How to Make a Child’s Flapper Costume

By Jenn, Momma D and Da Boyz

I am so excited to be posting here at Dollar Store Crafts!  Heather had asked if anyone was up for making a Halloween costume out of items from the dollar store, and that was right up my alley.  I headed to my local Dollar Tree and looked for inspiration up and down the aisles.  When I found pink feather boas I knew what I wanted to do!  This is how I made a flapper costume for my niece!

Project estimate:

• T-shirt (long enough be dress length on the child you are making the costume for), $1 and up
• 2 feather boas, $2
• Bead necklace, on hand or $1 and up
• Sequined headband, $1
• Artificial flowers, on hand or $1 and up
• Hot glue, on hand
• Sewing machine, on hand

Total:  $4 and up

First I went into my niece’s closet and got an a-line dress to use as a pattern.  I folded both the t-shirt and the dress in half and outlined it.

Then I drew a parallel line about 5/8” away from the original to give me a seam allowance.

I then cut out my dress, still folded in half, giving me more of a chance of symmetrical sides.

Then I sewed the dress together.  First I sewed seams up both sides.  Then I went around the armholes, and finally around the bottom hem.

This is my finished dress, not bad for $1!

Next I went to work on the accessories and embellishments.  For the headband I took the sequined headband and popped a flower off of the bunch.

Turning the flower around I then cut down the plastic piece that sticks out and attaches to the wire stem.   A liberal amount of hot glue to hold it to the sequined headband and ta-da!  A cute flapper headband!

While I had my hot glue gun fired up, I went back and attached one of the pink feather boas to the hem of the dress with the hot glue.  (Ignore my battered old glue gun, she does some hard work in this house!)

I also added a few more flowers along the hem to add a little extra pizzazz.  Add the beaded necklace and bracelet.  Throw that second pink boa around the shoulders and you are good to go!

Here is my two-year-old niece looking oh so fabulous in her flapper costume.  Who knew just a few bucks could look so good?

The post Make a Child’s Flapper Halloween Costume appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

It’s October already!  I’m a nut for Halloween, so I’m very excited to kick into high gear for the season!  I’ve been surfing all over blogland looking for great costume ideas, like this adorable little skunk costume by Kathryn at The Dragon’s Fairy Tale.  I live in a chilly climate , so I like costumes that are nice and cozy, and I’m a little lazy sometimes so I like projects that are easy; this costume is both!  [how to make a skunk costume]

Project estimate:

• Black sweatshirt, on hand or $1 and up
• Black pants, on hand or $1 and up
• Black hat,  on hand or $1
• White faux fur, about $5 and up
• Hot glue, on hand

 Total:  about $5 and up

The post Make a Skunk Costume appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Wednesday Addams Costume (from here)

The creator of the costume said: We decided that, as a family, we would dress up as the Addams Family and, of course, our little daughter would have to be Wednesday. So I decided to make her a dress as close to Wednesday’s as I could. Her hair is still short so I had to add braids.

I have to admit, the chubby cheeks make the costume for me! And the phony ponies.

If I were going to recreate the costume, I’d modify an existing dress (as plain as possible) by dying or painting it black, adding white buttons, collar, and cuffs. Add black tights and shoes, and braids, if necessary.

Big Bird Baby Costume (from here)

From the creator: Before J. was born his nickname was Big Bird. So it only seemed fitting to make him be Big Bird for Halloween! This costume was done from scratch, with no patterns, by his Mommy. =)

Sumo Baby Costume (from here)

The trick to this costume would be keeping the wig on the baby.

Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz Baby Costume (from here)

The face on the scarecrow is what makes me love this costume. I think it’s because my youngest son is the same age. The rest of the costume is adorable, too, though!

Candygram Land Shark Costume (from here)

Okay, I don’t think this is meant to be the Candygram land shark, but that’s what it reminds me of. Look s like this shark costume was made out of felt yardage in several costume pieces (shark head, torso, arm fins, leg fins).

Cute Little Pumpkin Costume

Dollar Store Crafts reader Deidre C. made this pumpkin costume for her cute little punkin! Ingredients: lots and lots of tulle!

Captain Picard Baby Costume:

Craftster user VeggieJess made her 8 week son a Captain Picard costume. (I also linked this one in the Geeky Costumes Roundup, but I love this cute baby picture!)

Lobster Toddler Costume by djinn_3wishes on Craftster:

she says: totally DIY including making the pattern

Looks like it was made out of polar fleece in several pieces. A hat, lobster claws, bodysuit.

I thought this nice aerial photo of the costume laid out would help if anyone wanted to make their own. More pics here

Hulk Hogan Kid Costume (from here)

This costume just made me laugh. Perhaps it’s the Hulk Hogan trademark handlebar mustache on a toddler. So cute.

The post 9 Cute Baby Costumes appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I’ve always secretly hoped that my first child will be a girl, largely because of adorable projects like this rose petal dress.  DSC reader Emmylou Hart came up with this cute little number for her blog, sewn, using a light pink girls t-shirt and a bag of silk rose petals.  The instructions will make any size dress from infant up to 4t.  Emmylou also has a lot of other great t-shirt altering projects on her blog – be sure to check it out!  [how to make a rose petal toddler dress]

You could also make a fall version of this dress using silk leaves in autumn colors.  To make a shirt larger than size 4t, try using a womens t-shirt rather than a girls size.

Project estimate:

• Girls t-shirt, $1
• Silk rose petals, $1
• Elastic thread, on hand or $1 and up

Total: $2 and up

The post Make a Rose Petal Toddler Dress appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Need a few minutes fuss-free? Here’s a quick toy you can whip up in thirty seconds using recycled cardboard: a cardboard cell phone. I posted the tutorial over at Make and Takes. These pretend phones kept my sons busy for hours. You can make many toys out of regular cardboard; these simple toys will inspire your child’s imagination and give them lots of room for pretend play. Other toys to make out of cardboard: tools, kitchen appliances, playhouses, or even figurines to play with. [how to make cardboard cell phone]

Project Estimate:

• Recycled cardboard box, on hand
• Pen, on hand
• Heavy duty scissors, on hand

Total: FREE

Additional Resources:

Photo by Arnold Gold, NHRegister.com

• Old Man Makes Cardboard Toys at New Haven Register — I thought this was the coolest story! Check out what this man makes with cardboard. His toys are amazing and he seems like such a precious guy.
• Cardboard Lego Playhouse at Make and Takes: I made this playhouse out of a yogurt box for Make & Takes – super easy and fun!

The post Make Toys out of Trash appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Want to get your kiddos to eat more food at meal time? Serve their veggies on a funny food face plate! I recently made the dollar store version of the Food Face plates (as seen on At Second Street, inspired by the Fred and Friends Food FacePlate). The idea behind the plates is to decorate the faces with veggies and healthy food, as a way to encourage kiddos to eat. Kalleen’s tutorial on the At Second Street blog shows how to make personalized food face plates by transferring and tracing photos of loved ones onto the plates. [click here for the food face plate tutorial]

(I forgot to take photos of my plates with food on them!)

For my plates, I just drew funny faces freehand (I sketched them on paper first so I had a plan). You can get plates at the dollar store (which is what I did), but you will need to have a Pebeo Porcelaine marker, which is made to write on dishes. You then bake the dishes to make the marker permanent. The markers cost a few bucks, but they are a really fabulous tool for dollar store crafting. If set your kiddos loose decorating dollar store dishes with a few of these markers, you’d have all your grandparent gifts for the holidays done in a day! I have used my marker for several projects, and it’s a lot of fun to make custom dishes (especially when you’re only spending a buck per plate, instead of $40 at a personalized pottery place).

The only tip I have for you is to make sure you draw thick enough lines, and you might want to avoid cutlery on these plates. You can wash them in the dishwasher, but I noticed a bit of wear on my drawings when we used forks and knives with the plates. I’m not sure if this is typical, or if it’s just because my lines weren’t very dark. You can also get the Porcelaine paint, which might go on thicker than the paint markers.

Project Estimate:

• Plate, $1
• Pebeo Porcelaine 150 Paint Markers, $4.50 each
• Oven, on hand

Total: $5.50 for project, $1 for each additional plate

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Have you seen these ribbony dishtowels at Dollar Tree? They really are as cute in person as they look in the picture. Reader Ash at Bandy Canyon made this adorable dress for her toddler out of just TWO dish towels! She doesn’t provide a pattern, but I have listed some tutorials below for you. [see Ash’s dress here]

• Sunny Day Dress and Top Tutorial at House on Hill Road
• The Pillowcase Dress from Red Instead would work well with dishtowels
• Use an old t-shirt or onesie along with the dishtowels to make a version of Disney’s Playdress at Ruffles and Stuff

Project Estimate:

• 2 dish towels, $2
• Sewing stuff, on hand

Total: $2
Other Resources:

• All kinds of inspiration clothes in this Girls’ Clothes Tutorial Round-Up at Sew, Mama, Sew! You can use the ribboned dishtowels for several of these great tutorials
• If you missed it before, here’s the 5-minute T-shirt Tunic – would work with one dishtowel
• This Bandanna Dress will also work for dishtowels

The post Weekend Inspiration: Toddler Dresses appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

My sister just went on a trip to Senegal, Africa, and while she’s been there she has painted a 30-foot outdoor mural and done some crafts with kids at a teen center. Before she left, she asked me to help her think of some simple craft projects she could bring, so we brainstormed a few dollar store crafts that would be cheap, lightweight and fun for kids of all ages. This project is a perfect kids’ craft: one or two simple steps, and a colorful result that kids from toddler to teen can make and enjoy.

To make a bunch of butterflies, all you need are a few simple items you can find at the dollar store.

Project Materials:

• Old-fashioned wooden clothespins, $1
• Coffee filters, $1
• Crayons, on hand

Total: $2

To make, flatten the coffee filter and fold in half. Color the filter any way you want. To assemble the butterfly, slide the filter into the opening of the clothespin (scrunch if desired).

The post DSC Africa: Senegal Butterfly Craft appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Hearts are hot in February, but they make great adornments year-round too! Look what Erin from Landsdowne Life made for her daughter to wear: a Valentines’ Day-inspired turtleneck sprinkled with adorable little heart buttons. She repurposed a Christmas dress-up shirt into this sweet little number, and now I am thinking of all the things that would be vastly improved with a few heart buttons! Thanks for posting your great idea on our Facebook page, Erin! [click here for how to make a valentine button shirt]

Project Estimate:

• Shirt (or tote, sweater, headband, onesie, or whatever you can think of), on hand
• Heart buttons, $1
• Colored thread, on hand

Total: $1 and up

The post Make a Sweet Valentine Button Shirt appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I saw a cardboard playhouse kit at my local big-box store, and I admit I was tempted to just buy it for convenience’s sake. The price was high enough to make me think again (and again… the price was pretty high!), so I was really excited when I stumbled across this DIY cardboard playhouse project over at Urban Craft. This crafty mama (and fellow Oregonian!) constructed this version of a playhouse using foam core board, construction paper, felt, and faux flowers, and it was less than ten bucks! She didn’t give details on how she made it, but I bet you could figure it out! And yes, you can get foam core at many dollar stores! [click here for cardboard playhouse project]

Project Estimate:

• Foam core board, $8
• Construction paper, on hand
• Faux flowers (optional), on hand or $1
• Acrylic paint, on hand
• Tape (clear packing?), on hand

Total: $8

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