So I'm setting up for my daughter's party in Springfield last Saturday and the fancy balloon arch I ordered from Party City literally fell apart 10 minutes before guests showed up. I ran to Dollar Tree and bought 3 glue guns for $1.25 each plus a pack of wooden skewers. I rebuilt the whole arch by gluing balloons to skewers and sticking them in a foam board base. It actually looked better than the original and cost me like $4 total. Has anyone else had a last minute dollar store fix save an event?
I grabbed a hot glue gun from Dollar Tree last weekend cause I needed it for a quick craft I was doing. It was only $1.25 so I figured what's the harm, right? Well, I got maybe 10 minutes into gluing some fabric onto a frame and the trigger mechanism just snapped clean off. The glue itself was fine but the gun became useless. I ended up having to run to the real craft store and spend $8 on a better one to finish the job. So I wasted $1.25 plus the time and gas money driving twice. Has anyone else had a dollar store tool fail on them like this?
Last night I tried to patch a broken flower pot with a cheap glue gun from Dollar Tree and the plastic casing started warping within 5 minutes, has anyone found a decent dollar store glue option that actually holds up?
I was making a collage frame with four $1.25 frames from Dollar Tree and the backing on one just fell off. I went with the hot glue because it seemed stronger, but it made a big mess on the glass. Anybody else have trouble getting hot glue off dollar store stuff once it dries?
I kept painting those little terra cotta pots with $1 acrylics and they'd look great for a week then just flake off everywhere. Last Tuesday I was complaining to the lady at the checkout and she asked if I was priming them first. I mean I thought the paint was thick enough on its own but she said the clay drinks the moisture. Grabbed a $1.25 primer and tried it on three pots Sunday and the paint actually stuck smooth. Has anyone else been skipping the primer step for no reason?
Tried painting a plastic planter with regular rust-oleum instead of the plastic-specific dollar store stuff and it peeled off in one sheet after 2 days, has anyone else learned this the hard way or am I just slow?
I've been using Dollar Tree frames for a shadow box project i started in january, and the ones i bought back then had a solid half inch of depth. The ones i grabbed last week are barely a quarter inch thick, so my pressed flowers won't even fit anymore. Anybody else notice their dimensions changed or did i just get a bad batch?
I figured it would be dry in a few hours like the name brand stuff, but after 3 days it was still tacky to the touch. Has anyone else had this issue with the $1.25 Rust-Oleum knockoff from Dollar Tree?
Was in the middle of my dollar store craft marathon at 11pm when I pressed too hard and the hot glue dripped right through the styrofoam onto the table. Now I've got a permanent reminder of why you should always use a cutting board even for cheap projects. Anybody else ruin furniture trying to save two bucks on supplies?
I saw those little foam blocks at the dollar store and thought yeah these will save me from scrubbing forever. Tried using one on my kitchen counter last week and it literally crumbled into pieces after like two minutes. The package said it worked like a charm but I ended up with foam bits stuck in every little crack of my tile grout. I spent another 20 minutes picking out the chunks with tweezers before I could even mop the floor. Total loss was just $3 for the erasers but man the time I wasted was way more frustrating. Has anyone else tried those and actually got them to hold together for more than a few swipes?
Tbh the guy at the checkout gave me a weird look when I bought 12 plastic cutting boards and 3 packs of zip ties, but after my real shelf collapsed this thing is still standing, anyone else turn random dollar store stuff into actual furniture?
I grabbed a bottle of dollar store white vinegar and some aluminum foil, soaked the blades for 2 hours and scrubbed them clean. Did anyone else have that stuff sitting in your cleaning cabinet for years without realizing it works on rust?
I was about to drop $30 on proper sculpting clay for a little figurine I wanted to make. My mom grabbed a $1.50 pack from the craft aisle and said 'just try it, what's the worst that happens?' Turns out it worked fine for a small project like this. Has anyone else had luck with the cheaper materials for stuff you're not sure about?
I tried using it to seal some dollar store shrink wrap on a project, and the plastic casing around the nozzle started melting after 2 minutes. Has anyone else had one of those cheap heat guns almost catch fire on them?
I always figured their glue would be watery junk, but that $1.25 tube held a broken ceramic mug together for 6 months now. Anyone else find a dollar store adhesive that actually works better than the brand name stuff?
I was making a little desk organizer for my screws and stuff. Dollar store foam board was way easier to cut clean with a box cutter than cardboard that kept bending. The foam board also held its shape after I glued it, no sagging. Cost me $1.25 a sheet. Has anyone else used this for small projects?
She walked over while I was planting basil seeds in those little plastic cups from Dollar Tree and said I'd be better off just buying fresh herbs. I've been doing this for 2 years now and my basil actually grows fine, but her comment made me wonder if I'm saving any money at all. Anyone else do the math on their dollar store gardening projects?
I tried patching a broken ceramic vase with Elmer's and all-purpose flour instead of proper epoxy and it took three full days to dry and still cracked, has anyone else learned the hard way that some dollar store shortcuts just don't work?
I snagged that $1.25 baking mat from the kitchen aisle to catch drips under an old transmission I was cleaning, and it held up better than the newspaper I usually use, has anyone else repurposed kitchen stuff for messy projects like this?
My kitchen sink has been draining slow for weeks and I kept putting off calling a plumber. I was about to pay $150 for a service call when my neighbor said just try a cheap drain snake first. So I walked down to the dollar store and grabbed one for $5. That little plastic thing with the barbs pulled out a huge clump of hair and grease from the pipe. Water runs perfect now and I feel dumb for almost wasting all that money. Has anyone else had luck with dollar store tools for basic home fixes?
I needed a new light for my kitchen nook and didn't want to drop $80 at the hardware store. So I grabbed a basic plug-in light kit from Dollar Tree for $5, then bought 3 wire baskets and some zip ties. I wired the baskets into a cage shape around the bulb. Total cost was $47 for everything including bulbs and it looks like something from West Elm. Has anyone else tried making lamps or lights from dollar store stuff?
I was doing a unicorn horn project for my niece's party and the cheap glue stick melted into a goopy mess that clogged the nozzle completely. Had to scrape it out with a toothpick and now I'm wondering if I should preheat dollar store glue guns before using them like you do with ovens. Anybody else run into this?
I switched to the clear multipurpose epoxy they sell there instead of the white glue sticks and now my little crafts actually hold together. Anyone else find a random dollar store swap that made a big difference?
I spent three hours layering paint on a set of six pots last week and only figured out after they peeled that you're supposed to do one thin coat and let it dry, not glob it on like I was frosting a cake.
I always thought spray paint was faster until I tried doing a gradient with a cheap sponge brush and those $1.25 craft paints - the control is way better and no overspray headache. Has anyone else found a dollar store product that made you ditch the expensive stuff?