21 Things You Should Be Buying at the Dollar Tree

Now if you are reading this and you are a good friend of mine, you probably know my mild obsession with the Dollar Tree. This is because of a number of reasons. Most of those reasons having to do with my lack of funds and immense love of cheap buys. When a lot of people tell me they have never been to the dollar tree, a small part of my soul dies because a place where every single item is a dollar is like god’s greatest gift to the world. Here is a list of 21 things you didn’t think you could get at the Dollar Tree, but absolutely should.

To begin lets clarify that everything at the official Dollar Tree is no more expensive than a dollar. None of that "Dollar General" crap. Also, all of these pictures are taken from the official Dollar Tree website. Now, prepare to save an absurd amount of money.

1. Pottery and Dishware 

I know many of you just shuttered a little and thought that Dollar Tree dish ware would be like buying it at a garage sale. No, it's brand new and there are tons of options. For those of us who are either in college, or at an apartment, or in a house as young adults, this can be extremely beneficial 

2. Cleaning Supplies

There are a ton of different cleaning supplies and they are all only $1.00. Now you don't have to decide whether to starve for a few lunches or have to wear your shoes in the kitchen of your apartment because the floor looks so grimy. 

3. Name Brand Hygiene Products

There is every kind of hygiene product at the dollar tree. I understand wanting to spend a little more on shampoo and hairspray, but its so unnecessary to spend more money on things like hair ties, deodorant, shaving cream, and toothpaste. The D-tree has you covered.

 4. Outdoor Lighting and Decorations:

There are a lot of outdoor decorations, like these solar powered lights.

Dollar Tree = Cheap Lowes = Mindblown ------>

5. Kitchen Tools

Everything you could possibly need for your kitchen, from measuring cups to pizza cutters, is at the Dollar Tree. A lot of it is the Betty Crocker name brand and theres a good variety. All a dollar.

6. Tons of Decorative Frames

If you are like me, you take an absurd amount of pictures. Of everything, your friends, your boyfriend, your cat, everything. Frames are such an easy way to decorate your room or home and there is a whole section in the Dollar Tree dedicated entirely to a massive amount of different frames.

  

7. Winter Wear

It is starting to get cold again and I am already on the hunt for basic gloves or hats. I lose gloves like I lose socks, and having a bunch of 1.00 pairs of soft little winter gloves is so useful.

8. Craft Supplies

If you are a crafty person yourself, or you have little children in your life, craft supplies are such a must. They can be so expensive too, but they don't have to be.

9.Storage Containers

There are storage containers of all sizes. Laundry baskets, make up holders, storage bings, etc. Such an inexpensive way to organize your things. 






10.  Nail Care Products

Literally every nail polish color imaginable can be found in the aisle with beauty products. They even sell the skinny tip nail polishes for making designs. Also everything you could need to take care of your nails like clippers and files. It's also a neat idea for a gift basket because you could fill it with so many different products.






11. Office Supplies/ School Supplies

Why in gods name people spend so much money at Staples and whatnot for school and office supplies is beyond me. It is all at the Dollar Tree, all a dollar. There you go, mom doesn't have to take out a second mortgage every time the kids go back to school.









12. Tupperware 

You can always use more of these, come on.








12. Every Paper Product Imaginable

 

Anytime you are having a party from a backyard cookout to a themed party, there is a large assortment of paper products and decorations for an occasion. The party store can be pricey, avoid it.








13. Holiday Decorations That Are Actually Pretty Cute

If you are a fan of having little decorations out for fun holidays like Halloween or Christmas, this is your one stop shop. Literally there is a ton of stuff ranging from completely weird to actually pretty cute. Whether its for a party, decorations around your house/apartment, or you just want to put some little accents on your college door, $$$$$$$$ TREE










14. Bathroom Products






The Dollar Tree has different kinds of hand towels, soaps, plungers, toilet cleaners, and even shower curtains. They have so much to keep up your bathroom.







15. Snacks and Drinks





If you are having people over or even if you just want some cheap little snacks for your home, why not get them for a dollar? They don't have a large selection of name brand food items but it is definitely somewhere you should stop for snacks and a large assortment of candy items.





16. Laundry Items:





Fabric softener, detergent, drier sheets, lint rollers, etc. It is all there and all for a dollar. If you are like me and not that particular about brand items for this sort of stuff, why the heck not get it all for 1.00








17. Kids Toys




There is an entire aisle dedicated to toys, puzzles, games, dress up, and more for inexpensive little games for children. Babysitters, moms, and teachers don't have to go broke to get little trinkets for kids. Awesome way to stock up a prize box. Trust me, they won't care that it was a dollar.





 18. Pet Supplies






Furry friends can be expensive, but they don't have to be for everything. The Dollar Tree cannot pay for the vet visits, but they can help you out with treats, toys, and food.







19. First Aid and Medicine Cabinet Supplies

There is anything from vitamins to antibacterial cream. I am not saying I would be the first to jump at 1.00 pregnancy test or medications, but hey, 100 bandaids for 1.00? I'll take it.






20. Scrapbooking Supplies



So if any of you people reading this are chronically sentimental and artsy like I sometimes feel, you have dabbled in scrapbooking. If not, you at least use scrapbooking materials for other crafts. This being said, you have probably ventured into an AC Moore or Hobby Lobby and left there feeling robbed of your most recent paycheck and a little dignity. Check out the Dollar Tree before you start shopping for other materials, they get scrapbooking supplies in frequently and you cannot beat a dollar.



21. Tools to Make Cheap Look Sheik 


Probably the coolest part of shopping at places like this, is that you have the opportunity to make something really cheap look really awesome. These pictures are from a website page off of the pain Dollar Tree website called "The Dollar Tree Bride" where there are tons of awesome craft ideas for how to use these materials to decorate and embellish your wedding. I have found that though I love DIY crafts and gifts, they often end up costing just as much as if I were to buy the darn thing instead of make it. Going somewhere like the Dollar Tree makes you not only crafty, but smart. Don't discount places because of the "quality" you think they are. You make your own quality. Be humble. Be creative. Be smart with your money.

 http://www.dollartree.com/custserv/custserv.jsp?pageName=weddings

How to Be Brilliant in 10 Simple Ways

1. To begin, forget all of the limits that you or other people have set for your own intelligence. Forget about your test scores, or the fact that you have not excelled in certain subjects. Being smart means being confident and not calling something a failure before you even try.

2. Stop being afraid of “looking stupid”. If there is a conversation going on around you, get involved, disregard your inhibitions. The people that speak up are the ones that learn, they are the ones that will in the long run become far more intelligent than those who saved themselves the possible slight embarrassment of “looking stupid” for a brief moment.

3. If you feel that you are incredibly intellectual, realize that arrogance is just as much a thief of knowledge as insecurity is. The moment you stop being able to learn from others is the moment you completely stunt your ability to grow. Listen to others; you may be immensely surprised by what they have to offer.

4. Talk to your friends and families about what they know and do. If you are a student, most likely your friends are learning entirely different knowledge than you are, just ask them about it. If you are an adult, there are countless careers that your friends and family have that play completely different roles in society than your career does. Stop talking about the celebrities and the weather and start talking about the beautiful and unique knowledge we all have to share.

5. If you are given a chance to try something new, work in a different environment than you are used to, or travel anywhere at all, take it. Getting stuck in a pattern of only enjoying the same experiences will bring you no ability to grow. You need to step outside your comfort zone to learn.

6. Read more. I am not telling you to read several books a week, just follow some blogs, search for articles, or watch videos. Find what interests you and expand your knowledge of it in little ways every day. The more you know, the more confident you are in sharing that with others, and the more satisfied you will feel in general.

7. Participate in activities that inspire you to be creative. Many people feel that you have to be one or the other, really smart or really creative. Creativity is intelligence. Just because you are amazing at calculus doesn’t mean that you cannot compose your own songs on the acoustic guitar. Music, art, crafts, and hobbies of all kinds inspire thoughts that are different from reading or memorization of facts. Innovative thinkers are the building blocks of this world, allow yourself to think outside of the box and be creative.

8. Talk about the things that everyone seems to be afraid to talk about. No one wants to bring up politics or religion or any topic that may inspire the least bit of emotion due to the fact that they fear controversy. Debating is healthy; it doesn’t have to be harmful. Be respectful and understanding of the beliefs of others, and realize that you can learn from them even if you do not agree. Start talking about what matters, you will be surprised by how much more value it will bring than partaking in only comfortable conversation.

9. Exercise and be healthy. Try to think more when you exercise. The endorphins released during physical activity free up your mind of stress and waste. Exercising actually physically clears your mind and is a wonderful way to start thinking of new ideas or contemplating different topics you don’t usually have time to think about when they are mixed with the every day thoughts.

10. Above all, the main way to be truly brilliant is to never stop appreciating the opportunities you have to learn. It is realizing that you will and can learn your entire life. Life doesn’t stop educating you after you leave school or your new job orientation. The difference now is that the teachers are just a little more disguised, and often you have to be confident and motivated enough to seek them yourself in their various forms. Realize the power of your mind and believe in it. Believe in that, and you will never be anything but brilliant in your own unique and beautiful way.

My Explanation of Love

I find that there have been many situations in deeper conversation where people ask me what I think of love and my answer leaves them staring at me taken aback, very confused by the words that just struck right into their hearts. It is because for one reason or another, we all have stopped talking about love. We talk about things that entertain us, stories that make laugh, situations that frustrate us, and little daily antidotes that spark conversation. But ask yourself this, how often do you sit down and reflect about the single most important, beautiful, and terrifying thing that you will ever encounter in your short life? The answer for me, is every day. Why? Because everything else is disposable and empty.

When you leave this world you will not take with you the shiny car sitting in your driveway, the touchdowns you had in high school, or the awards and medals you have saved to remind yourself of your self worth. No. The only way you exist in the end is through the love that you have shared with others. Even if you were famous in one way or another, even if you are remembered after you are gone, that is not preserving any part of you other than a memory. The people you touched, the hearts you changed, the lives you altered, and the emotion that you brought to life with those people, that is what keeps you alive, you will live forever in the love of others. This is because love is endless. As Morrie Schwartz said in my favorite book Tuesdays with Morrie, "Love is what keeps you alive, even after you are gone."

If you are rethinking some things right now, you are probably questioning something everyone seems to question their entire life, what is love? If love is what gives my life meaning, if it is the sole way I can leave any part of who I am in this world, what is it? One thing that love certainly is, is terrifying. It is vulnerable, and we don't like to feel vulnerable as people. We like answers, we like order, and we like to protect ourselves. We don't want to take a chance on believing in something that could hurt us or let us down. However, if you live life in this fashion, you end it with nothing. You must embrace love, in order to embrace true and endless happiness. Embracing love means accepting the fact that there is so much about it that you will never begin to understand. Love is illogical, unpredictable, and unexplainable. Therefore here is the twist in my story, my "explanation of love" is that there is not truly an explanation, and that is the single most beautiful aspect of love.


Love is an energy with endless power and needs no explanation. It is what will carry you when you don't believe in it. It is the look in another person's eyes when no words need to be spoken to express how deeply moved you are by their presence. Love is tears in difficult times. Love is the way it feels to hold a small life you brought into this world. Love is promises and devotion. Love is humility, honesty, and gratitude. Love is a feeling inside of you that takes over your every thought. Love is painful. Sometimes love gets ripped from you when you aren't ready to let it go. Love can give you hope in the most hopeless of situations. Love has so many forms. Above anything else what you need to understand is that love will never fail you.

Now a lot of you just shook your heads and debated not continuing to read this when you read the words "love will never fail you". How can that possibly be true? Have I not seen the divorce rate, do I not understand that love fails every day? Have I never experienced heartache? No, I understand all of those things. The thing many people do not realize is that people fail, and a lot of times we don't understand exactly what our plan is with love. We can never fully know what love has in store for us. What we can know is that love never fails. Love is believing in the plan it has for you. Love is having trust in an endless love, and in the power that holds.


My advice to you is to stop being afraid of the unexplainable. Stop trying to make yourself immune to emotion because that is what you believe society wants from you, or because you think that is the safest choice that you can make. Life isn't about being safe and never looking foolish, life is about being alive. My advice is to accept when love seems to fail you and realize that it truly has not. I am telling you to take down your walls, and feel love. So many things in this world are mediocre and shallow,  love should never be one of them. Open up your heart to it in every aspect of your life. Take it all in. Be vulnerable. Take a chance at being broken. Fight like hell not to let it go when you have. And if it does go, appreciate it, and be thankful for every moment it was with you. Because it returns in so many different ways and forms. Hug your parents, try to understand their love for you. Hold your children, tell them how proud you are of them and how blessed you are to have something in your arms that you love so completely. Open up to your friends, let them love you for who you are, do not portray an image that you feel they would want more. Love the people that you meet, learn from them. When you speak to people, put away all distractions and really be with them, listen to them, and be grateful for the opportunity you have to share conversation with them. Make sacrifices for those you care about. If you are in a relationship or friendship where love and respect does not exist, move on, and understand that love is not something you can live without. Understand that you deserve love. Love yourself for all that you are. Love the god that you believe in, feel every spiritual emotion that you desire. Love your community. Love your enemies. Love the person you are with, fully, publicly, endlessly, love them to a point where it actually physically moves you, and do not let that end. Never hide your love, never repress it, and never lose appreciation for it. Recognize how important it is. Understand deep in the core of your being that it is truly the only thing that really matters. Strive for it. Fight for it. Live in it. Realize the explanation for love, is that there is no explanation, and stop searching for one. Because that fact is the most beautiful and wonderful gift this world has given you.

Newly Released Album Reccomendations

Happy Monday everyone! 

I wanted to get caught up with a few different posts that I have been working on. One of my many daily obsessions is the constant search for new music. I can proudly say I am a Spotify addict and definitely get my 10.00 a month worth of unlimited music on my phone and computer. If you are interested in this fantastic program click here to learn more, I am quite the Spotify advocate so feel free to ask me any questions about it.

I have recently discovered a few albums that I have found to contain extremely good music and I wanted to post them as a recommendation to others. They are just too awesome not to share.

VHS Tapes to Lasting Memories

Many people had the big VHS camcorders to capture memories with their families back in the 90's and early 2000's. Before DVD's and digital camera were a household item, many precious moments were captured on these fragile tapes, and fragile they are. The tapes are so easily broken and lost and unfortunately its very challenging to save a damaged VHS tape. Not only VHS tapes,  but the small tapes that were made only for certain smaller cameras can also be saved and viewed easily. I found two Christmas's ago that this was the perfect idea for a gift for my parents and I want to share it with all of you.

On amazon, a VHS to DVD converter sells for as inexpensive as $45.00. It can also convert the smaller tapes I mentioned earlier. The directions are very simple and you have to do is be patient and allow the tape to play and be recorded onto the DVD.

If you are making it as a gift you may want to also purchase a few DVD sticker covers that you can print out with labels. I personally scanned older pictures onto the computer that correlated with the video memories and used the photo and text to label each DVD. It really adds a nice touch. Once you have all of the DVD's labeled and recorded, test them out to make sure it worked correctly, and then put them in a nice decorative box for safe keeping. Parents and grandparents adore this gift.

Also, I downloaded these videos from the DVD to my computer and used them to make montages for my family and friends, then uploaded those to Youtube and burned them to DVD's for more gifts. Below are a few videos I created.

Enjoy!

Printing Polaroids

There is something really special about Polaroid photos. The vintage looking photo has recently become really popular, take Instagram as a perfect example of this. I found the website, polaroidfotobar.com where you can order photos from your Instagram, Computer, Facebook, and more to be printed in a Polaroid-like fashion. They are a dollar a piece but I will include a coupon code for you to get them for 20% off! They are printed on a canvas that isn't actually a photo that fades and get ruins. The are not flimsy and they have lovely quality. You can edit your photos and add different vintage effects too before you order them! Really for for hanging on the wall and for lasting memories. The website is called Polarid Fotobar and the coupon code for 20% off is CJ20MR.

Good luck!

DIY Crafts

I love crafts, and I love the ability that we have to essentially make something out of nothing. How liberating is it to know that you can transform the most simple thing into something beautiful and special? Here are some crafts I have done recently, enjoy!

Collaged Letters for Wall Decor

You'll Need:
Letters from AC Moore or Hobby Lobby
Old Magazines
Modge Podge
Older Paintbrush
Scissors
Newspaper for the mess
Scrapbooking paper (optional)

Simply cut out blocks of designs from the magazines that have nice designs or colors. Pieces of scrapbook paper will also work for this. I chose to do a combination of both. Then, cut out small images and words. For example, I cut out images of wine glasses and flowers and a guitar. I also cut out fun words like home, amore, and celebrate. First apply the modge podge with the paintbrush and then cover it with the blocks of patterns from the magazines and scrapbooking paper. Then apply the smaller pieces as well. Try covering the places where many different patterns meet with smaller images, this helps the collage flow better. Then cover the edges with modge podge, let it dry, and hang it on the wall!

Record Bowl

You'll Need:

An old record or records

OvenLinen bag

Dry beans

Heat proof bowl

Large pot

Baking sheet

A second bowl

Oven mitts

Preheat the oven to 250 F. Get the linen bag and fill it with about 1/2 pound of dry beans. Use the larger pot to hold the smaller heat proof bowl, then place them both on the baking sheet. Center the record on top of the bowl with the center of the record falling over the center of the bowl. Put in the open for 5-7 minutes or until you see it started to really form.  Take it out of the oven and put it in the second bowl to start to shape it a little, then let it cool for 15 minutes. You can also add some paint or a little collage like I did later on. It's perfect for putting extra trinkets and jewelry in!

Jewelry Organizer Craft

You'll need:
Decorative buttons
Glitter Glue
Small 3m hooks
Scrapbooking paper
Scrapbooking stickers
A box for decorating (or one already decorated like this one I pulled off the shelf at the dollar tree!)
Fake flowers



Basically, all you have to do is decorate the box in a way that looks fancy and cute and then stick the hooks on there for different jewelry to hang from it. My sister puts her bracelets and necklaces on this. It can be stood up on a dresser or mounted on the wall with foam tape. Its inexpensive and can be personalized with names, sayings, photos, or what ever you please!

 This is a jewelry an organizer I put together using under ten dollars for my little sister for Christmas. A fun gift idea or way to organize your own jewelry!

Reminder Jar Gift Idea

You'll Need:
Decorative gift wrapping paper
Old paint brush
Fake flowers
Decorative ribbon
Decorative buttons
Scrapbooking sticker letters
Modge Podge
Computer and printer
Scissors
Glass jar 

Gifts can be expensive and sometimes it is difficult to make something very personal that a loved one will really appreciate. I have found that something people will always appreciate, is being made to feel appreciated themselves. This is just a jar decorated with wrapping paper scraps glued on with modge podge and then little decorative ribbons, buttons, and flowers to add to it. After the jar is made and a message or name is put on the front, head to the computer. Start to type up reasons you love and appreciate this person. It could be for a significant other, or a parent, or really anyone you care about. Next, cut out these reminders and fold them in half, then place them all in the jar. Give the gift and let them know they can keep it out and reach into it at any time to be reminded why they are loved and appreciated.