Audrey and I officially have a new obsession.

Dollar Tree DIYs!

I didn’t even know this was a thing.  Until we were watching YouTube videos one night and just happened to stumble on some home decor videos using Dollar Tree products.  Then we started watching Dollar Tree hauls.  And more Dollar Tree DIYs.

And you can probably tell where this is going.

Like seeing these little wooden houses from their summer collection show up on practically everyone’s hauls, and wanting them so badly, we starting popping into every Dollar Tree in the area until we found them.

Yup.  That kind of obsession.

But it was so worth it.  Because I absolutely love the way my idea turned out.

supplies:

• wooden houses from Dollar Tree
• wood glue
• white chalk paint
• foam brush
• pencil (not pictured)
• print out with cute home-inspired quote (not pictured)
• a black and red (not pictured) paint marker
• 4 cup hooks
• 2 sawtooth hangers
• 1/2 inch thick wood strips (not pictured)
• wood stain (I used Minwax Dark Walnut – not pictured)
  • My idea sort of kept evolving, so there are certain things not pictured, and others that are pictured that we didn’t use.

First, we laid out the houses in the order we wanted them to be, and wood glued them together.  Once the wood glue dried, Audrey got to painting!

In the photo, you can see there’s a bit of a rough spot where we pulled the label from.  I went in and sanded this down with 220 grit paper so the paint would lay smooth.

While the paint was drying, I searched online for a quote that I wanted.  I eventually settled on “family makes this house a home” and printed it out on regular printer paper.

Then I pencil transferred the quote to the dried houses.

Funny thing is, I never knew what pencil transfer was until my sister did it for her college graduation cap a few years ago.  Ever since then, I’ve wanted to pencil transfer everything.

Basically, you just flip your image over and scribble pencil all over the back of the paper…

Then you flip the paper back over, positioning the quote exactly where you want it on your project and taping it down.

Using a bit of pressure, trace the quote.  This will transfer the pencil from the back of the paper onto your project.  Then you can go over it with something more permanent – like paint marker.

After the paint marker dried, I added the cup hooks.  I did this by measuring the length of my houses (which turned out to be 16 inches), and placing one every 4 inches.  I used pressure and pushed down until the cup hooks screwed into the house – but this was tough.  If I were to do it again, I would probably drill a small hole to help aid the cup hook in.

Then I added two sawtooth hangers on the back.  The wood will split slightly when you hammer them in, but it’s completely unnoticeable in the front – and the item isn’t heavy enough to be truly concerned.

This was the finished product….

Or so I thought.

It just looked plain.  Like it was missing something.

So I grabbed a couple 1/2 inch thick wood strips from Lowe’s (I only needed to use one, though) and measured them out to where there was a bit of an overhang off each of the outside houses.

Then I stained them with some of the Dark Walnut stain that I had leftover from my farmhouse table build and wood glued them on.

However.  I still thought the project was missing something.  So I drew on some windows and doors to the two outside houses.

And with that, it was ready to hang!

I seriously love the functionality of this.  And the fact that we did it with just a few Dollar Tree houses, hardware and wood from Lowe’s, and products I had laying around the house.  The entire project cost less than $10.

Which is much better than the wooden key holders I was finding on Etsy.

And while I know the white against the white walls is kind of bland – I don’t plan to live in a rental forever, so for now, it’ll do!

But guys.  I am seriously so excited to make this a thing.  These Dollar Tree DIYs.

It’s been busy around TLL and I can’t wait to share everything with you, as I slowly take this blog away from just food, and share all my passions.