I’ve had this tutorial in my “to post” pile for far too long! My blogland pal Jessica at Zakka Life came up with this twist on the recycled plastic bottle bead: she inserted washi paper
and made the beads into unique and pretty works of art. You could do the same with pretty scrapbooking paper, or scan some fabric and print it out on your printer. …

Make a ton of custom stationery with a roll of pretty gift wrap from the dollar store. Right now, my local dollar store has several nice prints on brown kraft paper that make great stationery or printer paper. You’ll get many sheets of paper for only a dollar and a little bit of work preparing the paper. You can use the paper for all kinds …

This isn’t strictly a dollar store craft in that you’ll have to find the ingredients elsewhere, but it is easy and fun (and each bon-bon costs way less than a buck to make!). I made some quick and easy and “low cal” Twinkie bon-bons for Ohdeedoh. These are really entertaining to make, and you can personalize them in so many ways. They look like cute …

Morning, everyone!  Your very own crazy crafter, Jess from Mad in Crafts, here.
Are you cheap?  I am.  I have a little panic attack anytime I see a price tag in the triple digits.   Do you like pretty things?  I do.  When my house is clean and decorated, sometime I just sit and look around at it all.  Partly because I know it will be many …

Kids love to play with things that are their own size, and they love to have little spaces all their own.  What child wouldn’t love a cute little dome tent just their size to play in?
My sister Elizabeth came up with this idea a few months back.  Can you believe the poles for her dome tent are made from hula hoops?? GENIUS, I tell ya!
Ever …

I invited one of my favorite crafty artists, Christine from Jane Avion (remember her fabulous feather tree?), to create a tutorial for you, and she came up with this adorable oven mitt owl. Whooo doesn’t love owls? (ba-dum-dum!) Go visit Jane Avion for more great projects like these pretty moth closet sachets, dollar store bling necklaces, and luggage tags.
Oven Owl Mitt by Xine, Jane Avion
Project …

Check out this fun Ballard Designs-inspired project from reader Nikki’s Nifty Knacks: silhouette boxes. Don’t you just love this kind of ingenuity? Instead of spending $30 for the Ballard boxes, Nikki created her own. She used papier-mache boxes she had on hand and covered them with sheet music paper and silhouettes. You can usually find paper boxes at craft stores, or you can find a …

I have never seen this before, but it’s so cool: make frost paint with epsom salts! The crafty mamas over at Homemade Mamas, readers Rebecca and Maggie cooked up this fun activities for their littles — frosty-looking crystals actually form on the paper! This is especially great for those of us who live in warmer places where frost doesn’t ever form on the windows (I …

Here’s a quick and easy way to make pretty little roses out of crepe paper, courtesy of our friend Kitten Muffin at Filth Wizardry (one of my top five blogs, definitely). She was kind enough to make a little video to show us exactly how easy it really is to make these. Oh, and you don’t need glue or tape or anything else – just …

Perk up your winter doldrums with this sunny headband adorned with a cheeky embroidered buckle, inspired by a design by Eugenia Kim, author of Saturday Night Hat: Quick, Easy Hatmaking for the Downtown Girl. This DIY version is by Cara at Carbon Couture; she’s never short of crafty fashion inspiration. Crafting this up should be the perfect antidote for your seasonal craftfective disorder! And, it …