There are so many things to love about these bright and funky bracelets by Michelle at MollyMoo – they’re made from recycled materials and scraps, they look really fabulous, and they offer a great opportunity for motor skills and pattern making lessons with the kiddos!  This would be a great project for a scout group, a sleepover, or other such occasions.  And they turn out so cute – we bet nobody will guess what you used to make them!  [how to make yarn and cardboard tube bracelets]

Project estimate:

• Cardboard tube, on hand
• Yarn, on hand
• Glue, on hand

Total:  FREE!

The post Make Yarn and Cardboard Tube Bracelets appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Crafty Shark Week to you! Yesterday I sat down and got dollar store crafty with just a few bucks worth of supplies. This Shark Bite Picture Frame will set you back about ten cents! Maybe less, depending on your stash. It’s easy, quick, and cute. Ready to find out how to make it?

Materials Needed:

• A piece of blue craft foam or card stock, on hand or $.10 (10 sheets per pack at the dollar store)
• A piece of recycled white cardboard or card stock, on hand
• A piece of twine or ribbon, on hand
• Scissors, marker, and hot glue, on hand

Total: FREE and up

I already had all this stuff on hand, so it was a freebie for me. If you don’t have some of these supplies, just get creative and substitute. You can paint a piece of cardboard blue or white if needed!

1. Trace a rounded triangle shape on the blue craft foam sheet. I freehanded it. Draw a smaller rounded triangle inside the larger one.

2. Cut out inside triangle.

3. Trace shape onto white cardboard or card stock. I traced mine onto the printed side of the white cardboard so when I turned it over, the plain white side would be the side that showed on the frame. Add jagged teeth inside the small circle.

4. Cut out the traced shape on the white cardboard. Cut the outside first, then cut inside the small triangle, leaving the teeth for last. It’s easier to cut the teeth out when there’s a bigger hole already and you can just cut each tooth out one by one (instead of trying to zig-zag cut continuously).

5. Glue blue foam to white cardboard background. Draw nostril holes on the shark!

6. Turn the whole thing over and glue a loop onto the back of the frame for hanging. I glued an extra piece of ribbon over the loop just to secure it.

7. Put a photo in the hole (I taped mine with masking tape so I could remove it later if needed).

Are you on Vine? Here’s my 6 second tutorial for the Shark Bite Picture Frame. Follow me on Vine!

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1. Dad Rocks Paperweight – This is such a simple idea, and it’s something dad can keep on his desk to remind him that he’s awesome.

2. Tie Bunting – Maybe you can hang this cute necktie bunting and make him a special Father’s Day breakfast, too!

3. Framed Print – Make a word cloud using words and phrases that remind you of your dad, and frame it up with some pretty paper.

4. Portable Gourmet Salt Kit – If your dad’s into cooking, this is a great gift that he can enjoy for a long time. A little fancy salt goes a long way!

5. Cellphone Selfie Card – Give dad a cute Father’s Day card made with your favorite selfie!

6. Banner Card – Make a card for dad that doubles as a banner using paint chips in a rainbow of colors.

7. Handprint Printable – What is it about kid handprints that are so sweet? Help your kids make one of these for dad – he will love it!

8. Personalized Shirt – Use this free printable template to make a Daddy shirt just for your dad.

9. Punny Spatula – Does your dad love to grill? Give him this puntastic gift!

10. Printable Props – Print out these cute props and have a photo shoot with your kids. What a sweet gift that any dad would treasure.

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What is it about making Valentine’s gifts for guys that’s so darn difficult? Really, I have a hard time coming up with gift ideas for my husband at any holiday. Do you struggle with finding DIY Valentine’s Day gifts for the guys in your life, too? Check out these manly solutions!

1. 14 Days of Love Tradition – A sweet handmade pocket pillow becomes the home for a daily reminder for your partner of how much you love him.
2. DIY Sharpie Mug – What a perfect gift for the coffee- or tea-drinking dude! Customize a plain thrift store mug with permanent markers, and include some of his favorite coffee or tea along with.
3. Valentine’s Day Gumball Machine – Candy is the great equalizer, isn’t it? Stock a handmade “gumball” machine with your fella’s favorite sweet treats!
4. Mustache Canister –  Use a glass jar or container fro the thrift store to make this a repurposed project and reduce the cost.
5. Stenciled Necktie – Grab a necktie from the thrift store and customize it with a homemade freezer paper stencil.
6. Homemade Bitters – These take a few weeks to steep, but if the guy in your life loves a good cocktail, they’re worth the wait!
7. Wooden Bottle Opener – This would make a great gift paired with a six pack of fancy beer.
8. Dad Rocks Jar – What dad wouldn’t love a reminder that you think he’s doing an awesome job?
9. Homemade Skeeball Machine – OK, I admit it: this is like getting my guy a bowling ball with my name engraved on it. How much fun would you guys have playing skeeball together EVERY DAY FOREVER?
10. DIY iPad Cover – A used or thrifted notepad is perfect for making a sturdy cover for your guy’s gadgetry.

Have you created any good DIY Valentine’s Day gifts for guys? Tell us about them in the comments!

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Cowabunga dude!

Toss the tinsel and trim your tree with turtles. These four ninjas are ready to protect your tree, and only take a few minutes to make. This is an easy project to make and the results are super fun.
Here’s what you’ll need. 

Project estimate:

• Ribbon [red, orange, purple, and blue], on hand or $1 and up
• Green ball ornaments (or paint existing ornaments green), on hand or $1 and up
• Googly eyes, on hand or $1

Total: Free and up

If you don’t have green ball ornaments (or the right shade of green) then coat your ball ornaments with a coat of primer and a few coats of green spray paint, waiting between applications for the paint to dry.

Cut a length of ribbon longer than the diameter of your ornaments. Then, wrap the ornaments with the ribbon around the centre to make the Ninja Turtle mask. If your ribbon is thin you can wrap around the ornament twice to give the mask the right thickness. I used a dab of hot glue to secure the middle of the ribbon to the ornament, then wrapped the ribbon around the ornament twice, gluing to secure in place. The ribbon ends were then tied in a knot.

Repeat the process until all Turtle ornaments have masks.

Next, apply a small dab of hot glue to the back of googly-eyes and apply two to each turtle ornament directly on top of the mask. Repeat for each turtle.

That’s it, you’re all done! Time to hand these crime fighting friends on your tree and give your tree power; TURTLE POWER!

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There isn’t anything in life that can’t benefit from a little washi tape makeover and these locker accessories are no exception. Upgrade these dollar store basics into a cute locker kit. Not going back to school? They make great fridge accessories, too!

Project estimate:

• Magnetic picture frame, $1
• Dry Erase polaroid frames and pen, $1
• Magnetic pocket, $1
• Mini tissue box, 2 for $1
• Button magnets, $1
• Hot glue, on hand
• White craft paint, on hand
• Paintbrush, on hand
• Permanent marker, on hand
• Washi tape, on hand or $1 and up

Total: $5 and up

Step 1: Make the Dry Erase Board

Remove the stock photo from the magnetic picture frame and flip it over to the white side. Cover the paper with washi tape in a pattern. Fold the excess tape over to the back.

Re-insert washi covered stock photo back into the picture frame.

Cover the dry erase marker from the picture frame set in coordinating washi tape as well.

Step 2: Make Picture Frames

Cover the Polaroid-style frames with two different patterns of washi tape, being careful to match patterns and seams. Label them with a Sharpie if desired.

Step 3: Make Pen Holder

Give the magnetic pocket a light coat of white craft paint on the outside as well as inside. Allow to dry before covering the sides in coordinating washi tape patterns (don’t forget to cover the visible insides as well!)

Fill with cute pens.

Step 4: Make magnetic tissue box.

Cover the sides of the tissue box in coordinating patterns of tape. To make the monogram emblem, punch out the oval on the top of the box and cover in solid colored washi tape.

Fold the excess around to the back and use the permanent marker to write a fancy monogram on the front. Adhere to the tissue box with hot glue. Use hot glue to adhere two button magnets to the back of the tissue box to make it magnetic if desired.

Enjoy your cute coordinating accessories on a budget!

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Football is back in season! Are you ready for some tailgating? Then you might want to make one of these super-easy football shirts by Shirley at The Ribbon Retreat Blog. It’s especially adorable as a onesie – and you could also use this as a Halloween costume for a baby! (Insert “awwwww” here.) [how to make a football shirt]

Project estimate:

• Shirt or onesie, on hand or $1 and up
• Ribbon, on hand or $1 and up
• Sewing machine or needle an thread, on hand

Total: Free and up

The post Make a Football Shirt appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Here’s a fun art activity using standard office supplies. I used to make these when I was in school, and now make them when I’m on boring conference calls.

This project is easy and only takes about 30 minutes to produce some fun results. For those that want more of a challenge you can increase the frequency of horizontal bars and make a more detailed and colourful version.

Project estimate: Paper, on hand Pencil & eraser, on hand Straight edge, on hand Black permanent marker, on hand Coloured markers, on hand Total:  FREE! Time ~30 minutes I used old printer paper, the kind that has the perforated edges used to feed the sheet into the printer. These worked great as I didn’t have to measure the horizontal bars, just line up the holes.

Start by tracing your hand onto a sheet of paper using a pencil. With a straight edge, draw horizontal lines up the length of the page in with a black permanent marker making sure to omit lines where your hand was placed.

Next, use a pencil to trace arcing lines where your hand trace is, linking the horizontal line segments together. Where it gets tricky is where arcs overlap with horizontal line segments above the segment the arc originated from, like where the thumb or fingers meet the palm of the hand. Spending the time to trace out the arcs in pencil before committing to marker pays off.
When you’re ready, trace over the pencil arcs with black permanent marker.

After all arcs are completed it’s time to colour. The markers I used were chisel tipped, which made filling in large areas much easier, but any fat tipped marker will work. I used loads of colours, roughly grouping similar shades together. The colour combination is up to you, and will look great with 3 colours as it does with 10.

There’s no limit to the combinations of colour and detail you can add to make this art project *pop*.

Experiment and have fun!

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Unless you live in Australia, the last thing anyone wants to wear in August is a knit hat. This, of course, shouldn’t stop you from making a quirky hat your shark week knitting project. Designed by Allison, The Knitting Ninja, this shark hat is perfect for men, women and children alike. [how to knit a shark hat]

Project estimate:

• Size 9 DPN knitting needles, on hand
• Size 8 DPN knitting needles, on hand
• 200 yards bulky weight grey yarn, on hand or $3 and up
• 50 yard bulky weight red yard, on hand or $3 and up
• White scrap yarn, on hand
• 2 Black Buttons, on hand or $1 and up
• Needle & thread

Total: Free and up!

More shark crafts:
Follow Mrs. Greene’s board Shark Week! on Pinterest.

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Father’s Day is coming up, but don’t worry if you’re still scrambling for a gift idea.  This fun card and “pop” magnet is easy and quick to make!

As I showed you in this post, I enjoy using resin and dollar ice trays to make pendants.  I found this fun bottle shaped ice cube tray in the dollar spot at Target, and I bought it thinking I would use it with resin.  That is, until I tried Plaid’s new Mod Melts.  I love the quick drying time (it takes less than ten minutes to set!) and that it is paintable.  This is perfect for time crunched crafters like yours truly!  Read on to learn how to make a magnet gift with Mod Melts, along with a fun card idea for presenting your gift.

Project estimate:

• Mod Melts, $3 and up
• Ice tray, $1
• Hot glue gun, on hand
• Paint, on hand
• Cardstock, on hand
• Magnet, on hand
• Washer, on hand

Total: $4 and up

To make your own father’s day card and magnet gift:

Step one:  Put the Mod Melts stick in your glue gun.  Fill the bottle in the ice cube tray about half way full.

Step two:  When it’s set (in less than ten minutes), remove the “bottle” from the tray and paint it brown.

Step three:  Cut a strip of paper to wrap around the bottle.  Attach it with Mod Podge.

Step four:  Glue a magnet to the back of the bottle.

Step five:  Print the card text out.  You can find the bright version here and the vintaged version here.

Step six:  Glue a washer to the back of the card stock where you want the magnet to stick.  Mount the card stock onto the front of a card, and stick the bottle on.

Isn’t that fun?  Now your “pop” can remove the magnet from the card front easily.  Hopefully when he sees it on the fridge he’ll be reminded daily that he’s the world’s best pop!

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