Adam and I recently took a road trip for our honeymoon. One of my favorite things about taking a road trip is the opportunity to check out some different dollar stores! When we saw a sign that said “Dollar Zone” in Traverse City, Michigan, I insisted that we stop. And boy and I glad we did! Dollar Zone isn’t an everything-for-a-buck store; they did have items that cost a little more, but the deals were incredible. The store was also huge! You can see the depth of the store over Adam’s shoulder in the photo. (I have no crafty ideas for the purple hat; I just couldn’t resist snapping a picture of Adam when he put it on!) Here are some of the great tidbits I found.
Clear rubber stamps! I recently used clear stamps for a project and I don’t think I will ever go back to the wood block variety if I can help it. They are so much easier to work with! While Micheal’s sells sets of these stamps for $10 or more, Dollar Zone had a great selection for just $1 per set! They also had complete sets of alphabet stamps for $1.25 in several different large fonts, a deal I was completely unable to resist.
They also had several varieties of shaped ice cube trays. These made me think of the skull ice cube trays that have been so popular here at DSC as of late; make projects like molded sugar, mini soap-on-a-rope, papier-mache, or chocolate pops in all kinds of different shapes.
Also catching my eye were these wonderful little wallet-size picture frames. I could tell by the corners of the frames that they were very good quality; cheap frames tend to line up funny or have chipped edges at the corners. Can you ever have too many shapes and sizes of picture frames? Still bearing their original $9.99 price tag (though some had apparently been reduced by half price at some point), Dollar Zone had them marked at $1.25 each.
One of my favorite, must-have craft supplies is spray paint. Starting at $1 and going u to about $4, they had everything from plain old spray paint to special finishes like crackle and suede.
If you need to organize little things like beads, buttons, and other small embellishments, a spice rack is the perfect solution. This rack holds a whopping 32 bottles and costs just a buck! Save empty containers from your used-up spices, or find other small containers that will fit in the rack. (It looks like this one would be the right size to hold baby food jars as well.)
The party supplies section of the store offered up a great selection of paper lanterns. From parties to interior design, paper lanterns are a versatile decorative element. They had a bunch of different shapes, sizes, and colors; customize them by painting designs with craft paint.
My grandmother always had stick-on things like this in her bathtub, which is the first thing I thought if when I saw these bathtub flowers and other shapes in a variety of different colors. The second thought to cross my mind is that these would make great instant wall art for a little girl’s garden-themed bedroom!
I love this apple-shaped cutting board, especially for just $1. I think it could have a lot of crafty possibilities! The first thing that came to mind was some kind of wall hanging to give as a teacher’s gift.
These glass vases were among the most expensive items in the store at $10 each. But, at almost 3 feet tall, they were a steal for the size! I was reminded of a large rope vase I saw at Michael’s for almost $40; while the vase at Michael’s was built around a wire frame, the shape and size of the vases were very similar. Take one of these vases, wrap it in dollar store rope, glue the rope into place, and spray paint the desired color to get the same look at a fraction of the cost!
I’m sure my ideas are just the tip of the iceberg with this assortment of items. What would you make out of this stuff?
13 Comments
Amber
Apple cutting board: Drill a hole in the middle and turn it into a wall hanging clock (the stem already has the hole it would hang with). Or put tape along the outer edges and spray the spray chalkboard on it for a small, cute chalkboard. Both would be great and useful gifts for a teacher.
Sophia
Oh my, those clear stamps for $1 each would have been my budget’s undoing! :)
Ashleigh B.
I would use the apple cutting board as a wall hanging for my daughter’s room. She’s 4 so a primary school theme is great for her.
Your dh looks very similar to Jake Gyllenhaal in that photo. :D
Jackie
My hubby and I are traveling from Virginia to California in November. Keep posting cool stuff like this so I know what to look forward to out there! (hubs is going to be so annoyed stopping at every dollar store in the country lol)
Rhonda
Wouldn’t craft paints fit into those spice racks!? My mom has hundreds of bottles (literally) of craft paint and gallery glass paints and is looking for a wall storage solution.
Angela D. Smith
That looks like a great store! I would also blow my total budget in there. Probably a good thing there isn’t one of those in my little corner of Utah. I also thought, when scrolling through the post, “Whoa! Jake Gylenhall in a purple hat!”
lindy
Cool store. Your post makes me what to go to the Zone! Lindy
Andrea
Oh, when I see all those goodies, I wish I would be living in the States again…
Cool ideas…
warmest regards from Germany
Andrea
wendy
I see the apple cutting board spray painted with chalkboard paint and given as a teachers gift! Great for her to hang on her door for greetings to be written.
I would have had to buy each and every stamp they had and given them as christmas gifts to my crafty friends and family!
Thanks for sharing all your great finds! can’t wait to see what you come up with!
Karina
WOW!! This is awesome :)!! I wish that they had Dollar zone in Utah! I would go crazy!! I LOVE the clear stamps!!
Thanks for sharing this… I was searching for ideas on dollar store crafts to post about it on my blog and found your site :)
Great work and I’m going to mention you on my dollar store craft post! Thank you for the inspiration :)
Karina
Jess
@ Andrea. Doesn’t Germany have a version of UK’s “Pound Land”, where everything’s a pound??? “Euro-ville”!
GirlShawn
I love when I find a blogger that has blogged about my town! Go Traverse City! Go Dollar Zone!
Sandy
Has anyone ever told Adam that he looks like Jake Gyllenhall?