Showing posts with label Dollar Tree. Show all posts

Dollar Tree Halloween Wreath

Happy Halloween friends! Even though today is Halloween, I still wanted to share with you a Halloween wreath I made using some fun finds from my local Dollar Tree. I figured it's better late than never when it comes to sharing some of the crafty projects I created this year for our Halloween party. I know you won't have time to create one this year, but you can always Pin it and save them for next year!

Dollar Tree Halloween Deco Mesh Wreath by Juliana Michaels

I started with a wire wreath form from my stash. This one is 18 inches. I then followed this great tutorial on how to make a Deco Mesh wreath form.  The rest of the supplies came from Dollar Tree, with the exception of some small plastic glitter spiders I found at Party City.

Dollar Tree Halloween Wreath Supplies:
3 Rolls Mesh - 2 purple, 1 black
2 Black Halloween Garland
2 Rolls of Ribbon
2 Stems Black Roses
Spider Web
Orange Glitter Spider
Plastic Skeletons
Orange Sparkly Pipe Cleaners

Dollar Tree Halloween Supplies

Following the tutorial, I attached the 3 rolls of Deco Mesh using the orange sparkly pipe cleaners. I was ok with the sparkly orange showing, but if you don't want them to be seen, then you might want to use black pipe cleaners. 

Next, I tool the 2 Black Halloween Garlands and removed all the jack o'lanterns. They are twist tied to the garland and I kept them for a possible future project. I hate to waste anything! I then weaved both of these in between the mesh to fill in the wreath even more.

Now it's time to add the ribbons. I wrapped them, one at a time, around the wreath and used the pipe cleaners to tie them in place on the back side of the wreath.

Dollar Tree Halloween Deco Mesh Wreath by Juliana Michaels

Once the base was completed, I began to decorate the wreath.  I used some black twist ties to attach the skeletons. The roses are held in place using some of the orange pipe cleaners.  I used a hot glue gun to attach the small plastic spiders.

The large spider web in the center of the wreath originally came with a glow in the dark spider, but I removed it and replaced it with the orange glitter spider. I then attached it to the wreath using the pipe cleaners.

After all my goodies were attached, I took the remaining orange pipe cleaners and wrapped them around a coloring marker to create a coil. I then attached these to the wreath to add a little more bling.

Dollar Tree Halloween Deco Mesh Wreath by Juliana Michaels

You might have noticed the "Witch Is In" sign in the supply picture above. I had originally planned to use that on the wreath, however as I started putting it all together, I decided to go with the spider web and glitter spider in the center.

I hope you enjoyed learning how to create your own Dollar Tree Halloween Wreath! Remember to pin this for next year. Dollar Tree usually stocks their Halloween products shortly after school starts in the fall.  I recommend keeping an eye out for them and to get there early for the best selection. Happy crafting!


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Dollar Tree Halloween Skull Decor

Well, the Dollar Tree has done it again for my Halloween decorations this year. I had no idea that some Dollar Tree plastic skulls could turn into such awesome Halloween Decor!

The idea for this project started as I was looking for Halloween inspiration on Pinterest. I came across a tutorial on how to alter the Dollar Tree skulls, but I didn't have all of the recommended products. I really didn't want to go and buy everything that they used, so I ended up using the products I already owned to alter them.

Dollar Tree Halloween Decor using Plastic Skulls by Juliana Michaels

Supplies
Dollar Tree Plastic Skulls
Wood Candle Stick Holders
1/4" Wooden Dowel Rod
Valspar Spray Paint (Color Radiance Paint + Primer) - Flat White
Rub N Buff - Pewter
Acrylic Paint - Black
Rags - Old T Shirt
Felt Doll Hats
Embellishments: Ribbon, Trim, Tulle, Lace, Fur Trim, Plastic Spider, Paper Flower, Feathers
Hot Glue Gun
Straight Pins

Tutorial | Dollar Tree Halloween Decor

Painting the Skulls

  • Spray paint the plastic skull with the paint/primer spray paint.
  • Once the paint is dry, paint the skull with black acrylic paint. You could also use spray paint here, but I didn't have any black spray paint and I was trying to keep my cost down.
  • After the black paint is dry, apply the Pewter Rub N Buff following the directions on the tube. Work in very small sections when applying this or it will remove the paint you have already applied.
  • Now, you get to paint the skull again with the acrylic paint. This time you do not want to use a spray paint. Apply the paint liberally with a foam brush or even a soft rag and then let it start to dry. Make sure to get the paint into the crevices of the skull. Before it is completely dry, wipe off the excess with a rag.
  • To make the eye sockets black, I applied the black acrylic paint with a small paint brush.
  • Don't be afraid to apply more Rub N Buff and black paint in areas until you get the look you desire.
Disclaimer: 
I will say that I found the paint was easy to scratch off the skulls. I wonder if I had used a primer made only for plastic if that would have helped. The Valspar paint that I used said it was for use on plastic, however, I think the quality of the plastic used on these skulls make it difficult for paint to adhere well. I recommend that you handle them with care. You can also touch up any scratched off areas with a Silver Krylon Leafing Pen. Just use your finger to wipe on the paint and it will blend in well.

Painting the Candlesticks:
  • Paint them with black acrylic paint.  
  • After the paint is dry,  apply the Pewter Rub N Buff and cover the candlestick. 
  • Next,  apply the black acrylic paint and wipe off the excess before it is completely dry. This is the same process that I used on the skulls.
  • To decorate the top of each candlestick, adhered a piece of ribbon or trim using a hot glue gun.
Attaching the Skulls to the Candlestick:
I attempted various methods to adhere the skulls to the candle sticks. They would not stick using my low temp hot glue gun. This is the best method I found: 
  • Cut a 3 inch length of a 1/4" wooden dowel rod. Position the dowel rod into the opening on the candlestick holder where the candle would go.  Apply hot glue while holding the dowel rod in position and allow the glue to completely cool.
  • Take a Philips head screw driver and widen the hole that is on the bottom of each skull. If there is not a hole use a drill to make a hole. 
  • Insert the dowel rod into the hole on the bottom of the skull. If you want the skull to be more secure you can add some hot glue at this point and it will help hold it in place.
Dollar Tree Plastic Skull

Dollar Tree Halloween Decor using Plastic Skulls by Juliana Michaels

Dollar Tree Halloween Decor using Plastic Skulls by Juliana Michaels

Painting the Candlesticks:
  • Paint them with black acrylic paint.  
  • After the paint is dry,  apply the Pewter Rub N Buff and cover the candlestick. 
  • Next,  apply the black acrylic paint and wipe off the excess before it is completely dry. This is the same process that I used on the skulls.
  • To decorate the top of each candlestick, adhered a piece of ribbon or trim using a hot glue gun.
Attaching the Skulls to the Candlestick:
I attempted various methods to adhere the skulls to the candle sticks. They would not stick using my low temp hot glue gun. This is the best method I found: 
  • Cut a 3 inch length of a 1/4" wooden dowel rod. Position the dowel rod into the opening on the candlestick holder where the candle would go.  Apply hot glue while holding the dowel rod in position and allow the glue to completely cool.
  • Take a Philips head screw driver and widen the hole that is on the bottom of each skull. If there is not a hole use a drill to make a hole. 
  • Insert the dowel rod into the hole on the bottom of the skull. If you want the skull to be more secure you can add some hot glue at this point and it will help hold it in place.
Attaching the Hats to the Skulls:
You are going to love this...I used straight pins. Yes, like the ones you use for sewing. You have to push pretty hard to get them through the plastic, but it works. Again, I did not have luck with my hot glue gun to attach them to the skulls.

Dollar Tree Halloween Decor using Plastic Skulls by Juliana Michaels

As you can see each, I decorated each skull's hat just a little differently using a variety of ribbon, trim and other fun embellishments. I used a hot glue gun to adhere the embellishments to the hat.
Dollar Tree Halloween Decor using Plastic Skulls by Juliana Michaels

Dollar Tree Halloween Decor using Plastic Skulls by Juliana Michaels

Dollar Tree Halloween Decor using Plastic Skulls by Juliana Michaels

I am seriously in love with these and how they look decorating my house! I also love how they coordinate perfectly with my Dollar Tree Halloween Door Decor that is back in action again this year!


Linked and Shared on The Pin Junkie Pin Party #139

If you're looking for another great Dollar Tree Halloween project, check out my Dollar Tree Deco Mesh Wreath.

Dollar Tree Deco Mesh Halloween Wreath by Juliana Michaels


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Dollar Tree Trays, Chalkboard Paint, Vinyl and What I Love Free Digital Cut File

This past fall I helped out a friend at an arts and craft fair. I was so inspired by these retro and vintage trays that she had turned into adorable pieces of art. This idea has been on my mind since then and I have been wanting to take this idea and add my own spin to it. I recently came across some small silver trays at my local Dollar Tree and I immediately thought of those re-purposed trays from the fair. These seemed like the perfect ones to "test drive", so I bought one of each and took them home to play.

Dollar Tree Silver Trays




TUTORIAL | DOLLAR TREE TRAYS WALL DECOR

Now that I had my trays, I wanted to transform them. She had spray painted hers, but as most of you know, this winter has not been warm, so spray painting was out of the question. I had to come up with a different option.

Sanding the surface of the tray

1.  The first thing you must do before painting metal is treat the surface to help make the paint stick. To do this, I lightly sanded the surfaces of each tray with a fine grit foam sanding block from my local hardware store. After you are finished sanding, brush or wipe off the dust before you proceed with the next step.

Painting tray with white acrylic gesso
2. After you have sanded the surface you need to further prime the surface to help the paint stick. I used a paint brush and applied a layer of white acrylic gesso and let it dry.

Painting tray with black chalkboard paint
3.  Next, I painted the entire tray with black chalkboard paint following the instructions on the bottle of paint. I applied 2 coats going in opposite directions and allowing the paint to dry between coats. Obviously, if I had been able to use spray paint I wouldn't have had to worry about brush strokes. I didn't have the choice to use spray paint because the temperatures were way below freezing here and spray paint must be used outside with good ventilation and it will freeze coming out of the can if you use it in cold temperatures. With all this being said, I ended up really liking how the paint job turned out and I think the brush strokes add a little character to the painted tray.

Applying chalk to painted tray
4. Once the paint was completely dry, I continued following the instructions for the chalkboard paint and applied chalk over the entire painted surface.

Removing excess chalk from tray
5. The final step was to wipe off the excess chalk with a rag. Repeat the above steps on all of your trays.

FREE DIGITAL CUT FILE | WHAT I LOVE

After I had painted all three trays, I was ready to continue playing. You may not be aware, but SRM Stickers released a line of Adhesive Vinyl in tons of great colors at the recent CHA Winter Trade Show and Conference. I knew this new product would be the perfect thing to dress up my newly painted trays. I decided to design a set of digital cut files for use with my Silhouette Cameo with a theme around loving my home.  I created this FREE digital cut file that you can download and use to create your own set of trays or to use for other craft projects. You can cut these images from vinyl, stencil material, cardstock or even patterned paper and they can be used for a full range of projects, including cards, home decor and scrapbook pages. This digital file is available in both SVG, PNG and Studio formats and you may download this digital cut file for FREE for your own personal use. Please refer to my terms of use for more information.

What I Love Free Digital Cut File by Juliana Michaels 17turtles.com

This is a sneak peek at one of the trays that I created using the Dollar Tree trays, Chalkboard paint, SRM Stickers Adhesive Vinyl and one of the images from my What I Love Digital Cutting File. To see the entire set of trays, head on over to the SRM Stickers blog!

Dollar Tree Trays Wall Decor Sneak Peek

SUPPLIES | DOLLAR TREE TRAYS WALL DECOR

Metal Trays: Dollar Tree
Vinyl and Transfer Paper: SRM Stickers Adhesive Vinyl
Paint: Chalkboard Paint in Black
Gesso: Liquitex Acrylic Gesso in White
Electronic Cutting Machine: Silhouette Cameo
Digital Cutting File: Juliana Michaels | What I Love
Other: Paint Brush, Foam Sanding Block, Rag

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Dollar Tree Christmas Wreath and Garland

I'm so excited to share with you another Dollar Tree project today. You might remember my Dollar Tree Halloween Garland from back around Halloween. Well today, I am sharing my Christmas version. If you are still looking for a quick and easy way to dress up your front door for Christmas, then you have found it! This project is seriously quick and easy!

Dollar Tree Christmas Wreath and Garland by Juliana Michaels

The actual garland is from Michael's and is made by wrapping and winding and tucking two different garlands together. I found the wreath in my Christmas decorations stash in much need of a face lift. What about the Dollar Tree goodness you ask? This all happens with the things I used to decorate both the wreath and garland.

Dollar Tree Christmas Wreath and Garland by Juliana Michaels

I bought an assortment of plastic red and gold ornaments that came in these long tubes. They had several different sizes to choose from, but I selected some of the smaller ones so that I could group them together easier.

Dollar Tree Christmas Wreath and Garland by Juliana Michaels

The other fun finds were these awesome Gold Glitter Star Ornaments and the Merry Christmas Ornaments.

Dollar Tree Christmas Wreath and Garland by Juliana Michaels

Supplies | Dollar Tree Christmas Wreath & Garland

Gold and Red Ball Christmas Ornaments
Gold Glitter Star Ornaments
Merry Christmas Glitter Ornaments
Christmas Garland 
Christmas Wreath (24 inch)
Green Floral Wire - 22 Gauge
Wire Cutters


INSTRUCTIONS | DOLLAR TREE CHRISTMAS WREATH & GARLAND

To decorate the wreath, gather some floral wire and wire cutters. Cut the wire into approximately 5" lengths.


String 3 ornaments onto the wire.


Twist the wire to secure the ornaments.


Take this piece and attach it to a branch on your wreath or garland and twist the floral wire around the branch.



There you have it, you are decorating your Christmas wreath and garland with ease!


I also used a similar process to attach the Merry Christmas Glitter Ornaments and the Gold Glitter Star Ornaments to the wreath and garland.

Have you ever created your own Christmas door decorations?
I would love to see and know what YOU would create!

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Dollar Tree Halloween Door Decor Garland

What happens when you take 50 black trash bags, 3 plastic skulls, 6 plastic skeletons, and some silver tinsel from the Dollar Tree store and mix in some silver spray paint and wire??? You get a fabulous Halloween Door Garland for less than $20!!! I have been wanting to decorate the outside of my house for our Halloween Party, but I really needed to limit how much money I spent. After talking to a friend of mine who wanted to use big black trash bags as a backdrop for a photo shoot, I came up with this crazy idea. And believe it or not, this is the first time I have ever created something to decorate the front porch for Halloween. I usually keep all of my decorating indoors, but this year I wanted to extend the festivities to the outdoors by creating a garland for the front door.  Today I am going to share with you how I created the actual garland using black trash bags.


Of course, Milo had to be a part of the photo shoot and he did such a great job posing for me!!!

SUPPLIES |

50 - 30 gallon black trash bags
20 Gauge Wire
Wire Cutters

TUTORIAL | Halloween Door Garland

  • You first want to determine how you will attach the garland around your door. I have C hooks located every 2 feet or so around the outside frame of my front door.
  • Measure the height of your door to determine the length of wire you need for each side...taking into account that the bags will hang down.
  • I created separate pieces for each side of the door and another one for the top.
  • I then wrapped the wire ends around the C hooks to attach them and hold them in place.


Remove a black trash bag from roll and unwind. Do NOT unfold it.

Dollar Tree Halloween Door Garland Tutorial by Juliana Michaels

Take a pair of scissors and cut along the folded outside edges.

Dollar Tree Halloween Door Garland Tutorial by Juliana Michaels

Cut strips from the bottom to the top of the bag, leaving about 2 inches at the top.

Dollar Tree Halloween Door Garland Tutorial by Juliana Michaels

Repeat until you have cut 5-6 strips on each bag.

Dollar Tree Halloween Door Garland Tutorial by Juliana Michaels

Separate the cut strips and layers with your fingers.

Dollar Tree Halloween Door Garland Tutorial by Juliana Michaels

Wad all of the strips together in your hand to help crinkle and wrinkle the plastic.

Dollar Tree Halloween Door Garland Tutorial by Juliana Michaels

Dollar Tree Halloween Door Garland Tutorial by Juliana Michaels

Repeat this process for each bag. This is the time consuming part. I did this over several evenings while watching TV!

Next, take a roll of 20 gauge wire and thread the end through the uncut top of the plastic bag.

Dollar Tree Halloween Door Garland Tutorial by Juliana Michaels

Dollar Tree Halloween Door Garland Tutorial by Juliana Michaels

Dollar Tree Halloween Door Garland Tutorial by Juliana Michaels

Repeat this with each bag, threading them onto the wire. Add enough bags to nicely fill in each length of wire. I used about 17 bags for the sides and about 16 across the top of my door.
(My front door measures 8 feet high and 5.5 feet wide.)

I then attached each length to the top and sides of the door by winding the ends of the wire around the C hooks and occasionally looped it around the other C hooks along the way.


For more great Halloween Front Door Decorations check out my Dollar Tree Halloween Door Decor Part 2.



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