Creating with Joy - Dollar Store Summer Makeover

You may know from my last post that I love summer. However, there is something I love even more than summer: saving money!

I am a crazy frugal girl; heck, I was even a panel speaker at the International Coupon Conference a few years ago! So it is almost needless to say that I do a lot of shopping at the Dollar Tree. I can always find a good bargain there. Just this month, I found a fun tropical print tote bag and a pair of all black sunglasses, each just $1. Cute enough as they were but kind of plain. So I gave these two items a million dollar makeover with Joy embroidered letters!

I used the white varsity letters on the bag to add my initials. Full disclosure here: I didn't iron these letters on since the bag is made of a synthetic material that doesn't hold up to an iron. Instead, I attached the letters using 3-in1 Adhesive from Beacon Adhesives and it worked perfectly. However, if you use a bag that is made from canvas or another fabric that won't melt when subjected to heat, iron those letters on -- it's super easy! Just iron from the back side of the fabric!

Next, I used Joy's small monogram letters to add my initials to each side of the glasses again using Beacon's 3-in-1. And since a girl can never have enough bling, I added a clear rhinestone to the letter and used black adhesive rhinestone sheets from The Buckle Boutique to decorate the earpieces (I laid the earpieces down on a sheet of scratch paper and traced around them, then used that as a template for cutting my rhinestone sheets).

Now, instead of just an everyday bag and pair of glasses, I can hit the pool looking like a million bucks!

Want more ideas on how to use Joy letters? Come on over to the Creating with Joy blog. My fellow designers have some amazing ideas!

Materials used:
Joy embroidered letters
tote bag and glasses from the Dollar Tree
adhesive rhinestone sheets from The Buckle Boutique
adhesive from Beacon Adhesives
single rhinestone from Want2Scrap

Disclosure: I received these embroidered letters from Joy as a part of their design team. However, I received no compensation or consideration from Dollar Tree or any other companies included in this post. All opinions are my own.