Craft Haul! Things that I didn't expect to find at the dollar store.

Hello my friends.  Today I am doing something a little different than I normally post.  I don't usually do hauls.  I did do one with my goodies from Florida, but as a general rule, it's not something I normally dot.  I have always found handy things in the craft aisle at the dollar store, but occasionally there are some little unexpected gems.  All of the items in this post, with the exception of the stamp sets,  were purchased at Dollarama..  First let me clarify one thing.  Not everything in Dollarama is $1.  In fact, most things are not anymore.  At first they jumped up to $2, then $3 and now items range up to $4.  That being said, sometimes $4 is still a good deal.  I find a lot of things that I can use, but what I don't usually find are brand-name products.  It is a hit and miss thing.  When there's something good on the shelves, they don't usually last long.  Not all stores seem to have the same things  I imagine these are probably discontinued items, but that doesn't bother me at all.  I did not get all of these things at the same time or at the same location, but I wanted to share the things that  I ave found so that if they are the kind of things you are interested in, you can keep an eyes open for them the next time you are in your local Dollarama,  if you have one where you live.  There are a few items that I am also going to show you that came from an independent dollar store near my friend's cottage that I also considered a good find..  As we all know, crafting can be an expensive hobby, so it's always nice to find  a good bargain and still fell that we got a quality product! Maybe your local dollar store will have some nice surprises sometimes.

These are full sized, 12" x 12" cardstock  pads(not light paper)..  Some sheets are embossed and all of the sheets in the Glitter pack have some glitter on them.  There were some nice and interesting pages in them.  $4 each.  I felt that they were a great deal.  Especially considering that the regular price at Michaels (which I NEVER pay!) is $29.99 for similar paper stacks from the same company.

These were very pretty vintage style  die cut heavy papers.  They are all printed 2 sides.

 

Recently, I have been seeing a few different Martha Stewart products available in Dollarama.  The glitter is irredescent and very pretty.  Something that I can't capture in a photo.

Some K & Company embellishments and ephemera for $1.

I was very surprised to find some EK Success punches for $3 each.  These were found at different locations.   The large punch with the stars is a 2-step punch.

I have had these paper pads for a while, every once in a while I would see them  at Dollarama and grab them.

I particularly like this paper pad and I have made several cards with it.  I have to confess, at $2 each, I have a few in my stash!  To be truthful, I have at least a couple of each paper pad and stack that I really like.  I'm sure these are all older products, but I am making cards and tags, not promoting products, so it doesn't matter to me if they are out-dated as long as I like them.

Now these stamp sets were not  purchased at Dollarama.  They were bought at an independent dollar store near my friends cottage.  Lynn called me up and told me that they had these cute stamp sets and asked me if I wanted her to grab them for me. The price was $1.85 each. !!! Granted they are not top quality, but they aren't bad clear cling stamps.  There are several in each set and many that I will find useful.  Those of you that are stampers know how expensive some stamp sets can be.  Great find, Lynn!  There were some other things that Lynn picked up for me as well, but I wanted to share the stamps.

There are several other items that I get from the dollar stores.  I find a lot in the craft aisle at the DollarTree as well.  There are glitter paper, metallic  cardstock, adhesives,  small paper pads, embellishments and more.  Another thing that I keep my eyes open for  are some cool paper napkins that I like to use as backgrounds and collage elements.  It's a great technique, here are a few examples if you are interested "From London to Paris tag"  Elegance tag"  "Bonne fete tag"
 There are a lot of regular products usually found in these stores.  But I wanted to show you a few of the little gems that aren't usually found, not in the stores where I live at least.  So have a look around your local dollar store and perhaps you too can find some little treasures and get more out of your crafting budget.  Sometimes finding these little goodies are almost as fun as using them!

Thanks so much for joining me!  I hope you are as lucky at your local dollar store  as I have been at mine.  Actually, a thought went through my head as I was doing this post.  I think that I will challenge myself to make a couple of tags just using dollar store items.  So stay tuned for those!

Have an awesome and artful day, my friends!