Dollar Tree Storage Solutions

As promised, here is another post about my latest and greatest storage solutions.  Did I mention they are also affordable?? Here are a few ideas using items found at the dollar tree!

First up we have my Washi Tape Dispenser!

I forgot to take a before picture of the basket but it was just that, a basket (you can get the gist of it from the final product).  Below are a bunch of sticks that I think are supposed to go into a large vase or something like that but I just needed one of them to act as a dowel.  I figured a skinny dowel and the gas to get somewhere that sold one was probably more than $1 so I just bought these:

They're about 3ft long so I imagine I'll be able to find a use for the rest of them eventually :)

So I cut one of the sticks into two pieces that were the length of my basket.  Next, I put each stick through one of the holes on the end of the basket.  Then I loaded all of my washi tape onto them, making sure it would roll the right way, depending on which side I placed it.  Finally I pulled the other end of the stick through the opposite hole and hot glued a bead onto each end to prevent the sticks from falling out.  And there you have it!

Much better than a ziploc bag, no?  Here are a few more shots of it:

Now for the pill box organizer!

I wanted to get one of those trays that has a bunch of little square compartments in it, usually for make-up or tools or something.  But these are usually not very cheap so while I was at the dollar tree I found a better solution: pill boxes!

Please ignore the clothespins for now, more to come on them in the future! ;)

So these were, of course, $1 each! Can't beat it! And I liked them because each compartment is a pretty good size.  They had others available but they were too small.

I needed storage for these little 3D sticker/gem things that I have, and this fit the bill!

It is hard to tell from the picture but I was able to sort my gems; I have keys, birthday candles and hats, presents, graduation caps, bride and groom, so on and so forth.  It worked out perfectly with lucky number 7 compartments.  Now yes this was a great storage solution but, not too attractive for my craft room.  So I used my decorative duck tape to jazz things up a bit:

Not too shabby now!  Tell me your great storage ideas and check out more of mine here! :)

I really love comments!

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Update:

I used the second pill box to store buttons! Again it works out perfectly and I decorated that one with pink tape! (Sorry, no pictures :/ )

DIY Clear Stamp Storage

Last weekend I was just in one of those moods where you want to throw away all your stuff just so your room will be clean.  Tell me I'm not the only one whose felt this way, please!  Anyways I was in the cleaning mood so I was going through a bunch of stuff and really wanted to get organized!  This post and the next few to follow will chronicle my cleaning and organizing adventure!  Hope you enjoy!

So I had this basket.  And it was overflowing, like, a lot.  So as I went through it I decided I needed a better way to store the majority of its contents - clear stamps.  I also wanted to find better storage for these because I never use them because of how inconvenient it is to find the one I want.  So I went to Pinterest, as I often do, for inspiration!  I found a lot of cute ideas but the problem was they all required money... which I didn't really want to spend nor did I have the time to go to the store to buy anything.  So working with what I had at home, this is what I came up with:

Not to toot my own horn but... it. is. awesome!!  Let me know what you think in the comments!  I am seriously in love with this thing and it only cost me $1!  I got several colorful 3-ring binders on clearance for a buck each a while ago, I knew they'd come in handy eventually!  Then I went back to Pinterest and found these adorable (and free!) printable binder covers here.  For the actual storage part I used sheet protectors, which I had on hand from ages ago:

To keep everything in place a used my double-sided tape roller and put a small piece on the back of each package.  This helps keep them all visible yet still easy to remove, use, and return.  I even put the clear blocks in there:

Overall this thing took me about 15 minutes to make and only cost $1, plus it will be super easy to add more to my collection!  I'm always on Pinterest (did I mention Pinterest yet? lol) seeing these amazingly organized people and I'm thinking "I'm not that talented" or "I don't have time for that" or "It's too expensive for all that stuff!" But I am living proof that you don't need time, money, or talent in order to be organized!  Let me know how you like to keep things neat!

Please check out my other posts! :)

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Pillows Please :)

Who doesn't love pillows? Especially when you can make your own cute accent pillows for MUCH less than what they cost at the store!

My first pillow was made for my dorm room. Total cost: ~$4!  I found the round pillow form at a garage sale... before you say "Ew" it was still in the original packaging so I knew it was good... for $2.50 (75% off!).  Then the fabric for the cover was from a body pillow cover I got at Target for 70% off, so it was about ~$3 and I only used about half of it (plus I got a zipper out of that thing too!!! Bonus!).  So I just cut out 2 circles, slightly larger than the pillow form, and sewed them right sides together about 75% of the way.  Then I turned it right sides out and stuffed in my pillow form.  Then (while riding in the car back to school) I hand stitched the rest of the way using an invisible seam.  Tutorial here.

So here is the result!

The perfect pop of color for my polka-dotted bedspread!

Perfect for the color scheme!

Please leave a comment for me :)

Now on to pillow #2:

You are gonna LOVE this one! It literally cost me $1.30 :O (I know, I know, you're thinking "no way!" but Yes! It is true!!)

So this cover started life as a napkin, a double-sided napkin to be exact.  I got it at Dillard's (on New Year's Day - extra 50% off!) for $1.05!  What a steal!  I absolutely loved the fabric so I had to have it and was disappointed there was just one.  Now this pillow form was also a steal at $0.25 from Michael's.  It was on the $1 items row, which was all on sale, as a kid's pillow which they could color but I saw it as a cheap pillow form!  Those things are expensive at Joann's!! Up to $30!  So grab 'em whenever you see one on the cheap!

P.S. I used the zipper from the Michael's pillow to make this wristlet!

I used this Simple Pillow Cover Tutorial and luckily my napkin pieces were large enough for my 14" square pillow!  The project took only maybe 15 mins so anyone could do this and you don't even have to sew well, it's just a few straight lines!  What do you think guys?

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Thanks for reading!

Stay tuned for more posts soon because...... I just got a Cricut machine today!! :D

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