How to Make Paper Butterflies for Crafts, Decor, and More!

Last week was my daughter’s end of school year party, and I had to get some last minute supplies at Dollar Tree.  Of course some non-party related items just happened to pop into my cart, like a wooden board game and these new peel and stick tin tiles I found in the kitchen section.  After the party I got to work creating some vintage tin tile wall art with these supplies, and it turned out so cute! 

  Vintage Tin Tile Wall Art Supplies

I used a mix of items from Dollar Tree and craft supplies I had on hand:

• Dollar Tree 3-in-1 Board Game
• Dollar Tree peel and stick wall tiles
• Dollar Tree twine
• Dollar Tree foam brush
• Dollar Tree flat push pins (optional)
• Craft paint in brown and aqua
• Stencil brush
• Wooden beads
• Hot glue
• Scissors

How to Make Dollar Tree Vintage Tin Tile Wall Art

Don’t you just love when a project is too easy?  I know I do!  That’s definitely the case for this one.  Begin by painting the chess/checkers side of the game board how you like.  I used brown paint as a base coat so that it would hide the game board pattern and have a rustic look in the end. 

Once that coat of paint dried, I dry brushed a topcoat of aqua paint on top, leaving some of the brown base coat to show through. 

After that dried, I removed the tin tile decal and pressed it onto the game board. 

Next, I strung wooden beads onto a piece of twine, knotted the ends, and hot glued the twine to the back of the game board.  Notice that I didn’t paint the back of the game board because I’m a lazy crafter. 

I flipped it back over and pressed flat push pins into the board.  Because the board is thin, the sharp edges poked through the back.  I covered those with electrical tape that I had in the drawer, but something like the poster mounting ticky tack stuff at Dollar Tree would work great, too. 

I dry brushed some of the aqua paint onto the push pin heads to give them the look of nails.  After that, this vintage tin tile wall art was finished! 

I love the look of this copper patina version, but I saw silver tiles, too.  Those would look really cute with a distressed white finish all over.  These would also be awesome in a group of three or four – whether on individual boards or one large board.  The possibilities are endless! 

Can you believe what you can make with dollar store items?  I just love the challenge of creating something beautiful with bargain supplies!

-Bre

You May Also Like These Dollar Store DIY Decorative Plates

My kids start summer vacation pretty soon, and while cruising Dollar Tree’s aisles looking for activities to keep them busy, I picked up some baseballs, among other things.  Unfortunately for my kids, I kept the baseballs and turned them into decorative ball vase fillers.  They’re super cute and an inexpensive dollar store decor item you can make really quickly!  

Supplies Needed to Make Decorative Ball Vase Fillers

For this project, I purchased every single supply from Dollar Tree!  

• Plastic baseballs 
• Optional: floral foam ball multi-pack (I used this for smaller balls in my vase)
• Decorative napkins
• Mod Podge (Dollar Tree sells smaller containers of Mod Podge than the container I used, which I already had on hand)
• Foam brush
• Scissors

How to Make Decorative Ball Vase Fillers

This is a perfect project to make while watching TV because it is 100% mindless.  🙂  Begin by cutting strips of decorative paper napkins.  (Check out another favorite post of mine where I used decorative napkins to create a beautiful trinket dish!)

Next, spread a thin coat of Mod Podge onto part of a plastic baseball.  Don’t cover the whole baseball at once or your hands will become incredibly sticky! 

Pick up a strip of napkin press it onto the baseball.  Repeat this process of applying Mod Podge and pressing napkin strips onto the baseball until the baseball is covered.  (NOTE: I removed the plain napkin liner from each strip before I applied the strips to the baseball, but that is optional.  I think the napkins pieces stick better if you remove the liner.) 

Yikes, I need a manicure . . . but getting back to the project – once the baseball is covered, set it aside to dry.  After the napkin and Mod Podge combo has dried, cover the entire baseball with a thin coat of Mod Podge to seal the decorative ball and push down any parts of the napkins that didn’t stick the first go round. 

I set the decorative balls on a sheet of wax paper so that they were easier to remove once dry.  A plastic trash bag would probably work well, too.  Don’t set them on a surface they might really stick to (like a paper plate), or you’ll end up ruining your decorative balls! 

These decorative balls work great as a vase filler! 

I plan to put them in a lantern on my patio once it stops raining here. 

I’ve seen similar decorative ball vase filler packs at my favorite stores starting at $10 – this set cost $3 (because I already had the Mod Podge and foam brush). 

I love it when I get the look for less, and I guess I can use my savings to get my kids some baseballs they can actually play with.  🙂  

-Bre