2011 was a tutorial-filled year at Dollar Store Crafts; we brought you more original tutorials than ever!  There were fashion tutorials, home decor tutorials, recycled crafts, and all kinds of other ideas.  Some of them were particularly popular, so to wrap up the year, we thought we would take a look back at our top 10 tutorials out of everything we made in 2011.  Which …

Holy cow, where did 2011 go?  I stopped paying attention for one second and – whoosh!  – it was gone!  It’s been a crazy year for DSC, and some of our posts went completely viral!  We’ve gained so many new readers this year that it makes our heads spin, and you’ve made it clear which projects you love most.  Taking a look back, here are …

It’s been an unseasonably warm winter so far here in Northern Michigan.  We’ve only had a dusting of snow, not nearly enough to make a snowman.  If you’re missing that winter-y feeling right now, here’s a project to get you feeling more into the season.  Over at Small Fry & Co. there is a no-sew tutorial for recycling the sleeve of an old sweater into …

How are you celebrating New Year’s Eve this year?  If you’re having a party (and you don’t mind the extra vacuuming), you might want to hand out these cute countdown confetti favors by Carolyn at Carolyn’s Homework.  (Isn’t it convenient that matches come in packs of 10?)  If you’re a paper crafter and you made your own cards and gift tags this holiday season, you …

Here at Dollar Store Crafts, we love our placemats! They have to be one of the easiest items to transform into fantastic craft projects. Brittany at Pretty Handy Girl created this eye-catching yard flag by embellishing a dollar store placemat. She wants to encourage the weather to give her some of the white stuff! [how to make a yard flag out of a placemat]
Brittany embellished …

Every year after the gifts have been ripped open and it’s time to clean up the aftermath, I feel terrible about throwing away all of the pretty ribbons and bows.  If you’re looking for a crafty excuse to squirrel some of those package embellishments away, you could use them to make a headband like this one by Lucinda from Sew Wrong.  You could also wrap …

How do you store your glass bulb ornaments every year? Here’s a clever idea for glass ornament storage from the Design a la Mod blog. Use a medium-large plastic storage bin and plastic punch glasses to safely store bulbs individually from year to year. Are you ready to take your holiday decorations down yet? You are now! [how to store glass bulbs]
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Sure, it’s Christmas, but it’s never too late to recycle! Or to start crafting for next year! Over at Making Minneapolis, Jessica designed some adorable mushroom ornaments made from recycled wine corks and bottle caps. Simple, cute, and unique! These could be cute for all kinds of things beyond decorating for the holidays – what would you use them for? [how to make mushroom ornaments]
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My family knows how to celebrate the holidays in crafty style. The adults swap homemade gifts instead of store-bought, and in the past couple years, we have added a crafty activity to the day as well! My favorite holiday moment in the past few years was when we decided to have a self-portrait painting party.

File this one under “clever Christmas decor ideas.”  Using two of DSC’s favorite supplies, foam balls and mardi gras beads, Amanda from Crafts by Amanda made a festive and adorable garland of snowman heads!  The secret ingredient in this project is DecoArt’s MagiKote, a product that gives styrofoam a sandable, paintable surface.  You can also adapt this idea for all kinds of other holidays and …