WalletPop

Well, parents, school's out . And after those first few heady days of freedom, kids everywhere will be moaning, "There's nothing to do!" Dollar stores can help you prepare in advance for the inevitable boredom of a rainy...er, sunny day.

The shelves of my local dollar store have been sporting all manner of new wooden shapes, along with the usually boxes, trays and frames that your little artiste can paint and decorate. You can pick up the paints and brushes needed for such a project, too. There are also finger and poster paints, small canvas', and books of drawing paper.

And there's lots more in the craft aisle. Felt pieces, beads, stickers, charms, sea shells, scrapbooks and scrapbook papers, craft string, colored feathers -- you name the craft supply and the dollar store probably stocks it. Anyway, it's always worth checking the dollar store first before heading out to the more pricey craft store for something you need.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes free decorating ideas and tips using only items from the dollar store.

Yep, you read that right. Just when you think you've seen it all, along comes a dollar store with a bridal registry. I don't know what couples would register for at 99-cent Only Stores, but I'm trying to get more information. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, if you or someone you know is getting hitched down the road, you should check out the selection of wedding frills you can get at dollar stores. Depending on the particular store, you will find wedding-worthy candles and candle holders, various cake decorations, circles of appliqued tulle, a ring bearer's pillow, beautiful fabric flowers for bouquets (I used two stems in this bouquet) and even the bride's garter. I also saw wedding bubbles, head gear for flower girls and various shaped containers for wedding favors like acrylic baskets, champagne glasses and swans. There were bags of white pom-poms for the car, thank-you notes - in fact, more great stuff than I have space to mention, and none of it was more that $1 per item or package.

You can save a heap of money by making your own centerpieces and putting together your own party favors. It's the day that's important, not how much money you spend on it. You may not opt for a dollar store bridal registry, but the dollar store sure can help to accessorize the day beautifully.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes free decorating ideas and tips featuring only items from the dollar store.

More tips on how to hold down nuptial costs:

Second-hand wedding gowns for first-class wedding

Fake wedding cake cuts cost

Affordable bubbly

This is something I never would have bought to try because it's plastic, and how good could a plastic corkscrew be? I had been prejudiced against plastic kitchen gadgets by the can opener I bought at the dollar store a while back. It was a copy cat of a name brand can opener known for leaving no sharp edges on can lids, but it fell apart on the very first squeeze, before it had even made so much as a dent in the can I was trying to open. I'm still not 100% convinced about the corkscrew because I haven't tried it yet, but my daughter's boyfriend, who's a very straight-forward kind of guy, bought this same corkscrew at Dollarama last week and he says it works great; that it's better than his old corkscrew. I have no idea what kind of corkscrew he's been using in the past, but I'm willing to try this one on his say-so.

Other wine-related gadgets that I've bought for a buck and like very much include a foil cutter, bought to replace the one that broke recently that came with our fancy wine bottle opener, and some heavy-weight metal and glass bottle stoppers with different color tops. The gizmo in the middle is a drip-less pour spout that comes with a rubber stopper. Hubby says it's a slow pour, though so, if you're really thirsty, you might want to give this one a pass and put up with the drips, instead.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollarstore diva. She writes free decorating ideas and tips using only items from the dollar store.

Read more about wine for the budget-minded

Affordable bubbly for every-day imbibing

More excuses to drink red wine

There are a lot of different country looks - cottage, English, French, Victorian, Seaside, Shabby-chic, - but I went on the hunt for items in cottage style, which features lots of white with hits of pastel color like pink or turquoise, baskets, wooden boxes and homespun things like quilts. The cottage country look usually features large pitchers for flowers but, at my dollar store at least, I had to settle for a white vase. You can load the baskets with apples or onions for display or hang them on the wall, as here. A white pillar candle, wrapped in a piece of pink gingham ribbon secured with a tack and embellished with a floral candle pin, sits atop two wooden boxes that I found in the craft aisle. The fringed throw rug draped over the table has a homey, hand-knotted look in the country tradition.

You don't have to spend a lot to get the look you want. For about $10 and one trip to the dollar store, you can make a good start on decorating in the country style.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes free decorating ideas and tips using only items from the dollar store.

If you're fond of a certain decorating style but don't have the cash to spend in trendy shops or antique markets, you can still get the look you're after by using items from the dollar store. Let's start with Victorian decorating, just because it's my favorite.

Victorian decor is characterized by doilies, gold or wood frames, lacy tablecloths and lots of knick knacks like candle holders, porcelain figurines, dried flowers and decorative plates.

Victorians were lovers of color and detail so I picked this glass flower pot holder with a raised pattern. I chose the elephant scented oil diffuser because it is reminiscent of a time when India was under British rule. The bird figurine was spray painted white to give it more of a porcelain look and everything is sitting on a lace table topper. These particular items were chosen because I liked them, but they are just examples of the kinds of things you can get at the dollar store. Excluding the plant, all of the above cost less than $6.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer, and dollar store diva. She writes about decorating ideas and tips using only items from the dollar store.

When you're into decorating, you're always looking for ways to use the things you have or find in ways they weren't originally meant for. Perhaps this is especially true for budget decorators. I've been passing by this little black step stool for a long time, wondering what use it could possibly be put to other than it's original purpose. It's only 7 1/2" off of the ground and about 10 1/2" long.

This year, while contemplating yet another year on my knees planting flowers, I wondered if this stool could stand in for one of those expensive garden seats. It can. I'm not saying that this will work for everyone, but it's a good sturdy little seat and as long as you use it only on grass or pavement, it should serve the purpose admirably. Anyway, for a dollar it's worth a try.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes free decorating ideas and tips using only items from the dollar store.

The 99-cent Only Store is celebrating its 5th anniversary in Texas in a big way. From now through to July 3, you can fill out an entry form at any 99-cent Only Store in Texas for a chance to win a $60 gas card for .99.

Apparently, the $60 figure was arrived at based on the number of gallons in an average vehicle times the average price per gallon. Whatever. It sure would be nice to fill up your gas tank for .99 instead of $60.

You don't have to buy anything to qualify for an entry form. The website doesn't say if you can fill out an entry every day but you can ask a cashier for details. There will be one winner every day at every store, until July 3.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes about free decorating ideas and tips using only items from the dollar store. If she lived in Texas, she'd be saddlin' up the little Neon and high-tailin' it over to a 99-cent Only Store.

I like critters. And I like to watch the wild things that come to my backyard. In order to encourage that, I have bird feeders in my backyard. Keeping them filled can be a strain on the wallet but it's easier a buck at a time.

This little bird feeder opens at the top and holds a full bag of the finch food shown here.

Seed and feeder are $1 each. You can also get a bigger bag of mixed seed for the same price. I keep only bird food that is peanut and sunflower seed-free in one feeder so that the squirrels will leave it alone. Another flat open feeder contains peanuts for my busy-tailed friends and there's a wire hanger containing a suet cake, as well. The suet often attracts woodpeckers.

Dollar stores have bags of peanuts in the shell in the people food aisle, as well as suet cakes for $1 each.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes about free decorating ideas and tips using only items found at the dollar store.

Today I went to the dollar store to get another suet cake for my backyard bird friends. While there, a few other things beckoned to me from hooks and shelves. Among them was a package of freezer pops which are a favorite summertime treat of kids everywhere. You get 16 small freezer pops for a buck. Another was a metal wind chime. I liked the butterfly but they come in other shapes, as well.

Here's a cool idea, literally. It's an ice cube tray with a cover on it to help prevent your ice cubes from shrinkage until you're ready to use them. Why didn't somebody think of this before?

I thought this set of four miniature salt and pepper shakers would be perfect for picnic season. They're plastic with a rubber cork that's as wide as the base so they're easy to clean and fill. They come in a variety of colors, too.

I rarely buy jewelry at the dollar store, but liked these wooden bead bracelets. You get two different bracelets for $1 and they are, in my opinion, really nice looking pieces. Hey, for a buck, how can you go wrong?

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes about free decorating tips and ideas using only items from the dollar store.

Yippee! There's a new dollar store in town! I rushed right over in a buying frenzy but, alas! it's one of those quasi-dollar stores that also sell stuff for anywhere up to $15 or more. Still, I had a look around and discovered these key-chain watches for $2 each. I remember buying one of these from a mall kiosk for $10 and thinking it was a great deal. Now, I guess with most people walking around with clocks on their cell phones, there isn't as much demand for these watches.

I like the shapes these come in and thought they'd make a cute decoration hung from a purse zipper pull or a belt loop. These watches would make a great prize to put inside a homemade Christmas cracker, too. I know it's only June but if you buy up a couple of these little things when you see them during the year, by the time the holiday season rolls around, you'll have a good start on filling those crackers.

Also, I've discovered that I can replace most watch batteries myself much more cheaply than a jeweler can do it, unless I simply can't get the back off the watch! I buy a card of five watch batteries for a buck. You can also get lithium batteries, a card of three flat round ones or one camera battery for $1 each. Lately, I've also seen hearing aid batteries at the dollar store. Sure beats paying regular prices elsewhere.

My favorite dollar store, Dollarama, stocks both Sunbeam and Panasonic batteries, names I know and trust, in all of the usual sizes, too.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes about dollar store decorating ideas at her website www.dollarstorestyle.com.

Here are four words I never thought I'd be using together in the same sentence: dollar store gift card.

So far, I've found two dollar stores that offer gift cards, Dollar Tree and 99-cent Only Stores. Well, why not? I love the idea. The concept of making gift cards available to dollar store shoppers hasn't, to my knowledge, made it across the border into Canada, but I'd be very happy if one of my friends or family members could mark my birthday or remember me at Christmas time with a gift card from a dollar store. Dollar stores are a lot of fun to shop in because you never know what you might find for a buck. Of course, if you're planning on giving someone a dollar store gift certificate, you need to be sure that they at least like, if not love, the store in question.

Dollar Tree gift cards are available at your local store for any amount from $5 and up. The 99-cent Only Store gift card is also available in-store. To my mind, the fact that these stores are making gift cards available signifies that the general public has begun to accept dollar stores as more that just places to get cheap toys and gift bags.

While browsing the 99 cent Only Store flyer, I came across some of its gift suggestions for dad. Among them were the traditional but always welcome socks and cologne. Other suggestions included a single use camera, a Ray-o-vac flashlight, Panasonic batteries, a 3-pack of famous maker tennis balls, full size Speed Stick deodorant, which regularly retails for $2.00, and an official size baseball. Pop some of these in a .59 gift bag (a $3.49 value) and I'm sure Dad will be tickled.

And, if your planning a barbecue for Father's Day, take home 5 lbs. of russet potatoes for a potato salad, Heinz sweet relish in the 16 oz. size and 21.6 oz of Hunts B.B.Q. Sauce for .99 each. You can also get Arizona ice tea in cans for .59 each. Sounds good to me.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She write free decorating tips featuring items from the dollar store.

If you're lucky enough to be one of the first 9 customers at either of the two new 99 Cent Only stores opening on June 19th, you'll be able to buy an i-Pod Nano for 99 cents. Sweet! The next 99 customers will be able to buy a scooter for 99 cents. There are currently 262 - 99 Cent Only stores in the U.S. with locations in California, Nevada, Arizona and Texas. The two newest stores will be opening this month in Berkeley, CA and San Antonio, TX. The 99 Cent Only website has lots of good information on it, including an online flyer. This is the first dollar store I know of with prices 99 cents or less on fresh produce and frozen foods as well as housewares and other grocery items. There's a lot of brand name stuff here if you're lucky enough to live near one of these stores.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes free home decorating tips featuring items from the dollar store.

Christiane Jory has written a cookbook containing gourmet recipes made with items exclusively from the 99-cent Only Store. There are more than 100 recipes featuring appetizers, side dishes, main courses and desserts and not one of the ingredients cost more that .99. Christiane and her cookbook has been featured in major newspapers and on TV shows like Good Morning America. I watched a video of her on the 99-cent Only Store's website making appetizers from Pillsbury bread stick dough and a can of pumpkin pie filling.

The 99-cent Only Stores feature a wide array of food including milk products, fresh produce like potatoes and berries, canned goods and spices and nothing costs more than .99. I don't know about you but I'm impressed! Even if you don't live near a 99 cent Only Store, you could still make use of these recipes, using ingredients you get on sale.

You can buy the 99-cent Only Stores Cookbook online at Amazon for $10.39 new or Barnes and Noble for $11.65 new.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes about free decorating tips and ideas using only items from the dollar store.

Now that the outdoor party season has arrived, you may need some extra glasses. I'm always delighted to find pretty glassware at the dollar store.

These Libby water goblets are only $1 a piece at Dollarama. They also have martini and other specialty glasses. That's good.

Even better? Dollar Tree Direct lets you order in bulk online, which strikes me as a very neat idea if you need to buy a lot of wine glasses for a wedding or other large gathering.

Furthermore, if you pick up your order at your local Dollar Tree store, you won't pay shipping charges. Each item in your order is still only a dollar. To my mind, you can't do better than that.

Marlene Alexander is a freelance writer and dollar store diva. She writes about dollar store decorating ideas at her website www.dollarstorestyle.com.