DIY Dollar Tree Signs & Free Printables
These cute little Dollar Tree signs are a cinch to make, and they’re the perfect size for tiered tray decorating or tabletop decor.
Okay, so Handan told me something the other day on our daily walk that I had a really hard time swallowing.
I mean, c’mon!
(but i checked when we got home, and she was totally right!)
So apparently (my babes was telling me) the new huge thing (among certain people) is to take those tiered stands that seem to be all the rage these days and decorate the bejeezus out of them with all sorts of miniature signs and figures and doodads and doohickeys.
She told me that some people no longer decorate their houses for the holidays. Instead, they pour all of their creativity and effort into decorating something that was meant to hold cupcakes and croissants.
I tried to picture these adults adorning their trays with little gnomes and cutesy phrases and *gulp* miniature rolling pins??
What in the Sam Hill has become of the world?
I snorted and barked out a laugh and congratulated my babes for having the common sense not to give in to the urge to relive her Barbie days in our kitchen just because it’s fashionable.
She didn’t respond, so I glanced at her.
She was looking at me.
shit
“I ordered a tiered tray from Walmart yesterday, my babes,” she said.
shitshitSHIT
“I also ordered some mini rolling pins.”
NUTS!
“You’re going to make some little tiered tray scenes for me.”
awwwwwww…CRAP!
I looked this wife up and down and wondered if I could trade her in for a newer model. She seemed defective.
Now, madam, you could be forgiven for thinking right now that this post is going to about those tiered trays and the ridiculous mini rolling pins.
It isn’t.
Nope, this post is about some of the little things you can put on a tiered tray. See, Dollar Tree sells these table decor boxes with cornball generic farmhouse sayings on them.
Farm Fresh!
Farmer’s Market!
Farm to Table!
Blessed!
You get my drift. As if everyone is out back working an acre of land and tossing the bounty through the kitchen window onto a dinner plate.
Anyway, my babes made whole slew of pint-sized printables to fit in those little 3-D frames.
But the fun doesn’t stop with tiered trays!
You can plop these puppies on a shelf or just leave them strewn about your counterspace.
The choice is yours, madam!
And here’s the great thing about these little Dollar Tree Signs – since the sign part (that’s the printable) is only held on with 4 dots of hot glue, you can swap them out each season for other totally awesome and non-generic printables that Handan will be making in the future!
Now that’s a whole lotta bang for your buck!
DIY Dollar Tree Signs
SUPPLIES LIST
Affiliate links are provided below. Full disclosure here.
- Dollar Tree farmhouse table decor boxes
- Ruler or straight edge
- Razor or X-ACTO knife
- Cutting mat
- Putty knife, paint scraper or flat-head screwdriver
- Glue stick
- Free printables (available in The VIP Patch)
- Hot glue gun
First I needed to get the backing off. I found it was easiest to push with my thumbs until the top part gave with a *snap*.
From here I was able to gently pull some off with my hands.
Others had more glue and required a putty knife to work the backing off.
Either way, removing the backs is an easy job.
I used the putty knife to remove any excess glue and wood splinters left around the edges that might otherwise be seen.
To get rid of the tractor and other parts sticking up above the box, I used a straightedge and a razor to score the wood along the top of the square backing.
And then I snapped along the score line.
I turned it over and bent the other way, and the tractor came right off. Some others had more stringy wood, and I was cutting against the grain, so I simply flipped it over, laid the ruler on the back, and cut from the backside.
This one looks good. Let’s cut it out!
I used a glue stick to adhere the printable cut-out to the backing.
One dot of hot glue in each corner is more than enough to hold the printable and backing in place. It also makes it easier to swap them out for new printables in the future.
Press until the glue sets.
And that’s it! It couldn’t be easier!
Well, I suppose it could be easier. I know! Get your S.O. to do it for you! That’d be easier, wouldn’t it? It’s high time you put up your feet and had a glass of wine!
We love to see our printables out in the wild! If you display our free printables in your home or use our free SVGs in your projects, and take a picture and post it on Instagram, be sure to tag us @TheNavagePatch!
And just in case these dinky shadow-box wannabes are too small for your taste, you can upsize them, like we did these 6 x 6 Dollar Tree frames. I just sprayed painted them white first, added 6 x 6 printables and then used ribbon and hot glue to make a hanging display.
I used another loop of ribbon to make a hanger.
Oh, I almost forgot! Here’s the tired tiered tray display I made for my babes.
You may be wondering where the ridiculous mini rolling pins are.
Well, madam, I assure you they were in the kitchen as I took these photos. In fact, they were in a bag just out of the camera’s frame. I just couldn’t bring myself to add one to the scene.
I have standards, you know!
Anyway, my babes tells me I’ll be decorating more of these tiered trays in the future.
She also insists I’ll be using those absurd mini rolling pins because she’ll be giving our free SVGs for them.
Oh, the humanity…
dollar tree sign printables
As usual, here is some information on today’s free printables: we designed these 12 sets of free printable Christmas signs in two formats – JPEG and PDF. The PDFs can be printed on 8.5×11 size paper and have (4) 3.5×3.5 inch signs on each page. The JPEGs are prepared as 12×12 inch, but they are high resolution, so they can be scaled up or down as necessary to any square size. If you need help with scaling down these printables so you can print them on your home printer, then please check out Handan’s “How To Easily Resize Pictures” post.
Note: If you don’t have a large format printer like the Canon i8720 Printer (prints up to 13×19 inches) and are wondering the best place to get these large printables printed bigger than 8×12, we recommend trying Staples in your area or Amazon print shop. Both stores offer custom-sized prints on matte or glossy paper, and they both cost about the same. Staples also offers Engineering Prints, which are really affordable for large-format prints, but in some areas (like ours), they must be ordered from their online print shop.
Now it’s time to click on the button below to download the free printable Christmas signs – You’ll find these free printable Christmas signs under the “Christmas” section of The VIP Patch!
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These are fantastic! Thank you so much!
Thank you, Jennie, and you’re so very welcome! 🙂
Love the signs!!
Thank you, Josie!
They are so adorable. I wish I had someone like you. I love reading your blog. I haven’t gotten them for sometime. The last one I got was when they wanted you to start talking. I like reading it. Then I got this one. Thank for bringing laughter into our lives. Jill
Thank you, Jill! I think we all need a little laughter these days – better than any medicine out there! 😀
I know it’s just a typo but can’t help but wonder if it was some kind of mental “slip” when you wrote “tired” tray. Lol
LOLOLOLOL!!! 😀
The signs are adorable. I enjoy reading the stories too. Thank you.
Stay safe and Happy Holidays!
Thank you, Patty! Happy Holidays to you! 🙂
Thankyou for these fabulous signs! You are 100% correct- many people are looking for craft activities to keep them occupied, and sometimes you can use what you already have at home to keep costs down. Keep the ideas coming!
Thank you, Angela! We surely will! 🙂
I’m sorry but who the he*% is bit*%ing about getting something from the dollar store, and revamping it?!?! I’m on disability/limited income, but love to craft! So any monetary help on ideas is wonderful to me. I absolutely love love love yalls blog and ideas! Keep up the great work!!
I’m so happy to hear it, Brandi – thank you so much! Happy Holidays to you and your family! 🙂
Y’all are too freaking funny!! Thank you for your humor. Love the printables! Merry Christmas:)?
Thank you, Lindsey! 🙂
Hi Greg and Handan! I saw some of those “not so fine” comments regarding dollar store crafts. Everything you said about this was perfect, but there’s no need to defend yourself here! Crafting is relaxing but not necessarily an inexpensive hobby. I agree with Handen – part of the fun is hunting out the Dollar Store to make cheap stuff look cool! It’s a creative challenge and you guys do an amazing job of it! Wishing you both a wonderful holiday season!
Thank you so much, Leslie! Reading the part of your comment about “not necessarily an inexpensive hobby” just reminded me of my first cutting board I made back in 2013/2014. Not counting the cost of the machines, I think I used about $300 in wood. Yikes, what a mess! LOL, thanks for reading and Happy Holidays to you and your family! 🙂
These are extremely adorable. Thanks for sharing
Happy holidays!
Thank you, Ivory! Happy Holidays! 🙂
Well….you gave me my morning chuckle.lol..I think your signs are cute and I have my fingers crossed that our dollar tree (in Ontario) will have these signs! Perfect idea and even a good gift idea! You must keep your wife quite entertained..haha!
Happy to be of service, Colleen! Oh, yeah, I keep entertained, annoyed, exasperated…all the things guys do to their wives, lol! 😀
Agree with every bit of your PSA at the start of this post… not sure why some folks get off and stuff like that. Granny was right – if ya can’t be nice, be quiet! Just one thing to add tho. Anyone saying “I can buy it in the store for the same price” is missing two things. First one is the sheer joy of knowing you did it for yourself. The second is basic business economics – if a store is selling it for $10, it didn’t cost them that to make, so the quality of the raw materials going into into it won’t be as good and there won’t be nearly as much care or love in the making of it.
I’m just jealous, your Dollar Stores are way better than out Pound Stores (UK equivalent) we don’t get nearly as many craft supplies over here.
Thank you so much, Suzie! Those are two great points! Dollar Tree should expand overseas. By selling the same stuff for a pound, they’d be making even more money, lol! 🙂
Love you both. Love your site. You make me laugh and we all need that.
Thank you, Mary! That makes me feel so good to hear it! 🙂
Thank you, Handan for your inspiration and Greg , your love for her by going forward with the projects. You are a blast!
Thank you so much, Jackie! The things we do…lol!
I love your crafts and am always entertained by your comments. Wishing you, Handan, and Barish a happy holiday season.
Thank you so much, Madeline – we wish the same for you and your family!
I make cards and scrapbook and trust me, homemade cards are not cheaper! I use rubber stamps and die cuts and have spent more than I care to admit just to get started! I don’t do it to save money, I do it because it makes me happy to create something and give it to a loved one. I am not an artist but creating in this manner makes me feel like one! I love your projects and any idea that will save me money so I can buy more stamps is a win in my book!
Exactly, Giselle! Crafting and DIYing make us happy, too! (even if they end up costing an arm and a leg sometimes)
I love these…and all the other Dollar Tree projects! BUT – my local Dollar Trees don’t have these types of decor. 🙁
Dang! That is so frustrating, but keep checking throughout the year. You never know when they’ll get a shipment, and then you stock up!
Would you please, Please, PLEASE show us those miniature rolling pins? LOL.
Since I’m on a limited budget, I really appreciate that you use dollar store items. That being said, a lot of your projects involve us readers having Cricuts, but they’re not possible on a limited budget! Because of that, would you two consider SELLING us what you print out, and make them available in various sized (since our dollar store doesn’t rock like yours does, and we may not find the size sized frames).
Happiest of Homemade Holidays
Oh, don’t worry, Stephanie, you’ll see those little rolling pins soon enough! As for making and selling, unfortunately, we don’t have time to do that. Creating projects, photographing and writing is a 7-day-a-week job! We do try to give a good mix of printables (no Cricut needed) and SVGs, with a higher weight going to the printables. And for those projects that we do use a Cricut, we try to include ones that can also be done with scissors, like our Halloween bats and our very next post coming out this week. We are both very aware that our Cricut-owning readers are in the minority, so we try not to go overboard with those projects. But we’re also trying to spread the good work about Cricut for those who may be considering one, and just to help a little bit more, we’ll be giving away a Cricut Joy in each quarter of 2021. We do appreciate you sticking with us, even during those Cricut-y posts, Steph! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family!
Wow. I should proofread before I post!
Sincerely, the grammar (actually, punctuation) Nazi
I love your little box signs. How long ago did you find them at the Dollar Tree Store? Did not see on their website
Thank you, Patti! I would say about a month ago. Items like these come and go and come again, so it pays to check back often, and if you have more than one DT in your are, check them all. Handan and I have a circuit of 5 or 6 DTs we hit when we’re looking for ideas.
I love your posts & the SVGs & printable but my only problem is there’s no Flar tree in my town& when I do get to a dollar tree I can’t ever find the items in your posts…..I guess you have a lot of followers!!!
Keep those ideas coming though
LOL, DT is hit or miss, Dorothee! We sometimes visit 5 or 6 in our area to find what we may need. If there’s only one near you, you may want to ask when they get their big deliveries and then show up on that day or the next morning!
Thanks to you and Handan for generously creating & sharing your terrific DIY ideas and printables. Your instructions are clear and concise. I hope you can bask in the knowledge that your followers appreciate you both! I’ve been following for a quite some time now and really enjoy your stories and commentary.
As for the sub-fine critics, they can bite a candy cane cause they’ve likely made it onto Santa’a naughty list.
Happy Holidays to your family!
You are so very welcome, Debra! I am happy to hear you like our detailed instructions – we also fielded some complaints about “too many pictures” and “do we really need a tutorial on how to paint?” LOL, just goes to show, it’s impossible to please everyone! Happy Holidays to you and yours! 🙂
Thanks These are awesome. Will you be making additional ones for different seasonal decor?
Thank you, Barbara – we will be!
Admittedly, I have lots of crafting aspirations, but do little actual crafting. Some of your posts I find inspiring. But I subscribed because I find your “voice” entertaining (and relatable). You could be decorating toilet paper, and I’d probably still be here reading about it!
So, keep up the great posts!
Thank you so much, Susie! If this winter is anything like last spring, toilet paper crafts might be all the rage (assuming we can still find it!)
These are adorable … I love them. I missed seeing the “not so fine” comments regarding dollar store crafts. Like Leslie posted already, there is no need to defend yourself! With trends constantly changing it’s fun to mix things up with holiday decor. Merry Christmas to you and Handan.
Thanks, Debbie, that is nice to hear! Merry Christmas to you and your family! 🙂
I had to visit 4 different Dollar Tree stores to find these, grabbed 4 and headed home for a “quick” craft. Only problem is that I can’t get the backing off so far! I think mine have EXTRA glue 😉 Any hints? I’m trying to avoid damage to the frames by being too aggressive.
Hi Lynn, are you able to get something like a paint scraper in one of the corners to start prying? They can be a little tough at first, but the glue then gives with a SNAP.
I still think the ones I bought had EXTRA glue :), but I finally found a way to remove the backs. What worked for me was to place the frames on their backs on a heating pad for awhile — that seemed to soften the glue just enough so I could push on the back enough to insert a putty knife and work around the frame. No satisfying SNAP sound, but I made it work. Thanks for trying to help. Oh…any chance of a small gnome printable for these frames? I’d love one!
Oh good, I’m glad you got the backings off! I don’t think we’ll have time for a gnome printable this year (but you never know – I’ll have to run it by the boss), but I’m sure we can have one ready for next year’s printables!
Hi Lynn, towards end of January I am planning to prepare some new printables for these Dollar Tree signs. I’ll make sure I’ll throw in some gnome printables together with that lot 😉
Thank you so much!
Ha ha….you are hysterical. I “accidently” created one similar to this when I realized I had a bunch of odds and ends Christmas ornaments that no longer coordinated with my themed tree(s). Yes, I have more than one. I piled them up on a two-tiered lazy susan from Ikea. I also love miniatures, so thanks to your post, I will be more intentional next year and will try the cute little signs. Thank you for the entertaining and informative post…(dare I end this with “to you and the babes”). hahaha hohohoho
LOL, thank you, Niki! Great, I’ve converted another to the Cult up Cupcake Trays! 😀