Handmade Parade posted this nifty tutorial on turning cute notecards into mini notebooks. This would make a great party favor, thank you gift, teacher gift, or stocking stuffer!
Project Estimate:

notecards (box of 6 = $1 and Target has cute ones ALL the time)
crayons (package of 4 for $1 or so)
ribbon $1
two sheets of paper (on hand)
paper cutter (on hand)
corner rounder (on hand, or use scissors to cut by hand to stay …

I saw these glass squiggles at the dollar store and thought “hm, those are weird!” Craftster member HSG and author of the Mosaic Manifesto blog made this stunning mosaic plate using the squiggles, mirrors, and flat glass marbles. Definitely the best use of those dollar store staples I’ve seen.
Seems like this application would make a really awesome Tiffany-style lampshade if you could get the right kind of lampshade rig for …

Here’s a photo of my sister and I circa 1984 in tutus our mom made for us. This is a pretty simple and inexpensive project to make the little ballerinas in your life jump for joy. Make them for halloween, or just for the dress up box.
Project Materials:

Netting or Tulle (Netting is less than $1 a yard at the craft store), 1-2 yards: $1
Bias tape or wide ribbon (Measure 2x …

I saw tattooed soaps at Soap Queen (as designed by Johanna) and thought it would be the perfect Dollar Store Decor project to bring to you this week!
If you have temporary tattooed yourself or someone you love, you are fully capable of doing this, and it takes less than five minutes, from gathering the supplies up to completing the soap! Easy!

What you need:

A bar of soap (3 for $1 at …

The 144 assorted size googly eye pack was one of the first awesome things I picked up at the dollar store when I started this blog!
Alexa, aka The Swell Designer posted some amazing googly eye-centric crafts at her blog. She said she wanted to bring us some “fun and easy crafts that anyone can do.” She has blogged six googtastic projects, all with accompanying tasty photos.
Project Estimate for Frame (shown):

1 …

Amy at Craft Chi constructed a laptop case made from a $2 clearance pillow sham and posted a great tutorial for making your own laptop case from low-budget materials.

Hannah at knick knacks & ric rac created this stained glass slash mosaic effect with colored glass bubbles from the 99 cent store. Check her blog for more info.
Job Estimate:

5 colors of glass at $.99 per color
E-6000 Glue, about $5
Grout, starting at $5

Total Cost: $14.95

I’m just gratuitously posting a pic of my son because I think he’s cute.
Dollar Store Element: the Hat
My mom and I made some cowboy outfits for the boys to dress up in. Here’s Evander’s vest. It has real leather fringe (I cut the fringe myself!) and the concho on the pocket is shaped like a boot. So cute! Oh, and if you look closely, you can see the little cow …

There are some great ideas over at Dollar Store Hack, which is the blog for a design course held in Summer 2008 by University of Oregon.
This chandelier (Designer: Thyra Bessette) used plastic service ware, and looks like it used about $6 worth of stuff from the dollar store plus a lamp kit (About $4 at Ikea?) so, total cost around $10.
This concept definitely has some potential for low-budget high-style decorating!

I …

Jen from Lipstick & Laundry had these two ideas made from dollar store items:

She bought a bag of bones at the dollar store and put them in this punchbowl for some spooky atmosphere.

And she took a dollar store candlestick and sprayed it white and did a couple other embellishments to make it halloween-ready.
Check Jen’s blog for a lot of other crafty ideas. I LOVE her Acorn Snacks… check them out!