So, you found this great piece of wood that someone else was throwing away… What can you do with it? One fun option is to turn it into a sign, like this one from Donna of Funky Junk Interiors! This project is super simple, totally customizable, and looks like it came from a cute little boutique. Make one with your family name, an “eat” sign for the kitchen, personalized name plates for your kids’ bedroom doors… There are so many possibilities! [how to make a reclaimed wood and rope sign]

Project estimate:

• Reclaimed wood, free
• Rope, on hand or $1 and up
• Chalk, on hand or $1
• Hot glue, on hand

Total: Free and up!

The post Make a Reclaimed Wood and Rope Sign appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Watch the video to see how I put this holiday sign together from dollar store supplies – or keep reading for the written directions.

The other day I found some little chalkboards at Dollar Tree, and I knew that they had great potential for making some kind of signs. I dug into my stash, found some embellishments to dress it up, and turned it into a simple sign for the holidays! You could use this same technique to make signs for all kinds of other occasions.

Project estimate:

• Chalkboard, $1
• Stencil, on hand or $1 and up
• Paint, on hand
• Ribbon, on hand
• Chipboard letters, $1.50 and up
• Snowflake rhinestones, about $2
• Glue, on hand

Total:  about $4.50 and up

Position the stencil on the chalkboard and apply paint with a foam sponge or pouncer.

Remove the stencil to reveal the design.

Once the paint is dry, lay out your embellishments on the surface of the chalkboard and figure out where you want everything to go.

Once you’re satisfied with the placement, glue all of the elements down.  Let the glue dry and it is ready to display!

The post Tutorial: Simple Holiday Sign appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Hosting a movie night?  Really wow your guests with these DIY marquee letters!  Jordan from Oh Happy Day used – believe it or not – foam core board and posterboard to create these fab light-up letters.  The lights she used were about $15 a string at Target, but you could just as easily use cheaper strands of lights (preferably LED lights to reduce the risk of fire).  Not limited to just movie nights, you could use these letters to spell out anything you want and use them for weddings, birthday parties, and more.  Or even work them into your everyday decor!  [how to make DIY marquee letters]

Project estimate:

• Foam core board, $1
• Posterboard, $1
• Spray paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Glue and/or tape, on hand
• Lights, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  $2 and up

The post Make DIY Marquee Letters appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

When Todd & Lindsey decided that their kitchen decor needed a little TLC, the solution they settled on was some custom artwork.  Lindsey got to work with some dollar store frames and a remnant of fabric, and when she got done she had this fabulous little framed, lettered sign to hang!  Not only does she share the how-to for the artwork, she also shows her method for hanging the frames in a straight line and evenly spaced on the first try.  (This is particularly good news for people like me, who tend to make 3 or 4 nail holes in the wall before finding that “just right” position!)  [how to make a framed lettering sign]

Project estimate:

• Picture frames, $4 and up
• Spray paint, on hand or $1
• Paper, on hand
• Bristol board, about $5
• Fabric, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  about $9 and up

The post Make a Framed Lettering Sign appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Looking for a project to make your lawn a little more Halloween-y?  Greet your fall visitors this year with a festive welcome sign!  Michelle and Julie from Sister See Sister Do used a pile of foam pumpkins from Dollar Tree to make this sign, a use for them that we hadn’t yet seen.  Using the same concept, you could create a sign that says anything you want, from “Boo!”  to “Happy Halloween” and anywhere in between depending on how many pumpkins you have.  What will yours say?  [how to make a pumpkin welcome sign]

Project estimate:

• Foam pumpkins, $7
• Stake, on hand or $1 and up
• Sharpie, on hand
• Flower pot (optional), on hand or $1

Total:  $7 and up

Looking for more pumpkin crafts?

The post Make a Pumpkin Welcome Sign appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

What can take your posters from dorm room to distinctive? A very simple dollar store crafty technique for mounting posters or photos on foam core board. Foam core makes it easier to display posters, so you can use this technique for presentations, school projects, gallery displays, or in your home decor. If you are an aspiring photographer, nothing makes your photos look better than when they are mounted on foam core.

Project Estimate:

• A poster or photo print, on hand
• A sheet of foam core board (black or white), $1
• Glue stick, on hand or $1
• Box cutter or craft knife, on hand or $1

Total: $1 and up

If you are using this technique for a presentation, pick up some easels in the photo frame section of the dollar store — you can prop your mounted posters on them for a quick, easy, and inexpensive display. You can trim the mounted photo down to any size. Here’s an example of when I used mounted photos in a display about craft tutorials available on our site. I got everything on the table at the dollar store and had the photos printed at Costco.

The 16×20″ photo in this project cost just about $6 to print at Costco, and I just uploaded and ordered it from home and then picked it up about an hour later at my local warehouse. You can mount just about any photo, poster, drawing, etc.

Gather your supplies and clear a work surface. What, you already have clear work surfaces in your house? In that case, skip this step.

1. Flip the photo over and glue stick the heck out of it. You will probably use up at least half of the glue stick on a 16×20 photo.

2. Turn the gluey poster over and line it up along the corner and edge of the foam core board. If you need to, add additional glue along the corners or edges. Burnish the poster onto the board (which is a fancy way to say rub it down onto the board. I use my longsleeved arm for this.) If the photo isn’t the same size as the board, don’t worry. You will trim down the board in the next step.

3. Carefully trim along the edge of the poster with a box cutter or craft knife. You do NOT want the razor blade to go all the way down through the board. Just score the paper along the edge of the poster.

4. After one side is scored, fold the board along the scored section.

5. Turn the poster over, and cut through the paper on the score line. You don’t have to press the razor blade down – you just need to cut the paper.

6. Clean up any rough edges.

There you go – an easy and cheap way to mount posters with professional-looking results.

The post Tutorial: Mount a Poster for $1 appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Make this cute Thanksgiving tree memo board to help you remember what you are thankful for this season. It’s made with stuff you probably have on hand: scrapbooking paper, wooden clothespins, buttons, and ribbon. Give a leaf doily (from the dollar store, of course!) to each member of your family so they can write down what they’re thankful for. Clip the leaves to the bottom of the board for a constant reminder of how you are blessed. I made this craft for AmazingMoms: [make a thankful tree craft]

Project Materials:

• Scrapbooking paper, on hand
• Buttons, on hand
• 4 clothespins, on hand or $1
• Wooden letters that spell “thankful”, $1 (I got a package of wooden alphabet letters at the dollar store awhile back)
• Ribbon, on hand
• Leaf-shaped paper doilies, $1
• Thanksgiving Tree Template

Total: $1 and up

The post Make a Thanksgiving Tree Memo Board appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Chalkboard paint is incredible stuff with thousands of potential applications.  However, it doesn’t exactly fall into the category of “budget craft supplies”; an 8 ounce container can cost upwards of $10.  Additionally, chalkboard paint takes a long time to dry.  What can you do if you don’t have three days to wait before you can write on the surface?  Clara from Bloomzine came up with an ingenious solution.  She used textured paper in a frame to simulate the look of a chalkboard at a fraction of the cost and time!  [how to make a faux chalkboard]

Clara’s original paper chalkboard was used as a decoration at her brother’s wedding reception.  A “congratulations” faux chalkboard sign would also make a perfect addition to the buffet table at a graduation party.  Or use them to make personalized signs to hang on your childrens’ bedroom doors, in your entryway, or anywhere else you want to add a personal touch to your decor.

Project estimate:

• Black or dark green textured paper, on hand or about $0.20
• Chalk, on hand or $1
• Wooden picture frame, $1

Total: $1 and up

The post Make a Faux Chalkboard appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Chalkboard Sandwich Board Sign

Jill at Bird and Berry created this cool sandwich board sign to advertise a bake sale. Now she’ll always have a sign whenever she has an event to share! This would be a very eye-catching way to spread the word about your summer garage sales. Find out how she made this cute sign at her blog.

Chalkboard Band Flower Pot

A band of chalkboard paint with a fabulous print make this flowerpot très chic. Find out how to make a fashionable chalkboard paint flower pot at Sew Hip Mama.

Chalkboard Pebble

Sonja at Craft Werk painted a pebble so she could keep her thought of the day as a constant reminder. Nice! And simple, too! Make a chalkboard paint pebble.

Thanks to reader Andi for the heads up on Chalkboard Painted Nesting Dolls

Design blog Kitsune Noir found these chalkboard-painted nesting dolls by MUJI. They’re only available in Japan, but it’d be the easiest thing in the world to make your own version with chalkboard paint. Find the blanks online or do what I’m doing and order a cheap already-painted set on eBay. You’re going to paint it anyway. Chalkboard Matryoshka Nesting Dolls.

Chalkboard Placecards

These are cute and colorful, and should be pretty easy to make. You can use those wooden forms they sell at the dollar store for the chalkboardy part. Get the info on this cute idea at Vanessa’s blog: The Sewer, The Baker, The Copycat Maker. [via]

Chalkboard Door

Okay, maybe this isn’t exactly dollar store craft-able… but it’s still really cool! Found over at Ohdeedoh – click here. [via]

Chalkboard Calendar

This one actually could be done with dollar store stuff, but you might be better off buying a piece of lumber and trimming it to size. Idea found by Lorie at Be Different Act Normal – click to see her other ideas.

The post Roundup: What to Make with Chalkboard Paint appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Christmas is over, but here’s another good idea for you to file away (or make with post-Christmas sale materials): use one of those cool silver trays to make a festive family sign for your home. Reader Dena at Sweet Pickles and Chocolate made this one for her family. You can find almost everything you need for it at the dollar store, and hopefully you already have some acrylic craft paint in your crafting arsenal. Get all the details at Dena’s blog [for making a dollar store Christmas sign.]

Project Estimate:

• Silver-colored tray, $1
• Dangles, such as ball ornaments, $1 or on hand
• Ribbon, $1 or on hand
• Acrylic paint, on hand
• Drill, on hand

Total: $1 and up

The post Make a Pretty Silver Holiday Sign appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.