Average But Inspired

Inspiring creativity at home with crafts, DIY, and home decor projects.

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October 24, 2018 by Bre

How to Make Leaf Stamped Tea Towels (With Real Leaves!)

Over the weekend I took Jasper (my pup) for a nice walk and couldn’t help but admire all of the beautiful fall leaves on the ground.  I scooped up a few of my favorite maple leaves and brought them home because I knew they’d be perfect for a craft project.  After checking out the craft supplies in my desk, I knew exactly what to make – a leaf stamped tea towel!  It’s an easy project and adds a nice fall touch to my kitchen!  This fall craft project idea is so fun! Create leaf stamped tea towels with real leaves from your yard! What a pretty fall decor project.

Supplies Needed for Leaf Stamped Tea Towels

This post contains affiliate links.  To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.

  • Leaves (pick freshly fallen leaves – not ones that have started to dry out and curl)
  • Plain tea towel
  • Acrylic paints in a variety of fall colors
  • Brayer
  • Wax paper
  • Decorative trim
  • Permanent fabric glue
  • Scissors

How to Make Leaf Stamped Tea Towels

Begin by mixing acrylic paints so that they’re mottled and a blend of shades you see in fall leaves.  Then, flip over a leaf and paint the underside with a thin coat of paint.  You want to paint the underside because the leaf’s veins are more prominent and will leave more of an impression on the tea towel.  This fall craft project idea is so fun! Create leaf stamped tea towels with real leaves from your yard! What a pretty fall decor project.

Flip the leaf over and place it paint side down onto the tea towel.

Cut a piece of wax paper and lay it on top.  (The wax paper prevents any paint that squishes out from under the leaf from getting on the brayer and making a mess on the tea towel.)  Then gently roll the brayer over the leaf and remove the wax paper.  Repeat this process until the entire tea towel is covered in leaf prints.This fall craft project idea is so fun! Create leaf stamped tea towels with real leaves from your yard! What a pretty fall decor project.

Once the paint has dried, attach decorative trim to the bottom edge of the tea towel with permanent fabric glue.  This fall craft project idea is so fun! Create leaf stamped tea towels with real leaves from your yard! What a pretty fall decor project.

That is just how easy it is to use fall leaves to make a beautiful leaf stamped tea towel for your kitchen! This fall craft project idea is so fun! Create leaf stamped tea towels with real leaves from your yard! What a pretty fall decor project.

You could also use this method on pillows, tote bags, or anything else that’s fabric!  This fall craft project idea is so fun! Create leaf stamped tea towels with real leaves from your yard! What a pretty fall decor project.

PRINTABLE TUTORIAL

If you’d like to print or save this tutorial, here you go!  Please let me know if you find this new feature useful!

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How to Make Leaf Stamped Tea Towels (With Real Leaves!)

How to Make Leaf Stamped Tea Towels (With Real Leaves!)

Use real leaves to make a beautiful leaf stamped tea towel for your kitchen! Bring the beauty of nature indoors with this pretty leaf craft project.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Active Time 15 minutes
Additional Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Difficulty Easy
Estimated Cost $3

Materials

  • Leaves
  • Plain Tea Towel
  • Acrylic Paints
  • Brayer
  • Wax Paper
  • Decorative Trim
  • Permanent Fabric Glue
  • Scissors

Instructions

  1. Begin by mixing acrylic paints so that they're mottled and a blend of shades you see in fall leaves.  
  2. Flip over a leaf and paint the underside with a thin coat of paint. You want to paint the underside because the leaf's veins are more prominent and will leave more of an impression on the tea towel. Flip the leaf over and place it paint side down onto the tea towel.
  3. Cut a piece of wax paper and lay it on top. (The wax paper prevents any paint that squishes out from under the leaf from getting on the brayer and making a mess on the tea towel.) Then gently roll the brayer over the leaf and remove the wax paper. Repeat this process until the entire tea towel is covered in leaf prints.
  4. Once the paint has dried, attach decorative trim to the bottom edge of the tea towel with permanent fabric glue.
© Bre
Project Type: Home Decor / Category: Crafts
Have you tried stamping with real leaves before?  It’s pretty amazing how well this process works!

-Bre

October 10, 2018 by Bre

DIY Vintage Bug Halloween Decorations

Forget mummies, witches, and skeletons – the thing that scares me most at Halloween is the plethora of creepy crawly insects at every turn.  From spiders to centipedes, those little buggers are enough to make me squirm.  I overcame my fear of these pests to make some Creepy Crawly Vintage Bug Halloween Decorations to add to my interior decor (you saw my outdoor decor in my Halloween porch post last week), and think they turned out too cute not to share!

Cute and creepy! Make these vintage bug Halloween decorations with inexpensive craft supplies! They're a fun Halloween craft for all ages.

Thank you to DecoArt, Inc. for providing the paint used in this post.  The project is all my own.  Also, this post contains affiliate links.  To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.

Supplies Needed to Create Vintage Bug Display Halloween Decorations

  • Unfinished wood plaques
  • Small plastic bug toys
  • Multi-surface acrylic paint (I used gold, black tie, chocolate, and cotton ball)
  • Paint brushes
  • Stencils (I used a harlequin pattern, polka dots, and stripes)
  • E6000 glue
  • Metal label holders
  • Paper
  • Plate stands

How to Create Vintage Bug Display Halloween Decorations

Begin by painting the edges of the unfinished wood plaques with gold multi-surface paint.

Cute and creepy! Make these vintage bug Halloween decorations with inexpensive craft supplies! They're a fun Halloween craft for all ages.

Then paint the tops of the wood plaques with ivory multi-surface paint.

Cute and creepy! Make these vintage bug Halloween decorations with inexpensive craft supplies! They're a fun Halloween craft for all ages.

Once the paint has dried, use stencils to add pattern to the plaques with black multi-surface paint.

Cute and creepy! Make these vintage bug Halloween decorations with inexpensive craft supplies! They're a fun Halloween craft for all ages.Cute and creepy! Make these vintage bug Halloween decorations with inexpensive craft supplies! They're a fun Halloween craft for all ages.

Set the plaques aside to dry.  Paint the plastic bug toys with gold multi-surface paint.

Cute and creepy! Make these vintage bug Halloween decorations with inexpensive craft supplies! They're a fun Halloween craft for all ages.

Once that paint has dried, highlight the details on the bug toys with bronze multi-surface paint.  This will make the bugs look aged.

Cute and creepy! Make these vintage bug Halloween decorations with inexpensive craft supplies! They're a fun Halloween craft for all ages.

Next, add metal label holders and labels to the wooden plaques.  I printed my labels out on regular printer paper.

Cute and creepy! Make these vintage bug Halloween decorations with inexpensive craft supplies! They're a fun Halloween craft for all ages.

Finally, glue the bugs to the plaques with glue that attaches plastic to wood.  E6000 is my new favorite multi-purpose glue!

Cute and creepy! Make these vintage bug Halloween decorations with inexpensive craft supplies! They're a fun Halloween craft for all ages.

Display the Vintage Bug Decorations with plate stands or tiny easels (I’ve even seen them at Dollar Tree)!  Cute and creepy! Make these vintage bug Halloween decorations with inexpensive craft supplies! They're a fun Halloween craft for all ages.

Super creepy and also super cute!  Cute and creepy! Make these vintage bug Halloween decorations with inexpensive craft supplies! They're a fun Halloween craft for all ages.

Please PIN this image to Pinterest to help others find this fun Halloween craft project!

Cute and creepy! Make these vintage bug Halloween decorations with inexpensive craft supplies! They're a fun Halloween craft for all ages. #halloweendecorations #halloweencrafts #halloweendecor

-Bre

P.S. You Might Like this Halloween Wreath Craft Video, Too!

October 4, 2018 by Bre

Dollar Store Halloween Porch Decor

While I absolutely love Halloween, I’m not typically a big decorator for the holiday.  I’m not really sure why – it is what it is.  But this year is different because my kids (ages 6 and 8) insisted that we “go all out” and make our house the spookiest on the block.  They wanted to spend my entire life’s savings on Halloween decorations, so I had to rein them in and take them to Dollar Tree to get their fix.

We put up their decorations over the weekend and I’m happy to share their vision** with you as part of the Decorate Your Porch blog hop hosted by my friend Amy at My Life From Home!  (**Everything you see is what they picked out.  My version of a Halloween porch would have looked a lot different!  It was hard to let them drive this bus, but I’m glad they got a chance to express their creativity and vision for a Halloween porch.)

This Halloween porch is filled with dollar store items! Check out the post to see how to use dollar store Halloween decorations to deck out your home for Halloween.

The caution tape was a big hit with my kids.  I think we bought four different types.  Currently only two are displayed on our porch (wrapped around the mum planters and along one of the sidelights), but I’ve been told that the others will definitely be going up for Halloween night.

Planters wrapped in caution tape are a great Halloween decorating idea!

This “creepy” skeleton dude is the splurge item on the porch.  Press his hand and his eyes glow red and he says all kinds of weird stuff to you (REALLY LOUDLY).  The kids were lucky they caught me in a generous moment during one of our Home Depot trips.  🙂

This post is filled with ideas for decorating your porch for Halloween with dollar store items!

The planters are my favorite part of the porch.  They’re filled with lots of random Dollar Tree finds, but it kind of works!

Fill an outdoor planter with dollar store Halloween decorations for a spooky look on your front porch! This Halloween front porch has lots of budget-friendly ideas!

I mean, when doesn’t a skull look good next to your front door?Fill an outdoor planter with dollar store Halloween decorations for a spooky outdoor Halloween display! This post has lots of good dollar store Halloween decor ideas!Glittered skulls in an outdoor lantern are a fabulous way to decorate for Halloween! These dollar store Halloween porch decor ideas are not to be missed!

Now this doormat combo is a huge point of contention with my kids.  My mom gave me this personalized pumpkin doormat earlier this fall and I love it.  The kids say it’s too cute.  They want it gone.  What do you think?  Should it stay or should it go?Layered doormats make a beautiful statement at the front door.

Well, that’s the end of my Halloween front porch tour.  My porch is so tiny that there’s not much to see!  I hope you enjoyed seeing my kids’ handiwork.  Stop by on Halloween night for some candy!

This Halloween front porch is filled with dollar store Halloween decorations. See how to decorate your Halloween porch on a budget!

Also, swing by my blogger friends’ posts to see their porches decorated for fall and Halloween!  So much fun.

An InLinkz Link-up


September 19, 2018 by Bre

DIY Dollar Tree Pumpkin Picture Frames

Fall is my favorite season for Dollar Tree crafts and makeovers, so when I saw their fresh crop of fall arrivals, I suddenly felt inspired to get dollar store crafty. (You might like my brand new Dollar Tree Pumpkin Sign Project, too!)  I purchased a couple of their fall pumpkin chipboard decorations (NOTE: even though this post was written in 2018, Dollar Tree currently has these same decorations in the 2019 season!), and knew I could turn them into something cuter and more personal – fall pumpkin picture frames, to be precise!  So cute! Transform Dollar Tree pumpkin decorations into adorable pumpkin picture frames that are perfect for displaying fall photos! #dollartree #dollartreecrafts #dollartreedecor #fallcrafts

Supplies Needed to Create Dollar Tree Fall Pumpkin Picture Frames

  • Chipboard pumpkin decorations from Dollar Tree
  • Acrylic paints in colors of your choice (I used cream, beige, and orange)
  • Paint brushes
  • Ribbon in colors/patterns of your choice
  • Scissors
  • Twine
  • Raffia
  • Hot glue gun and hot glue

How to Create Dollar Tree Fall Pumpkin Picture Frames

Begin by ripping off the decorative accent portions of the chipboard pumpkins (for example, the raffia and the chipboard flower and/or pumpkin).  Once those are off, rip off the printed layer of the chipboard.  This came off easily!  So cute! Transform Dollar Tree pumpkin decorations into adorable pumpkin picture frames that are perfect for displaying fall photos! #dollartree #dollartreecrafts #dollartreedecor #fallcrafts

Next, paint the pumpkins whatever color you like.  I went for a white pumpkin look, so I used a cream acrylic paint and then added some beige lines to give the pumpkins a bit of dimension.  I then painted the stand portion of the project orange.  So cute! Transform Dollar Tree pumpkin decorations into adorable pumpkin picture frames that are perfect for displaying fall photos! #dollartree #dollartreecrafts #dollartreedecor #fallcrafts

After the paint dried, I tied ribbon and raffia around the top of each pumpkin for some cute detail and color.  So cute! Transform Dollar Tree pumpkin decorations into adorable pumpkin picture frames that are perfect for displaying fall photos! #dollartree #dollartreecrafts #dollartreedecor #fallcrafts

Then I wrapped twine around the top and bottom portions of each pumpkin and hot glued it to the back of each pumpkin.  So cute! Transform Dollar Tree pumpkin decorations into adorable pumpkin picture frames that are perfect for displaying fall photos! #dollartree #dollartreecrafts #dollartreedecor #fallcrafts

When the hot glue dried, the pumpkin frames looked like this.  So cute! Transform Dollar Tree pumpkin decorations into adorable pumpkin picture frames that are perfect for displaying fall photos! #dollartree #dollartreecrafts #dollartreedecor #fallcrafts

Super cute, but even cuter once I added pictures of my kids at the pumpkin patch, and my dog posing with a pumpkin.  So cute! Transform Dollar Tree pumpkin decorations into adorable pumpkin picture frames that are perfect for displaying fall photos! #dollartree #dollartreecrafts #dollartreedecor #fallcrafts

The twine holds the photos in place, and these little Dollar Tree pumpkin frames are the perfect spot to display fall themed photos!  So cute! Transform Dollar Tree pumpkin decorations into adorable pumpkin picture frames that are perfect for displaying fall photos! #dollartree #dollartreecrafts #dollartreedecor #fallcrafts

It doesn’t get much easier than this, so I’d appreciate it if you would pin this project on Pinterest to help others find it!  So cute! Transform Dollar Tree pumpkin decorations into adorable pumpkin picture frames that are perfect for displaying fall photos! #dollartree #dollartreecrafts #dollartreedecor #fallcrafts

Will you be heading to Dollar Tree to find some of these chipboard pumpkins to transform into pumpkin picture frames?

-Bre

I Think You’ll Like This Dollar Tree Witch Wreath Video, Too!

July 17, 2018 by Bre

How to Paint a Straw Tote for a Trendy Summer Bag

If you’ve been in any stores recently or shopped online, then you’ve definitely noticed that straw bags are the must have this summer.  Every store has them and they’re all so cute!  Although I already have a small straw bag, I wanted a larger one for every day use (I carry around a lot of stuff on a daily basis), but I didn’t want a large price tag.  That’s why I decided to paint a straw tote and get a cute summer bag at a fraction of the price!  (No worries if you’re not into DIY’ing a straw tote for yourself; I’ve rounded up some of my favorite straw bags available now at the bottom of this post!)Grab a plain straw bag and customize it with paint and a DIY fabric tassel! It's so easy to get this trendy straw bag look for summer without spending a fortune. Learn how in this post!

This was a super simple project that left me with a darling straw tote, and I can’t wait to show you just how to make your own!

Supplies Needed to Paint a Straw Tote

This post contains affiliate links.  To read my full disclosure policy, please click here.

  • Straw tote (I got mine at Michaels, but it’s out of stock online.  Linked bag is similar.)
  • Multi-surface acrylic paints in colors of your choice
  • Paintbrush
  • Letter stencil
  • Masking tape (to hold stencil in place)
  • Scrap fabric (to make tassel)
  • Embroidery floss (to make tassel)
  • Pinking shears (to make tassel)

How to Paint a Straw Tote

Before I show you how I customized my plain straw tote, let me show you how boring it was initially.  (Want to see more of my summer mantel behind the tote?  Check it out here!)Grab a plain straw bag and customize it with paint and a DIY fabric tassel! It's so easy to get this trendy straw bag look for summer without spending a fortune. Learn how in this post!

I knew it could be so much cuter, so I grabbed my acrylic paint stash and got to work!  I began by painting a band of aqua at the bottom of the bag, simply following the lines in the straw as my guide.  Grab a plain straw bag and customize it with paint and a DIY fabric tassel! It's so easy to get this trendy straw bag look for summer without spending a fortune. Learn how in this post!

Then I found a letter stencil I’ve had for YEARS in my craft stash and taped that onto the bag.  I couldn’t get it totally flush with the bag, but I did the best I could.  Grab a plain straw bag and customize it with paint and a DIY fabric tassel! It's so easy to get this trendy straw bag look for summer without spending a fortune. Learn how in this post!

I chose a coordinating color of paint for the stencil and I got to work, gently applying the paint to the stencil and trying to prevent any bleed through from happening.  To do this, I used the stencil as more of a guide than an actual stencil.  Grab a plain straw bag and customize it with paint and a DIY fabric tassel! It's so easy to get this trendy straw bag look for summer without spending a fortune. Learn how in this post!

Thankfully there was no bleed through or smudges, and the tote looked great!

It was missing a little something, however, so I whipped up a fabric tassel with some scrap fabric.  To do this, just cut narrow strips of fabric with pinking shears, lay them on top of each other, fold in half and secure near the top with embroidery floss!Making fabric tassels could not be easier! Get the how to in this post, and see how cute fabric tassels look on purses!

I covered the embroidery floss with another piece of scrap fabric for a more “finished” look.  Grab a plain straw bag and customize it with paint and a DIY fabric tassel! It's so easy to get this trendy straw bag look for summer without spending a fortune. Learn how in this post!

And that is all it took to upgrade a plain straw tote to a cute, personalized straw tote for summer!  Grab a plain straw bag and customize it with paint and a DIY fabric tassel! It's so easy to get this trendy straw bag look for summer without spending a fortune. Learn how in this post!

So what are you waiting for?  Summer will be gone before we know it, so paint a straw tote for yourself ASAP!  How would you customize yours?

No Time for DIY?  Why Not Buy?

Scroll through to see some of my favorite straw bags in stores now!  Images are clickable to shop!

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Bre of Average But Inspired

Hi, I'm Bre! Thanks for visiting my blog. I hope you'll find ideas to inspire your creativity and beautify your home. If this is your first visit, check out the Popular Posts tab at the top of the page to see some of the best of Average But Inspired!

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