Once Easter is done and the candy is gone, what do you do with the leftover eggs? Some people will simply put them away to save until next year. Making maracas, on the other hand sounds like a lot more fun! Dana from Made shows you how to make your own colorful maracas from leftover Easter eggs and plastic spoons. [how to make Easter egg maracas]

Project estimate:

• Easter eggs, on hand
• Plastic spoons, on hand or $1
• Popcorn kernels, on hand or $1 and up
• Tape, on hand or $1 and up
• Markers, on hand

Total: Free and up

The post Make Maracas from Easter Eggs appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  If you find yourself hosting party guests today, here is a fun favor idea that they will love!  Meg at Mega Crafty found an innovative way to make a miniature piñata – using plastic eggs left over from Easter!  They make piñatas just the perfect size for an individual serving of candy, and they are quicker to make than using more traditional  methods so you can whip out enough for all of your guests in a pretty short time.  You could even personalize them so that they double as placecards!  [how to make recycled Easter egg mini piñatas]

Project estimate:

• Plastic Easter eggs, on hand or $1
• Paper, on hand
• Glue, on hand
• Candy, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  Free and up

The post Recycle Easter Eggs into Mini Piñatas appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I am enchanted by these tissue paper lanterns made by Kleas. She used watered-down glue, tissue, and balloons (classic papier-mache style), then when they were dry, punched holes and strung yarn, then hung them from sticks. They are so bright and fun. I bet my kids would have a lot of fun making these! They would also be great wedding or other party decorations. I bet they’d look cute if you used small balloons, too. For safety’s sake, I would use battery operated tea lights inside them, or ooh, what about dismantling those solar lights and putting them inside? [how to make tissue paper lanterns] [via]

Project Estimate:

• Balloons, on hand or $1
• Tissue paper, on hand or $1
• Glue, on hand
• Yarn, on hand
• Battery-operated tea lights, $1 for 2

Total: $1 and up

The post Make Tissue Paper Balloon Lanterns appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Recipes

Strawberry Margarita Pops by Bakers Royale [Pictured]

Cinco de Mayo lunch by Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons

Chili Pepper Cake Balls by Terri’s Party Treasures at Nikki In Stitches

Chips And Salsa… Cookies by The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle

Corona Beer Pops by Bakers Royale

Make Deep Fried Ice Cream by Jamie from Ain’t She Crazy! at Tatertots & Jello

Crafts, Decorations and Activities

Cinco de Mayo Crafts and Decorations by Martha Stewart [Pictured]

Cinco de Mayo Crafts by TLC Family

Cinco de Mayo Plate Maracas Craft by Classified Mom

Cinco de Mayo Mexican Bracelets by Kiboomu

Cinco de Mayo Activities by TLC Family

Mini Piñatas by Disney Family Fun

Cinco de Mayo Sombrero by Kiboomu

Printables

Cinco de Mayo Party Printables by Embellish [Pictured]

{Free Printable Files} Cinco de Mayo Fiesta! by The Tomkat Studio

Cinco de Mayo Celebration Printables by 9 to 5 Mom at Catch My Party

Roundups

A Week of Cinco de Mayo (Roundup) by From Gumdrops to Glitter [Pictured]

Cinco de Mayo crafts, recipes, games, printables and more! by Kaboose

17 Last Minute Food, Printables, Party Decor by Tip Junkie

How will you be celebrating Cinco de Mayo this year?

The post Celebrate Cinco de Mayo: 15+ Crafts and Treats appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

While you’re waiting for the weather to warm up, forget cutting snowflakes–take some brightly-colored tissue paper and cut papel picado, traditional Mexican cut paper art instead. Once your flags are cut, string them on string for cheerful decorations that will bring you into spring! Keep them up for Cinco de Mayo. Amida at Journey Into Unschooling has instructions for many different papel picado designs. [find out how to make papel picado]

Project Estimate:

• Tissue paper, $1
• String, on hand
• Scissors, on hand

Total: $1

The post Make Papel Picado – Tissue Paper Flags appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Two-Layer Crepe Paper Streamers: $2

I absolutely adore this idea from Heidi at My Paper Crane. She sewed two strands of crepe paper streamers together and they gathered into ruffly wonder-streamers. I think this would be knock-out at any kind of party from Cinco de Mayo to birthdays to showers of any sort. I love how Heidi used multiple colors of streamers – so pretty and colorful! Get the lowdown on her technique for making these streamers at My Paper Crane.

Napkin Dress: $2

Learn how to make these adorable napkins that look like little dresses – great idea for baby or wedding showers. Get the tutorial at How Does She?

Dessert Tray: $2

Here’s an idea a lot of my readers love and have done really well: a dessert stand. You can make a permanent stand, like Tara in the ATL did with
E6000 glue, or you can use a hot glue gun to make temporary stands for parties (but you can remove the glue later to return the dishes back to their original state–great for your grandma’s antique dishes). Check out Tara’s project here.

Cupcake Tree: $10 or less (depending on what you have on hand)

Sarah at I Blame Mom made this big cupcake tree with cake decorating cardboards, cake risers, wrapping paper and ribbon, but you could do it with stuff from your recycling bin and the dollar store. Get her tutorial here.

Paper Doily Tablecloth: $2 and up

I love this quick idea: tape a bunch of paper doilies together to make a pretty tablecloth. The dollar store always has a lot of doilies on hand in the wedding section or the kitchen section (and sometimes the seasonal sections, depending on the time of year). Info found over at Apartment Therapy.

Rolled Paper Flowers: $1 and up

Aren’t these paper flowers charming? They’d be so pretty as table decorations at a party. Hmm, wouldn’t ribbon versions be so pretty as a brooch? Get the info at Talk Crafty To Me.

Mexican Paper Flowers: $1 and up

And for another kind of paper flower, check out these Mexican-style paper flowers by Charcoal Designs.

The post Roundup: Party Decor Ideas appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Jessica at Happy Together constantly amazes me with her creative ideas in the areas of decorating, fashion, accessories, and sewing. She does amazingly cute (and frugal) decorations and flower arrangements for events like wedding showers. She made these Martha-inspired tissue paper ball hanging decorations for a recent shower, and when I requested a tutorial for them, she obliged. Thanks so much, Jessica!! [click here for the tissue paper ball tutorial]

These are a great example of my ideal dollar store decorations: handmade, extremely inexpensive, simple, and with big impact. You can use these for any festive occasion: parties, showers, celebrations, holidays, etc. You can vary the size and color according to your needs.

Project Estimate:

• Large sheets of tissue paper (10 for large ball), $1 for package
• Pipe cleaner, $1 for package
• Fishing wire for hanging, on hand
• Paper clip for hanging, on hand (optional)

Total: $2 for a bunch

The post Make Tissue Paper Ball Decorations appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.