No matter how small your budget, this is a diamond necklace you will be able to afford!  It was designed by Clemence of Oh the lovely things, who also made a printable template you can use to make your own diamond shape!  The shape is cut from scrap leather; if you you don't have any bits of leather laying around, look for cheap leather items (or fake leather items!) at thrift stores.  You could also make them in many other shapes, or make them out of any suitable materials you happen to have laying around.  [how to make a geometric diamond necklace]

Project estimate:

• Scrap leather, on hand
• Paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Diamond printable, free
• Awl or nail, on hand
• Chain, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  Free and up

Of all the recycled t-shirt ideas I have seen in the past year, this is my favorite! Over at delia creates, I found instructions for making an old t-shirt into a braided belt. I need to make a couple of these for my boys, who are just reaching the age where they can use belts (and need them). [how to make a braided t-shirt belt]

If you don't need a braided belt, try turning your t-shirts into braided headbands, braided bracelets, or how about a pretty knitted dish cloth?

Project Estimate:

• Old t-shirt, on hand or $1
• D-rings or O-rings, $1

Total: $1 and up

We love hex nut projects.  Hardware bits are such fun as craft supplies!  Over at i try DIY, Mikko used hex nuts joined with jump rings to create a heart-shaped pendant that would make a great Valentine's Day gift.  If hearts aren't your thing, you could arrange the hex nuts in an endless number of other patterns instead.  For a different look, try using nuts with different finishes, or use colored rings to connect them.  [how to make a hex nut heart pendant]

Project estimate:

• Hex nuts, on hand or $1 and up
• Jump rings, on hand or $1
• Cord or chain, on hand or $1 and up

Total:  Free and up

I love that I have been able to find $1 t-shirts at the dollar store lately. I always pick a few up if I see them in the right size, so I can make fun t-shirts whenever an idea strikes me. The secret ingredient for this project is freezer paper, which makes stenciling a snap! Freezer paper is waxed on one side, and plain paper on the other side, so it can be easily ironed to fabric (and just as easily removed). You can find freezer paper in the food wrap section of your local grocery store. A single roll will last you for years of fun DIY projects.

Project Materials:

• 1 t-shirt, old or new, on hand or $1
• Freezer paper, about $4 a roll
• Fabric Spray Paint (I used Simply Spray Opaque White) or craft acrylic paint, on hand or $1 and up
• Iron, on hand
• Scissors, on hand
• Drop cloth or large piece of scrap cardboard, on hand

Total: $5 and up

To Make:

1. Cut hearts of different sizes out of freezer paper.

2. To easily make a heart, fold the paper in half, draw a half-heart shape and cut out. When you open the folded paper, you will have a heart and a piece of paper with a heart-shaped hole in it. You will be able to use both of these on the shirt.

3. Turn iron on to medium setting and let it warm up.

4. Arrange the hearts shiny side DOWN onto the t-shirt. Remember, anything covered by a heart will show the t-shirt's original color when the project is done.

5. If desired, cover with a piece of fabric or thin dish towel (although, this is not necessary). Iron over the hearts gently until they are stuck securely to the t-shirt.

6. Lay the t-shirt out on the drop cloth or scrap cardboard, and spray the fabric spray paint according to package instructions. Lay t-shirt flat for even spray coverage, or wrinkle it slightly for a tie dye effect. I allowed overspray around the edges of my stencils, but if you don't want them, you should cover over any exposed t-shirt with paper to protect it from getting painted.

7. Let paint dry according to package instructions.

8. When paint is completely dry, peel freezer paper hearts off t-shirt

Tips:

• Heart-Shaped Hole: Iron the heart-shaped holes onto the t-shirt  to make a different kind of heart. I let my paint spray over the edges of the rectangular pieces of paper to add a graffiti feel to the shirt
  
• No Freezer Paper? While I highly recommend freezer paper to make this project simple, you can still do this project if you don't have access to freezer paper. Regular paper can be adhered to fabric with adhesive spray (I use 3M77 spray glue). Spray the heart cut-outs with spray adhesive and stick them to the t-shirt, follow steps 6-8 as directed.
  
• Revamp Stained Clothes: Use this technique to rescue hopelessly stained clothing. Make sure any stains are NOT covered by the ironed-on freezer paper. When you spray your paint, be sure to cover stains thoroughly. For another stained clothing revamp, check out the Tetris Hoodie.
• Add Words: Use letter stickers you find at the dollar store to create wording on your shirt. Add your name, or any other fun words or phrases you want to. Remove stickers when paint is dry (just like you did with the freezer paper).

There are a few bloggers out there that are crafting along with Project Runway All Stars, including Erika (and her furry buddy Sebastian) from Sew DoggyStyle.  They're taking a four-legged twist on each challenge, starting with the first episode's dollar store challenge.  She went to Dollar Tree on a $30 budget and bought all kinds of crazy stuff, then came home and formulated an outfit for Sebastian with her finds.  Doesn't he look dapper in a Michael Jackson-esque way?  [how to make a blingy dog outfit inspired by Project Runway All Stars]

Project estimate:

• Metallic cleaning towels, $2
• Headband, $1
• Aluminum foil, on hand or $1
• Coffee filters, on hand or $1
• Zip ties, on hand or $1
• Safety pins, on hand or $1

Total:  $3 and up

Sure, the dollar store always has party hats, but they're not always the colors or themes that you want.  That is, unless you give them a makeover!  Jessica at From Marriage to Motherhood shows how to make party hats of any variety work with your part, no matter what colors or images you want.  Can't find hats for that obscure party thing that your kid insists upon?  No problemo for you, super mom!  [how to give dollar store party hats a makeover]

Project estimate:

• Party hats, $1
• Scrapbook paper, on hand or $1 and up
• Pom poms, on hand or $1
• Glue, on hand

Total:  $1 and up

This project comes to us from our pet fashion correspondent Erika from Sew DoggyStyle, whose pooches are the best-dressed canines in all of blogland.  They're here today to share a dollar store project perfect for colder weather: turning a dollar store scarf into a cozy pair of leg warmers!  Not only will they keep your dog's legs toasty on chilly days, but they will also look stylish on walks around the neighborhood!

Project estimate:

• Scarf, $1
• Sewing machine, on hand

Total:  $1

How to Make Doggy Legwarmers

by Erika, Sew DoggyStyle

This scarf I actually got at The Dollar Tree.  One Dolla!!!  They have a variety of color combos and I think stripes make adorable leg warmers.  You can virtually make these leg warmers to fit any sized dog.  I made them for my big dog, since leg warmers are kinda for girls...  Haha!

I cut the scarf at every six stripes since that seemed like a good height.  Cut a total of 4 pieces.  For smaller dogs, cut every four stripes...or less.

Serge or zigzag the top and bottom of each piece to keep the threads from unraveling.  Then fold each piece in half lengthwise with right sides together and stitch down the sides.  For smaller dogs, take in the sides as much as needed.  Measure their legs to determine how much needs to be taken in.

Turn each piece right side out and tada!!!

linked: TCB

I love doilies as decor elements.  However in fashion, I've found that most doily garments and accessories I've seen lean a little too close to grandmotherly for my taste.  But these ain't your grandma's doilies!  Over at the CRAFT blog, DIY fashion guru Corinne Leigh (the former Threadbanger) used some pretty doilies left over from wedding decor to give a pair of plain wedges a spectacular new look.  Her tutorial is in video form, and she makes it look super easy!  [how to make doily-embellished shoes]

Project estimate:

• Shoes, on hand or $1 and up
• Doilies, about $4 and up
• Mod Podge, on hand

Total:  about $4 and up

Color blocking is all the rage these days, everywhere from interior design to fashion.  Even shoes!  You could shell out a bunch of money for designer color blocked shoes, like $215 at Saks Fifth Avenue for some Dolce Vita color blocked shoes, or you could take a cue from Elsie and Emma at A Beautiful Mess and makeover a pair of shoes you already have laying around!  They remind me of Oxfords (which I've always loved) and offer a great way to dress up a plain pair into something more fashion-forward without the hefty price tag.  [how to give shoes a color blocked makeover]

Project estimate:

• Shoes or boots, on hand or $1 and up
• Paint, on hand

Total:  Free and up

My kids are such prolific artists. Every day they bring home about ten drawings from school. I want to keep some of it, but most of our kid art doesn't get the rock star treatment it deserves. So, this week I decided to create a fun t-shirt my son could wear that featured his own art, all glittery and shiny!

In addition to doing tons of cool drawings, my five year-old son has recently begun to write. I love that little kindergarten writing, and I wanted to incorporate it into a craft so we could remember it. I combined some of his drawing and writing with Tulip Shimmer Sheets to make a very simple iron on project.

I usually have a few kid-sized t-shirts on hand because I pick them up at the dollar store whenever I see them. This is also a great project for a stained t-shirt because you can cover up the stains with iron-on glitter.

Project Materials:

• T-shirt, $1 or on hand
• Tulip Shimmer Sheets, $14.99 for 4 sheets (or, $3.75 per sheet)
• Permanent marker, on hand
• Scissors
• Iron
• Piece of tissue paper or paper towel (to use as a pressing cloth)

Total: $3.75 and up per shirt, an investment of $14.99 for the Tulip Shimmer Sheets

About the cost: Yes, its an investment to do this project, but you will be able to get several designs from one package. At this price, each glitter sheet costs about $3.75, so even if you are using one full sheet for a t-shirt, $4.75 is a great price for a shiny, happy, custom t-shirt.

Money-Saving Tip

To keep this project much cheaper per piece, I suggest the following: cut each sheet into half or even quarters before you give it to your child. If you do this, you reduce your costs to $1.87 (for half a sheet), or 94 cents (for a quarter sheet). Now that's what I call Dollar Store Crafting!!

If you use the quarter-sheet method, you will get 16 quarter-sheets, and you can do this craft with 16 kids for about $2 per person (if you get t-shirts at the dollar store). Could be a fun project for a classroom or scout group.

How to Make a Shirt with Glittery Kid Art

1. Cut sheet to desired starting size. Instruct child about the proper use of permanent markers (important if the child is young!) -- tell him the markers are only for writing on the shimmer sheet, not for writing on the table, chairs, or themselves. Protect your table surface with newspaper, if desired.

2.  Let child draw a few simple pictures or write his name or other desired words on the shiny plastic side of the shimmer sheet. This protective plastic sheet will be removed before you iron the sheets. Remember: the drawings themselves will NOT be transferred to the final design.

What to draw on your shimmer sheets

Simple line drawings and silhouettes work best. You might want to discuss with the child what they are going to draw before they start. In my case, this shirt was going to our 2 year-old son who is a huge fan of guitars. I told my 5 year-old what I wanted, and he drew to order.

For words, it can be a little bit tedious to cut out all the letters, and then to peel the protective cover off of them, so you might want to keep it to one or two words! Also, for a thicker "font", use a jumbo or fat permanent marker to make the line a bit thicker.

3.  Cut around all the black lines. Use small, sharp scissors to cut out inside lines. Nail scissors work well for this!

If you don't want to cut out ALL the lines, you can do what I did with this drawing and just cut out the important features so most of the image is filled in with glitter.

4. Figure out the placement you want on your t-shirt. While you are doing this, heat up your iron!

5. Carefully peel the protective sheet off each piece. The pieces will curl just a bit when you have removed the plastic.

6. When you are finished preparing your cutouts, cover them with a "pressing cloth." This can be a thin dishtowel, a piece of scrap fabric, or even a piece of paper. I used tissue paper because I wanted to make sure the letters had the right placement and didn't get bent when I put the pressing cloth over them.

7. Iron according to the package directions (at the appropriate temp for the fabric, press down for 40 seconds).

8. Remove the pressing cloth, and you're done!

We tried to draw guitar strings on the guitar with a permanent marker after the fact, but it didn't really work. So, just make sure you cut out any line details you want to keep.

Tulip Shimmer Sheets Review

This product is really fun to work with, and there are lots of ways you can use it. The thing I love most about it is how simple it is to work with, and the level of glitter is amazing!

Once it's ironed on: The final product is really pretty and sparkly. My boys LOVED this shirt so much that we had to immediately make one for each of them. The iron-on material is soft and pliable on the t-shirt, and feels kind of like it has soaked right into the t-shirt.

Pros:

• Easy to work with
• Very sparkly
• You can draw right onto the plastic coating, so no reversing of the image is necessary (like with some other iron-on transfer materials)
• You can cut it with scissors, craft punches, or die cutters
• Comes in a bunch of fun colors

Cons:

• The main con for me, really, is the price tag, but I came up with a money-saving tip earlier in this post, so if you follow it, the cost becomes very reasonable.
• Packs of 4 sheets have only one sheet of each color, so if you only want one specific color, you can't get it by itself.

Overall, I recommend this product. It is a blast to work with, and a VERY easy way to add glitter to textiles with no mess or stress.

Buy it at I Love To Create's Online Store: Tulip Shimmer Sheets

Disclosure: I received this product from I Love to Create as part of a paid campaign with The Blueprint Social. The project idea and opinions expressed are my own.