I absolutely love the color blocked spoon trend. The bright colors are so cheery they make me want to buy every painted spoon in sight. Luckily, these spoons are really easy to make. Angie from The Country Chic Cottage shows us how to transform humble spoons into these delightful specimens perfect for mother’s day or a hostess gift. [how to make color blocked wooden spoons]

Project estimate:

• Bamboo or wood spoon, $1 and up
• Craft paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Paint brushes, on hand

Total: $1 and up

The post Make Color Blocked Wooden Spoons appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

This one is sure to be a hit with all of you who prefer to give practical gifts. I mean, stockings are cute and traditional and all, but they aren’t very useful once they’ve been unstuffed. You could always slap a pair on your feet and go strutting around town in them, but what would the neighbors say? Colleen from Mural Maker and More opted to stuff an oven mitt instead, creating a great gift for anyone with a kitchen!  Okay, maybe not that single guy from your office whose culinary repertoire ends at thawing a Lean Cuisine in the microwave.  Let’s rephrase:  anyone who uses their kitchen!  [how to stuff an oven mitt “stocking”]

Project estimate:

• Oven mitt, $1 and up
• Wooden spoons, $1 and up
• Cinnamon sticks, $1 and up
• Pine garland, on hand or $1
• Ribbon, on hand

Total:  $3 and up

The post Stuff an Oven Mitt “Stocking” appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Crafts, decorating ideas, recipes and printables can help you stashbust those PEEPs!

 

Crafts and Decor

PEEP Show by Sweetology [Pictured]

Marshmallow Peeps Craft: Easter Centerpiece by Mommy Savers

Peep-Wreath Centerpiece by Martha Stewart

A Quick PEEP at Spring Specimen Art by Choose to Thrive Blog

Little Grow “Peep” Topiary Tutorial by How Does She?

Peeps Easter Arrangement by The Autocrat

Peeps Bunting by V and Co

Recipes and Food

a bunch of marshmallow peep pops and bonus “peep” troopers…! by Sugar Swings! [Pictured]

How to Make S’meeps: S’mores Plus Peeps by Serious Eats (Although it’s more fun to put them over an open flame or fire – you get to watch their eyes or beaks melt off!)

Hangin’ With My PEEPS ~ Muffin Tin Meal by Cookie Cutter Lunch

Peeps Week by Serious Eats

Crispy Bunny Treats by Babble

Easter Chick Cupcakes {Gluten Free, Dairy Free} by The Mixing Bowl Diary

Make Peep S’Mores by Dollar Store Mom

Bird Nest Snacks by Sun Scholars

Vanilla Bean, Creme Brulee Peep Cupcakes by Melinda at Dollar Store Crafts

PEEPs Recipes by PEEPs (the official website)

Printables

“Stay Calm and PEEP On” Posters (PDF) by Hileman Design and Dollar Store Crafts [Pictured]

Peeps Topper by eighteen25

Get Your Peeps On . . . Spring Printables by Flamingo Toes (An edgier version)

Easter “My Peeps” Printable by Me Sew Crazy

“My Peeps” Shirt with Free Printables by Craft Buds

“Stay Calm and PEEP On” Cupcake Toppers (PDF) by Hileman Design and Dollar Store Crafts

PEEPS Diorama (and dog!) Contests

The Washington Post Peeps Show [Pictured]

National Geographic’s Peeps in Places (not sure if this is still going)

Chicago Tribune’s Peeps on Parade

Fido Blog’s Peeps Fido Contest

Twin Cities Pioneer Peep Diorama Contest

Fort Worth Star-Telegram Annual Peeps Diorama Contest

Seattle Times Peeps Contest

Denver Post Peeps Contest

Iowa’s Peeps Show Contest

Other Roundups

Everything “Peeps” by Love From the Oven [Pictured]

Everything “Peeps” by Simply Designing

Peep Ideas from Other Blogs by Love From the Oven

10 Things to do With Peeps by Serious Eats

Peeps: Crafts, Recipes, Info, More by CROQzine

Everything “Easter” by Simply Designing (includes Peeps!)

Previous Dollar Store Crafts Posts

Make Recycled Peeps Decorations

Make a Peeps-Inspired Frame

Easter Made Easy: 25+ Free Holiday Printables (includes multiple PEEPs printables)

While you’re at it, try to beat some Peep-related World Records!

The post 30+ Ways to Make PEEPs Fun & Use Leftovers Creatively appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

When Karen from A Lil Bird Told Me found a Christmas card holder at her local dollar store, she knew it had to have a more practical purpose.  Then inspiration struck, and after a little painting and decoupage, it was transformed into a beautiful, whimsical cookbook stand!  This idea would make a fabulous Christmas gift for anyone you know who enjoys spending time in the kitchen.  (Though I would have to make at least two of them, because I think I would have to keep one for myself!)  [how to make a whimsical cookbook holder]

Project estimate:

• Christmas card holder, $1
• Silverware, $1
• Paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Mod Podge, on hand
• Scrapbook paper, on hand

Total: $2 and up

Feeling inspired by silverware?  Here are a couple more DSC projects from the past to check out:

• Make Fork Curtain Tiebacks
• Make Fork Wall Hooks

The post Make a Whimsical Cookbook Holder appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

You don’t have to spend money on expensive designer paper cupcake liners (although, it sure is a fun way to waste money!) — you can create your own beautiful designer liners with pretty origami paper. Jenn from Rook No. 17 shares this great idea on her blog. What other kinds of paper could you use to make cupcake liners? If you are nervous about cooking with not-made-for-cooking paper, how about using parchment paper to bake the cupcakes in, and then slipping them into these cups after they’re baked? Jenn tells us how to do both [at Rook No. 17 – check the links below for specific info]

1. How to make parchment paper cupcake cups (this shows the technique for making both projects)
2. Make origami paper cupcake liners

Project Estimate:

• Origami paper, $1
• Muffin tins, on hand
• Drinking glass, on hand

Total: $1

The post Make Origami Paper Cupcake Liners appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Have you ever made your own microwave popcorn? Maize in Montana has, and her microwave popcorn is cute! She shares her secrets for successful–and cute–DIY microwave popcorn over on her blog. Make personalized microwave popcorn as a fun kids’ activity, or as part of a frugal movie night gift basket (you can pick up the basket and movie candy at the dollar store). [how to make microwave popcorn]

And since Maize shared all her popcorn memories (and secrets) on her blog, I’ll let you in on some of mine. My favorite trick right now is to air pop the popcorn and spray it with Crisco butter-flavored nonstick spray and then salt it. The spray smells like butter and gives you enough grease on your fingers to trick you into thinking you’re eating buttery popcorn, but the actual fat is negligible. If you’re used to super buttery popcorn, it will probably take you a bowl or two of this to readjust your palate, but this trick works for my family and completely removes the guilt for me.

Project Estimate:

• Brown paper bags, $1
• Popcorn kernels, $1 and up
• Masking tape, on hand
• Letter stamps and ink, on hand

Total: $2

The post Make Your Own Microwave Popcorn appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

This isn’t strictly a dollar store craft in that you’ll have to find the ingredients elsewhere, but it is easy and fun (and each bon-bon costs way less than a buck to make!). I made some quick and easy and “low cal” Twinkie bon-bons for Ohdeedoh. These are really entertaining to make, and you can personalize them in so many ways. They look like cute bon-bons straight out of a French patisserie, and would be great party food for nearly any event including tea parties, Mother’s Day, birthdays, weddings, showers, etc. [click here for instructions]

Project Estimate:

• Box of 100 Calorie Twinkie packs (has 18 bites in it), $3
• Candy melts or Almond Bark, $1 and up (I got mine candy melts in the bulk food section of my grocery store)
• Colorful sprinkles, $1 and up
• Chocolate chips, $2 and up
• Food coloring paste (I used Wilton’s), optional (but DON’T use liquid food coloring), on hand
• Candy flavoring oils* (NOT extract), optional
• Mini cupcake wrappers, optional

Total: $3 and up for 18 bon-bons, depending on what you have on hand. I had everything but the Twinkie bites.

*Flavor oil: I linked to a 24 pack of Lorann flavor oils (about $1 each bottle). These are great for the casual candy-maker. If you start making tons of candy, you’ll want to upgrade to a different brand. You can also use these as lip balm flavorings! These flavors can also be found in limited quantities in the candy-making aisles of your favorite big-box or craft store. You can also use some essential oils for flavor oils. They must be GRAS (generally recognized as safe for consumption), and include but are not limited to: Anise (black licorice flavor), cinnamon, clove, coffee, ginger, lavender, lemon, lime, peppermint, vanilla.

The post Make Chocolate-Dipped Twinkie Bon-Bons appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Since last summer, I have been fascinated with the concept of the solar cooker. A solar cooker is a device that uses reflectors to capture and magnify the rays of the sun into heat that cooks your food. This sounds like it would be so great during the hot days of summer when you don’t want to heat up the kitchen with the oven! Solar cookers could also be amazing for camping. [project plans at solarcooking.org]

I live in Oregon, so I won’t be able to test this out until much later in the summer (it typically rains until July 5th!), but I saw windshield shades at the dollar store last week, so I want to give you time to gather your materials. Windshield shades are seasonal, so now that spring and summer are approaching, they are more readily available in stores. You can get pots at the dollar store, but you might need to paint the outside black with flat paint. Or check your thrift store for better quality cookware that fits the bill. You can pick up oven roasting bags at the dollar store, or your local grocery store.

Cooking with a solar cooking is similar in time and technique to using a crock pot. That is, it takes many hours to cook the food, but you don’t have to do a lot of hands on stuff with the food once it’s in the pot. You will need to keep your eye on the solar cooker to make sure it is in the sunniest spot in your yard, however, as the sun moves through the sky. This solar cooker can reach up to 350 degrees, F.

Project Estimate:

• A reflective car sunshade, $1
• A wire rack or grill, on hand or $1
• 5 inches of Velcro, on hand or $1
• Pot (black), on hand or $1
• Black paint, optional, $1
• Bucket or plastic waste basket, on hand or $1
• A plastic baking bag, $1

Total cost: $2 to $7 and up

The post Make a Solar Cooker Out of a Windshield Shade appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

My son celebrated his first birthday this weekend in Panda style! The color scheme was black and white, and the theme was panda in honor of this stuffed panda E got for Christmas and instantly fell in love with. I got the party supplies (black table cloth, napkins, plates, plastic silverware) at the dollar store.

I like to have a dress-up component to the 1st birthday party (my first son’s 1st bday was a pirate dress up party) and so dress code was black & white and I purchased striped black and white scarves for all the party attendees at the DS too.  We also provided panda badges for party goers to wear.

I wanted to make most of the decorations and try to use what I had on hand, or find what I needed at the dollar store.

My sister and I made the panda badges out of felt. We hot glued the features on, and used fabric paint for the white panda eyes. It cost about $1 to make them all, as felt squares are about 25 cents at the local craft store.

I made some black and white birthday pennant-style flags to hang up as decorations. All the fabric for these was already on hand (the gingham was from a reycled shirt, the white fabric was from old curtains). I sewed the pennants onto a candy garland I crocheted for holiday decorations.

Since my two boys were the only kids attending the party, we made a simple game appropriate for a 2-1/2 and 1 year old to play: Pin the nose on the panda. I used recycled diaper tabs on the back of the noses to make them stick to the felt. Both boys enjoyed the game, but E played it multiple times. We didn’t bother with blindfolds since the boys are so young!

I made panda cupcakes (actually not cake – no bake Oreo dessert) with mini oreos.

And panda rice balls with sushi rice and olives.

There are some more party photos in the gallery:

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