I love my crafty designer friends! They always come up with THE BEST projects. Check out this week’s stunners — everyone made a fab accessory tutorial. Next week, we all have to rock our new accessories, right? Which one are you gonna make first? Here are your choices:

1. Dyed & Dotted Fringe Necklace by Jaderbomb:

This fringe necklace sure makes a statement! I love the graduated colors and the tiny little puff paint dots. And, it’s no secret how much I LOVE TIE DYE!

2. T-shirt Dress DIY by Mark Montano:

Take a basic tank top and two yards of fabric and turn them into an easy-sew summer dress!

3. Slide Protector Purse by Crafty Chica:

Crafty Chica was inspired by all the transparent handbags that are popping up all over the place. She kept it simple by making a handbag with transparent slide protectors (you could also use baseball card protectors for this project).

4. Dolce & Gabbana-Inspired Folk Art Wedges by Margot Potter:

Margot Potter created these fun and fanciful wedges inspired by Dolce & Gabbana’s Sicilian Folk Art Collection — so much fun!

5. Fabric-Covered Sneakers by Cathie Filian:

All you need is our old pal Mod Podge and some cute fabric to make these one-of-a-kind fabric-covered sneakers.

6. Tinker’s Goggles by Crafty Chica:

Earlier this week, right here at Dollar Store Crafts, Crafty Chica created these amazing Steampunk-esque goggles inspired by the movie Oz the Great and Powerful. I’m pretty sure every member of my family needs a pair of these!

So, which one of these accessories are you making this week? Let me know in the comments!

The post Six Crafty Accessory Ideas appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

These are actually the exact same dress-shaped favor boxes that I used for my wedding.  However, the ones that The Crafting Rebel fancied up over at Crafting Rebellion are far more fabulous!  By adding some pretty scrapbook paper and a few embellishments, she transformed them from nondescript, wedding-specific favors into flashy treat holders worthy of any girly occasion.  I think my favorite part is the tiny wire hangers!  [how to give dollar store favor boxes a fancy makeover]

Project estimate:

• Wedding dress favor boxes, $1
• Paper, on hand
• Wire, on hand or $1
• Ribbon, on hand
• Embellishments, on hand
• Glue, on hand

Total:  $1 and up

The post Give Dollar Store Favor Boxes a Fancy Makeover appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Would you wear a dress made out of…  throw rugs?  I would if it looked this good!  Geneva from A Pair & A Spare found some dollar store rugs made from recycled jersey cloth and, noting that they had a good deal of stretch to them, decided they would be the perfect material for a form-fitting dress.  The look is totally high-end, and especially impressive considering the source!  Seriously, would you ever guess?  [how to make a multicolor bodycon dress]

Project estimate:

• Rag rugs, $4 and up
• Zipper, on hand or $1 and up
• Sewing machine, on hand

Total:  $4 and up

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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.

I sent an envelope of stash materials to Marisa Pawelko at Modern Surrealist. She is a talented designer with a love for bright colors and recycled materials, so I knew this stashbusting challenge would be perfect for her. She posted about the stashbusting package she received:

[Here is] picture of the bizarre items I received in my stashbusting challenge kit! I immediately was relieved to see that Heather included some of my old standbys: fuzzy leopard and hot pink items, basic staples of Modern Surrealist projects. I must admit I was intimidated by the the brightly colored plastic hors d’ oeuvres picks and paper drink umbrellas. They really stumped me as I racked my brain thinking what on earth I could do with them craftwise! Inside was also a scrap of yellow and brown printed fabric that is nothing I would ever pick to work with as well as some (forgive me Heather) nasty off white lace trim.

You gotta love that Marisa chose the yellow & brown fabric (a custom screen-printed fabric by Made by Hannah With Love) and the “nasty” lace trim for this tutorial!

Check out the very clever technique of creating volume for the skirt by using the cocktail forks as a kind of boning. Awesome!

Extra Roll Holder

Project designed by Marisa Pawelko, Modern Surrealist

Supplies:

• Random items from my secret stash buster kit (including fabric, trim, cocktail picks, drink umbrellas)
• Westcott Titanium Bonded Non Stick Scissors
• Ad Tech Hot Glue
• Rubber Pin Up Girl
• Toilet Paper (full roll)
• Rubber Band
• Acrylic Flat Back Gems

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Little Green Dresses, Tina Sparkles
Taunton Press, $22.95 — $15.61 at Amazon

A lot of us Dollar Store Crafters are afraid of something: our sewing machines! Tina Sparkles’ Little Green Dress is the perfect book for the frugal crafter who sews or wishes she could sew to refashion clothing. The book is all about “green” sewing, which means it emphasizes using thrifted, recycled, remnants, or old garments for fabric to make fabulous new garments.

If the idea of refashioning clothing to make fab new stuff intrigues you, this book is a definite resource. If you don’t have the first clue about sewing, this book has a great introduction to sewing section that gives you a quick and easy-to-understand crash course in sewing: from choosing the right fabric, to basics of sewing that will help you get smooth and professional results from your first project.

If you’re not a sewing beginner, this book still has plenty to offer. It will walk you through how to make your own patterns (YES, from scratch!) to make garments that fit you perfectly. It will advise you on how to sew certain weights and types of fabric, how to modify existing patterns to work better, and how to combine patterns together to get the garment you want.

And then there are the patterns. Many dresses, some tops, skirts, and even rompers. Lots of good, solid patterns for women who are comfortable dressing in a youthful style (think Forever 21 or the hipster girls you see eating at that breakfast place down the street). Maybe I’m getting old (someone needs to write Little Green Mom Jeans for me, I guess), but I probably wouldn’t wear most of these dresses because they’re so short. The beauty of the book is, of course, that I can modify the patterns to suit the lengths I would feel comfortable wearing, and that is a very cool thing.

I had a few favorite pieces in the book:

Oversized Caged Hoodie by Peggy Noland

Such a graphic and unique look (especially over the red dress).

Bib Dress by Fredda and Jennifer Perkins

So cute & colorful, just like everything Jennifer Perkins makes! I didn’t include a picture of the whole look because I couldn’t get a good one, but this version is styled with fuschia tights, which is super fun.

Deluxe Rectangle Skirt

I especially love the one with the wider waist, and it looks cute with the suspenders (although generally I’m not a huge fan of the girls-with-suspenders thing).

Additional Resources:

The Wardrobe Refashion Project: Pledge for 2 or more months to avoid buying new clothes and instead refashion what you have or finds from the thrift store. Then post your creations to the group blog to show off what you’ve done during your pledge. This is a super fun project to get involved with. Sign-ups are accepted every two months, so get your name on the waiting list if you’re interested in taking part. In the meantime, just check the blog out to get some refashion inspiration. [photo above from a refashion at Pull Your Socks Up]

New Dress a Day: Seamster Marisa pledged to make one dress a day for just $1. Yep, this is definitely down our collectively frugal alley! Check the blog here to see how Marisa is doing with the project (hint: very well!) To find out more (including hints and tips for refashioning your own dresses), check out this Craftypod podcast about New Dress a Day.

Cut out + Keep: A DIY community with tons of crafty and refashioning inspiration (you’ll find a lot of dollar store-ish crafts there, too).

Disclosure: Review Copy Affiliate Links

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Can you believe Halloween is this week? You probably have one or more parties to go to that involve dressing up. Have you decided what your Halloween costume will be yet? Have your children? If your kids are like mine, many ideas have flown around (ours: Backyardigans, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a piece of pizza, candy corn), but you  might still be looking for that perfect costume. At this point, the “perfect” costume has to be quick and easy! No problem. I have a bunch of no-sew costume ideas for you.

No-Sew Pumpkin Costume

I made this one out of an orange t-shirt (find it at your dollar store or craft store), some felt, and a hot glue gun. The hat was quick and easy to make with recycled cardboard, felt, 1/4″ elastic and a hot glue gun. [Pumpkin Costume Tutorial & Video]

No-Sew Princess Costume

I don’t have any little girls, but if I did, I’m betting they would want to be princesses for Halloween (and beyond).  I came up with a simple no-sew princess dress for you to make. That’s right, even if you can’t sew, you can make this dress! [instructions for the no-sew princess costume]

This would be a good one to combine with the Rapunzel costume.

No-Sew Popcorn Costume

My sons are so excited by the idea of dressing as food (see our list of possible costumes above). My 2 year-old son was so excited to dress as a bucket of popcorn for our photo shoot. Secret sidebar: I added an interactive element on this tasty costume: popcorn you can attach and detach and move around on the costume. Hot glue the popcorn kernels onto the scratchy side of a piece of velcro, and then they’ll stick to your costume. [No-Sew Popcorn Costume Tutorial]

No-Sew Pirate Costume

There are so many ways to dress as a pirate, I practically wrote a book about it. You can cobble this together from stuff you have on hand, and add a dollar store pirate accessory set to give it a little extra zing. [get all my tips for dressing like a pirate at AmazingMoms]

No-Sew Ladybug Costume

This costume is all based on that grade school trick to making a symmetrical heart. If you can do that, you can make this costume! Making a ladybug costume is so simple, but it could not be cuter. It was so cute, in fact, that I made one for each of my boys. All you need is about $1 worth of felt yardage, cute ribbon, and a hot glue gun. [how to make a ladybug costume]

Other Homemade Costume Ideas:

Last month, I gave you some other great no-sew costume ideas, so don’t miss them:

• Bumblebee costume
• Rapunzel costume
• Octopus costume
• Spider costume
• Paper Doll costume
• Homemade costume roundup

So, have you decided what you’re going to dress your child (or yourself) up as for Halloween this year?

The post Roundup: Last-Minute No-Sew 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.

Awhile back, I stamped shirts with stamps and acrylic paints, noting that you can set the acrylic paint with vinegar and make it permanent (no fabric paint medium needed!). Since then, I’ve learned you can even skip the vinegar step. Have you ever gotten acrylic paint on your clothes while you were painting? I bet the paint’s still there! Acrylic doesn’t go anywhere once it dries! One of my favorite blogs, Filth Wizardry posted a great idea this week: decorate dollar store flour sack towels with permanent markers and acrylic paint and sew the towels up to make a colorful one-of-a-kind skirt (or shorts). [how to make painted tea towel skirts]

You can find flour sack towels and permanent markers at the dollar store. Sometimes they have tiny pots of acrylic paint, too, but I recommend investing in a few bottles of regular craft acrylic paint at the craft store. It comes in handy often!

Eden at eden ART took this concept and switched it up by rescuing a princess dress that had been stained. She just painted over the dress, stains and all, and turned her daughter’s ruined dress into a work of rainbowy art! I love this idea for two reasons: one, you don’t have to be able to sew to take part in this great project. Two, you can rescue stained clothing and give it a second life (especially awesome for special garments such as this princess dress). [how to make a painted princess dress]

Tips for working with kiddos plus permanent markers and acrylic paint:

1. Cover your work area with newspapers, or work outside where spills aren’t as big of a deal
2. Clean up any spills immediately (even watered-down paint)
3. Permanent marker comes off skin with a little squirt of hand sanitizer (thanks for that tip, Eden!)
4. I distinguish between these supplies and washable ones with my kids by calling them “big boy” markers and paints and tell them the rules for using them (no painting on self, or on anything other than the designated canvas)
5. Don’t use washable paint or markers for this project

Project Estimate:

• Flour sack towels, $1 each (optional)
• or, a stained piece of clothing, on hand
• Acrylic craft paints, on hand or $.50 each and up
• Permanent markers, on hand or $1
• Paint brushes, on hand

Total: FREE and up

The post Paint Your Clothes appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

If you frequent the Dollar Tree, you know they usually have onesies in stock. Cheri from I Am Momma – Hear Me Roar combined a dollar store onesie with a couple of dishtowels to create this cute summer ensemble for a lucky baby girl. One of the great things about sewing with dishtowels is that a lot of times you can use the existing hems, so it makes for super-quick sewing projects. If you are afraid of sewing, dishtowels are decent entry-level materials to work with. [get the $3 onesie dress tutorial] [via]

Project Estimate:

• Onesie, $1
• 2 dishtowels, $2
• Trim and buttons, on hand
• Sewing machine, thread, and scissors, on hand

Total: $3

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