Dollar Store Challenge, part 2

Hey, ya’ll!  A couple of friends mentioned today that they don’t have a dollar or 99-cent store near their home and my friend Cat suggested checking out the $1 (or Euro) section of your local variety store.  That seems like a good plan to me!

I hit the Dollar Tree over by Millennia Mall this afternoon and found some totally awesome treasures.  It was quite a challenge to choose 10 items that I could somehow use to make beaded jewelry.  They had a pitiful craft section, so I ended up with only one item from that aisle – a spool of ivory organza ribbon.

I took a couple of pix of my finds, shown below.  Clockwise from top left:  something called a Smart Fit Button, a candle holder with an antiqued copper finish, a gift card holder tin (like an Altoid's tin), a dog collar charm, and some fake sea glass.  The gift card holder tin totally reeled me in.  I love those bright colors!

The second photo shows (clockwise from top left) a set of two mesh strainers, a spool of ivory organza ribbon, compass party favors, plastic gems with pendant-style holes in fall colors, and an eyeglass leash.

I felt like the eyeglass leash was kinda cheating since it's already considered jewelry-like, so I picked up one more item:

Don’t you know I have plans for those ornament hooks!  The beads are kinda cheesy looking, but who knows what I'll be able to make with them?  And if I use the jingle bells, I'll HAVE to remove the clappers or they'll drive me nuts!

Can you figure out what I've got in mind with some of these items?  I'll give you a hint...  The 7-cent circle punch I got from Harbor Freight is going to come in handy.  And so are my newly-acquired riveting skills.  (You read that right, the shelf tag said the circle punch was 7 cents, so that’s what I paid!)

I hope you’ll accept my challenge -- I can’t wait to see your treasures! It would be awesome if you posted a link to your blog/website/image host/whatever so we can have a peek.

Have a beadiful Friday!