Creative Dollar Store Crafts for Vintage Cottage Decor

Some of the most charming cottage-style decorations begin with the simplest supplies. A dollar-store box, an old belt, scrapbook paper, matchboxes, tiny lights, and bits and pieces left over from other projects can become something completely unexpected.

The video featured below is full of those kinds of ideas. Rather than buying expensive craft supplies, the creator combines inexpensive finds with things she already has to make decorative pieces with an aged, collected-over-time look.

One of my favorite things about these projects is that they don't need to look perfect. A little texture, an aged finish, vintage-style paper, and repurposed materials are part of their charm.

A Vintage-Style Gold Plaque

The first project begins with something you might never think of using as a mold—a plastic sandwich-meat container.

Plaster of Paris is poured into the container to create the plaque, and a hanger is added before the plaster sets. Once finished, the plaque gets an antique-looking gold treatment and a printed piece of artwork in the center.

It's a wonderful reminder to look at the shape of packaging before throwing it away. Trays, lids, containers, and boxes can sometimes become molds, frames, or bases for completely different projects.

Tiny Books and a Lighted Candle

Miniature lovers will especially enjoy this project.

Small matchboxes become stacks of vintage-looking books after printable book covers are added. A strand of tiny lights is threaded through the books and continues upward into a handmade miniature candle.

The candle itself is cleverly constructed from a small piece of discarded jewelry and a plastic straw.

It's exactly the sort of project that makes you start looking through the junk drawer differently. Beads, jewelry findings, scraps of trim, buttons, matchboxes, and other tiny objects can become surprisingly convincing miniature accessories.

A Cottage Dressing Room in a Box

Another favorite is the little cottage dressing room.

It begins with a Dollar Tree Christmas gift box. An opening is cut into the lid, turning the box into a miniature room.

Inside, scrapbook paper becomes wallpaper, while small wooden blocks create the look of a wood floor.

The room gradually fills with delightful little details: dresses made from paper and trim, handmade dress stands, miniature artwork, a tiny mirror, flowers, a table, and hidden lighting.

The result is somewhere between a shadow box, miniature room, and decorative assemblage.

This idea could be adapted in so many ways. Instead of a dressing room, imagine creating a tiny sewing room, garden shed, bookshop, kitchen, artist's studio, Christmas room, or cozy reading nook.

Repurpose Before You Buy

One idea runs through all of these projects: use what you already have whenever possible.

An old belt becomes useful craft material. Matchboxes become books. Packaging becomes a plaster mold. A dental mirror becomes miniature decor. Children's blocks become building materials.

Even leftover pieces from earlier projects are saved and eventually find a new purpose.

That's one of my favorite things about cottage crafting. Supplies don't necessarily have to come from the craft aisle. Sometimes the most interesting project begins with an ordinary object and the question, "What else could I make from this?"

Watch the Projects Being Made

The video below shows all of these projects being created from beginning to end, including the materials, painting techniques, miniature details, and plenty of clever improvising along the way.

If you enjoy vintage cottage decor, miniatures, repurposing, and turning inexpensive supplies into something beautiful, this one is well worth watching.

And the next time you're about to toss out an interesting little box, container, scrap of trim, or piece of old jewelry, you might want to save it.

It could be the beginning of your next cottage craft. 

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