like Tinkerbell, the Disney Princesses, and Toy Story characters on them. If you are having a birthday party with any licensed characters, stop at the dollar store first to find out if you can find any of the right stuff.  Other licensed characters I noticed: different superheroes, Spongebob and Dora the Explorer. Products ranged from notebooks to plastic dishes and small figurines.

Idea: Dress-a-Bear Kits for Pumpkins: Last year, my sister-in-law and her pre-schoolers dressed their Halloween pumpkins in these dollar store dress-a-bear kits. They turned out so cute, and because there was no carving or paint involved, it was a fun and mess-free activity. [how to dress your Halloween pumpkins]

Cameo Hair Elastics: Find these in the hair accessories section of the store, and use the cameos to embellish your crafts, or for jewelry-making projects.

Sage Green Bathroom Accessories: I found these pretty green bathroom accessories (they look prettier in real life). They’d be really nice with a monogram – either paint it (use these stenciling instructions) or cut vinyl or contact paper.

2-pack of Bandannas: These bandannas are poly-cotton and come in packs of two with cheerful patterns, so they’re good for projects like the bandanna tablecloth.

Colorful Knee Socks: Fun for kids to wear, or use to extend sleeves on kids’ t-shirts for fall and winter. Or make arm-warmers (like these Ninja Mitt Fingerless Gloves from Leethal.)

Wooden Magnetic Letters and Numbers: These were a hot item last year, and they sold out quickly. My Dollar Tree has them back in stock. You could glue them onto photo frames or wooden chairs or chests to personalize them for your kiddos. Or use the numbers to mark an advent calendar (yes, it’s time to make this year’s advent calendars!)

Flannel-Backed Tablecloths: Use these to make reusable sandwich or lunch bags, or reusable grocery sacks.

What have you seen at the dollar store this week?

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I have always loved the little boxes you can fold with paper. They’re so useful for tiny keepsakes or gifts. Handmade by Deb has taken the cute origami box one step further by embellishing it with initial stickers. These would make fantastic favor boxes for weddings, showers, or parties. [click here for a video tutorial]

Also, don’t miss this other fantastic origami box tutorial by Deb: Sanbo Origami Boxes.

Deb also gave me the secret lowdown on these boxes: the origami paper and stickers were purchased at the dollar store! She got the origami paper in a pack of 100 with 10 different sizes (you need two different sizes to make the lid and base of this box). Deb’s stickers were $1.25 for 300.

Project Estimate:

• Origami paper or scrap paper cut into squares, $1 or on hand
• Stickers, $1 or on hand

Total: FREE and up

The post Make a Masu Origami Box appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Combine a plastic takeout-style gift box with a fleece scarf, and what do you get? A sweet little handbag, that’s what! This would also be a cute way to wrap your holiday gifts. Project shown: charliebrown

Project Estimate:

• Fleece scarf $1
• Plastic gift takeout box to cover $1
• Home decorating cord $1
• Button (on hand)

Total cost: $3

Instructions for making a similar purse here.

Charliebrown, on making it:
I got a take out box from the deli at my local grocery store to use as a template. I cut out the fabric, lining and stablizer, layered the pieces together, sewed them and turned it right side out. Turning was actually the hardest part. Than I did a lot of hand sewing to get the box into the right shape. It was alot easier than I thought.

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