I love to make jewelry, do you love it too? These Swarovski crystal heart and chain drop earrings are a simple project to make, and you can find all the supplies at my favorite jewelry supply site, Fire Mountain Gems. They’ve provided the free tutorial for how to make them (as well as a handy shopping list), so go check them out!

How to make: Earrings with Swarovski Crystal Beads and Drops

And here are some more cool products available at Fire Mountain Gems in time for your Valentine’s Day jewelry making:

Pendants, Drops and Focals	Charms	Beads
Findings	Faceted Gems	Cabochons and Cameos
Clasps	Chain	Cord and Ribbon

disclosure: affiliate links

The post Make Crystal Heart Earrings for Valentine’s Day appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

To make beautiful geodes in your own kitchen you need more patience and time than anything else! Here is the basic recipe to start you off in the world of beautiful geodes.

Project estimate & recipe:

• 3 Tablespoons Borax, about $4.00/box
• 1 Cup boiling water, on hand
• Food colouring, on hand or $1
• Pipe cleaners, on hand or $1
• Large jar, glass or pitcher, on hand
• Dish cloth, on hand
• Skewer, butter knife, chop stick, on hand
• Fishing line or curling ribbon, on hand or $1

Total:  about $4 and up

The colour of the pipe cleaner is what decides the colour of your crystals. For example, I used dark blue to get the sapphire colour. If you only have white pipe cleaners, you can use food colouring in the water to dye them.  Metallic pipe cleaners work best.

Shape the pipe cleaner(s) and thread fishing line or curling ribbon through the edge.

Put it in your empty container and using a skewer, butter knife or chop stick, tie the ends around it so that your pipe cleaner shape doesn’t touch the sides or bottom of your container.  Once you’ve got it tied off at the right height, remove it from the container before you add your water.

Bring water to a boil and carefully pour into your container. Add the Borax and food colouring (if needed), stirring until the Borax is completely dissolved.

Add your pipe cleaner shape tied to the skewer, butter knife or chop stick and cover with a dish cloth.

Let sit overnight or about 5 hours. Uncover and be amazed!

Carefully pull out the fishing line or curling ribbon from your finished geode.

Notes:

• Don’t throw your water away! To reuse it, heat the water to boiling again and add 1 & 1/2 tablespoons of Borax.
•  I believe that what little affect the food colouring has will fade pretty quickly. Cover your geodes with a coat of clear nail polish if you use food colouring.
•  The longer your geode is immersed in the water, the bigger the crystals will be.
• I strongly suggest curling ribbon or fishing line to suspend your pipe cleaners. I originally used string and couldn’t pull it out of my finished geode.
• For larger geodes, make a cage out of chicken wire and wrap it with pipe cleaners.

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

I’m totally a sucker for chandeliers of all kinds.  In my dream house, there would be chandeliers in every room! Unfortunately my reality is low ceilings and ceiling fans, alas.  However this design, like my plastic stemware chandelier from a couple of weeks ago, can also hang out on the front porch!  Sibylle from fun.kyti.me found a roll of chicken wire at the dollar store and was inspired to create a rustic-chic chandy featuring tea light candles and nature-inspired details.  It’s so creative I can hardly stand it!  [how to make a chicken wire chandelier]

Project estimate:

• Chicken wire, $1 and up
• Wire clothes hanger, on  hand or $1
• Hanging tomato planter,  about $5
• Tea lights, on hand or $1
• Twig, free
• Moss, on hand or $1
• Bird, $1
• Chandelier crystals, about $5
• Pliers, on hand
• Glue gun, on hand

Total: about $11 and up

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I love the look of this bejeweled candle holder made by Lisa from East Coast Bungalow. She covered an old highball glass with some plastic gems she found at the dollar store. I love the color of the gems! I think the effect is pretty striking. This would be a great technique to use on a vase (you could use a narrow water glass), or what if you did something like this on a chandelier?

Project Estimate:

• Highball glass, $1
• Plastic gems, $1
• Hot glue, on hand

Total cost: $2

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