I featured a designer-inspired birdie yesterday, so today I want to show you what another crafter did with the same dollar store bird, this time inspired by a Ballard bird. Rebekah at All Thingz Related made this cute birdie by adding a piece of dowel to a ten cent candlestick, and painted and antiqued the whole thing (using the secret-special glaze advocated by Shanty2Chic and other decorating blogs: Ralph Lauren …

Remember those birdies we spotted at the Dollar Tree? Amanda from A Lovely Place to Land remade one into an Anthropologie (and Wisteria)-inspired birdie, putting her own spin on it by decoupaging old book pages to it! Great idea, Amanda, and I love that you didn’t just exactly copy a look you saw somewhere else but were inspired to do your own thing with it. Also, check out Amanda’s series …

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 will set you back less …

Use an old technique to make a cool new lamp! Use string, a balloon, and some kind of stiffener to make this cool string lampshade, found at Pickles. You can pick up a pendant lamp kit at your local home improvement store or IKEA for ten bucks or less. Or, you could play around with using twinkle lights  as illumination. Pickles used wallpaper paste to stiffen the string, but other  …

Disney at Ruffles and Stuff made this great ruffly pom-pom lamp using some unlikely suspects from her local dollar store kitchen section. Would you believe she spent only a dollar on this? She had some vital materials on hand, but you can still make it for less than five bucks even if you don’t have any of the materials on hand! Making lamps out of dollar store stuff is one …

Use a big eraser to fashion a pink ring that’s big on style. Find out how from Kerri at cute.little.disaster, a design student who made this ring as a series of 60 rings for a materials exploration class in design school. I won’t give away the creation process, but I will give you a hint: it involves a whole lotta erasing! We also featured another of Kerri’s ring projects awhile …

I guess I’m into pretty jewelry this week! Check out this necklace found at Pretty Ditty. You can use any scrap fabric and beads you happen to have on hand to make this necklace. I love this black, white, and red combination! It’s classic and fun, with a dash of romance but not TOO girly. You could wear it with a little black dress or a little black tee and …

Here’s a brilliant idea from Christine at Jane Avion, who has been posting up a whole lotta great ideas lately (remember the feather tree?)! She used dollar store craft foam to create these pretty silhouettes to use on jewelry! She also found a jewelry kit at the dollar store that had chains, clasps, and jump rings, all for a buck – awesome! Go check out her project details and her …

Over at Apartment Therapy, AT reader Ashley made this ethereal pendant lamp, inspired by an upscale ostrich feather lamp. She used some common materials that can be found at your local stores, and for less than twelve dollars, made this great statement lamp. [pendant lamp makeover at Apartment Therapy]
Ashley got some of her materials at IKEA, which is a great resource for cheap decor materials. I have also seen paper …

This bib necklace is inspired by one I saw at Anthropologie, and I made it with stuff I found at my local craft thrift store, Knittn’ Kitten. You can use pretty much anything you want to customize this necklace. You should be able to find some of your materials at the dollar store, too! Make an Anthropologie-inspired necklace with ribbon, cord, fabric, and sequined appliques (or create your own sequin …