The Second Annual $5 Challenge

by Lindsay on March 25, 2010

Welcome to the 2nd Annual $5 Challenge!

A few weeks ago, I issued the $5 Challenge to my readers.  Could you create a new Spring decor item by spending no more than $5 at a dollar store?

I’ll admit that I had a tough time coming up with a project this year.  You guys have been sending me your projects, and I was a little scared because everyone’s ideas have been so good!  I’ve been blown away.

Here’s what I cam up with:  a very easy to create embellished kitchen towel.  It’s not something to use to mop up grape juice spills off the counter.  Instead, I wanted something cute that I could use to dry my hands instead of going through endless rolls of paper towels.

I bought a white flour sack towel from the kitchen section of Dollar Tree and a bag of faux rose petals in the wedding section.  The petals come in white, red, and pink, but I chose the white because I wanted to make the towel solid white.

After washing and drying the towel, I pinned a row of petals along the bottom of the towel.  After the row was in place, I used my sewing machine to stitch a zig zag stich along the top edge of the petals to secure them to the towel.

After that row of petals was sewn on, I pinned another layer of petals on top of that one and sewed them into place.  Then, I added the next row.  In all, I added five rows of petals.  On the last row, I trimmed the top of the petals right above my seam.

Next, I found just enough white grosgrain ribbon in my stash to cover the seam line.  I first pinned it into place, and then I ran it through the sewing machine.

After the ribbon was in place, I held my breath as I put the towel in the washing machine to see if it would pass my “hold up in the wash” test.  Fortunately, it survived the washer and dryer with flying colors.

I absolutely love it!  I’m so glad that this challenge forced me to think outside of the box.  Now, I have a fresh and fun towel awaiting dry hands in my kitchen.

Now, it’s your turn!  If you accepted the $5 Challenge, please add your project to the MckLinky below.  Just make sure you have followed the rules:

- Create a new Spring decor item for your home using only $5 worth of items purchased at a dollar store – i.e. Dollar Tree, Dollar Store, Everything’s $1.00, etc. The $5 does not include sales tax.

- You may use the following supplies *if* you already have them on-hand – paint, glue, paper, fabric, tools.

- On or before March 25th, post a tutorial for your new craft on your blog. If you don’t have a blog, please email me photos and a written tutorial to LivingWithLindsay@gmail.com and I will find a way to display it for you.

- On March 25th, come back to my blog and link up your tutorial to the Five Dollar Challenge post that will go up that morning. Any entries that do not follow the rules will be disqualified (and I’ll feel like a big, honkin’ jerk).  The MckLinky will close on Sunday, March 28th.

- A panel of esteemed judges (JJ from the Blah Blah Blahger, Emily from Remodeling this Life and Gina from The Shabby Chic Cottage) will select five entries to put forth to the Living With Lindsay readership for voting.  We’ll be announcing the five finalists at the end of next week.

- YOU guys will vote for your favorite of the entries. One winner and one runner-up will be selected to win the prizes.

And just because I know you’ve been DYING to know, here are the prizes:

One winner will receive:

One runner-up will receive:

Oh, yeah.  You definitely want to be the winner or runner-up now, don’t you?  I told you the prizes were gonna rock!  Thank you very much to these great sponsors!

Ready, set, link up!

Powered by MckLinky

Click here to enter your link and view the entire list of entered links…

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{ 8 trackbacks }

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{ 82 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Melinda March 25, 2010 at 4:43 pm

Have you washed it yet? Did it hold up? How cute would that be on a Sunday dress burp cloth! Not sure how I stumbled here, but glad I did!

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2 Lindsay March 25, 2010 at 5:22 pm

Yep, it’s been washed and dried and did great. I think the petals may fray a bit over time as it’s washed (they didn’t this time, but that’s just my feeling). I was actually wishing they would fray because I think that would look nice.

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3 Kim @ Everything Etsy March 25, 2010 at 4:50 pm

Your towel looks great…way to think outside the box! I love your $5 Challenge! :)

~Kim

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4 Laura Ingalls Gunn March 25, 2010 at 5:26 pm

What a romantic inspiration! You are such a clever and crafty girl. Well done. Happy Spring.

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5 Kendra Joyner March 25, 2010 at 5:50 pm

This is awesome…very clever!!

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6 Amy at The Red Chair Blog March 25, 2010 at 7:12 pm

I love your project! So pretty and creative. Thanks for hosting this fun party, Lindsay. I’ve been looking forward to it ever since you announced it and really enjoyed seeing everyone’s projects!

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7 Nikki March 25, 2010 at 8:12 pm

Just found out about this competition tonight and I couldn’t be more excited. I am OBSESSED with the Dollar Store…seriously like 90% of my crafts come from there! So I’ve entered my goodies…I hope I win!!!!!!!!!!!! :)

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8 Charlene Austin March 26, 2010 at 12:23 am

Are you kidding me with that towel?? OMG I am in love with it. I am going to put my thinking cap on and see if I can come up with something. Wish me luck that I’ll be back.

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9 Kristin March 26, 2010 at 11:12 am

Love that!! I bet that would make a pretty apron too.

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10 Judi March 26, 2010 at 11:52 am

This is very inspirational! I love how it looks and knowing it will pass the “wash” test, I would like to try to make some for my bathroom! Thanks for this challenge, it was fun and I am enjoying seeing all of these great creations!! Judi

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11 shari @ little blue deer March 26, 2010 at 12:09 pm

You are so awesome and creative. Wow!

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12 Judi March 26, 2010 at 12:13 pm

I can’t believe I worked on this sooo long and have the wrong date :( I marked down the date as the 28th and here it was the 25th. Sorry I missed the date ~ Judi

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13 Girl on A Budget March 26, 2010 at 1:42 pm

Thanks for sharing this project. It’s such a cute idea. Dollar stores have great items that can be transformed into awesome treasures. Keep up the great work and blog posting. You rock!

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14 Kendra Joyner March 26, 2010 at 2:55 pm

Hi Lindsay…I changed up my piece a little since I first posted it….I thought about reposting it to MckLinky…IS that OK?

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15 AtOneWithHim March 27, 2010 at 12:12 pm

Are you kidding me with all this creativity and cuteness? I love it.

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16 Susan March 27, 2010 at 1:57 pm

I bought those same flour sack towels and embroidered them in a mexico theme for my daughter. I am going to try the petal thing. I have some pink petals I can use.

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17 Beth March 27, 2010 at 7:06 pm

What an awesome idea…both the project $5 or less and the tea towel…you are so creative. So glad to have found your blog!
Beth

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18 MichelleH March 28, 2010 at 5:56 pm

Thanks for the fun challenge. It definitely made me think outside the box.

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19 Ruth March 28, 2010 at 6:44 pm

I am so sad I missed this. We were away on vacation and right before that things were so busy and crazy. I hardly had a chance to catch my breath.

Can’t wait to see what everyone did. I love your idea. It looks great.

Ruth

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20 Pam March 29, 2010 at 7:58 pm

OK… That towel is Seriously Amazing!!!!

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21 Tiffany March 29, 2010 at 11:11 pm

Great project! I showcased you in my blog.

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22 Connie March 30, 2010 at 12:23 am

That’s so cute! I think I have some curtains in my future with rose petals on the bottom!

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23 Allison @ house of hepworths March 30, 2010 at 11:58 am

Oh shoot I’m too late! I made a large decor ball using a basketball and a floor mat – both from the dollar store.

http://www.houseofhepworths.com/2010/03/24/crafting-with-a-floor-mat-and-a-basketball/

I’m sure it’s too late but I’m hoping to get my entry in anyway. Trust me, this craft won’t disapoint!!

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24 Rachel April 2, 2010 at 1:34 pm

That is sooo pretty! I think this is my favorite challenge entry so far. Thanks so much for sharing it, I’ll be linking.

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25 bianka April 11, 2010 at 11:50 pm

stunning. could make a very cute touch to a skirt, i think

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