Cute Mostly Dollar Store Birthday Party

Dollar Store shopping list :

Pink Napkins
Plastic utensils in contrasting color (I chose green)
Gift wrap ribbon
Matching plates and cups
Swirl and ball lollipops
Party platters (they have lots of colors)
Tablecover
Drink pitchers

Target list:
Gumballs (You can get bags of special individual colors in the party aisle)
Straws (sure the Dollar Store has these but Target has tons of cute colors with stripes and polka dots)

Wrap your silverware with your ribbon and napkins for some added charm. :)
I used all mismatching glasses to hold, straws, candy, and extra silverware. I turned out really cute.

I set up my Keurig with coffee and hot chocolate K-cups, marshmallows, sugar, milk, and a bottle of Baileys at the end of my table. I also put a pitcher of water, cute mismatched coffee and teacups from local thrift stores, and a little Dollar Store wastebasket the same color as my serving trays.

I set a veggie tray with ranch and a fruit tray with cheesecake dip on opposite sides of the table. In case you haven't heard of cheesecake dip let me be the first to tell you it's amazing! All you do is take a small tub of cream cheese spread and mix in powdered sugar until it tastes delicious! That's it! A few spoonfuls of sugar and you have the best party dip ever!

I also had chocolate covered pretzel sticks and marshmallow cones but we'll cover that in another post. :)

For my main dishes I decided to go the crockpot route which turned out to be such a great idea. We did chili and a breakfast casserole since our party was early in the day.

Super Easy DIY Rainbow Bath Salts - Smell delicious!

These are great not only for yourself but for gifts!

What you'll need:

Course Salt ( I used Epsom for it's inflammatory relief but sea salt is fine)

Food Coloring

Glass Jars (I used left over baby food jars. Empty glass jars are surprisingly expensive. It's way cheaper to reuse or to just buy cheap baby food and dump it than to buy jars at a hobby store.)

Essential Oil of your choice (I used lavender and it smelled amazing)

Ziploc bags

First you will put 2 cups of your salt into a bag. You will use one bag for each color so do this with as many as you'll need. Then drop in your food coloring into each bag. The tutorial I read said to use four drops but I found this to be wildly insufficient. I used at least eight and then added more if necessary. It really depends on how deep you want your colors. After your coloring is added then seal your bags and shake rigorously until color is evenly distributed. Last you will add one drop of your essential oil into each bag and repeat the shaking process.  You can then funnel your salts into the jars (make sure jar is dry!). I did not use a funnel because I did not have one. I made a huge mess but I found that it made the layers very uneven (in the jars with more than one color) which I actually really liked so its up to you.  

When I was done I cut out a little paper circle which I used to label my jar. I attached it with washi tape for a decorative touch but you could just paint the lids as well. I also placed each of my jars inside an origami box (tutorial is coming!).

Easy DIY Bow Paper Clips

These are a great way to dress up boring papers at home or the office!

What you'll need:

Ribbon ( I used mini ribbon - $0.99 at Joann's or Micheal's)

Teeny tiny rubber bands (dollar store hair section)

Paper clips ( I used small, large would be equally pretty and allow you to use larger ribbon)

Scissors

Glue

 First you cut your ribbon into small pieces (for small ones use about 2.5 inches). It took me some trial and error to get the length right. 

Wrap the ribbon around as shown.

Pinch the middle as shown so it begins to resemble a real bow.

Cinch the middle with your rubber band.  

Loop your paper clip through the rubber band on the backside of the bow. 

Take a smaller piece of ribbon and wrap around the middle. Secure with glue ( I used hot glue but crazy glue would work as well).

Very cute addition to gift envelopes or as an actual gift! I gave mine to coworkers and friends (hopefully they liked them!)  

  

Simple DIY Paper and Button Letter for Girl's Room

This is one of the things I made while redoing my daughter's room. I was/am on a script budget so I've had to come up with new innovative ways to fill her space with cute things. 

What you'll need:

Something to make the letter with - You can buy wooden letters and redo them or you can go the super cheap route like I did and use cardboard. Yes, cardboard! 

Modge Podge or Homemade Decoupage Glue ((which is what I used)3 parts Elmer's Glue All + 1 part water)

Foam Brush (I used Dollar Store brand for this one)

Buttons

Patterned Paper (which you can also print yourself for free)

Washi Tape (optional)

Super Glue or Hot Glue

First, I measured out two longer pieces for the sides and two short pieces for the middle then I simply duct taped them together (on the back). For rounder letters  (like B or C) it may get a little bit trickier but there are plenty of free templates online you can print out then you just cut them and trace it onto cardboard. I recommend an exacto knife for cutting the cardboard. 

Coat each area with your glue and then coat the back of the paper and apply. Repeat until board is covered. While doing mine I had some unlevel areas where the cardboard pieces meet, in these spots I strategically placed buttons to hide it. 

After all of your paper is applied add a coat of glue on top. 

At this point I used washi tape along the edges. Line it up even and then fold over the sides and around to the back (this way you have no evidence that it is actually cardboard). If you do not have washi tape you can simply do this with your paper strips following the earlier steps. 

Then attached your buttons with super glue or a hot glue gun on the low setting. 

At the end I attached a bow that I had recently found a thrift store as a little extra flare. 

Super easy and it can be done with items you likely already have. My daughter LOVES it!

Adorable DIY magnets

This one is so easy a five year old could do it (though they might glue their fingers together in the process!)

What you'll need:

Magnets (any craft store or general store)

Crazy Glue

Buttons, jewelry pieces, or just odd little trinkets that are flat. (I used buttons and scrapbooking appliques)

The rest is pretty self explanatory, just glue and enjoy! Oh, and try not to get crazy glue all over your fingers like I did. :)

Painted baby footprint plate SO EASY!

This one is super easy and its works great as a decoration around the house and as a gift for family members. Plus it super cheap!

What you'll need:

A plate ($1 at Dollar Tree)

Acrylic or porcelain paint for feet

Porcelain paint pen or Sharpie for letters

The trickiest part about this is getting your little one to stay still!

At first I put paint on a plate and dipped her foot in it but that didn't come out well so I eventually just painted her foot with a small brush (while my husband held her). 

So paint one foot and press it on the plate at an angle (my baby curled her toes up instantly the toes are a little spotty). 

Then repeat with the other foot. 

Then just write the letters on and marvel in the beauty. I found that cursive looked best. 

Then put your plate in the oven (Do not preheat)

Set oven at 300 and bake for 30 minutes

PRESTO! Now you have a precious keepsake for pennies on the dollar. :)

Super Easy DIY Hair Accessories (make great gifts)

Being that this is my first post I would like to point something out that I'm sure most of you will be able to figure out anyways. My posts are not professional pictures attached to professional instructions. These are things I did myself at home and they are not perfect. 

Most of the pins I see seem to look like catalog ads rather than homemade projects so I hope you might find my more down to earth approach a little refreshing. ;)

Here we go....

This is one of the easiest projects ever..

What you'll need:

Plain barrettes or hair pins (not bobby pins, the ones I used were metal and flat, just a few centimeters wide). I found mine at Michael's in the bridal section 

Modge Podge ( I used Matte on some and Gloss on the other)

A small sponge brush (Dollar Tree has multi packs for $1)

Scissors or a paper trimmer

Patterned paper (roughly 30 cents a sheet at craft stores, you can print your own for free, or you can take pieces of magazines, catalogs, books, etc)

 In this picture you can see the brand I used and what they looked like before. I outlined the size of the hair pin then cut small strips of my paper (this particular paper was a small 3" x 2" notepad I got for $0.99, the pattern was on the back of the blank side of the sheet). I applied a small amount of modge podge onto the hairpin and then placed the paper. Then I put another layer of modge podge on top the paper and voila! Now you have beautiful hairpins for a fraction of the retail cost!

These are the traditional barrettes. The concept is pretty much the same. I used scrapbook paper, which is a little thinker than most paper, for these. I got a book of 25 6x6 pages for $5 dollars, which enough to do a thousand hair barrettes or use the 24 left over pages for more awesome diy projects I plan to include later. :)

So with these you just outline the size you need and cut out the strips again. I made mine a little longer than they needed to be and then fold the excess along each edge but you could just cut it to size too. I only did mine that way because it was easier than trying to cut the paper the exact size every time. Then you just repeat the earlier instructions: Modge podge barrette... Apply paper.. Modge podge again. Done!

I made a ton of them and gave them out to all my coworkers. Handmade gifts are especially thoughtful so no one tends to notice how little it cost.