DIY Magnetic Memo Board Gift

So simple you'll say, "Say What!?"

Hold on to your hat.  This craft is a pizza pan.  From the Dollar Store.  And it's magnetic.

1.  Get a pizza pan
2.  Get a square of fabric large enough to cover that pizza pan.
3.  Iron your fabric (spraying with a water bottle, stretching, then letting dry will do the trick, too)
3.  Make a line of hot glue little by little around the inner circle of the pan (too much at one time and it will dry).  Smooth it down as you go.
5.  Flip the pan over and repeat, gluing down little by little and smoothing as you go.
6.  Optional:  Find another piece of fabric to glue down over the back to make it look all profesh.
7.  Decorate at will.

Pizza pan = $1
Using other stuff you have at home = free

Tip:  I bought this fabric in the "remnant" section of Hobby Lobby (or any other Walmart or Craft Store).  I bought the yellow for $2 and was able to make 4 projects and the blue for $2 and was able to make 4 projects.  I still have leftover fabric to use!

Le back.











Here's what I spent in real life.  If you are a craft-a-holic or crazy genius you may able to make this for free.  I wanted a cute little circle memo board, but if you use your imagination I bet you have other magnetic things lying around the house (p.s.  Test them with a magnet before you go all nuts making a project that may not work)

Yellow project:
Dollar Store Pizza Pan: $1
Fabric: about $.75
Hot glue:  Free
Felt to cover back:  Free
Black Braid on front:  old t-shirt I cut up into strips = free
Little zebra flower I made out of felt:  free

Blue Project:
Dollar Store Pizza Pan: $1
Fabric: about $.75
Hot glue:  Free
Felt to cover back:  Free
Blue Felt Braid on front:  Free
Little yellow flower I made out of felt:  free

Now, go scout around your house, you crafty maven.  I bet you already have most of this stuff and it's just waiting to be made into your art.

Want a step-by-step of the Jewelry Frame gift you see here?  Click this link and be prepared to be amazed.  It's just as simple and equally cheap.

DIY gift: Jewelry Frame, Dollar Store Alert!

Money's a little tight around the holidays.  Can I get an Amen?

Here's a project I made for my peeps, along with step-by-step instructions and a cost tally.  Get ready for it!  (p.s. Try to keep yourself from flying out the door immediately.  You may want to read all of the steps before you run out to the store)

Instructions
1.  Get a Dollar Store Frame (or one you have in your house) and take out the glass (you will not need it)  If you don't like the color, but like the size of the frame get it anyway…I bought 2 silver frames and painted one black.
2. On the backing, hot glue a piece of fabric or scrapbook paper so that it overlaps on to the back.  (see pic)
3. Strategically glue a ribbon across the bottom (mine has glue in several spots to hold up heavier earrings well)
4.  Cut a few wine corks in half and attach them through the backing with screws or nails (make sure they don't poke through the cork.  Ouch!)
5.  Done

Yep.  That simple.

Itemized list of things you will need to find in your house or buy:

Frame

Paper, photo, fabric or bandana

ribbon, yarn, etc (optional)

wine corks if you got em (optional)

screws or nails (optional)

hot glue gun

It is completely possible to make this for free.  I cheated and bought a few things To make it cutesier.

I'll be honest and show you my expense report.

Yellow Project

Dollar Store Frame:  $1
Hobby Lobby Fabric: About $0.50
Dollar Store Ribbon: About $0.50 (half a roll)
Wine Corks: free
Screws:  free
Hot glue:  free

Blue Project
Same deal, Lucille.

Click here to see a step-by-step of the coordinating project, but prepare to have your mind blown.  It's a Dollar Store pizza pan and…wait for it…it's magnetic.

Animal Party for kids

I am a bargain shopper, repurposer, make-do-with-what-you-have-er, lighten up daily activities with life and creativity sort of mom (most of the time).  Here's how I did a summer animal party for my 6 year old on the CHEAP.

Free + Cheap items + creativity + getting your kids involved = little kid party fun

First, we scoured Oriental Trading for slightly less than perfect or clearance items.  Found this Vacation Bible School Arch FOR 9 DOLLARS.  Came in a week or less and took less than 1 hour to assemble. What am I crazy?  A sane person could not say no to this deal.  Repurposing it in my 1st grade classroom in the fall.  How will I make it fit in?  I'll keep you posted :)  

Ami (Grandma) bought this for Anastasia (which, by the way, is a great way to make out of town relatives and friends feel a part of your celebration...each year grandma sends something for the party even if she doesn't come).

We shed some of the obvious VBS parts of the arch, but for 9 bucks I was not going to pass this puppy up.  Soooo many uses for this and can always be disassembled and donated to a school, church or civic group.  Was so easy to put together my 6 year old got in on the action.

The kids set up their own table (coffee table with dollar store table cloth, hats, napkins).  Not glamorous, but it made them feel like they had ownership of the party and got them excited and brainstorming about things they would do with their friends.  I highly recommend this.

Dollar store stuff + Fast food drink holder = all the table supplies you can handle (napkins, utensils, etc)

Ok, I am a crafty person, you got me.  I know this one's not as simple as it looks, but it's going in my classroom in the Fall (two-fer) so I spent mucho extra time on it.  The concept?  Take apart a box (yep), tape the floppy parts together (see my black duck tape?...they also have fun designs) cut some face holes, and paint.  I used cheap acrylics I bought for another project that were saturated with color and a deal so delicious I couldn't pass it up...$1 a tube from Tuesday Morning.  Great decorations to add color and something fun to do and share.  Snap a pic and it can go in a Thank you card (I didn't make it this far, but I'm going to make kid name plates for my students this year)

Side 1

Side 2

Every year I make my daughter's pinata.  Usually it's a sticky mess of liquid starch, newspaper and balloons which must dry before you can paint it.  Cheap, but time-consuming.  This, friends, is a USPS box.

Step one...make generous holes in one side (bottom) and attach long strings (monkey is sitting on them) that the kids will pull instead of pummeling pinata blindfoldedly with a bat (eep!)  If you can, take the time to ease the process by cutting a section away, then loosely taping it back together.  A false "door" might have helped us (the box was too strong for my 5-6 year old minions to loosen)...I had to resort to gentle dismembering...

Next, fill box with candy and tape up.

Decorate at will with tissue paper and a hot glue gun.  I got fancy, but it didn't take much time.  Kids are just as happy with an empty box (you know this) and this could easily be covered with a thin layer of tissue in a pretty color as it already has ribbons hanging from the bottom to pull.

This tissue paper came in one pack.  For one dollar.  Bing!

We created a bunch of fun water games to play outside:

Ping pong toss

Water Balloon Hot Potato (poke a hole in a giant water balloon and let them go to town)

Squirt guns+tiny ducks=duck derby race...each kid uses their gun to squirt their duck to victory

Cup on the head fill up with water cannon double dare type game

So many options.  So many uses for dollar store items.

A little bit of decoration can go a long way.

Close-up of the arch pieces.  They came in one nice Fed Ex box, flat and scored for easy folding.