Fun dollar store finds for your garden

I was in my favorite housewares store the other day and noted five more or less frivolous items for the garden that I could very easily live without, in light of current financial restrictions. But if, like me, you'd still like to dress up your yard a bit, you can get the same, or close to the same things for $2 or under at a dollar store. Here's what I found:

Solar light sticks -- The ones at the housewares store are metal and come with batteries. They cost $3.99. The solar light sticks at the dollar store are $2 each, made of black plastic and are a bit taller than the more expensive ones.

You may get a little brighter light from the more expensive ones, but they are more or less simply for decorative purposes along a path and, in that case, why pay two bucks more for each one? I bought five, which means I saved about $10 over buying the $3.99 ones. Wal-mart also has a light stick that looks exactly like the dollar store one, except they are a little bigger and come with a rechargeable battery. They cost $2.93 each and could be worth the extra buck if you simply must have light along your path rain or shine.