Things You’ll Need:

• Wooden photo frame*
• Wood craft letters*
• Removable hooks*
• Acrylic paint and paintbrushes^
• Super glue or hot glue^
• A big photo of your dog! (Tip: if you aren’t able to obtain a large enough photo of your dog, cut out a cool picture from a magazine!)

* Dollar Tree Exclusive (click to shop) | ^ Available at Dollar Tree

Step 1 –

Take everything out of the packages, setting aside the cardboard photo that comes inside. You’ll need it in step 3.

Decide what you want your frame to say – I chose “tag me.” Keep in mind that if your dog’s name (or whatever else you want it to say) has more than one of the same letter, like Penny, you’ll need multiple packs of wooden letters.

Step 2 –

Decide on a color scheme and paint all of your wooden pieces! You can do any colors or patterns you want – feel free to get creative! Allow everything to dry overnight, or at least several hours.

Note: Though Dollar Tree does sell acrylic paint and paintbrushes, I have not personally used them. I used paint and brushes that I already had at home in my crafting supplies. The brand of paint pictured here, Anita’s Acrylic, is available at Hobby Lobby and Michael’s for less than $1.00 a bottle.

Step 3 –

Use the cardboard photo that came inside the frame to trace around the part of the photo that you want in the frame, then cut it out.

Step 4 –

Glue on your letters and place the hooks in any arrangement you want.

Put your photo into the frame, using the cardboard photo as a reinforcement in the back, and hang on your dog’s tags!

There you have it – a custom dog tag holding frame, made for less than $5!

Things You’ll Need:

• Wooden mini tray*
• Craft jars (x3)*
• Magnetic buttons*
• Acrylic paint and paintbrushes^
• Super glue or hot glue^
• Optional: Stick-on labels* | Letter stickers*

I put the last two things as optional because they put the total over $5 and I wanted to keep this true to the title!

* Dollar Tree Exclusive (click to shop) | ^ Available at Dollar Tree

Step 1 –

Paint your wooden tray with whatever colors or designs you’d like! Let dry overnight.

Note: Though Dollar Tree does sell acrylic paint and paintbrushes, I have not personally used them. I used paint and brushes that I already had at home in my crafting supplies.

Step 2 –

Using hot glue, attach the bottom piece of a pair of large magnets to the bottom of each plastic jar. Dollar Tree carries hot glue sticks in several sizes and colors, but does not sell hot glue guns, so you’ll need one from somewhere else.

Note: Though Dollar Tree does sell acrylic paint and paintbrushes, I have not personally used them. I used paint and brushes that I already had at home in my crafting supplies.

Step 3 –

Decide on your jar arrangement, then use hot glue to attach the other side of each jar’s magnet set to the inside of the tray. Keep both magnets attached to the jars until you’ve glued the other side to the tray – this way your alignment won’t get messed up.

Fill each jar with your dog’s favorite treats and you’re done with your magnetic treat jar flight! This makes a perfect birthday gift!!

Step 4 (Optional) –

If you’d like, you can use foam sticker letters to add your dog’s name or a saying to the outside of the tray.

Step 5 (Optional) –

If you’d like, you can get sticker labels for the outside of the jars. You can write the name of the treats inside each jar with a permanent marker or use a label maker or Cricut, if you have one, to make the text for the label.

Things You’ll Need:

• Muffin tray*
• 3pc Plastic baseballs (x2)*
• Velcro dots*

* Dollar Tree Exclusive (click to shop) | ^ Available at Dollar Tree

I’ll show you how to make two versions of this DIY puzzle. If your dog has never done this before, let them master the easy version before you add the velcro!

EASY Version –

Take the plastic off of everything and put a small dog treat (crumble up a large one if you don’t have any that are small enough) into each slot of the muffin tray. Cover each hole with a ball and present the tray to your dog. The objective is to move each ball with their snout (or just pick it up) and reveal the treats, of course!

Note: This game is usually made with tennis balls, but I chose the 3-packs of plastic baseballs to keep this craft under $5. If you have a few more dollars to spend, you can get tennis balls or jumbo jingle-bell cat balls at Dollar Tree or just use tennis balls you already have at home. 

DIFFICULT Version –

Take the plastic off of everything and break up a large dog treat, spreading the crumbs throughout each hole in the muffin tray. Place a velcro dot at the center of each muffin hole and its corresponding piece onto each of the baseballs. Use your fingers to scoot the treats to the outer edge of each hole so that none of the velcro is covered by crumbs.

Cover each hole with a ball, sticking the velcro pieces together, and present the tray to your dog. The objective is to move each ball with their snout (or just pick it up) and reveal the treats, of course! With this version, they’ll need to apply a lot more force to undo the velcro and move the ball, adding a whole new level of difficulty to the game.

Things You’ll Need:

• Wooden sign*
• Wide popsicle sticks*
• 6pk Magnetic buttons*
• Foam letter stickers*
• Scissors or a craft knife^
• Yarn or string^
• Paint and paintbrushes^

* Dollar Tree Exclusive (click to shop) | ^ Available at Dollar Tree

Step 1 –

Cut the round end off one of the popsicle sticks, then cut two equal pieces about an inch long. Set aside the two ends and keep the two equal middle pieces.

Step 2 –

Paint the two 1 inch pieces green to mean “yes” and leave to dry.

Use alphabet beads*, a Sharpie, paint, stamps, a label maker, or any method you choose to label one of the pieces for morning/AM and the other for evening/PM. If your dog eats more than 2 times a day, you’ll need to adjust the design accordingly.

*The alphabet beads I used were not from Dollar Tree, but they do sometimes have alphabet beads available.

Step 3 –

Paint the wooden sign with whatever design you want, keeping in mind the color of the felt letters you bought. Let it dry for several hours and then you can use jewels*, beads, stickers, more paint, or any method you want to decorate your sign.

Somewhere towards the bottom of the sign, be sure to paint two red (for “no”) circles that are a little bit larger than the size of your magnets.

*The jewels I used were not from Dollar Tree, but they do sometimes have jewels available.

Step 4 –

Once the paint has dried for several hours, use super glue to attach half of each set of magnets to the sign. Be sure you’re applying the glue to the correct side of the magnet or it will repel the other side instead of stick together.

Step 5 –

Use hot glue to sandwich a 3-4″ piece of yarn/string between the back of the green pieces and the other side of each magnet set. For the most pleasing aesthetic, flip the text over before gluing so that the string comes out underneath the labels – see the photo in step 6 for a visual.

Step 6 –

Use hot glue to sandwich the other side of the string between scrap pieces of popsicle stick and the back of the sign.

Step 7 –

Leave the magnet pieces hanging down by their strings until you’ve fed the dog, then attach the magnet to its respective piece!

Voila – a custom “did you feed the dog today?” sign! Use this fun magnet sign to get motivate your kids (or husband) to help out with the daily chores!

Things You’ll Need:

• Wooden cube with drawer*
• Wood craft letters*
• Felt or fabric*
• Jewels or decorative beads^
• Super glue^
• Hot glue gun and gluesticks^
• Paint and paintbrushes^

* Dollar Tree Exclusive (click to shop) | ^ Available at Dollar Tree

Step 1 –

Take out the inner drawer piece and use a Sharpie or fabric marker to trace it on the edge of a piece of felt or fabric.

Step 2 –

Fold and crease the felt lengthwise just along the inside of the marker lines.

Step 3 –

Fold the felt on the short edge, using the inside of the drawer as a guide, until it forms a little pad for the bottom of the drawer.

Step 4 –

Make sure the felt pad fits nicely into the bottom of the drawer and then set it aside – you’ll glue it down later after you’ve painted the box.

Step 5 –

Paint all of the wooden pieces – the drawer, box, and whichever letters you chose – with any colors, designs, or patterns. Let everything dry for several hours.

Step 6 –

Use hot glue to stick the folds of the felt pad together so it’s all one neat little pillow to soften the bottom of the box. Apply hot glue to the bottom of the inside of the drawer piece and then quickly press in the felt pad at all 4 corners for the best aesthetic.

Step 7 –

Use super glue to stick your painted letters onto the box. You can also decorate it with whatever you’d like – of course I used a penny! The jewels I used aren’t from Dollar Tree, but they do sometimes sell craft jewels there.

There you have it! A custom memory keepsake box for all your puppy’s treasures, like their first collar or tags!