My DIY Dollar Tree Christmas decor idea came about after noticing tons of Dollar Tree projects all over Pinterest. It amazes me what some crafters can create with a few items purchased from a Dollar store.
Those amazing creations make you want to say, “Wait, you made that from Dollar Tree stuff?”
I wanted to join this bandwagon, so off I went to shop for items for my own project. I spent a long time in Dollar Tree trying to figure out what I could make. Follow along to see what I picked out to create my Christmas decor project.
DIY DOLLAR TREE CHRISTMAS DECOR
SUPPLIES NEEDED
- 9 x 22 piece of wood
- Joy to the World sign ~ Dollar Tree
- 1 roll green mesh ribbon ~ Dollar Tree
- 1 roll red mesh ribbon ~ Dollar Tree
- 1 roll wired burlap ribbon ~ Dollar Tree
- holly adornment
- thin cord or ribbon for cinching bow
- rolled kraft gift wrap with polka dots ~ Dollar Tree
- skinny tipped and regular scissors
- red craft paint
- rhinestones – 1 red, 1 green
- sponge paint brush
- Mod Podge
- hot glue gun or E6000 glue
- ruler
- sand paper
- pencil
I found the “Joy to the World” sign and pictured it attached to a wood plaque. I was hoping I’d be able to incorporate the Dollar Tree polka dot kraft wrap I used for my themed gift wrapping project.
Maybe a bow? I picked up a couple of rolls of ribbon just in case. I already had Dollar Tree’s shimmery red ribbon, so I went on a hunt for the same kind of ribbon in green that I had seen on a previous visit. Whew, I got lucky because they had ONE roll left!
I also was in search of some burlap ribbon to compliment the burlap-ish thingy on the sign. I found some burlap-ish red polka dot wired ribbon in the regular floral section. Perfect! Matching burlap-ishs!
I ended up having a piece of scrap wood on hand and, lo and behold, it was the perfect size. How often does that happen!?
The polka dot kraft paper ended up being a perfect choice as a background for the Joy sign, and a bow was definitely going to be a must for my Christmas decor project.
PREP AND PAINT THE BOARD
Sand your board if needed. Mine was pretty smooth on the front and wasn’t so bad on the edges so I went right into painting.
Use the red paint and sponge brush to paint the wood edges. Overlap some of the paint to the front side. Let dry then paint a second coat.
MOD PODGE THE GIFT WRAP
Measure the size of your board. Use the ruler to mark your wrapping paper to the same size then cut the piece of paper where marked.
If you have ever used Con-Tact shelf liner, that was similar to my method for gluing the paper down.
Spread Mod Podge with a sponge brush about 4 inches on one end of the board then place one end of the paper down on the glue. Continue that process, little by little, until your whole piece of paper is glued down.
After the entire piece is glued down, carefully and gently, start smoothing out wrinkles. I used my fingers.
I’m not the greatest at Mod Podging so my finished piece still has some wrinkles. A lot of the wrinkles will be covered up by the sign and ribbon anyway.
My paper expanded a bit after smoothing out my wrinkles on one side, so I needed to use my thin tipped scissors to cut off excess paper. Just line up the scissors directly against the board and trim paper straight down the side. See picture below.
TIP: I was going to sand all the edges of the paper a little bit after trimming, but it took off too much red paint. So don’t sand.
HOW TO MAKE THE BOW
I’m not a bow-making master, so I just haphazardly cut 2 pieces of ribbon in each color and alternately layered the ribbons on top of each other.
Pinch the center of the layered ribbons and double tie the thin stretchy cording in the center. Take that hot mess of ribbon and experiment with the position in the upper left corner of the board.
Trim any ribbon ends that need to be shortened in order to vary the lengths, and cut V’s on the ribbon ends.
I found the holly adornment at Walmart for $1.48 and glued it in the center of the bow where it is cinched.
ATTACH THE JOY SIGN
At the same time you are experimenting with bow placement, you will also need to determine where the Joy sign needs to be placed. Cut off the hanging ribbon that’s attached to the Joy sign.
Glue the Joy sign on first, the bow second, and then the holly adornment.
After everything is glued down, you can fuss more with the placement of the ribbon tails and manipulate the wired ribbon so it’s not flat.
TIP: Although using hot glue to attach the Joy sign worked for me, after the fact, I determined it was not the best way. The next time I would use E-6000 glue to attach the sign.
Now, those 2 holes in the J and Y need to be covered. I already had rhinestones on hand and they work out perfectly for covering the holes. See rhinestones in photo below. An alternative is using a dab of Elmer’s glue and glitter to cover the holes.
I’m so happy with the results of my DIY Dollar Store Christmas decor! I plan on propping up my finished decor, but you can always add a hanging bracket on the back so you can hang it on the wall.
Are you going to join the Dollar Tree bandwagon, too?
MORE DOLLAR TREE CRAFTS YOU MIGHT LIKE:
SHOP MY ETSY STORE ~ handmade sewn items for kids, family & home
Sharing this Dollar Store project at these fabulous blogs!
Thanks! I stay in the store way too long trying to brainstorm a project. LOL Thanks for pinning!
I am not the person who goes to the dollar store for inspiration because I have the hardest time. You obviously have the knack because this project is really cute. Pinning.
Your Dollar Tree sign looks great! I hit Dollar Tree before most holidays. Their embellishments are so cute and affordable.
Thanks! I go for all the holidays. I’m ready to see what they have for Valentine’s Day this week, so I can see what my next project will be!
This is such a cute idea! I love dollar store crafting. Pinning this!
Thanks so much for pinning!
These came out so well. I am doing a lot of DIY too, this Christmas.
Thank you. I love saving money DIYing!
This turned out so cute!! Great job!
Thank you so much!
Your Joy to the World sign is great!
Thank you, Carol!
This is so cute!! I just love how it turned out!!
Thank you! It turned out better than I thought it was going to. I’m happy with it.
Cute project. I hope you’ll share it with us at the Party In Your PJ’s link party on Tuesday evening.
Thank you, Ann!
Allyson, this is such a cute project and it turned out lovely! I admire all the DIY’ers, so many creative projects.
Thank you, It was fun to make!
It’s such a darling Christmas decoration, Allyson! The bow looks beautiful finished with Christmas berries!
Thank you! I think the berry adornment helped the bow, too.
Love this project and I’m such a fan of Dollar Tree. Happy Holidays and thanks for sharing.
Thank you! It’s a fun challenge trying to create something out of their products. Happy holidays to you as well!
So cute! I love Dollar Tree in general and it’s extra fun this time of year. Great for stocking stuffers too!
Thank you! It’s amazing the cute things you can find at the Dollar Tree.
That is so cute! I too am always amazed at what people can make using mostly Dollar Store items; I’m not so good at thinking outside the box I guess. Thanks for sharing with us at the Happy Holiday Link party. Pinned.
Thanks, it was fun to make! So glad I found the link party and thanks for pinning!