While the selection is better, large craft stores prices can be a little rough on the wallet. There are tons of supplies for general crafting at the dollar store; i.e. tacky foam shapes, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, etc. Those can be great for kids, but it gets a little tougher when looking to do primitive/country crafts.
Here are a few projects that I have done that involve dollar store supplies. A lot of these have been featured in previous posts, so the pictures may look familiar! All of the photos with a white background were found at dollartree.com.
Salt Dough Ornies & Cinnamon Applesauce Ornies
Salt, flour, cinnamon, and applesauce, wax paper – all of your main ingredients for both salt dough and cinnamon applesauce ornaments – can be found at the dollar store. The recipes can be found all over the web, I don’t feel like typing it out…hehe. I make cinnamon applesauce ornies in bulk – usually stars, hearts, and gingerbread men for the holidays.
A wonderful salt dough tutorial can be found at
http://andbabymakesfive-colleen.blogspot.com
This “snowman pop” I picked up at a craft show looks like salt dough. I definitely want to try this. A cute stocking stuffer perhaps?
Primitive Electric Tea Lights and Jar Candles
My best seller and favorite dollar store craft: electric tea lights! I recently found the tea lights on the right at a local Dollar Tree…. 3 for $1! I have found that they are as good the ones at the craft store, and last just as long!
These particular ones have been coated with gold and brown texture fierro, a textured paste made by DecoArt (found at the craft store for about $6 a jar). I have however used plain cinnamon which I get at the dollar store. First I put a piece of tape around the base of the little silicone flame, so my cinnamon doesn’t get on it. Then, paint them with regular glue or modge podge, roll in cinnamon, and let dry. Once dry, re-paint with glue/modge podge to seal! The cinnamon technique works great, but I prefer the look of the texture fierro.
This candle was grubbied up using the cinnamon/glue technique.
These candles were found at the Dollar Tree. I used the same technique as the electric tea lights. This can be done to any glass item or jar candle. Same thing goes for these – dollar store cinnamon works great for a more rusty look!
Wooden Spoon Kitchen Decoration
You can get packages of wooden kitchen spoons at the dollar store (usually 4 per pkg) that can easily be painted and made into very cute country kitchen decorations. I spray painted them black, sanded the edges, and finished off with a homespun tie and dollar store faux berries!
Silicone Dipped Bulbs – Christmas Lights and Country Night Lights
Hand dipping silicone bulbs looks like a daunting task, but is actually quite easy. I do this with night lights found at the dollar store and also with strands of Christmas lights. I scooped up a huge supply of plain white Christmas lights at the dollar store during the holidays to use all year round! The silicone must be bought elsewhere, but I found it real cheap at Walmart. To see how to dip silicone bulbs, view my previous tutorial here.
Turn these…
into THESE! 
Christmas lights for Everyday Country Decor
As I said, I stock up on these after the holidays to use for a variety of projects. One simple idea (not a “craft” per say, but cute nonetheless) is to look for old bottles at yard sales or thrift stores, and put a strand of lights down inside to illuminate the colored glass. I got this blue house shaped bottle at a yard sale for 10 cents, added a string of white Christmas lights, and it looks so darn cute! This picture doesn’t do it justice, but I swear it looks awesome up on a shelf!
Another idea is to take small strips of homespun and knot them on the strand of lights in between each bulb. I have seen it/done it before but can’t seem to find a picture! Cute idea and super-duper easy!
Brown Craft Paper
The Dollar Tree has a surprising selection of brown crafting/wrapping paper that can be used for numerous craft purposes. The one on the far right has little gold stars, and is super cute – one of my favorites.
They also sell plain (without patterns) brown craft paper by the roll. I use this to make labels for my products like the one seen below. I use a paper cutter to cut 8.5 x 11 sheets that can be run through the copier. The Dollar Tree also sells a really great red gingham craft paper – the one that the snowmen are clipped to!
I use it to cover my craft table too, so I can make a mess and then replace it as necessary!
Brown craft paper gift bags are great for stamping.
Homespun Wrapped Candy Cane Ornaments
You get 6 plastic candy cane forms for $1…you can’t beat it! Simply wrap in homespun. I used hot glue to dab on the ends. Another one of my FAVORITE crafts of all time. This could be done with the large candy canes also found at the dollar store!
I haven’t tried these LARGE Dollar Tree candy canes, but I bet they’d look great!
Jingle Bells – As Bowl Fillers and Accents for Other Crafts
Dollar Tree sells all kinds of little jingle bells at Christmas time. I typically spray paint them barn red, navy blue, and forest green, tie a bit of homespun on the top for a little country flair. I use them as bowl/jar fillers and tree ornaments.
This cute holiday candle decorated with these same (spray painted) jingle bells was found at re-purposed.blogspot.com.
Scatter around candles or mix in with your potpourri. Heck, plop a big wooden bowl on your table and fill it up with these suckers for a nice holiday center piece! A nice silver candle and bell display is shown here, by http://creativehomeexpressions.blogspot.com
A list of other craft supplies I have found at the dollar store:
- Small round magnets & clear gems/marbles (marble magnets)
- Styrofoam cone forms and balls (rag ball ornaments)
- Basic floral supplies (wire, moss)
- Baskets
- Mini terra cotta pots & spanish moss (country witch head)
- Jute
- Large Christmas bulbs (the old-fashioned looking ones)
- Small glass jars (use to hold potpourri, putka pods, cinnamon sticks, buttons, etc!)
- Buttons
- Glitter
- Wooden frames (to paint and distress)
- Wooden shapes for all kinds of crafting
- Super glue/basic craft glue
Visit The Dollar Diva for more great dollar store craft ideas!
Hope you found this post helpful in saving a few bucks while working on your country/prim crafting endeavors. I don’t think I could survive without my local Dollar Tree. If you have any great dollar store ideas and/or crafts, I’d love to hear! Have a great week ya’ll!
