Heather’s favorite eye shadow isn’t a standard powder; instead, it comes in the form of a balm-like stick. Curious if she could recreate this type of product herself, she tried this fun experiment with dollar store lip balm and eye shadow!

The results came out colorful but a tiny bit sticky, an issue that could easily be resolved with a dusting of translucent powder. You could also do the same thing with blush!

Project estimate:

• Lip balm, $1
• Eye shadow, $1
• Glass measuring cup, on hand

Total: $2

Roll the lip balms all the way up and put the contents in a glass measuring cup.

Roll the empty tubes all the way back down.

Scrape the eye shadow out of the tray it comes in and add it to the lip balm.  The more eye shadow you add, the more intense the color of your finished balm will be.

Pop the measuring cup in a microwave to melt the lip balm.  Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the lip balm is completely melted.  It should take about 2 to 3 minutes.

Stir well, then pour the melted balm back into the empty containers.

Let it sit about 10 minutes to cool and it’s ready to use!

The post Tutorial: DIY Eye Shadow Balm appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Need to moisturize your lips but also want a touch of color? Turn regular lip balm into tinted lip balm! Check out how easy it is to DIY it in any shade you want using stuff from the dollar store. Your lips will feel great and look great, all for just a couple bucks. Watch the how-to video below, or keep scrolling for written directions.

Project estimate:

• Lip balm, $1
• Lipstick, $1

Total: $2

Roll the lip balm all the way out of the tube and use a knife to cut it off into a microwavable container. Roll out a little bit of lipstick and cut off a chunk to add to the lip balm. The more lipstick you use, the more opaque the color of your finished lip balm will be.

Microwave the lip balm and lipstick mixture for 30 seconds; stir and repeat until they are completely melted together. Roll the empty lip balm containers back down and pour the mixture into them. Let stand until the lip balm comes back to room temperature and hardens.

The post Tutorial: DIY Tinted Lip Balm appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner- and if you’re anything like me, that means lots of cute themed nail designs to celebrate the season. These adorable minion themed nails are not only incredibly easy, but quite the conversation starter as well. If you’re looking for a simple Valentine’s Day design, check out these heart nails from last year. With a bit of creativity and patience, you too can achieve these cute nails!

Project estimate:

• Light pink polish, on hand or $1 and up
• Dark pink polish, on hand or $1 and up
• Silver polish, on hand or $1 and up
• White polish, on hand or $1 and up
• Black polish, on hand or $1 and up
• Topcoat, on hand or $1 and up
• Toothpick/brush for detail work, on hand
• Dotting tool (bobby pins work), on hand

Total:  Free and up!

1. Apply two coats of light pink polish. Let dry for 3-5 minutes.

2. Using a detail brush (or toothpick) and the dark pink polish, create rectangular shapes at the tip of the nail.

3. With the same dark pink, add diagonal lines extending from the corners to the edge of the nail.

4. Create a thin, black line near the base of your nail- try to make it as straight as possible, a brush works best.

5. To form the minion’s eyes, dip your dotting tool into a silver polish and create two even circles on the black line.

6. With white polish, form smaller circles within the silver circles- a bobby pin works well for this step.

7. To complete the eyes, add small black dots inside the white circles. For added character & personality, try to place the dots in different directions & different angles.

8. With a small brush or toothpick and the black polish, form a slightly curved line underneath the eyes to create the smile.

9. For a little extra fun- decorate the minion’s pants! I added polka dots, hearts, buttons, etc. to give it a little sass and it turned out super cute. Get creative with it and give your minions some personality.

10. Once you allow the design to dry for 5-10 minutes, finish it off with a topcoat to seal in your awesome work.

Megan blogs about makeup, nails, learning how to look great on a budget and keeping up with the latest styles at her site razberriez.com. She is the fingernail fashion contributor for Dollar Store Crafts.

The post Tutorial: Despicable Me Inspired Valentine Nails appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

The holiday season is here and you know what that means- fluffy white snow, glittery tinsel, and lots of hot cocoa! These adorable (& super easy) reindeer nails are the perfect way to get in the holiday spirit for for sure- not to mention how incredibly easy they are. With a few simple steps, some patience, and a bit of practice- you too can rock some fabulous reindeer nail art!

For more great nail art tutorials, visit me at Razberriez.com!

Project estimate:

• Red polish, on hand or $1 and up
• White polish, on hand or $1 and up
• Light brown polish, on hand or $1 and up
• Dark brown polish, on hand or $1 and up
• Black polish, on hand or $1 and up
• Red glitter (optional), on hand or $1
• Topcoat, on hand or $1 and up
• Toothpick and or striping brush for designs, on hand

Free and up!

Let’s get started!

Step 1: Apply two coats of your favorite white polish. Let dry for 5 minutes.

Step 2: Using a light brown polish, create half-circles on the tip of the nail. This will act as the reindeer’s head.

Step 3: Drop a small amount of the same light brown onto a piece of paper and place small “ears” on the sides of the head using a toothpick. Make sure they are evenly spaced.

Step 4: Using the same method, drop your dark brown polish onto a small piece of paper. Starting at the top of the head, draw one brown line straight up and one line angled. These are the beginnings of the “antlers“.

Step 5: Dip your toothpick into the brown polish again and this time add small dashes jutting out from the antlers.

Step 6: Time to give this reindeer some eyes! Using the white nail polish and add two even dots in the upper part of the head. *tip: bobby pins work great for creating dots/eyes!*

Step 7: Add smaller black dots inside of the white dots, to create pupils (this also adds character, depending on placement).

Step 8: Create a smaller half circle with red polish and top it off with glittery red! You now have Rudolph’s red-nose. Let this dry for 5-10 minutes to prevent smearing.

Step 9: Apply a coat of your favorite topcoat & your design is complete!

Megan blogs about makeup, nails, learning how to look great on a budget and keeping up with the latest styles at her site razberriez.com. She is the fingernail fashion contributor for Dollar Store Crafts.

The post Tutorial: Reindeer Nail Art appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

When I wander the aisles of Dollar Tree, I usually look through every department, even the ones that don’t seem very crafty.  One of my favorite unexpected places in the store to find crafty tidbits is the beauty supplies – it’s pretty amazing what you can do with some nail polish or a little eye shadow.  That’s also where I found some little manicure sets that I thought would make cute gifts.  Here is how to make your own pretty manicure set!

Project estimate:

• Manicure set, $1
• Small tin, on hand or $1
• Paper, on hand
• Embellishments (optional), on hand or $1
• Mod Podge, on hand
• Magnets, on hand or $1 and up
• Glue, on hand

Total:  $1 and up

Make sure your tin is big enough to hold all of the parts of the manicure set.  An empty candy tin (like an Altoids tin) will work well; I also found a gift card holder tin in the gift wrapping section of Dollar Tree that was a nice size for this project.

Carefully glue a small magnet onto each piece of the manicure set.  I used Amazing Goop to glue my magnets in place.  Be careful when you are gluing to make sure your magnet placement doesn’t interfere with any moving parts on the manicure set pieces.  The magnets will hold all of the items in place inside the tin to keep them from rattling around.

Decorate the outside of the tin however you want.  I used paper, stickers, ribbon, and lace to embellish the top of my tin, sealing it all in place with a couple of coats of Mod Podge.  Let the Mod Podge dry and the set is ready to go!

The post Tutorial: Manicure Gift Set appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, our resident nail polish guru, Megan from Razberriez, checks in with a lucky four leaf clover nail design.  No matter what you wear, you will be totally unpinchable when you’re rocking these festive fingernails!   – Rhonda

Project estimate:

• Green nail polish, on hand or $1
• White nail polish, on hand or $1
• Base coat and top coat, on hand or $1 each
• Toothpick, on hand

Total:  Free and up

How to Paint Lucky Four Leaf Clover Nails

Before you begin: *Apply your base coat. This will give the nail polish something to stick to, allowing the design to last longer and preventing chipping.*

1. Apply 2 coats of your base color- I chose a kelly green color, it really helps the white clover pop. You could use anything from white, to gold, to green, to black, as long as you choose a coordinating color for the clover. Make sure to let it dry for 5-10 minutes before moving on to the next steps.
2. Begin creating the clover. Decide where you want your clover to be on your nail and how big you want it. Once you have decided, place a small dot on your nail where the center of your clover will be. This will act as a reference point.
3. Add the leaves! For this, you can use the tip of a pen, the actual polish brush, the end of a paint brush, a bobby pin, whatever you prefer. Start by making one leaf at the bottom of the dot. Next, create the other leaves on the right, left, and top of the reference point. Just remember, the leaves don’t have to be perfectly round, they look better with a little shape to them.
4. Create the stem. You can use a toothpick for this step, take the same color you used for the clover and starting from the center point, drag the toothpick out past one of the dots and curl the end up a little.
5. Let it dry. You really want to wait a good 10 minutes before applying your top coat to prevent smudging.
6. Apply your favorite top coat. Seal in your nail design with a fast dry top coat to add shine, prevent chipping, and smooth out any uneven areas.

Megan blogs about makeup, nails, learning how to look great on a budget and keeping up with the latest styles at her site razberriez.com. She is the fingernail fashion contributor for Dollar Store Crafts.

The post Tutorial: Lucky Four Leaf Clover Nail Polish appeared first on Dollar Store Crafts.