We were asking around to our blogger friends about what the big trends will be this year, and a prediction was made that all things tiny are going to be huge! We’ve longtime fans of DIY dollhouse miniatures, so we were delighted to see this itty-bitty, realistic looking cutting board. Stella at Simplystella’s Sketchbook made it out of just paper and paint! Her instructions even include a pattern you can use to cut out and create your own. [how to make a miniature dollhouse cutting board]

Project estimate:

• Cardstock, on hand or $1
• Pattern, free
• Paint, on hand or $1 and up

Total: Free and up!

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The fruit trend in crafts this summer is something we can definitely get behind – yum!  And it’s no secret that we love tiny things.  So, unsurprisingly, this fruity garland got our attention.  Sara from Tell Love and Chocolate cleverly put this project together out of craft foam with paint and sharpie embellishments.  [how to make a mini fruit garland]

Project estimate:

• Craft foam, on hand or $1
• Paint, on hand or $1
• Sharpie, on hand
• Circle punch, on hand or about $5
• Pencil, on hand
• Baker’s twine or other string, on hand or $1 and up
• Hot glue, on hand

Total: Free and up!

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Fairy gardens are hot right now!  As easy to make as they are charming, Heather shows how to make your own teacup fairy garden over at Live Craft Love.  Look for teacups at thrift stores and yard sales, where you can find some really cute ones for cheap.  If you don’t have a very green thumb, you can also use faux succulents in place of real plants for a death-proof version.  [how to make a teacup fairy garden]

Project estimate:

• Teacup, $1 and up
• Soil, on hand or $1
• Plants, on hand or $1 and up
• Miniatures, $1 and up
• Rocks, on hand or $1

Total:  $2 and up

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One of my new obsessions this summer is making tiny fairy gardens out of teacups and bowls. I have been collecting interesting looking small containers and using them to create whimsical small gardens filled with succulents and decorated with tiny rocks and miniatures. Check out all my tips and tricks for making them over at Live.Craft.Love. [how to make a teacup fairy garden]

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Lately I’ve been super intrigued with polymer clay. It’s not a craft supply I’ve used much, but I keep running into adorable ideas for making tiny versions of things out of polymer clay! Who doesn’t love a cute miniature? Plus, these miniature polymer clay projects make great stashbusters. Use up every bit of the clay you bought!

1. Tiny Houses and Mushrooms – Craft Gossip rounded up an awesome three-part miniature tutorial from Pixie Hill. She shows you how to make tiny houses and mushrooms and then how to put them together to create tiny little scenes. I die.

2. Strawberries – Ice Pandora spills how to make little clay strawberries. She used them to make earrings, and you could also use them as decoy strawberries in your garden to trick the birds away from your real strawberry plants.

3. Tiny Succulent Planter – If you’re new to gardening, this teeny, tiny planter from Transient Expression might be just your speed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFfA5TNseaI

4. Fruits – These mini fruits by Toni Ellison would be cute charms or cute play food for a child’s dollhouse kitchen. 

5. Instagram Cake – I guess you could use Toni Ellison’s tutorial to make a mini cake that wasn’t Instagram-themed, but why would you?

6. Daleks – How cool is this stop motion tutorial from PuddingFishCakes?

7. Pine Trees – These would be a lot of fun combined with those tiny houses listed above! Ice Pandora shows you how to make these simple little trees.

8. Popcorn Box Charm – Another video from Toni Ellison, this charm would be such a sweet accessory to wear on a date to the movies.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3HFdNrVSMA

9. Minion Charms – Mint Dahlia has a great video tute for making your own miniature Minion charm from polymer clay.

10. Headphones – Tiny headphones for your favorite audiophile! This is yet another video tute from Pudding Fish Cakes. What can I say? Helga is prolific.

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I love to decorate fabric with stencils and paint, and the huge variety of products available makes it easy to create really unique pieces.  Who wants a store bought shirt when you can make your own?  I used awesome black light paint from Tulip to make apparel that glows!

Project Estimate:

• T-shirt or bib – $1
• Stencil – on hand
• Neon Black Light Paint – $5 for 3 pack

Total: $6

Step one: Place cardboard under the fabric to be painted.

Step two: Place the stencil over the fabric and tape it in place.

Step three: Use a foam pouncer to dab the paint over the stencil.  For a more dimensional effect (like the shirt), use the writing tip of the paint bottle to trace the stencil with.

Once the paint has dried you’ll have a cool, neon custom item.  The surprise is when you put it in black light! My kids really enjoy going to glo golf and miniature tag, so that’s where we wear stuff like this.  It would be fun to make wrist bands or headbands for all your guests to wear if you have parties at a place with black light.  Craft, create, and stand out from the rest!

The post Tutorial: DIY Glowing Apparel appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Garden center, schmarden center! Make your garden cute with handmade touches instead of pre-made plastic doodads.

1. Miniature Toadstools – How cute would these be in a little pot of herbs?

2. Rainbow Wind Chime – Save your empty cans of beans and follow this clever tute from Creative Green Living to transform them into a pretty wind chime for your garden.

3. Magical Fairy Garden – Fairy gardens are super hip, and you can add one to your spring garden in under a week with this tutorial from Crafting a Green World.

4. DIY Concrete Stepping Stones – Stepping stones are so expensive, and there aren’t a lot of design options at most garden centers. These DIY stones from Nancy Mizelle even use homemade molds, so you can really make these look however you want (and whatever size you need!).

5. Pallet Garden Path – Cano shares three garden DIYs, and this pallet path is such a simple alternative to stone or pebble paths.

6. Rain Chain – A rain chain does double duty: it protects the soil around your gutters from eroding, and it looks so much better than a regular downspout.

7. Ladder Shelf – Good Housekeeping’s ladder shelf is such a cool way to grow more in a small space. I’d love to cover this in potted herbs!

8. Fabric Pots – Plain plant pots are bo-RING! I love these vibrant fabric covered pots by Wholesome Mommy.

9. Pallet Organizer – Our Little Acres shows you how to store your most-used garden tools on an upcycled wood pallet.

10. Farmhouse Table – You work hard in your garden. Show it off with an outdoor dinner party at this farmhouse-style table that you can build yourself with instructions from Thrifty and Chic.

The post 10 Cute Garden Crafts for Your Spring Garden appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Dollar Tree is a great place to find inexpensive styrofoam pieces for crafting.  I like to stock up on the egg shapes when Easter is here.  I combined several small styrofoam pieces to make an adorable mini wreath for Easter.  This would be cute on a dorm door, in a window, on an office bulletin board, or any other small space that could use some cheer!

Project estimate:

• Foam ring – $1 for 2
• Foam eggs –  $1
• Paint – on hand
• Yarn – on hand
• Ribbon – on hand
• Miniatures – on hand or $1 and up

Total:  $2 and up

Step one:  Paint the foam eggs.

Step two:  Wrap the foam ring with green yarn.

Step three:  Glue the miniatures to the wreath.  I glued beads in a mini basket to look like eggs.

Step four:  Glue the eggs onto ribbon and glue the ribbons to the back of the wreath.

Now you can embellish the wreath with a bow and tiny flowers.  This is a great stash busting project.  Since the wreath is mini-sized you can use up little ribbon scraps and other embellishments you have.  Have fun crafting, creating, and decorating!

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Who says that garlands are just for parties? We have garland up in the foyer at our house year-round, and the other day my husband asked me if I’d like to make some more garland to hang in our kitchen. Garland and bunting are so great at bringing color into a room and covering a big space. Great for budget decorating, when you don’t have the time to make a lot of art pieces or money to buy them. Whip up some garland, and you’re all good.

1. Macrame Yarn Garland – Rachel at A Beautiful Mess made this pretty garland. It has me wanting to try my hand at macrame!

2. Heart Garland – Rhonda says that this is for Valentine’s Day, but I say heart decor is lovely all year round!

3. Scrap Fabric Bunting – I made this fabric garland years ago as a house-warming gift for a friend. Real talk: this is the super simple technique that I’m leaning toward for our kitchen.

4. Burlap Bunting – Burlap fabric is so, so inexpensive. You can follow DIY Mommy’s no-sew tute to the letter, or if you want some extra color you can paint that burlap.

5. Scalloped Bunting – So it turns out that DIY Mommy is something of a bunting maven. This one’s from her too, and there’s another one of hers further down the list. I love the look of this rounded bunting. It’s a nice change from the usual hard edges.

6. No-Sew Felt Garland – Fabric glue is your friend for making City Girl Gone Coastal’s no-sew garland.

7. Bunting Lantern – Bonjour Quilts made miniature bunting and wrapped it around a cheapo paper lantern for a quick, cheap decor piece. It’s so cute!

8. Printed Garland – Add a sweet message to your fabric bunting with iron on transfers. The Painted Hive has the deets!

9. Crochet Hearts – This is yet another great garland idea from DIY Mommy! Little crochet rainbow hearts, all strung in a row.

10. Map Garland – Ribbon plus maps from your stash make such a lovely garland. Gayle at Solitary Moments used her machine to sew her garland, but you could also glue the paper to narrower unfolded ribbon instead.

The post 10 Pretty Garlands to Add Color to Your Life appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I love reading, so I made this mini book necklace to show my bookworm side. It turned out SO CUTE and is super easy to make, with an inexpensive pack of Miniature Books from Darice. I show how to make the necklace over at Live.Craft.Love so hop on over there to find out how: [how to make a diy book lover necklace]

Project Materials:

• Darice Miniature Books
• 18? Necklace Chain
• Embroidery Floss
• Aleene’s ClearGel Tacky Glue
• Jump Ring
• Long Nose Pliers

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