I could not start writing this post fast enough when I saw this adorable DIY sewing-themed chess set from Stash Books. The chessboard is a small quilt, and all the pieces are made of various sewing-related items put together to represent various chess pieces. The pawns are bobbins on blocks, the knights are teeny scissors inside spools, and the King and Queen are spools + blocks, with thimbles on top. I LOVE it! [how to make the sewing themed chess set]

The items that Sue used to design this chess board weren’t from the dollar store, but you could definitely find some suitable items at the dollar store. They have travel sewing kits that contain tiny spools of thread and mini scissors. You can sometimes find thread, blocks in the toy section, and tomato-shaped pincushions. You could definitely improvise your way to an awesome chess set using this one as an inspiration. Use stash fabric to sew the board, or how about Mod Podge-ing some decorative paper to an old checkerboard you find at the thrift store?

You can also find a variety of wooden items to build the set with over at Casey’s Wood. They have spools, cubes, wooden thimbles, egg stands (for the bishop), and any other wooden piece you can imagine.

Project Estimate:

• Package of wooden blocks, $1
• 8 spools, about $5
• Various wooden pieces, $5-10
• Stash fabric, on hand
• Craft paint, on hand or about $.50 per color
• Stash scrapbooking paper or $1

Total: $11 and up

p.s. this is just a guess at cost because what you have on hand and what you decide to use to make the set will vary. I encourage you to work from your stash whenever you can! Use it up.

The post Make a Sewing-Themed Chess Set appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

When winter weather rolls around, board games are a classic cabin fever reliever.  Sharon from Keen Inspirations made a Christmas-themed game board of her own featuring two different classic games:  checkers on one side and tic tac toe on the other!  It will keep kids and adults alike occupied for hours, all for a very nominal cost.  The game pieces are made out of plastic coin party favors with cute clip art attached.  If you printed out clip art to represent chess pieces and glued them to additional coins, you could give this board a third purpose as well!  [how to make a Christmas game board]

Project estimate:

• Posterboard, on hand or $1
• Duct tape, on hand or $1 and up
• Plastic coins, $1 and up
• Clip art, free
• Spray paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Mod Podge, on hand

Total: $1 and up

The post Make a Christmas Game Board appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

One of the most popular projects we’ve featured on DSC is about making a nuts and bolts chess set.  However, some of you  were discouraged when you priced out all of the bits and realized that unless you have an awesome source for hardware bobbles, the project budget can get a little steep (at least in our super-frugal terms).  If you’re hooked on the idea of a handmade chess set but don’t have the cash to shell out on washers and threaded rods, here’s an alternative idea guaranteed to cost next to nil.  Jeromina from Paper, Plate, and Plane made a chess set for her sweetie out of rolled paper!  Her post includes detailed diagram photos showing the dimensions of each individual piece of paper and how to assemble them into the finished pieces.  Can you say “awesome?”  [how to make a rolled paper chess set]

Project estimate:

• Paper, on hand or $1 and up
• Mod Podge, on hand

Total:  Free and up

The post Make a Rolled Paper Chess Set appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I guess I’m not the only one who visits the hardware store and sees everything as a potential crafty material! Julia made her own chess set from hardware pieces like nuts and bolts. This would be a fun gift for any chess aficionado, or maybe for that hard-to-buy-for guy in your family (holiday gifts, anyone?) Julia’s process is detailed in this post from Make. [how to make a hardware chess set] [julia’s flickr]

Julia used Rustoleum paint to color the second team’s pieces. She recommends putting felt on the bottom of the pieces if you want to keep from scratching your chess board. I would recommend those felt pad stickers you can buy at the dollar store.

Project Estimate:

• Various nuts, bolts, screws, and threaded rod, $10 (estimate)
• Rustoleum paint, $5
• Felt or cork pad stickers, $1
• Chess board, on hand

Total: $16 and up

Updated: Check out Julia’s flickr stream for the configurations of all the pieces. She has each piece “exploded” with the pieces in order so you can see how she put them together:

• King exploded and then how the king is put together: 1/2 ” threaded rod 4″ long. From the bottom is screwed a flanged hex nut, a regular washer, an internally toothed washer, a long-sleeve hex nut, a circular washer, an externally toothed washer. Topped with a castle nut.
• Bishop exploded and then how the bishop is put together: 1/2″ threaded rod 3″ long. On the very bottom a flanged hex nut, then an inverted castle nut, a regular washer, an externally toothed washer. Topped of with a cap nut
• Knight exploded and then how the knight is put together: 1/2″ hex bolt (about 2 or 2.5″ long) with, from the bottom:  a flanged hex nut, an externally toothed washer, then a butterfly nut. Julia constructed the knight with the butterfly nut near the bottom of the screw, which is an abstract look for the knight. Some have suggested the butterfly nut be screwed closer to the top, but I wonder if this affects the balance of the piece? You’ll know when you put it together. Comment back to let us know.
• Pawn exploded and then how the pawn is put together: 1/2 ” hex bolt 1 1/2 ” long. and one flanged hex nut
• Rook exploded and then how the rook is put together: 1/2″ threaded rod with a flanged hex nut on bottom and a castle nut on top
• Queen exploded and then how the queen is put together: 1/2″ carriage bolt 3 1/2 ” long. From the bottom is screwed a flanged hex nut, then an internally toothed washer, a long sleeve hex nut, and 4 externally toothed washers

The post Make a Hardware Chess Set appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Okay, readers, we need your brainstorming for this question from Heather:

Help! My daughter will be 14 in 2 weeks, and wants a Twilight party- I need some inexpensive ideas on what to use for decor!

Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)

The good news is, just a few decorations go a long-long way! Here are some ideas of how to decorate cheaply for your Twilight party.

Suggestions for cheap decor:

• First of all, you have to pick up a couple bags of Red Delicious apples! It doesn’t get any cheaper than decorating with fruit!
• Pick up black and red partyware at the dollar store: tablecloths, plates, cups. Very cheap yet impactful, and a great backdrop for other decor.
• Hannah at the DSC Facebook page suggested: Glitter ’cause the vampires sparkle!

New Moon (The Twilight Saga, Book 2)

• Pick up some faux tulips from the dollar store. Custom paint some white tulips with red paint or nail polish (for a more blood-red color).
• I know roses aren’t part of the books, but if you can find red rose petals in the wedding section of your dollar store, they still might work! Or, white rose petals and give them the red paint treatment. It’d be cute to sew them into a quick garland!

Eclipse (The Twilight Saga)

• A few spools of red ribbon will tie in with “Eclipse” and also be useful for decorating for the party. Ooh, it could be cute to glue red ribbon around some black party cups.

Breaking Dawn (The Twilight Saga, Book 4)

• At the DSC Facebook page, Chris suggested: Create a chessboard feel on the tabletops by using your black tablecloth as a backdrop, and taping white cardstock squares in a checkerboard pattern across the top of the table.

• If you can find them, use a few dollar store finials painted in black and white (or white and red, like on the “Breaking Dawn” book cover) to further suggest chess. (These are some of the finials I have at my house, and they just remind me of chess pieces!)

Other Cheap Props:

• Netting is cheap at the fabric store (I found red tulle at Fabric.com for $.99 a yard, and also adds a romantic air to decorations. If you have a black backdrop, either white or red netting could be a good accent to your table decor.
• I swear by crepe paper streamers. There’s not a bigger bang for your buck! To make them more sophisticated, make these 2-layer ruffled streamers.

Twilight Food Ideas:

• Red Velvet Cake: you can get red velvet cake mix at the store. I think this is the most frugal way to make a RV cake because otherwise you have to use an entire bottle of red dye in your scratch cake!
• Ooh, it’d be cute to make cake pops, a la Bakerella. Make ’em look like apples (without happy faces)?
• Hannah suggested candy apples at the DSC Facebook page, and they would look super pretty. You can get a candy apple mix at the grocery store for a buck, or make your own.

Other Resources:

• Some good decoration ideas at this Craftster post
• Twilight Roundup at One Pretty Thing
• Another Twilight Roundup at OPT

Update:

• How Heather decorated for her Twilight party

Readers, add your great ideas in the comments! How would you decorate for a Twilight party on a budget?

The post How to Decorate for a Twilight Party? appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.