Do you have any kitties?  I have three of them, and I bet they would all absolutely love one of these!  Jessi from Practically Functional used an empty box, a wire coat hanger, and a t-shirt to create this adorable recycled cat bed.  You could even add a pillow on the inside for extra comfort – though one of my cats loves sleeping on cardboard so much that he would probably prefer it without a pillow, so I guess that depends on what your own cat prefers!  [how to make a recycled t-shirt cat tent]

Project estimate:

• Box, on hand
• Wire coat hanger, on hand
• T-shirt, on hand
• Pillow, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  Free and up!

The post Make a Recycled T-shirt Cat Tent appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

We have the messiest dog  in the world; he drags his food all over the house to eat it and always has a puddle of water around his dish.  I found place mats to put under his dish, but they just didn’t have that pet look.  Wanting to give him something that was especially for him, I transformed a dollar store place mat into a cute pet food place mat within a matter of minutes.

Project estimate:

• Place mat, $1
• Wrapping paper, $1
• Mod Podge, on hand
• Clear spray paint, on hand or $1 and up

Total: $2.00 and up

Start out by cutting a piece of wrapping paper to roughly fit the place mat.  Leave some extra around the edges just to give you room to work.

With the top of place mat facing up, cover the entire surface with Mod Podge.

Next position place mat over wrapping paper and smooth down.  Flip over with top face upwards and smooth out all air bubbles.  I sometimes use an old club card or credit card to help smooth out bumps and wrinkles.

Once dry, use an Xacto knife to trim off the excess paper around the edges. Applye a coat of Mod Podge across the entire top surface.  You may choose to do more than one coat.

Since most Mod Podge formulas are not completely waterproof, you may also want to seal the surface with a coat of clear spray paint.  This will stop the Mod Podge from getting tacky when your pet makes a mess with their water dish!  You now have a fun pet friendly mat which is easy to wipe clean and super cute in your home.

The post Tutorial: Pet Food Place Mat appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Dog toys are one of those things that you purchase expecting that they will eventually be destroyed.  Even if you spend money on supposedly indestructible toys for your pooch, it’s only a matter of time before they are reduced to a slobbery, shredded mess.  (My neighbor’s dog, nicknamed “The Toy Destroyer,” can disassemble any dog toy, no matter how durable, in a few good days of play.)  Sounds familiar?  Instead of dropping money on a new toy, why not try making one out of scraps that you already have laying around?  Ilse from Sew It Love It used scrap fabric to both create and stuff this tug-of-war style dog toy, and all it cost was a few minutes of her time!  [how to make a dog toy from fabric scraps]

Project estimate:

• Fabric scraps, on hand
• Sewing machine or needle and thread, on hand

Total:  Free!

The post Make a Dog Toy from Fabric Scraps appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

While you are updating your wardrobe this season, don’t forget to update your pet’s wardrobe as well!  We are joined today by our friends Erika and Sebastian from Sew Doggy Style, who are here to show us how to turn a lanyard keychain into a stylish new look for your favorite four-legged friend.  Thanks, Erika and Sebastan!

This tutorial is for a 3/8″ width collar, which is perfect for a small dog or cat.  Measure your pet’s neck and add 4 + inches to lanyard.  This dog’s neck is 11″ so I cut lanyard at 15.”  I left my lanyard at its full length until very last step so I could measure it one last time before snipping!

Project estimate:

• Lanyard key chain, $1
• Plastic buckle, about $0.50
• Ring and slider (recycled from old bra strap), on hand (or about $0.50 new)

Total: about $1.50

Cut lanyard so that it’s one long continuous strip and lightly “seal” edges with a match to prevent fraying.

Slide on ring, and then slide on one side of buckle (on one side of lanyard).  Fold back the end far enough so that it covers both ring and buckle.

Stitch two straight lines on both sides of ring to keep hardware in place.

On opposite side of lanyard, slide on remaining hardware (the slider, and then second piece of buckle).

Fold lanyard back and pull it through slider a second time, then fold back again.  Stitch the bottom two layers in place.  Be sure to keep the top layer of the collar away from your stitches.

And voila!  You have a new collar!  If you enjoyed this tutorial, please visit Sew Doggy Style for more projects!

The post Tutorial: Pet Collar from Lanyard Keychain appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

There are a few bloggers out there that are crafting along with Project Runway All Stars, including Erika (and her furry buddy Sebastian) from Sew DoggyStyle.  They’re taking a four-legged twist on each challenge, starting with the first episode’s dollar store challenge.  She went to Dollar Tree on a $30 budget and bought all kinds of crazy stuff, then came home and formulated an outfit for Sebastian with her finds.  Doesn’t he look dapper in a Michael Jackson-esque way?  [how to make a blingy dog outfit inspired by Project Runway All Stars]

Project estimate:

• Metallic cleaning towels, $2
• Headband, $1
• Aluminum foil, on hand or $1
• Coffee filters, on hand or $1
• Zip ties, on hand or $1
• Safety pins, on hand or $1

Total:  $3 and up

The post Dog Outfit Inspired by Project Runway All Stars Dollar Store Challenge appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

This project comes to us from our pet fashion correspondent Erika from Sew DoggyStyle, whose pooches are the best-dressed canines in all of blogland.  They’re here today to share a dollar store project perfect for colder weather: turning a dollar store scarf into a cozy pair of leg warmers!  Not only will they keep your dog’s legs toasty on chilly days, but they will also look stylish on walks around the neighborhood!

Project estimate:

• Scarf, $1
• Sewing machine, on hand

Total:  $1

How to Make Doggy Legwarmers

by Erika, Sew DoggyStyle

This scarf I actually got at The Dollar Tree.  One Dolla!!!  They have a variety of color combos and I think stripes make adorable leg warmers.  You can virtually make these leg warmers to fit any sized dog.  I made them for my big dog, since leg warmers are kinda for girls…  Haha!

I cut the scarf at every six stripes since that seemed like a good height.  Cut a total of 4 pieces.  For smaller dogs, cut every four stripes…or less.

Serge or zigzag the top and bottom of each piece to keep the threads from unraveling.  Then fold each piece in half lengthwise with right sides together and stitch down the sides.  For smaller dogs, take in the sides as much as needed.  Measure their legs to determine how much needs to be taken in.

Turn each piece right side out and tada!!!

linked: TCB

The post Make Doggy Leg Warmers appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

This appears to have been a child’s costume that they used on their small dog [photo via theCHIVE]

I give the owners and the dog big props on this one. I wonder if the poor thing could move?! [photo via Geekologie]

If you watched Harry Potter, you’ll know what this is supposed to be. Read more. [photo via Geek Stir]

Find out about how the owner of this dog in a wheelchair didn’t let its disability keep him from celebrating Halloween! [Photo via Make and Build Dog Stuff]

This isn’t a dog, but I literally laughed out loud when I saw it. The costume is “Pork and Beans.” That therapy pig sure does put up with a lot! [photo by tlcpiggy via Martha Stewart]

Last year, I went as candy corn, and our rottweiler, Kona, went as a candy corn princess. Everything she’s wearing was from the Dollar Tree, or was something I printed out!

But at our house, we don’t just dress her up on Halloween. Any day is an excuse to dress her up. Here are a few of her best shots!

Links:

Be sure to visit Martha Stewart’s site for user-submitted photos of their doggies dressed up for the holiday!

OMIDOG also has a page with doggie costume ideas.

Niqqi has four easy costume ideas with instructions in English and Spanish.

Squidoo has a whole page dedicated to dog costumes that includes pictures, links to how-tos, costumes for you and your pet and ready-made costumes you can buy.

The post Make Your Dog a Halloween Costume: 6 Doggone Funny Ideas appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Bluebird of Happiness

I adapted the chicken from Martha Stewart’s “Felted Stuffed Animals” into a blue bird. Instead of using cable-knit material, I used leftover felt, and added some decorative stitching and beading, as well as some fabric paint. I also left out the wattle and comb pieces. [Martha’s template and tutorial]

Project Estimate:

• felt scraps, on hand
• fiberfill or cotton balls, on hand
• needle and thread
• beads and fabric paint (optional)

Total:  free and up

More Cute Pet Softies:
	Love Bird at Molly Chicken I made one out of different colors of pink felt. [See mine]
	Hedgehog Softie with a Pocket at Molly Chicken Even my husband thought this was cute! [See mine]
	Softie Scottie at All Sorts You can alter the pattern and fabric to make different kinds of doggies.
	Chibi Rabbit (and Kitties!) at My Little Mochi Very cute rabbit and kitten patterns.
	Stuffed Menswear Bunny by Martha Stewart Use scrap suiting material, or cut apart old, worn out suits!

Also see our post on how to make a pillow pet. Do you know of any other great pet softies or crafts?

The post Make Cute Pet Softies appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Make a Pyramid Box Tree by Sheri Stevenson, ChildMadeTutorials.com

For many years now, (I think 13?) I’ve been working with my church to put together our annual Family Christmas Workshop. This is a make-n-take outreach event in which we provide the prepared materials for 300-500 each of 28-30 different crafts. Kids of all ages come and spend 3 hours making crafts of their choice and working at their own pace (though that’s usually warp speed because they want to do as many as possible.) It’s a blast! And they leave with a boxful of treasures! The dollar stores have been an invaluable asset for this event, my favorite store being Dollar Tree. As long as you can think outside the box, there are treasures galore! And for us, with a budget of less than 75 cents per craft, it’s essential!

Dollar Tree carries packages of pyramid favor boxes, though they’re easier to find in the spring. It comes in a package of 5 for $1, mixed gold and silver. We were going to make a Christmas snack, but decided the box was too pretty to use for food packaging that would be thrown away afterwards. So we made it into a Christmas tree instead…

Project Materials:

• 1 pyramid favor box (package of 5 for $1)
• 18″ narrow ribbon ($1 for a roll of 3 yards)
• 1 gold star for the top of the tree (or tie a bow with the extra ribbon) on hand
• 18″ string bead garland or light garland ($1)
• 18″ fancy yarn ($1 per skein)
• 1 clothespin (on hand)
• gold paint (optional)
• glue

Total: $4 for 5, and the price gets cheaper the more you make.

Prepare your supplies. If you’d like, use the gold paint for the star and the clothespin.

Begin by sealing the top (bottom) of the favor box.

Glue the bead garland to the bottom corner of the box. Begin winding the garland around the box.

Wrap the garland around the tree to the top, spot gluing as needed.

Repeat the process with the ribbon, going in the alternate direction.

Repeat again with the piece of yarn.

Add the star to the top of the tree, at an angle to the box.

Glue the clothespin to the bottom. That’s it! Now it’s ready to clip onto the tree.

I think one of my favorite areas in the store is the wedding section. Ironically, I’ve never purchased anything from there for an actual wedding. I thought I’d share a few examples of things we’ve done the past couple of years using items you can find amongst the wedding supplies.

Next year, we have plans to do an angel with the same favor box ….

Another favorite for the last several years is the little white pails. They come in a package of 3 for $1. This year we did a snowman hot tub, with snowmen made from glove fingers…

In previous years, we’ve also done a snowman treat pail…

… and a doggie treat pail, complete with dog biscuits (or you could use Scooby snack graham cookies too)…

They also carried some fabric favor bags that were very lovely with jewel trim on the bottom, in a package of 4 for $1. Stuffed with a little gift packaging shreds, these ultimately became a sachet angel ornament…

The little folded gift bags seem to have endless uses for us, especially at a package of 12 for $1! We’ve made them into little gift bags to hold the earring craft they made…

This year, we decorated them up and made a “real” doggie bag, complete with yummy dog treats…

But really, the seem to be an endless blank canvas…

These ideas listed come from just one small area of the store. But when we’re preparing for our event, there isn’t an area of the store that we don’t check for possibilities. The chip clips are another of my favorite at 3 for $1. But there’s also socks and gloves and doilies and clothes pins and … well, a whole store of potential.

I hope you try a few of these yourself. You can find the material lists and instructions at childmade.com or at my blog.

The post Make a Pyramid Box Tree + 8 Quick Ideas appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

$1 Frame Dress Up by Kawaii~Saru

Project Estimate:

• Frame, $1
• Scrapbook paper, on hand or $.50

Total cost: $1 and up

Edible Birdhouse by Sewing in the Wendy City

Project Estimate:

• A wooden birdhouse, $1
• Peanut butter, on hand
• Cornstarch, on hand
• Birdseed, on hand
• Nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, millet, or anything else birds will enjoy, on hand
• String or twine to hang your birdhouse, on hand

Total: $1

Makeover a Makeup Tray by Songbirdtiff

Project Estimate:

The post Reader Project Roundup: Make 3 Projects for $1 or Less appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.