Dollar Store Decorating Link Party

Today I'm at Duke Hospital with my son Preston, who is having surgery; your prayers would be appreciated.

But today is a special day, because it's the day for the Dollar Store Decorating Link Party!

This week I was blessed to be part of a group of bloggers been sharing our ideas for decorating using dollar store items. It's been fun!  And today it's YOUR turn to show us your ideas.

In case you missed any of the posts, here's a recap so you can see them all:

The Pennington Point | The Shabby Creek Cottage | Kids*Stuff*World | The Cottage Market

Makely School for Girls | Imparting Grace | Graphics Fairy DIY | Love of Home & Family

Now it's YOUR turn!  Link up your decorating ideas/crafts using dollar store type items.  And be sure to visit other party goers--join the fun and spread the love! 

Our Christmas Tree

Right now I have just one tree photo to share with you.  And I didn't take it.  But I love it.

Want to know why I love it?  Because my 21-year-old son, who is a senior at Duke University right here in our hometown of Durham, North Carolina took it.  He brought a group of friends over the first weekend of December and took this nighttime photo of our tree:



Then he posted it on Instagram with this caption:  "Just because I'm from Durham doesn't mean I don't miss home."

Do you hear that, you moms?  I know you get tired.  I know you sometimes wonder if all your work is worth it.  You wonder if anyone really appreciates all the work you put into making your home lovely during the holiday season.

I'm here to tell you that it matters.  Keep on.  You're providing the stuff of memories.

I'm joining these wonderful parties:

Christmas Tree Link Party at Honey We're Home
Holiday Home Christmas Tree Party at Thrifty Decor Chick
Inspiration Friday, At the Picket Fence
Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now

Dollar Store Christmas Decorating

I'm excited to be participating in this week's Dollar Store Decorating series with Gina at The Shabby Creek Cottage and six other wonderful bloggers.  Lindsay at Makely School for Girls is also taking part in the series today; you'll want to check out her post here!

My dollar store creations are super-simple, but I'm pleased with how they turned out!

While browsing the aisles of the dollar store,  I was especially inspired as I looked at the display of old-fashioned candies.  So I bought three bags of Bob's "Sweet Stripes" peppermint sticks, along with a couple of red pillar candles.

First I used clippers to trim off the bottoms of the peppermint sticks, making them the same height as the candle.

Then one at a time, I simply hot-glued peppermint sticks to the candle, like this:

It took 17 sticks to go all the way around the candle.  Here's how they looked when I finished:

You can see that the bottoms of the candy sticks aren't perfect.  But that's no problem if you nestle the candles in a bed of greenery, like this:



Or add a ribbon to the base of each candle, like this:



I'm tickled pink with my pretty Christmas candles!  At first I was a little bummed because the pillar candles at the dollar store are smaller in diameter than they used to be, but I realized as I was gluing on my peppermint sticks that the smaller size is really better for the project.  When you add the size of the candy sticks to the total diameter of the candle, it's just right for sitting atop a pillar candle holder.

The two pillar candles cost me a total of $5.00--$1.00 for each candle plus three bags of peppermint sticks at $1.00 each.  I think that's a lot of bang for the buck.

I found these treats in the dollar store candy aisle, too:

I bought a couple of canisters and added these goodies to a bag displayed on my antique scale:

At Christmastime I keep the scale on my kitchen island, along with an old gift wrap holder:

That's my DIY Noël hanging in the window; click here for tutorial.

I found both the scale and the gift wrap holder (complete with Christmas paper!) at an antique mall last year.  I love having them displayed on the kitchen island at Christmastime.  It's almost like having the counter of a general store in my kitchen!

While I was at the dollar store, I found a number of items that I made into Christmas gifts.  I'll share those later this week.

I'm so grateful to have had this chance to join the Dollar Store Decorating series!  Tomorrow's posts will be contributed by Karen at The Graphics Fairy and Tonya at Love of Family and Home.  You won't want to miss these.

If you shop at a dollar store, you can take part in this series, too.  All eight of us in this series are hosting a huge link party.  Write about your dollar store decorating and join Friday's link party!

So tell me--do you shop at dollar stores?  Do you use dollar store purchases in your decorating?  I'd love to know!

See this post for lots of gift ideas using dollar store items!