Last year, I got my first Mark Montano book, and I discovered that Mark and I are kindred cheap-craftin’ spirits. He recently sent me his most recent Big Ass book, The Big Ass Book of Crafts 2 to review. Mark is the King of dollar store crafting — did you know he literally wrote the book on dollar store decor? it’s called Dollar Store Decor, …

Ever notice how secret agents and spies get all the cool gear? Well, now you can too! Make your own mini grappling hook out of office and household supplies, then let let loose on a top secret mission from Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
This grappling hook design was built from the new book Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction 2 (Chicago Review Press) by John Austin*. This …

Make an original laptop covering using a discarded hardcover book and a long zipper found at any Dollar Store, you might even have all the materials at home already! I created a book-styled cover for my small netbook and turned my boring computer into a netbookbook!
I found this vintage hardcover book with a bear attacking frontiersman, perfect for my netbookbook. This tidy cover can cleverly …

Making a fort has to be one of the most fun things you do during your childhood. Over at meg + andy, Meagan created a great fort kit as a birthday gift, using many items she found at the dollar store. This is a homemade toy that my boys would continue to use over and over again. A fort kit encourages creative play, and is …

Time capsules are historic caches of memorabilia specific to a time, people or place.They are then stashed away somewhere for a period of time to be uncovered and opened at a predetermined date. Of course these are all loose guidelines which can be easily modified to suit your needs.
It might seem like burying a time capsule is as easy but there is quite a lot …

Want to dress up your laptop for just a few cents? Go no further than your local dollar store, where you can find oversized wall decals for one dollar. My friend Brian from Teenormous sent me this idea. The best thing about these decals (beside the low, low price)? They are removable so you don’t have to worry about leaving sticker residue on your computer.
Project …

If you’ve done any renovations at all, you know that cabinet knobs are NOT cheap! If you are fixing up your cabinets on a budget, you might have had to skimp on the hardware and settle for the most basic, plain cabinet knobs available. Well, trusty Man Podger David over at Mod Podge Rocks got the plain knobs, but dressed up his kitchen cabinets with …

Recently NASA stated that space shuttle Atlantis will be the last of the shuttle program, retiring the entire shuttle fleet to concentrate on sending probes further out to asteroids and Mars. But that doesn’t mean that all rockets need to be grounded, you can make your own!  Using paper cut-outs, toothpicks and bendy straws you can make your own flying rockets for next to nothing!

Kitchens are the heart of any home, and spending loads of time in one place makes kitchens a good place to share information of leave yourself a reminder.
This magnetic clock sticks to your fridge and lets you place moveable magnets at different times to help remind you of upcoming events. In case all the magnets get bumped or swiped off the fridge, there are fixed …

If you’ve never used freezer paper for crafting, you need to run out and get some NOW! It’s so handy for a bunch of different things, and makes custom “screen printing” so very easy! I love this idea from I am Momma Hear Me Roar for a special kid drawing t-shirt just in time for Father’s day. The instructions are simple and the final product …