One of the best ways to get the look for less from the dollar store is to combine small components into a larger piece that makes a single statement. You usually can’t find large pieces at the dollar store, but you can find small things and put them together! This designer-inspired mirror is a prime example of taking a few small items and making them …

Looking for some frugal tips for celebrating Independence Day (aka, the 4th of July)? There are so many great ideas out there right now, and I’m happy to be the host for this week’s All Things Family blog carnival, where our theme is 4th of July fun. Some of you have submitted your great ideas, and I have also included some of my …

Lauren Venell posted this silly project on her blog the other day, and it made me laugh out loud. I thought you might enjoy it, too: adding googly eyes to photos, ads, or whatever. Her conclusion is that googly eyes “are somewhat amusing/disturbing in any size.” I would agree, but I think they’re more funny than disturbing (okay, the baby photo I chose is a …

There were so many great projects in the CSI Project dollar store challenge. Here’s one of the projects I chose as a top 10 winner: a tiled mirror made by Kelsey at Tattered and Inked. She used printed tiles from the dollar store and framed them around a mirror. I love this project because she took small dollar store components and combined them to …

Tiered trays are a top 10 dollar store craft. What does that mean? That you love to make tiered trays, and I’ve seen a LOT of tiered tray projects, and have even featured a couple of them. That said, you have to make an awfully special tiered tray to capture my attention, which is precisely what Julie at Joy’s Hope did in her Dollar Store …

So, since we’re right in the middle of wedding season, here’s a unique idea for a handmade corsage: use ruffled crepe paper streamers to create a large flower and then paint it. This would be really pretty for an arty wedding or for a less-formal event like a wedding rehearsal dinner or bachelorette party. These would be pretty wrist corsages, too. You could attach them …

This handmade Indiana Jones satchel, like the Upholstery Sample Backpack, was made for my 3 year-old son. And, like the backpack, it’s a quick project that is elegant in its simplicity. My son really enjoys the Lego Indiana Jones game, and loves to pretend he’s Indy. And what would Indy be without his satchel? I used a panel from a leather skirt to make this …

What do you do when you have spare upholstery samples, a couple of hours to kill, and no sewing machine? You hand-sew a backpack out of upholstery samples, that’s what you do! I could have finished this in fifteen minutes with a sewing machine, but there was no sewing machine.* The good news? If you are afraid of sewing machines, you can make this backpack …

I made these faux pocketwatch charms for a steampunk swap. Can you guess what I made these pendants out of? I’ll give you a hint: I got some of my supplies in the office supply store, and some of them in the hardware store. I didn’t want to buy readymade “steampunk” parts and pieces at the craft store, so I worked with what I had …

In addition to choosing a winner of the CSI Dollar Store Project, I was also able to choose my top 10 projects. It wasn’t easy to narrow the top ten down, but all of the top 10 projects were innovative and showed me something I haven’t seen before (or cleverly twisted something I have seen before). One of my top tenners, Becky, made a pretty …