This post is sponsored by Plaid Enterprises.

The party aisle at your local dollar store can truly be a magical place! The different shapes and sizes of all the different cups, plates, and everything else is so inspiring! You may remember last year when we turned mini margarita glasses into flying saucers – today we’re crafting with plastic party cups again but this time we’ve made these lovely dancers!

If you have a cupboard full of odds and ends leftover from your last barbecue or birthday party, take a look to see what shapes of glasses you already have. This project is a great way to use up the extra ones you forgot about! Combine various shaped cups with wooden beads and clothes pegs, and of course your favorite shades of Apple Barrel satin acrylic paint. We love how this colorful rainbow dance team came together! These dancers are such simple DIY toys to make with kids on rainy afternoons – keep reading for the full instructions below.

• Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint Set
• Paintbrushes
• Plastic party cups
• Round wooden beads (1″ diameter)
• Wooden clothes pegs
• Hot glue gun
• Pipe cleaners

Step 1
Start by laying out your plastic party cups on your work surface. If you have any leftovers from a previous party, this is a great way to use those up! Most dollar stores will have a few shapes for you to choose from: the margarita glasses give a more ballerina shape, the wine glasses look more gown-like, while the champagne coupes make a sort-of dropped waist look. For this craft, you only need the tops of the glasses, so set the detachable bottoms aside for another craft, or recycle. Apply a coat of paint onto the inside of each glass, doing a second coat if necessary so that you have a nice even coat. Let dry completely, ideally overnight.

Step 2
To add on the dancers’ legs, apply a blob of hot glue onto the top of a wooden clothes peg and press into the inside of the painted glass, holding in place until the glue has dried and is secure. Once attached, paint the bottoms of the clothes pegs with matching paint to look like dancing shoes.

Step 3
Time to give these dancers some smiling faces! First glue a wooden bead onto the stem of the party cup, along with a smaller wooden bead on top, if desired, to be a bun. Use a fine paintbrush and black paint to apply a simple face. Use another brush and whatever color you like to paint on the hair. Let dry. You can also choose to leave off the bun and give the dancer a bob-style haircut instead.

Step 4
Select a pipe cleaner in a matching color to the painted cup and cut to a length of about 7″. Fold at the center and then hot glue the bend to the back of the cup. Shape the pipe cleaners so that they curve gently, giving the look of arms in the air. The beauty of using pipe cleaners here is that you can pose and repose the dancers as you go!

Step 5
Repeat this process using different colors and shapes until you have a whole dance crew!

Happy crafting!!