Peeps are a traditional Easter candy in my family — we must have them every year, or it isn’t really Easter. I am always excited to see them at my local dollar store when I start shopping for Easter basket supplies and goodies. This year I picked up a few boxes of Peeps so we could get creative with them — I put the boxes on our table and we started brainstorming what fun things we could make with them! Our top project: a Peeps Terrarium Easter Dessert.

I have seen so many other Peeps crafts, like these Peep Brothers tell us:

I’m excited that they didn’t mention our project in their list — maybe we came up with a new way to use Peeps!

Peeps Terrarium Easter Dessert Recipe

Project Materials:

• Peeps Bunnies, $1
• Clear plastic tumblers, $1
• Pudding cups, $1
• Chocolate sandwich cookies, $1
• Flaked coconut, $1
• Green food coloring, on hand or $1
• Assorted Easter candies (eggs, carrot), $1 each

Total: $7 for 8 terrariums

Save money by using things you already have on hand, like pudding, coconut, food coloring. You can bring the cost down to about 50 cents per serving if you use what you already have on hand.

How to make Peeps Terrariums:

1. Spoon half of a pudding cup (or about 1/4 cup) of chocolate pudding into a clear plastic tumbler.

2. Crumble up chocolate sandwich cookies until they resemble dirt. Spoon on top of chocolate pudding to resemble dirt.

3. Tint flaked coconut with a few drops of green food coloring. Stir until all the coconut is colored. Spread on top of cookie crumb layer.

4. Insert a Peeps bunny, a carrot candy, and a few easter egg candies to embellish your terrarium.

Alternately, create your desserts inside mason jars:

We made mason jar Peeps terrariums too, and they were super cute. If you are transporting these desserts to a party, the jar is a great way to go because you can seal it up and keep it fresh and safe while you travel. Plus, you can reuse the jar after you’re done with dessert! This will add about $1 to each serving.

To find out more about your Peepsonality, visit Peeps online, or become a fan of Peeps on Facebook!

*This post was sponsored by Peeps, but project and opinions are my own!*

The post Tutorial: Peeps Terrarium Easter Dessert appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Make cute-yet-creepy Halloween terrariums using recycled jars and Halloween decorations from the dollar store. This would be cute for your Halloween decor, a Halloween party (you could surround the terrariums with appetizers instead of moss), or as a fun kid activity. Find instructions over at Today’s Creative Blog: [Mason Jar Spooky Terrariums]

Project Estimate:

• Recycled jars, on hand
• Halloween decorations, $1 each
• Spanish moss, $1

Total cost: $2 and up

The post Make Halloween Terrarium Decor appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Has your Dollar Tree gotten faux succulents in stock yet?  We are super excited about them and love all of the ideas we’ve seen using them!  Over at Anything & Everything, Tara used a few dollar store picture frames to create a terrarium-style planter for her plastic succulents.  It looks totally high-end but you can make one for just a few bucks, and since the plants aren’t real, it’s perfect for all of the brown-thumbed folks like me out there!  [how to make a faux succulent planter with frames]

Project estimate:

• Picture frames (3), on hand or $3
• Moss, $1 and up
• Faux succulents, $1 and up
• Twigs, on hand
• Glue, on hand
• Foam core board, on hand or $1
• Paint, on hand or $1 and up

Total: $2 and up

The post Make a Faux Succulent Planter with Frames appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Are you planning a wedding on a budget? It’s been a long time since I planned my own wedding, but I still remember feeling particularly stressed out about choosing just the right favors. We wanted something that folks would really like to have and that reflected our personalities, but we didn’t have a lot of money to spend. Making your own DIY wedding favors saves a buck and gives your guests a more personalized memento to remember your special day.

1. Seed Packets. My husband and I did a version of this idea from English Wedding at our own wedding almost nine (!) years ago. I love the idea that those some of those herb seeds folks took home are still thriving somewhere.

2. Homemade Jam. A good friend made big batches of homemade, seasonal jams and jellies for her wedding favors. We all got together for a crafternoon to put labels on the jars with her. Inspire the Bride has a set of printable labels that you can use to make your homemade jam look totally professional.

3. Donations. This “Doggy Bag” project by Marry This is just one example, but I love the idea of doing a very small favor and making a donation to charity instead.

4. Fortune Cookies – How sweet are these handmade, paper fortune cookies from Once Wed?

5. Match Boxes. These puntastic, colorful match box designs from Bespoke Bride are so, so cute. And you can print them out for free!

6. Succulents. These cute succulents from Wedding Chicks do double duty: they’re place cards AND favors. Knocking out two things at once is the ultimate wedding craft.

7. Homemade Tea. Mix your own tea blend or buy a bag of bulk tea to stuff these sweet homemade fabric tea bag favors from Ruffled. There are both sew and no-sew instructions.

8. Cactus Blooms. This reminds me of the seed packets, but cacti are way harder to kill. Great idea, Divine Caroline!

9. Terrarium Place Holders. Another favor that doubles as a placeholder, this time from Wednesday Lettering and Letterpress.

10. Fancy Chocolate, Fancily Wrapped. Who doesn’t love chocolate? Get your favorite candy bars and personalize them for your guests. Chelsea from Frolic shared this tute at My Wedding. She used fabric yardage, but you could save a buck and wrap your bars with stash fabric.

The post 10 DIY Wedding Favors on a Budget appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Don’t you love the look of a nice set of bookends? Of course, they keep your books from falling over, but they can also turn a boring shelf into a sweet vignette. These are some simple DIY bookends that you can make!

1. Quotation Marks – A Beautiful Mess made these from cardboard, but I bet that you could make a slightly smaller version from old cereal and frozen pizza boxes.

2. Phones – This is another clever bookend idea from A Beautiful Mess. What can I say? These ladies know bookends!

3. Recycled Knick Knack Bookends – I love this idea from Design Sponge, because you can really hit the thrift for any set of quirky items and turn them into cute bookends.

4. Terrariums – Insideways uses a basic terrarium tute and turns them into bookends by…using them as bookends. The genius is in the simplicity.

5. Glam Bookends – Add a little bling to your bookshelf with this tute from Refinery 29.

6. Animal Book Ends – Do you have any cute animal figurines lying around? Love Grows Wild shows you how to turn them into cute bookends.

7. License Plates – Not sure what to do with your old plates? Fun in the Making shows you how to turn them into bookends in one step!

8. Fa-brick – Button Hook proves that a fabric-wrapped brick makes a surprisingly sweet bookend.

9. Picture Frames – Grab a pair of old picture frames and use Landeelu’s instructions for making them into bookends. She uses a matched pair, but I think mis-matched frames painted the same color would look cool, too.

10. Gold Giraffes – This Damask Love tutorial uses die-cut giraffes layered with Mod Podge to make bookends that would look super sweet in a kid’s room.

The post 10 Cute Bookends to Get Your Bookcase in Order appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Holy moly, Halloween is tomorrow! Do you need a few last-minute ideas for decorations, costumes, or healthy-yet-delicious Halloween treats? Don’t worry. We’ve got you.

1. Glowing Ghosts – Turn a couple of solar lights into super simple ghost decorations.

2. Paper Bag Jack-O-Lanterns – Your kids can help you whip out a bunch of these today for your porch.

3. Alice in Wonderland Costume – Blue dress, white apron and tights, black shoes. Bam! Costume. Bonus if you have a stuffed bunny in a top hat to carry with you.

4. Fairy (or insect of your choice) – Turn an old wire hanger and tights into wings that you can use for a whole range of costume ideas. Just mix up the colors accordingly.

5. Book Pumpkin – Turn an old paperback book into a cute pumpkin decoration. Quick and easy!

6. Bat Branches – Black ribbon, white puffy paint, and a few fallen branches are all that you need to make this cute Halloween decoration.

7. Healthy Witch Fingers – Trick your kids into eating some healthy treats. These witch fingers are delicious, spooky, and shockingly healthy.

8. Candy Corn Nails – Sometimes pulling a costume together just isn’t happening, But your nails never need to know that you let them down.

9. Apple Bites – Sneak another healthy treat into your Halloween party spread with these cute no-cook apple chompers.

10. Halloween Terrariums – What a spooky spin on classic terrariums!

The post 10 Last-Minute Halloween Ideas to Make Right Now appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

I thought I was done with my Easter crafting, but on a whim I wandered through the holiday section at Dollar Tree one last time – just in case, ya know?  That’s when I came across a set of interesting plastic eggs, designed to sit upright with transparent, domed tops on them.  I immediately thought of my Easter egg faux terrarium project and decided it would be neat to make something similar to be a companion to that piece.  You could do so many cute things inside the eggs with this idea; I chose to make a set of little bunnies in mine!

Project estimate:

• Dome-style Easter eggs, $1
• Plastic coins, on hand or $1
• Craft foam, on hand or $1
• Wooden spools, on hand or $1
• Miniature picket fence, about $2
• Small flat pins, about $2
• Googly eyes, on hand
• Sharpie, on hand
• Paint, on hand
• Paper flowers, on hand or $1 and up
• Glue, on hand

Total: about $5 and up

These are the eggs that I used for the project.  They came in a set of three.  See how they are just begging to be mounted on pedestals?

The bottom of the egg on the inside was a little bit curved, and I wanted a flat surface to work on.  So I looked for something that would fit nicely into the bottoms of the eggs and discovered that some plastic coins left over from Mardi Gras were the perfect size.  Don’t have plastic coins?  You can also cut small circles out of stiff cardboard for this step.

Cut a piece of green craft foam the same size as each coin and glue the pieces together.  Now it’ll look more like grass at the bottom of the egg!

Glue the foam-covered circles into the bottoms of the eggs.

Here’s where you can go a little crazy!  There are a zillion different little things you can put inside the egg domes.  I decided that a springy scene was in order and dug some appropriate bits out of my stash, including a length of miniature picket fence.  I used scissors to cut small sections of fence that would fit inside my eggs.

Bend the sections of fence into curved shapes and glue them into the eggs as shown, creating a backdrop.  I also added a couple of small paper flowers to each section of fence.

To make the bunnies you will need small flat pins (similar to clothespins) and for the pedestals you will need wooden spools.  To make my set of three eggs, I used three flat pins and a total of six spools.

Paint all of the wood pieces white.  Or whatever color you want, really.

Add a pair of tiny googly eyes to each flat pin and use an ultra fine tip Sharpie to draw a nose and mouth.  Then all that remains is to glue a bunny into each egg and glue the spools to the bottoms of the eggs to elevate them.  Aren’t they fun?

What would you put inside of these domed Easter eggs?

The post Tutorial: Easter Egg Bunny Domes appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Yesterday I showed you the Peeps Terrarium we came up with during our Peeps-inspired crafternoon. Here’s another quick and super simple idea for edible crafting with Peeps: Peeps Pops featuring Peeps Bunnies in Grass on a stick. Say that five times fast!

Project Materials:

• Peeps, $1
• Popsicle sticks or pop sticks, $1 and up
• Shredded coconut, $1 or on hand
• Green food coloring, $1 or on hand
• White chocolate melts or white chocolate chips, about $2 and up

Total: $3 and up

Supplies: You can find Peeps (seasonally) at the dollar store, as well as shredded coconut and food coloring. You can use popsicle sticks or bamboo skewers from the dollar store, or splash out on pop sticks for about $2 a pack (I got mine at Target). The white chocolate chips or melts can be found at a grocery or craft store.

It takes less than five minutes from start to finish to make a bunch of these cute little critters. It’s so quick, in fact, we created a little video to show you just how easy it is to make a Peeps Pop:

How to Make Easter Grass Peeps Pops:

1. Begin by melting white chocolate melts in a bowl in the microwave, according to package directions. Generally, don’t microwave for more than 30 seconds at a time without stirring.

2. Tint coconut green with a few drops of food coloring. Stir until coconut is uniformly tinted.

3. Dip Peep in the melted white chocolate, then dip in the coconut.

4. Insert a stick in the bottom of the Peep and allow the chocolate to harden.

All done!

The post Tutorial: Easter Grass Peeps Pops appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

It’s been a while since last I obsessed over tiny things, but don’t worry, I still madly love them!  Miniatures are for more than just dollhouses.  Take, for instance, this teeny-tiny mushroom created by Nicole at Shabby Beach Nest.  They’re great for all kinds of tiny scenes,  especially woodland or fairy themes.  I think a cluster of them would be the perfect addition to a small terrarium, or as a cute surprise poked into a piece of wood and displayed around the base of a house plant.  [how to make miniature fairy mushrooms]

Project estimate:

• Upholstery tacks, on hand or $1 and up
• Nail polish, on hand
• Paint, on hand

Total:  Free and up

The post Make Miniature Fairy Mushrooms appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

100 Ideas for Summer Fun

1. Make a Pleated Placemat Handbag with me
2. Make a Hydrangea Pin at Just Something I Made
3. Make a Paper Doily Garland at Adventures in Dressmaking
4. Make Terrarium Jewelry at Abigail’s Craft How-Tos
   
5. Make a Summer Fun list at DIY Newlyweds
6. Make an Earring Tree at ABCs of My Life
7. Make Toilet Paper Roll Ninjas at Unschool Me
8. Crochet a Lace Basket at Abigail’s Craft How-Tos
9. Make an Accessory Organizer and Pretty Hook at enjoy every moment
10. Make Crocheted Bangles at Just Make It
11. Make a Balloon Wreath at MeettheNewcombs
    
12. Make an Inspiration Board (by reader Sarah W.)
    I bought this small bulletin board from a dollar store for $1.25. I painted it and decorated it with pictures and words from magazines and my scrapbook supplies to create this inspiration board to hang above my scrapbook desk.
13. Make a DIY Thread Spool Holder at MamaTAVE
14. Make Flower Headbands at AboveRubiesAccessories
15. Dress Up Your Kitchen Condiments at Harbor Cottage
16. Make Balloon-Embellished Flip-Flops at Making Memories With Your Kids
17. Printable Play Money, Purse, and Wallet at Printables4Kids
18. Easy Summer Fun Food at CraftJr
19. Memo Board Remake with 12 year-old Maddy at Buttons & Bangles
20. Make a Posh Doll Apartment with 12 year-old Karlista at EZ Crafts with Karlista
21. Make an Oceanic Fairy World with Twig and Toadstool
22. Use Shelf-Liner to make shock-resistant camera case
23. Make beautiful Gathered-Top Curtains with Make It and Love It
24. See You Soon Countdown Chain by Somewhat Simple
25. Make Your Own Memory Game at CROQzine
26. Make an Alphabet Box with Projects for Preschoolers
27. Make Fabric Scrap Dolls at Skip to My Lou
28. Make a Crocheted Doily Tank Top at This Mama Makes Stuff
29. Sew a Camera Strap Cover at Skip to My Lou
30. Make Summertime Subway Art at Tatertots and Jello
31. Make a Baby Clothes Quilt at Craftastical (oh no, I just dropped a huge box of baby clothes off at Goodwill!)
32. Make a Play Mail Carrier Kit at Twelve Crafts Till Christmas
33. Make a Dollar Store Butterfly Carrier at Gingerbread Snowflakes
34. Make a Life-Sized Board Game at Craft
35. Printable Ninja Cupcake Toppers at Zakka Life
36. Make Dreamy Watermelon Dessert at Make and Takes
37. Papier Mache Pens at Paper Crafts

    

38. Make a DIY Photo Booth at Offbeat Bride
39. Make a Ribbon Bunting with May Arts
40. Jumbo Dry-Erase Alphabet Book with The Daley News
41. Sew a Notebook Cover with Craft Passion

The post 41 Projects To Make appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.