St. Patrick’s Day is almost here! Feel like greening up your decor, but short on budget? Corrie from The Apple of My DIY put this cute chandelier together with some basic supplies, and the results are definitely not-so-basic looking! Her design incorporates honeycomb tissue paper spheres, but if you can’t find those readily available to you, you can get a similar look using green pom poms instead. Or, for that matter, any other embellishments that you happen to have on hand can be worked into this fun project! [how to make a St. Patrick’s Day chandelier]

Project estimate:

• Embroidery hoop, $1 and up
• Beads, on hand or $1 and up
• Straws, on hand or $1
• Honeycomb paper or pom poms, on hand or $1 and up
• String, on hand
• Green paper, on hand or $1
• Glue, on hand

Total: $1 and up

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Want to add a chic touch to your decor for St. Patrick’s Day? This framed moss shamrock from Amy at Stow and Tell U has a rustic, natural look that we love! It’s a great way to use a thrift store picture frame. Some Dollar Tree stores carry the sheet moss for this project, but if yours doesn’t, you can also find it cheaply in the floral department of most craft stores. The instructions even include a free downloadable template for making the shamrock shape! [how to make a moss shamrock]

Project estimate:

• Moss sheet, $1 and up
• Picture frame, on hand or $1 and up
• Glue, on hand or $1 and up
• Shamrock image, free

Total: $1 and up!

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Shamrocks, shamrocks everywhere – it’s that time of year again!  I dug out all of my green craft supplies recently in honor of St. Patrick’s Day and came up with this easy shamrock bow made out of ribbon.  I used burlap ribbon, which is a strip of burlap that is finished on the sides so it won’t unravel, but you can use any green ribbon (wired or not wired) for this project.

Project estimate:

• Ribbon, on hand or $1 and up
• String, on hand
• Button, on hand
• Glue, on hand

Total:  Free or $1 and up

Cut a length of ribbon about 20 to 24 inches long.  Fold over about 4 inches on one end of the ribbon.

Fold over the end again, this time folding about 7 inches.

Gather the ribbon together at the mid-point of the folded section and tie with string to secure.

On the back side of the bow, maneuver the long tail so that it is perpendicular to the bow you just tied.

Fold the tail down over the front of the bow, leaving about a 4″ loop at the top.

Pull the tails of the string around to the front of the bow, working from two opposite corners.

Tie half of a square knot, then wrap the strings back around the other two corners.  This will make an X with the string across the middle of the bow.  Pull the string tight and tie a knot at the back of the bow to secure.

Glue a button to the center of the bow to cover the string.

Trim the tail of the ribbon to finish the bow.

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The dollar store frequently has decorative plaques for various holidays, seasons, and even for general decor, but for the most part they look like they were cheap.  However, it’s easy to give these cheap plaques a makeover to make them look more high-end.  For this example, I used a St. Patrick’s Day plaque, but now it’s ready to display year-round!

Project estimate:

• Picture frame, $1
• Decorative plaque, $1
• White glue, on hand
• Paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Tissue paper, on hand
• Used dryer sheets, on hand
• Trim (optional), on hand or $1 and up

Total: $2 and up

If your plaque has…

• a hanger on the back, remove it.
• glitter, remove as much as you can with steel wool or sand paper.
• holes for a hanger, fill the holes with hot glue.

Place the plaque on the top of the picture frame back. Measure it so that it is centered. Circle the plaque with a pencil and generously hot glue it in place. Add any trim you want around the plaque, I used a braided rope left over from another project. A dollar strand of beads would have also looked good.

Wad the tissue into tight balls and straighten them out. Tear them into 3″x 3″ pieces. Add 1 part water to 5 parts white glue and mix it together. Sparingly dab the glue mixture onto the plaque in a small area and put on a piece of tissue paper. Using the sponge brush, press the tissue into any wording or indentations so it can be seen. Continue doing this until the entire plaque and trim is covered.

Tear the dryer sheets into irregular shapes. Using the white glue mixture from Step 3, cover an area of the background and apply the dryer sheet like you did the tissue paper. Cover the entire background and let dry overnight.

Paint the plaque and trim one colour and the background a lighter colour. Let completely dry. With a paint brush or a soft cloth, gently antique the plaque and trim.

Place the back into the frame.

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A Celtic knot is a great addition not only to your St. Patrick’s Day decorating, but also to your year-round home decor!  The eye-catching, complex designs of Celtic knots are almost mesmerizing, but creating this knot art is a lot easier than you might think. 

Project estimate:

• Rope, $1 and up
• Foam core board, on hand or $1
• Paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Celtic knot printout, free
• Picture frame, on hand or $1 and up
• Scrapbook paper, on hand or about $0.25 and up
• Hot glue, on hand

Total:  $1 and up

Decide how big you want your finished craft to be. I chose 8″ x 10″. Cut your foam board and background paper to fit your frame.

Find a Celtic knot on the Internet that you like. To find the knots, Google “Celtic knots” and when they load, under “Tools” select “Size” and “Medium” and enter. I would start with something easy. I chose the Trinity knot with the circle which is actually in two separate pieces. Save the image to your computer and print it. You may have to adjust your settings to get the size correct for your frame.

In this case I used smaller rope and braided it for my design. I cut my rope into three lengths double the size of the knot and circle and taped the ends together to braid them. When you get to the end of the braid, tape the ropes together and trim them straight across. If you want to use a thicker rope, skip this step.

Put the printed knot on top of the foam board and center it. Tape it On the foam board. This is just to make the gluing process easier, they will not remain taped together.

I found it easiest to begin with the circle. Start the circle in a location that will be overlapped by another part of the knot. (See images C1 & C2) This will hide the ends.

In image C3 I have shown you where you will glue the rope to the paper. Where you don’t glue, another rope will go under it. Leave a little slack in your rope in these areas, as shown in image C4.

Continue gluing your circle as shown in image C3 until you come to the end if the circle. Tape and cut your braid so it doesn’t come apart (image C5) and glue it to the start of your circle. Your rope should look like image C6. If you have tape showing, don’t worry, we’re going to take care of that after we have all out rope glued together.

Now for the rest of the knot!  As with the circle, start the in a location that will be overlapped by a part of the circle. (See image T1) Glue the rope down along the arrows as seen in image T2. There is only one place in this step that you will be leaving a space for a rope to go under. It is marked in image T3.

When you reach the end, finish it like you did the circle. Tape, cut and glue the end next to the beginning of your rope.  At this point, glue any spots where the ropes overlap. Take a nap, you deserve one!

Carefully remove the knot from the paper. If you can see any glue as you are looking down on to your knot, carefully remove it with a sharp cutter, like an X-acto knife.

Remove any visible tape from the knot with with a sharp cutter, like an X-acto knife.

Paint the knot with 2 coats of your darker paint.  After the dark paint has dried, dry brush the knot with the lighter paint to add depth.

Put the background paper and foam board into the frame.  Center the knot in the frame and mark it in a few spots lightly with a pencil. Remove the knot, quickly glue it where it touched the paper and replace it in the frame.  Erase any pencil marks and display your Celtic Knot with pride!

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Have you seen the long, skinny scarves that Dollar Tree had for St. Patrick’s Day the last couple of years?  I realized that they are absolutely perfect for making fabric flowers, which inspired me to make this fun headband!  If you can’t find these scarves (the best seasonal stuff usually sells out pretty quick), then you can also substitute any long, skinny strip of fabric.

Project estimate:

• Headband,  $1
• Shamrock scarf, $1
• Needle and thread, on hand
• Hot glue, on hand

Total:  $2

Making the Roses:

Thread your needle with about 24″ of thread, doubled. Fold the scarf putting the hemmed edges on the inside until it is about 1″ wide. Fold the end over to make a point as shown in picture.

Start rolling the scarf. After about three rolls, sew the bottom as in the picture. Continue until your rose is the size you want.

Cut the scarf and fold it over to hide the raw edge and make a few more stitches to hold it in place. I made three roses.

Making the Leaves:

Each leaf takes 5″ of fabric. Fold the scarf so that the edges are hidden then fold to a point as shown in the picture.

Fold the two edges in towards the middle and then again. Make a few stitches so that it will keep its shape. The hot glue will keep it from coming undone. I made three leaves.

Gluing the Roses and Leaves to the Headband:

Apply two leaves and then the third. Put the glue directly on the headband then gently place and hold each one down. The same with the roses, apply the glue directly to the headband. This keeps you from using too much glue and burning your fingers.

Here is the order in which I added the parts:

When placing the roses, do so that they are facing at a slight angle.

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St. Patrick’s Day is quickly approaching – steer clear of those pinching fingers by wearing this cute shamrock pin!  Dig into your button jar and try this great stashbusting project; once you master the technique, you can also use it to make all kinds of other shapes as well!

Project estimate:

• Green buttons (4 small, 4 medium), on hand or $1
• Wax thread or embroidery floss, on hand
• Pin back, on hand or $1
• Hot glue or E6000, on hand

Total:  Free and up!

Making the stem:

• Sew through the first tiny button and tie the two pieces into a square knot on the back side. Cut the shorter thread.
• Take the next tiny button and using the thread, sew the next button beside the first button. They should touch each other.
• Repeat this step on the third tiny button. This completes the stem.

Making the clover:

• Sew through one of the medium sized buttons. Tie it in a square knot and then cut one of the threads.
• With one thread from the medium button and the one from the stem, tie the two together with a square knot.
• Using your glue of choice, attach them on top of the first medium button.
• Glue the bar pin on the back of the first medium button and at lease two of the tiny buttons.
• Sew through the three other medium buttons and tie them in the back using a square knot.

Note: You can use hot glue if you glue the buttons to where the thread from one is glued to the thread of the other.

The post Tutorial: Button Shamrock Pin appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I love seasonal decor but I am also a lazy decorator. If I can find seasonal decor that is generic enough to sail through several holidays, I’m all about it! So in addition to being adorable, I love this doily garland from Mod Podge Rocks for that reason. It would easily work for St. Patrick’s Day, Spring, Easter or even a birthday party. Of course, if you want something more specific you can also personalize it by putting letters in the middle of the doilies to spell out your holiday or the name of the birthday girl! [how to make a decoupage doily garland]

Project estimate:

• Chipboard shapes, $2 and up for 2 packages
• Doilies, $1
• Ribbon, on hand or $1 and up
• Mod Podge, on hand
• Paint brush, on hand

Total: $3 and up

The post Make a Decoupage Doily Garland appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

You don’t have to spend a bundle to decorate for holidays.  Heck, you don’t even have to spend a penny!  This festive garland by Laura at Laura Kelly’s Inklings is made entirely from recycled materials and leftover odds and ends that she found laying around her studio.  I love how she used a variety of different techniques, which allowed her to get lots of different looks out of the same stack of materials!  This example is St. Patrick’s Day themed, but you could also use this basic idea to create a garland for whatever holiday or occasion you wish.  [how to make a recycled St. Patrick’s Day garland]

Project estimate:

• Cardboard, on hand
• Paper, on hand
• Crayons, on hand or $1
• Sharpie, on hand
• Embellishments, on hand or $1 and up
• String, on hand or $1

Total:  Free and up

The post Make a Recycled St. Patrick’s Day Garland appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Back at Halloween, I had an idea to turn some stick-on mustaches into photo booth props.  Unfortunately, by the time I had the idea and got back to the store to buy them, they were all sold out!  Boo.  But then the other day I was walking through Walgreens and spotted some green mustaches for St. Patrick’s Day.  And so began my St. Patrick’s Day photo booth project!

Project estimate:

• Stick-on mustaches, $1 and up
• Craft foam, on hand or $1
• Paper, on hand
• Gold coins, $1
• Chopsticks, $1
• Hot glue, on hand
• Embellishments, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  $3 and up

The mustaches are stick-on and were a little flimsy for making a mustache-on-a-stick, so I stuck them to green craft foam first and cut them out to make them a little stiffer.

Hot glue a chopstick to the back of each mustache.

I needed more accessories to go with my mustaches, so I whipped up a leprechaun hat and a lot of gold.  To make the hat, I sketched a design on paper and then used my drawing as a template to cut out the hat – if you don’t feel confident in your artistic abilities, you can also print out clipart of a hat and use it as a template.

To dress up the hat a little more, I dug a green feather and some shamrock table scatter out of my stash.  Add a few dabs of hot glue to hold it all together and add a chopstick to the back side.

I also made a pot of gold.  Again, I sketched the design on scrap paper and used it as a template to cut the pot out of heavy black cardstock; then I glued a few gold coins (left over from Mardi Gras crafting!) to the back side to “fill” the pot.  And, of course, a chopstick!

When the props were complete, I stuck them in a mason jar for display.

I made a simple backdrop by stapling a piece of green posterboard to a bulletin board and added some white crepe paper.  Easy peasy!  (And so far, it’s a huge hit!)

Looking for more St. Patrick’s Day craft ideas? Check out these projects from some of our friends!

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