I have been pondering inexpensive ways to make dry snowglobe ornaments for a while. Snap-together ball ornaments are too expensive. Plastic punch cups are too short. It had never occurred to me to use plastic wine glasses until I saw these bell jar ornaments from Ashlee on My So Called Crafty Life. Really, the solution is brilliant. They are tall so they give plenty of space for things like trees. The swooping lines as the wine glass turns into a stem are perfect for turning into an elegant bell jar handle. These ornaments would make great gifts or hoard them yourself to make the ultimate vintage tree. [how to make vintage inspired bell jar ornaments]

Project estimate:

• Plastic wine glasses, $1
• Chipboard or empty cereal boxes, on hand
• Scrapbook paper, on hand
• Glue, on hand
• Trinkets, $1 and up
• Glitter, on hand or $1 and up
• Large Beads, on hand or $1 and up
• Chenile stems (AKA pipe cleaners), on hand or $1
• Twine or string, on hand
• Scissors, on hand
• Dremmel or utility knife, on hand

Total: $2 and up

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Does anyone else have a bag or two of dollar store pipecleaners on hand just in case? I love pipecleaners. They’re so versatile, cheap, and they come in tons of colors. They’re great for open-ended kid activities because they allow kids to be creative.

This free-standing dino wasn’t very stable

My three year-old son is just starting to discover dinosaurs (his favorite: the T-Rex. How do boys learn this stuff? Is it just part of their DNA?), so we decided to make dinosaur toys out of pipecleaners, inspired by a Family Fun magazine activity. The Family Fun version is a brontosaurus (brachiosaurus?)-type dino with legs, and a long neck and tail. When we tried to make a dinosaur using their instructions, it wasn’t very stable, so I thought I would reinterpret the activity into my favorite type of toy: a finger puppet! [check my blog over at Make & Takes today for the companion red T-Rex instructions]

This is a great make-anytime activity that you can do with minimal preparation. Pull this one out next time your kid says she’s bored, or on a rainy day.

Project Estimate:

• Pipecleaners, $1 or on hand
• Googly eyes, on hand
• Pen, on hand
• Glue, optional

Total cost: Free and up

Time Needed: 15 minutes

Ages: 3 and up. Your 3 year-old will need help, but will probably really enjoy the end result! She’ll like to coil pipecleaners around a pen, so be sure to let her do it along with you as you make one. Also, pipecleaners are easy to bend, so these toys won’t last for long with younger kids, but it’s still a fun activity.

To Make:

• Connect three pipecleaners end-to-end, and wrap around your finger to create the body.

• Connect two pipecleaners end-to-end, and wrap half around a pen or pencil, overlapping the pipecleaner onto itself to create the head, and then coil the rest around to form the neck.

• Attach neck to body, by bending pipecleaner, or using glue if desired.

• Coil one pipecleaner around pen or pencil to form tail, leaving about an inch straight for attaching to body.

• For arms, bend one pipecleaner into a V-shape, and coil each half around pen. Attach to body.
• If desired, create legs in a similar way and attach to body (we didn’t make legs).
• Attach googly eyes with glue. I used “quick dry” craft glue, and honestly, it didn’t work that well with the pipecleaner fuzz. You might be better off with hot glue (although, this is a job for you, not your kids. I know you already know that.)

The post Make Pipecleaner Dinosaur Finger Puppets appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Old-fashioned wooden clothespins are a traditional favorite crafting supply, and they make great bases for these angel ornaments. You can make dozens of these angels to give away as gifts. They’ll only cost you a few pennies each!

I was inspired by this vintage ornament I have in my collection of personal ornaments:

Awhile back, I posted some dollar scores that included some bath poufs. I used the poufs for wings on these angels!

Project Materials:

• Wooden clothespin $1 (for bag of about 30)
• Bath pouf $1 for 2
• Paint $1 (or on hand)
• Pipecleaner/chenille stem $1 (or on hand)
• Yarn $1 (or on hand)

Total cost: $1-4 for 30 ornaments

Tools:

• Scissors
• Hot glue gun
• Paintbrush
• Piece of recycled cardboard

Instructions:

1. Paint clothespins (top part skin colored, bottom part white, with accents as desired). Dot pink for cheeks, brown or red for lips, and black for eyes. I used a marker for the eyes.

2. Let clothespins dry. I used a piece of recycled cardboard (like from a cereal box) and accordion folded it to make a drying rack for the clothespins, which really helped them from rolling around. Important to keep the faces from smudging!

3. Cut string that is holding pouf into shape, and unravel the netting. Cut a piece of netting that’s about eight to twelve inches long.

4. Cut pipecleaner in half. Fold netting edges in toward the center of the netting and secure like a bow with the pipecleaner. Twist pipecleaner securely, and leave long pieces extending. You will be able to use pipecleaners like twisty ties to attach ornament to Christmas tree, or wreaths, etc.

5. When painted clothespin is dry, hot glue wings to back of clothespin.

6. To make hair, wrap yarn around your hand about ten times. Tie down center of wrapped yarn (as for making a pom-pom). Clip loops. Hot glue on clothespin.

7. Cut a short length of yellow pipecleaner and wrap it around your finger to make halo. Hot glue onto hair.

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