When Janet from The Painted Piglet found herself in charge of decor for decorating banquet tables at a gathering for local motorcycle owners, she came up with a great idea.  By wrapping her floral centerpieces with bandanas, it not only gave them a fun, country look, it also gave them a little bit of a biker edge – and at the end of the night when they gave the centerpieces away, a bunch of bikers all went home with new bandanas!  These would be great for any country-themed gathering, including weddings!  [how to make bandana floral centerpieces]

Project estimate:

• Flowers, $1
• Floral foam, $1
• Jar or small vase, on hand or $1
• Bandana, $1
• Raffia or twine, on hand or $1

Total:  $3 and up

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I found these nautical knot-inspired jute napkin rings, and I decided to dress them up with some blingy brooches from the Styled by Tori Spelling jewelry line. The best thing about this combination? It’s temporary! You can wire the brooches onto the rings for a dinner party, and then wear the brooches as a pendant on your necklace the next day.

One of my favorite places to shop (besides the dollar store, of course!) is the Fun Finds section at Michaels… aka, the dollar section! Michaels has a continually changing budget section where the price is right, and the design is great. You can always find some fun little things there that are perfect just like they are, but are also ripe for refashioning. These jute rings were the perfect canvas for a quick and easy craft project.

I like the Styled by Tori Spelling pendants for this project because they are stylish and ornate yet affordable and will dress up your dinner table, but after the party,  you can just re-use them with the other Styled pieces for easy jewelry. To see how the jewelry works, see my previous post: How to Use Styled Jewelry.

Beachy Brooch Napkin Rings

Project Materials:

• Jute napkin ring, $1
• Brooch or pendant from Styled by Tori Spelling line, $7.99 and up
• Floral wire, on hand
• Wire cutters, on hand or $1

Total: $9 and up

To Reduce Costs: Use an old necklace pendant you already have, or a vintage brooch. And remember, you will be able to use these brooches again!

These are really easy to make!

To Make:

1. Cut an 8″ length of floral wire. Thread it through the loop of the brooch, and twist a few times to secure wire to brooch.

Tip: If there is no loop, or for a wire-wrapped look, cut a longer piece of wire, and wrap it several times around the brooch. (I did this with the round rhinestone pave pendant, although it was really hard to tell in the photos.)

2. “Sew” the wire through the napkin ring and bring ends of wire out the other side.

Tip: If your napkin ring is solid, simply wrap the wire around the ring.

3. Bring wire back through other side of brooch to secure it to the ring.

4. Tuck wire back into the inside of the napkin ring and flatten it against the inside to keep it from snagging napkins.

5. After your dinner party, snip the wire off with wire cutters, or unwrap carefully.

6. Reuse the brooch on your jewelry!

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Camilla from Family Chic (a consistent source of great ideas) invented these fabulous glowing orbs to use as mood lighting on the table. They are flameless, and therefore kid-friendly. Camilla writes:

If you’ve ever had a group of kids sitting around your dinner table – you know that candles are not a practical or safe option. However, I am a believer that children appreciate the same details that adults enjoy so I try to create interesting lighting options for the table that are child-friendly.

While they look extremely modern, these lights are cleverly made with common dollar store items. They would be fun for a fancy dinner, or a great Halloween decoration. Find out how to make them (and wow your family), at Family Chic. [how to make blob lights]

Project Estimate:

• Battery-operated tea lights, 2 for $1
• Balloons, on hand or $1

Total: $1 and up

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I have been waiting for months to do Crafty Shark Week! I wanted to time it to coincide with Discovery Channel’s annual celebration of Shark Week. My friend Jeanette had a shark-themed party a few months ago and created some fun crafts for the party. These shark jaw decorations are made from paper plates, and are a quick and simple (and striking) way to decorate for your shark-themed party. You could also string them together for a sharktastic party garland.

PAPER PLATE SHARK JAWS

by Jeanette Strole Parks, Off The Cuff Cooking

Project Materials:

• Paper plates, $1
• Scissors, on hand
• Pencil & eraser if needed for extra confidence, on hand

Total: $1

A note about supplies: A “deep dish” non-crimped/non-fluted Chinet style plate worked well for me, because it is smooth and sturdy.

To Make:

1. Fold your paper plate in half “backwards” (with the bottom of the plate facing you, and the folded edges coming toward you).

2. Using small scissors trim away the outer edges of the plate in a sweeping arched “M” design on the top half and bottom half, which should leave it looking like the hinges on the jaw, and the “m” shaped bottom & top of the mouth. Look at pictures on Google of real shark jaws to get inspiration, if the craft-samples in the photos don’t help you visualize the outline.

3. Cut out a large oval from the middle, and then work from that center to cut out free-form teeth that follow the inside arc of the paper plate on the top and bottom. I just snipped away happily. Shark teeth are often quite irregular and jagged and not always parallel.

More shark crafts:
Follow Mrs. Greene’s board Shark Week! on Pinterest.

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The dollar store has an entire aisle of faux flowers. I admit, these have stumped me. I am not much of a faux flowers person, so I just never buy them and never make anything with them. This idea, by Holiday Crafts and Creations, is a wedding kissing ball, or pomander. The pomanders shown in this photo are made with handmade paper daisies (awesome!), but the process of making all those paper flowers is way too fussy for me. Instead, I would buy faux flowers at the dollar store and use them to make wedding kissing balls inspired by these. Similar look, but a lot simpler. [click here to find instructions to make these paper flower pomanders]

Use these to decorate for your wedding, as pew decorations, or hanging from a ceiling, awning, or chuppah. You can also carry one as a bouquet (or have your bridesmaids carry them). They’d also make amazing decorations for parties or showers.

Project Estimate (Faux Flower Version):

• 4” Styrofoam ball, $1
• 12 brads (for one ball), $1 and up
• Ribbon, on hand or $1
• 3 faux flower branches (3 different types: small, medium, and large, in complementary colors), $3
• 35 – 40 pearl head pins (for one ball): 6mm, $1
• X-acto knife
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors

Total: $5 and up

The post Make Faux Flower Wedding Kissing Balls (Pomanders) appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I like cheap and cheerful decorations, and these jointed banners are cute and kitschy. When I came across these conversation banners the other day, I was inspired to create my own. You guys, two hours later, I had created printable hangy letter templates to share with everyone! I have been having so much fun with these, and I haven’t even gotten started on all the ideas I have for them. Let’s hope I can make time to create a few of the great ideas I have in my head before I get distracted by something els… oooh, shiny!

These jointed banners are great because they fold up flat and are easy to store. It would be fun to make a custom banner for a friend and send it in the mail.

Using my template, you can create a custom banner that says ANYTHING and comes in any color or pattern you can imagine. If you think you’ll use these templates a lot, cut them out of cardstock or laminate the paper before you cut them so you can use them again and again.

Project Estimate:

• Jointed Letter Templates, on hand (download my PDF here: ALPHA-BANNER)
• Cardstock, on hand or $1
• Brads, on hand or $1

Total: FREE and up

To Make:

Template Method: Print out the letters you need onto cardstock (or paper, then laminate), cut them out and use them for templates. Trace each letter template onto desired paper and cut out. I traced my letters backwards onto the back of paper, so when I cut them out, the pencil mark wouldn’t show on the front of the banner (but the letters would face the correct direction!) You might want to outline the letters on the banner with a marker.

I like the template method because then you have the master letters and you can use them again and again, but if you are only going to make one banner, you can also try:

Direct-Print Method: Alternately, you can print the letters you need directly onto cardstock or other paper, cut it out and assemble that way.

To assemble: punch small holes and use brads, or punch holes and string with yarn or ribbon.

Sidenote: I used these cute brads that I got in my swap package from Alison to connect this banner. They are so cute!! Love! Such a fun use for cute scrapbooking supplies!

You can use patterned paper to make them (this floral paper was from a fabric sample flyer). Just be aware that a busy pattern like this looks best if it’s hung in front of a contrasting background because the large pattern can cause the details in the letters to be lost. I punched holes and used a piece of yarn to string these letters together.

See how the detail is lost when it’s hung in front of a similar-colored background?

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Here’s a simple and cute party decoration idea for Halloween (or if your kid is just into spiders!): Use styrofoam balls and pipe cleaners to create this adorable spider. Even if you’re arachnophobic, you have to admit these are pretty cute! [project instructions here]

Project Estimate:

• Styrofoam balls, 2 sizes, $2
• Pipe cleaners, $1
• Toothpicks, on hand
• Glue, on hand
• Acrylic paint, on hand
• Googly eyes, on hand

Total: $3

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