This month, one of my favorite dollar store craft ideas appeared in Country Living magazine – recycled matchbox desk organizers. They posted the project online too, so you can check it out (and download the free printables!) Based on the mini matchbox organizers I made awhile back, I designed special printables just for use with the big boxes of matches you can get at the dollar store. Country Living has a special place in my heart because my husband’s grandma bought me a subscription when I first got married. [matchbox organizer printables]

Project Materials:

• Large kitchen matchbox, 2 for $1
• Printable template
• Scissors, on hand
• Glue, on hand

Total: 2 for $1

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2011 was a tutorial-filled year at Dollar Store Crafts; we brought you more original tutorials than ever!  There were fashion tutorials, home decor tutorials, recycled crafts, and all kinds of other ideas.  Some of them were particularly popular, so to wrap up the year, we thought we would take a look back at our top 10 tutorials out of everything we made in 2011.  Which of our tutorials was your favorite this year?

10. Make the World’s Easiest Crocheted Scarf

Okay, I admit it, I have a yarn hoarding problem.  In the spirit of stashbusting, I came up with a way to use a bunch of my random odds and ends and tidbits that were too long to throw away, but too small for a whole project.  It’s the perfect crochet project for people who don’t know how to crochet.  Don’t be afraid, it’s super-duper simple, I promise!  [read the tutorial]

9.  DIY Fashion:  Blooming Bib Recycled T-shirt Necklace

We’re big fans of the talented siblings from The Sisters 4 Say More is More.  They’ve contributed some wonderful ideas to our site, including this recycled T-shirt bib necklace by Sophie, aka Sister #2.  It’s frilly and girly and makes a big statement, and we’re glad you love it as much as we do!  [read the tutorial]

8.  Make Designer-Inspired “Straw” Bangles

Our fashionable contributor Samantha (also of Bromeliad Living) got the idea for these chunky, colorful bangles when she saw a similar design in a magazine.  She got her macrame on and came up with her own take on the look.  The designer version cost $50 each; these cost more like 50 cents each!  [read the tutorial]

7.  Make an Anthropologie-Inspired Ruffled Scarf

Are you noticing a trend on this list yet?  2011 was certainly a good year for DIY fashion!  This Anthro-inspired scarf is another post from Samantha, who adapted the look of a lighter-weight scarf to be cozy enough for winter use.  Even if you think you have zip-zero-zilch for sewing skills, you can pull this one off like a pro.  It’s that easy!  [read the tutorial]

6.  Paint a File Cabinet Blue: $5 Revamp

Heather picked up a tired old filing cabinet as a Craigslist freebie.  It was in good shape, but it was bland and boring.  But not anymore!  She went for a cartoony, blueprint-like look, with fabulously whimsical results.  It’s playful enough for a kids room, but also works in a grownup space that needs an injection of humor.  [read the tutorial]

5.  Tutorial: Marbled Nail Polish

We hosted a series of nail polish tutorials from Megan at Razberriez, including these fabulous (and surprisingly easy) marbled nails using a water technique.  We thought it was awesome and so did you, sending it all the way to the top five tutorials of the year.  [read the tutorial]

4.  Mini Office Supply Book Covers for Matchboxes

We went mini-crazy earlier this year.  For those of you who reveled in those weeks, there are more tiny things in the future.  Looking back at the last wave of itty-bitty creations, the most popular by far were Heather’s miniature book covers made to fit over matchboxes, turning them into office supply holders.  She even put together a free printable so that you can whip out a set of your own in no time!  [read the tutorial]

3.  Make a Recycled Plastic Cup Washer Necklace

The day that someone told me you could use #6 plastic like Shrinky Dinks, it was a life-changing revelation.  Okay, maybe not life-changing, but it certainly did change my sorting of recyclables.  I knew there had to be something nifty I could do with some red plastic cups left after a party, so I played around with my Sharpie and some scissors and came up with this design.  No one will ever guess that it started out as a plastic cup!  [read the tutorial]

2. Cupcake Pin Cushions

Our pal Care from Obsessively Stitching is always coming up with adorable ideas.  She used a dollar store ramekin as the base for making a sweet little cupcake pin cushion, and even made a miniature version that you can wear as a ring to keep pins close at hand while you’re fitting your next project.  Can you guess what the mini version is made from?  [read the tutorial]

1.  Make a Drinking Straw Weaving Loom

I was a band camp kid.  (Once a geek, always a geek!)  Actually, the camp I went to was a fine arts camp, with kids majoring in all kinds of music and dance and visual arts.  You could even take elective classes, and one summer I spent my spare time for two weeks of camp studying fiber arts.  It was an experience that would heavily influence y future crafting!  One of the projects I remember doing was making a weaving loom out of drinking straws.  Feeling nostalgic, I grabbed a few straws and did a little old-school crafting.  I never expected my trip down memory lane to be so popular!  [read the tutorial]

The post Top 10 Dollar Store Crafts Tutorials of 2011 appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

How are you celebrating New Year’s Eve this year?  If you’re having a party (and you don’t mind the extra vacuuming), you might want to hand out these cute countdown confetti favors by Carolyn at Carolyn’s Homework.  (Isn’t it convenient that matches come in packs of 10?)  If you’re a paper crafter and you made your own cards and gift tags this holiday season, you probably have plenty of confetti left as a by-product; if not, it’s a great mindless project for watching television.  Or you can put the kids to work!  [how to make New Year’s countdown confetti favors]

Project estimate:

• Matchboxes, $1
• Paper, on hand
• Twine or string, on hand
• Paper punch, on hand

Total:  $1

The post Make New Year’s Countdown Confetti Favors appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Lockets are so much fun, like carrying a little secret around your neck.   Molly from Lilly Cakes is a part-time early childhood teacher, and she these adorable matchbox lockets with her class one year as Mother’s Day gifts.  They’re so sweet, easy enough for kids to make on their own, and just the right size for a trimmed-down school photo.  You could also use this idea as a creative way to gift wrap other small items, making them a gift within a gift!  [how to make a matchbox locket]

Project estimate:

• Matchbox, on hand or $1
• Paint, on hand
• Paper, on hand
• Glue, on hand
• Ribbon, on hand
• Embellishments, on hand or $1 and up
• Photo, on hand

Total:  Free and up

The post Make a Matchbox Locket appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I found a photo of some mini office supply matchboxes on kootoyoo, and I was enchanted by them. Maybe it’s the dollhouse miniatures series that Rhonda has been working on, or maybe it’s just because I love little things. I knew I wouldn’t be able to find these products at a store near me, so made my own mini office supply matchboxes. I made four different covers: for rubber bands, thumb tacks, paper clips, and gummed reinforcements. I was inspired by a vintage Dennison Gummed Reinforcements box for the last one. Since I made the covers myself, I’m sharing them with you as a printable (or download it here, alternately) so you can whip these up in a few minutes.

Making mini book covers is addictive! It would be fun to use images of vintage book covers and shrink them down to make a whole bunch of cute matchboxes. I bet this general idea would be a fun one for wedding favors or other types of party favors. Maybe skip the office supplies and stick something else inside the matchbox. (It probably isn’t a good idea to put anything edible in a matchbox that has previously contained matches. If you want to make edible favors, make your own matchboxes.)

Project Materials:

• Matchboxes, pack of 10 is $1
• Glue stick, on hand
• Scissors or craft knife and mat, on hand
• Printable (download here)
• Paper and color printer, on hand
• Office supplies to fill the matchboxes with, on hand

Total: less than $1 for two sets

Printable:>>> DOWNLOAD HERE from Google Docs<<<, or BELOW from Scribd
Matchbox Book Covers Printable

To Make:

1. Print out Matchbox Book Covers printable.

2. Cut book cover images out with a craft knife and cutting mat or scissors.

3. Fold to fit on matchbox. You might need to trim the “book page edge” sides to make them fit well onto the box.

Note: If you want to use these as matchboxes, cut off both book page edges so you leave one working strike strip on the matchbox.

4. Glue to matchbox, smoothing the back of the book cover on first. Then glue the top cover on with top book page edge overlapping over the other.

5. Allow to dry, and then fill matchboxes with corresponding office supplies.

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