If you’ve been following along with our 2011 secret stashbuster challenge, you know that the lucky package recipients have gotten their goodies in the mail.  Not surprisingly, they were all super inspired and many have already started working on their projects!  This one comes to us from Debra at Housewife Eclectic:   fold-up organizer!  Using some fabric and a cameo hair elastic from her box of goodies and a couple of things from her own stash, she made a pocketed organizer perfect for holding notebooks, envelopes, pencils, scissors, or anything else you might want to carry in your purse or car glove box.  Debra used some quilted fabric from her personal stash to give the organizer more sturdiness; if you don’t have this on hand, a piece of an old quilted mattress cover, some felt yardage, or any other stiffer fabric would work as well.  [how to make a fold-up organizer]

Project estimate:

• Fabric, on hand
• Quilted fabric, on hand
• Bias tape, on hand
• Cameo hair elastic, $1
• Sewing machine, on hand
• Needle and thread, on hand

Total:  $1 and up

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It’s funny how easy it is to trace the origins of  both my craftiness and my pack rat nature.  I was reminded recently that I got both traits from my grandmother.  When she passed away about ten years ago I inherited her collection of sewing notions, and as as  part of my stashbusting this month I was surveying the random items in one of her sewing boxes.  I came across something that took me a moment to identify.  They were collars salvaged off of polo shirts.  I wrapped one around my wrist and immediately knew that I had to make a cuff bracelet!  After digging around in my stash a little bit more, I came up with everything I needed.  Here’s how I did it.

Supplies:

• Polo shirt collar, on hand
• Embroidery floss, on hand
• Cameo, on hand or $1
• Beads, on hand
• Glue, on hand
• Hook and eye closures, on hand or $1
• Needle and thread, on hand

Total:  Free and up

Cut the collar off a collared knit shirt.  Wrap the collar around your wrist and measure so that it goes all the way around with a little bit of overlap.  Cut it to that length.

To give the edges a more finished look and help prevent them from fraying, I went around three sides of the collar with embroidery floss using a blanket stitch.  If you’ve never tried the blanket stitch, don’t be afraid; it’s SO easy to do, even if you have zero sewing or embroidery skills!  The fourth edge of my collar was scalloped and tipped in pink, so I didn’t stitch across it.  If your collar doesn’t have a decorative edge, blanket stitch all the way around.  [how to sew a blanket stitch]

Glue your embellishments to the middle of the cuff.  I chose a cameo and a few pretty beads that were hiding amongst my random jewelry making supplies.

Attach a pair of hook-and-eye closures to the ends of the cuff to finish it.  You could also use velcro to secure the ends together, but I have a ton of hook closures in my sewing notions and few occasions to use them, so I decided this was a good opportunity to get rid of a couple!

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Recently, I told you that I met up with Breanna, a DSC fan, for a day of Dollar Store Craft shopping at Dollar Tree. She shared a great 15 second tutorial for making cool glass pedestal apothecary jars. I made another video that shows some of the things we found on our trip. If you aren’t a video watcher, I rounded up the highlights from the video here in this post. If you YouTube, be sure to subscribe to the DollarCraft YouTube channel. [How to make an apothecary jar]

Cupcake Gift Boxes: I found several cute cupcake gift boxes that ranged from small (about 3″ cube) to pretty large (about 7″). These were along the bottom of the gift bag section, which is an aisle I usually speed through or skip altogether. These are really cute, though!

Tinkerbell Notebooks: Dollar Tree has a lot of licensed merchandise with Disney characters like Tinkerbell, the Disney Princesses, and Toy Story characters on them. If you are having a birthday party with any licensed characters, stop at the dollar store first to find out if you can find any of the right stuff.  Other licensed characters I noticed: different superheroes, Spongebob and Dora the Explorer. Products ranged from notebooks to plastic dishes and small figurines.

Idea: Dress-a-Bear Kits for Pumpkins: Last year, my sister-in-law and her pre-schoolers dressed their Halloween pumpkins in these dollar store dress-a-bear kits. They turned out so cute, and because there was no carving or paint involved, it was a fun and mess-free activity. [how to dress your Halloween pumpkins]

Cameo Hair Elastics: Find these in the hair accessories section of the store, and use the cameos to embellish your crafts, or for jewelry-making projects.

Sage Green Bathroom Accessories: I found these pretty green bathroom accessories (they look prettier in real life). They’d be really nice with a monogram – either paint it (use these stenciling instructions) or cut vinyl or contact paper.

2-pack of Bandannas: These bandannas are poly-cotton and come in packs of two with cheerful patterns, so they’re good for projects like the bandanna tablecloth.

Colorful Knee Socks: Fun for kids to wear, or use to extend sleeves on kids’ t-shirts for fall and winter. Or make arm-warmers (like these Ninja Mitt Fingerless Gloves from Leethal.)

Wooden Magnetic Letters and Numbers: These were a hot item last year, and they sold out quickly. My Dollar Tree has them back in stock. You could glue them onto photo frames or wooden chairs or chests to personalize them for your kiddos. Or use the numbers to mark an advent calendar (yes, it’s time to make this year’s advent calendars!)

Flannel-Backed Tablecloths: Use these to make reusable sandwich or lunch bags, or reusable grocery sacks.

What have you seen at the dollar store this week?

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