Awhile back, I stamped shirts with stamps and acrylic paints, noting that you can set the acrylic paint with vinegar and make it permanent (no fabric paint medium needed!). Since then, I’ve learned you can even skip the vinegar step. Have you ever gotten acrylic paint on your clothes while you were painting? I bet the paint’s still there! Acrylic doesn’t go anywhere once it …

Mia at Cottage Love’s PB-Inspired Tiled Mirror was one of my top 10 picks for awesome dollar store crafting at the recent CSI Project dollar store challenge. I know I keep talking about my top 10 list, but there are some really great ideas there! Like the tile-surrounded mirror I featured earlier this week, this piece took small dollar store components and combined them to …

Today’s project is inspired by the idea of “kitbashing,” where you take pieces from several model kits to create something new and unique.  My family first got into this concept on a recent trip to my brother J. Clark’s house, where we created some unique model spaceships out of items we went and found at a local thrift store.  That was only a few weeks …

I was so excited when I got this reader email in my in-box. This is such a great challenge, and has lots of room for creativity! Maybe we should devote a week to making projects inspired by this question.
Dear Heather,
I’m a big fan of your site! I often turn to it for quick (and cheap) solutions, but, alas, can not find anything for my …

You’re gonna be mad at me when you see how I made these because you don’t have these things in your stash and you pledged to bust your stash in April. I went to the dollar store on March 31st looking for more hooks so I could make more of these, but they were OUT, so I’m mad too!
Let me just start by saying I’m …

Make old timey tins with custom stencils from stuff from your dollar store! I saw tins like these at a certain design retailer whose initials are PB, and I knew I could make them for a dollar or less. I found the “No. 2″ tin at the dollar store in the gift wrap section (it was formerly pink and flowery), and I had the square …

As I was wandering around my local dollar store last week, I didn’t have any particular project in mind; I was just looking to be inspired.  Well, inspiration struck when I saw the pool noodles and the craft foam!
I spent a total of $6 and came up with plenty of bright and colorful decor for my daughter’s upcoming 1st birthday party!

I had so many ideas!  …

I have never seen this before, but it’s so cool: make frost paint with epsom salts! The crafty mamas over at Homemade Mamas, readers Rebecca and Maggie cooked up this fun activities for their littles — frosty-looking crystals actually form on the paper! This is especially great for those of us who live in warmer places where frost doesn’t ever form on the windows (I …

Here’s a simple and fun idea for making a custom monogram plaque that you can customize in infinite ways to go with your personal taste and decor. Rhoda at Southern Hospitality made these, inspired by a project she saw at Joys of Home (a blog that often has great dollar store decor ideas, by the way!). Choose your favorite scrapbook paper, paint color, and initial, …

Christmas is over, but here’s another good idea for you to file away (or make with post-Christmas sale materials): use one of those cool silver trays to make a festive family sign for your home. Reader Dena at Sweet Pickles and Chocolate made this one for her family. You can find almost everything you need for it at the dollar store, and hopefully you already …