Last year, I fell in love with a lamp that was available at Anthropologie.  I didn’t need a lamp, though, so I started thinking of ways to recreate the look in a form that was more useful.  I came up with a fun bird bath, instead.  One reader suggested that I adapt the idea to make a cake stand, and I thought that was a perfect idea!  Here’s how I made my teapot cake stand, which would be a really fun centerpiece for a tea or party.  Everyone will ask where you got it, and you can say, “I made it myself!”

• Bowl. on hand or $1 and up
• Tea pot, on hand or $1 and up
• Various cups, containers, and saucers, on hand or $1 and up
• Large plate, on hand or $1 and up
• E-6000 glue, on hand
• Primer or adhesion promoter, on hand
• Spray paint, on hand

The post DIY Teapot Cake Stand appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

This is a compensated review by BlogHer and HomeGoods.

I have heard a lot about HomeGoods from various craft and decor bloggers around the internet, and last week I got to visit HomeGoods for the first time ever. If you’re not familiar, HomeGoods is a home decor store that contains all kinds of items for the home at 20-60% off retail and department store prices. The store is totally packed full of every kind of decor item. I found some fun things!

As a mom of three small boys, I rarely get to shop for fun, and almost NEVER without my kids. As luck would have it, my husband got a day off because of bad weather, so I took the opportunity to go shop sans kiddos. Luxury! Toddler mamas know what I’m talking about!

I know you like the shopping videos, so I made one for my HomeGoods trip. If you don’t like watching videos, read on, because I’m going to tell you all about what I found.

HomeGoods wanted me to shop for a gift for someone on my holiday list (but they said it was okay if I chose myself). I had a few fuzzy ideas of what I needed/wanted before I went in. One, I have a bedroom that doesn’t have a lamp. Two, it’s getting cold outside and I want to drink copious amounts of hot liquid, and I don’t have a teapot. Three, my brother is getting married this weekend, so I was on the lookout for a must-have item for he and my new sister-in-law.  Four, I wanted to see what kinds of Christmas goodies I could find.

First stop was the Christmas department. I found lots of pretty sparkly Christmas trees. I took a picture of these because I know you guys will have great ideas for DIYing them!

This jingle bell wreath is cute!

More jingle bells. The notable thing about these is that they are musical symbols, which I thought was a cool idea for a twist on a traditional wreath.

I seriously thought about picking up one of these Wedgwood Christmas ornaments, but like I mentioned, I have three little boys who aren’t gentle on the ornaments. (“This is why we can’t have nice things!”)

Okay, this is more like it! Twelve disco ball ornaments for half the price of a single Wedgwood ornament. What can I say, I’m a sucker for the disco balls! (I ended up getting these guys – price $5.99, or about 50 cents apiece)

I felt kind of guilty that my three sons didn’t even make my Christmas list for this shopping trip, so I checked out the toy aisles. There were some very nice offerings, including wooden Melissa and Doug puzzles and toys. My boys would love this tool puzzle!

My older boys would also LOVE this 1:16 Logging Truck. They are huge tractor and truck fans, and know just about EVERY tractor by name. Logging trucks are rarely found in the toy world, so I was awfully tempted to stray from my starting list and get this guy.

I kept to the list and pushed on to check out the teapot selection.

The first teapot I came across was this jaunty little number. Price: $9.99 (almost all the teapots were about that price). It came with a wire basket insert for loose tea leaves.

Teapot candidate #2: square and scrolly.

Teapot #3: I’m a little teapot short and stout!

Teapot #4: Beaded scallops

Teapot #5: This one reminds me of the teapot lady from Beauty and the Beast.

Which teapot would you choose? I went with #5 for just $9.99. As soon as I got home from shopping, I washed her and made a pot of Earl Grey! (Apologies to my British readers — I hear you don’t like Earl Grey much!)

While I was in this section, I snapped some quick pictures of these super cute cake plates. I love the ribbon running through them! Did you notice that my teapot has little eyelets in it so I can add my own ribbon? We totally need to keep this technique in mind for our dollar store crafting!

Another cute ceramic and ribbon cake plate. I think these were between $10 and $12 (but I can’t remember, and I forgot to take a photo of the price tag).

And, one last plate. This one has a red polka-dotted ribbon. So cute!

Here’s a trendy throw pillow I know a lot of you would like! This is such a popular motif around craft blogland right now!

Shabby chic birdcages are another popular item in blogland.

I was tempted by this series of miniature chair bookends! So cute!

I combed the wall art section twice and found a lot of nice pieces (some of the art is VERY similar to what is being sold in everyone’s favorite designer catalogs right now).

This tiffany blue and white quilt was a front-runner for me. I really love it! It was $29.99, and I ALMOST brought it home, but I have a real need for a lamp, and not an immediate need for an awesome quilt.

So, check out the lamps I liked:

I was digging the rectangular lamps with rectangular shades. This metallic brown lamp is odd, unique, and definitely a piece with wow-factor (that’s what they always talk about in home decor shows!) I really like it, but it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for the guest bedroom. Now that I’m looking at the picture, I kind of want to go back and get it anyway! (For those interested in price, I think it was $24.99)

This rectangular lamp is even bigger and bolder than the brown one, but getting farther away from what I had in mind. (Price: $29.99)

And then I saw this one! Off-white textured ceramic base and pleated teal organza shade. Sold and sold for $29.99. I brought this one home with me and it’s now happily lighting the nightstand in the bedroom.

So now that you’ve seen what I found at HomeGoods, it’s your turn!! HomeGoods is giving away a $50 gift card to one lucky commenter! What would you buy with your gift card?

The Rules:

Rules:
No duplicate comments.
You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:
a)      Leave a comment in response to the sweepstakes prompt on this post
b)      Tweet about this promotion and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post
c)      Blog about this promotion and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post
d)      Read the official rules for alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents age 18 or older.
Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail.
You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

You can also enter to win a $100 HomeGoods shopping spree (or one of 20 gift cards for $25) over at the Blogher round-up page!

For more info and to find nearest location, check HomeGoods.com

Disclosure

The post Dollar Scores: HomeGoods appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Here’s another question for everyone to brainstorm about!

I’m doing a Mother/Daughter tea for my work and am short on money. I was wondering if you had any idea on how to decorate. So far, I have white tablecloths (I wanted pink overlays, but apparently they don’t exist) and white and pink carnations (donated). I was thinking more pink than anything. Any thoughts? It’s next month and I realized I don’t have all this figured out yet!

Thank you so much!

Heather

Thanks for your email, Heather! Here are my ideas:

Burlap: this is a pretty hot decorator item right now, and the best part about it is that it’s super inexpensive! Ways to use it:

• Get a few yards of burlap and cut it into narrow table runners to go down the center of the tablecloths
• Use it to make pretty paper towel flowers (with a general pink color scheme)
• Get some smallish white frames at the dollar store, frame some burlap and a pink flower
• You can also spray paint the burlap pink and use it any way you want

Speaking of Spray Paint: This is a quick and cheap way to makeover anything, including dollar store or thrift store knick knacks for table decorations.

Ask Around: If you know a few people who are coming, you could ask them to lend you their tea sets. Pretty tea sets are great table decorations in themselves!

At the Dollar Store:

• Paper doilies
• Pink rose petals (in the wedding section)
• Pink ribbon
• Vases
• Faux flowers

Okay, that should get you started. Readers, please chime in with your good ideas!

The post How to Decorate for Pink Mother/Daughter Tea? appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.