Holiday Archives - Average But Inspired

March 8, 2018 by Bre

Pretty Vintage Paper Mache Bunny

I just love how Target always finds ways to make my bill higher than it should be. On my most recent trip, for example, I tossed this unfinished paper mache bunny into my cart without giving it a second thought. She felt right at home amongst the toilet paper and socks.

After bringing her home and staring at her for a couple of days, I felt inspired to give her a new look, and now my Vintage Paper Mache Bunny looks like this – perfect for spring decor! Keep reading and I’ll teach you how to make one of your own.

Supplies Needed for a Vintage Paper Mache Bunny

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How to Make a Vintage Paper Mache Bunny

Begin by cutting a newspaper into tiny strips. Once you have a big collection of strips, paste them to the unfinished paper mache bunny with Mod Podge.

Once the newspaper is dried to the bunny, put a topcoat of Mod Podge all over the bunny.

After that dries, water down some gray acrylic paint and lightly cover the bunny so that the newspaper words are muted but still visible. I think the words give the bunny some character and vintage-looking charm!

Add some light pink paint in the inner portions of the ears.

When the gray and pink paints are dry, cover the entire bunny with a coat of Glamour Dust glitter paint. This will give the bunny a beautiful shine when the sunlight hits it! It’s a really subtle glitter and not overwhelming. However, if you don’t like the glitter look, you could leave the bunny as-is, or seal with another coat of Mod Podge.

Finally, hot glue moss and paper flower stickers around the bunny’s head to create an adorable flower crown. This is my favorite part of this bunny!

And that is all you have to do to make a beautiful Vintage Paper Mache Bunny for your spring or Easter decor!

This easy project is one that you can leave out until summer! It’s not overly Easter, so you can pass it off a little longer than some other decorations.

I guess that, in the end, I’m glad I have no self-control in Target and that I bought that unfinished paper mache bunny, because this project is pretty sweet and will add a little cuteness to my spring decor.

-Bre

You May Also Enjoy This Spring Bunny Gumball Machines Project!

February 7, 2018 by Bre

The Best Party Supplies to Buy at Dollar Tree (and which ones to skip!)

While I’m not a party animal by any stretch, I like to host a nice gathering every once in a while (like the Kate Spade-inspired birthday party I threw my mom and the Secret Garden baby shower I threw my sister-in-law). Because I believe you can throw an awesome party on a small budget (see my tips here), I thought I should share my thoughts on the best party supplies to buy at Dollar Tree (one of my favorite stores for budget-friendly finds (on craft supplies, especially)), and what to avoid!

Budget-friendly party supplies are an important part of any party, because the more you save on these items, the more money you’ll have for really important things like food and beverages!

Serving Trays and Serving Utensils

If you need disposable serving items for the party you’re hosting, definitely get them at Dollar Tree. They have high-quality and sturdy trays in clear plastic, colors, and silver finish. They also have large serving utensils, both disposable and not, which I learned at Thanksgiving you can never have enough of!

I love those silver trays for craft projects, too, like the Chalkboard Wreath I created last fall!

I’ll warn you that I do not love Dollar Tree’s plastic utensils, however! In my opinion, they’re pretty flimsy (ESPECIALLY the colored utensils), and don’t work well. I would not recommend those for your party.

Candles

If you plan to add a little ambiance to your party and need candles, get your tealights, votives and tapers at Dollar Tree! They come in multi-packs, making them very affordable.

Dollar Tree also has a wide selection of battery-operated flameless candles, but those aren’t my favorite. They’ll do in a pinch, but I find that the batteries don’t last long and they sometimes have a strange color “flame.”

Dollar Tree also has candles in the shapes of numbers if you need that for a birthday cake!

Favor Bags / Gift Bags

Ever since I discovered Dollar Tree’s gift bags, I haven’t purchased one elsewhere. They have SO many colors and designs that you’ll definitely find something you like. I love to use their solid color bags as party favor bags for kids parties, and embellish them with stickers or ribbon that fits the theme of the party. Because the solid bags come in multi-packs, they’re very kind to your party budget!

Helium Balloons

If you need helium balloons for your celebration, this is the place to get them. Typically, helium balloons cost around $4 at party stores, but they’re just a dollar at Dollar Tree!

I even like to buy the plain mylar balloons and decorate with stickers or washi tape. That way you can really personalize the look to fit your theme or decor, like I did for my mom’s Kate Spade party!

Vases

If vases for centerpieces or party decor are on your list, Dollar Tree is the place to get them! They have so many shapes and sizes of plain glass vases that you’re bound to find what you need.

Streamers

Streamers are such a fun party supply because you can do so many things with them, in addition to hanging them from the walls! Search for crepe paper streamer ideas on Pinterest and you’ll be blown away! Streamers come in 2-packs at Dollar Tree, making them very affordable.

Any party I host would not be properly planned without a trip to Dollar Tree. I can always get a lot crossed off my shopping list and at a great price!

If you have any items you think should be added to my list, please let me know in the comments below! I’d love to hear from you.

-Bre

You Might Like My Post About The Best Craft Supplies to Buy at Dollar Tree

February 1, 2018 by Bre

Easy DIY Scrap Wood Valentines

Valentine’s Day – are you in the “love it” or “leave it” camp when it comes to this holiday? As you can guess, I’m on the side of “love it,” because it’s such a cute holiday! Because of that, I wanted to share a quick and adorable Valentine’s Day craft that you can make for yourself or to give away as a sweet gift. These Easy DIY Scrap Wood Valentines are a great way to use up any wood scraps you have stashed, or are very inexpensive to make with craft wood from the store!

Plus, you can customize this project to match your own personal taste, so you don’t have to make yours quite as “rustic” as mine!

Supplies Needed for Scrap Wood Valentines

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This music sheet (download the 760 px option and print it on cardstock like what’s linked below)
Scrap wood in size of your choice OR pre-cut wood just like this
Plain cream or white cardstock
Permanent double-sided tape
Clear drying glue that’s suitable for use on wood
Glitter (I used red and silver)
Matte Acrylic or Chalky Finish Paint (I used this kind in Romance (red), Relic (dark gray), and Primitive (cream))
Chip brush
Letter stamp set
Scissors
Pencil
OPTIONAL: stain or stain wipes (and disposable gloves)

Instructions for Making Scrap Wood Valentines

The first step of this project is optional, but if you’d like, you can stain your wood piece prior to painting it. I stained my wood so that I could give it a distressed look with some of the stained finish peeking through the paint. I used my favorite stain wipes for this part because the stain dries quickly and is odorless!

After the stain dried, I dry brushed chalky finish paint onto the wood blocks. I did a streaky application so that the stained finish would show through in parts.

While the paint dried, I printed out this sheet music onto a piece of cardstock. (Tip: the New York library has digitized thousands of publications within the public domain and made them available for free! That’s where I found this sheet music.) Then I drew a hearts on parts of the lyrics that talk about love and all that good stuff, and cut them out.

Next, I attached double-sided permanent tape to the back of the hearts, and pressed them onto my wood blocks.

I then used letter stamps to put some sentimental sayings onto the blocks with paint. I made my lettering a bit uneven to give an imperfect and rustic look, but you can definitely make yours look more refined!

Once that paint dried, I outlined the paper hearts with glue, and sprinkled glitter onto that. Even though I was going for a rustic look on these wood scrap valentines, I had to add a little sparkle. That’s just me.

And that is all it takes to make these adorable scrap wood valentines that you can display in your home throughout the holiday, or give to a friend as a special little gift. So sweet, right?!?

I made this project on FB Live, too, so check out the video!

And, if you’re looking for some other Valentine’s Day project ideas, check out my Holidays Project Gallery!

-Bre

December 7, 2017 by Bre

A Classic Christmas Mantel

I’m so happy to be back in the swing of things with a festive and classic Christmas mantel that I’m sharing today as part of the Decorate Your Mantel blog hop! My friend Amy at My Life From Home has been hosting this hop for the last year or so, and I’ve loved participating. I missed the fall edition due to lack of preparedness, but now I’m ready to share my Christmas mantel along with lots of other bloggers (links to their posts are at the bottom of this post)!

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

So come on in and let me show you around!

I’ve always gravitated toward a more classic Christmas style, filled with reds and greens and your typical Christmas icons, like Santas and Christmas trees. What can I say? I’m old school. My mantels in the past have reflected that (like this one, and this one), but I think that this year’s Christmas mantel is my favorite because it’s classic, simple, and fun all at the same time!

My new favorite textured stoneware pitcher is pulling decor duty for this mantel, serving as a nice vase for my faux greenery. I like how the iced greenery coordinates with the glittery garland on the mantel!

And I’m so happy that I found a spot for my cute porcelain snow houses that I got at Target in Bullseye’s Playground (they should really rename that section “Breighanne’s Playground!”). Target doesn’t have those little houses anymore, but you can find some adorable ones here!

I propped those little houses up on the bottom side of my wood planter box to give them some height over the garland. They’re happy to be nestled in close to my cute Santa art print. This art print might not be everyone’s favorite (like my husband), but I couldn’t resist this vintage-looking Santa!

I moved the stockings to the bookcases this year (hey – all the song says is that they need to be hung “by the chimney with care.” I think this qualifies), and still need to add family photos to the photo stocking holders! Ooops.

So there you have it – my classic Christmas mantel for 2017. I hope you enjoyed seeing how I made the classic look work for me! If you see anything you need to have for your own decor, you can shop the post right here by clicking the photos below!

Now, please make sure to go visit my friends’ posts so you can see their festive decor, too!

Thanks for visiting!

-Bre

December 6, 2017 by Bre

Upcycled Tile Christmas Ornaments

You know the old saying “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade?” Well I’ve got a new twist on that for you and it goes like this: “when your neighbor hands you leftover tile samples, make Christmas ornaments.”

Over the summer, my neighbor brought me many different marble tile samples that he didn’t need anymore, because he and his wife figured I’d find some use for them. (I think they’ve seen enough of my weekend projects in the garage to know that I never turn down good materials! (Let’s be honest – I never turn down any materials – good or bad.))

So anyway, the tile samples sat in various places in my house since that time, just collecting dust, until this past Sunday. My seven-year-old daughter was having a tough day and was sulking in her bedroom. I had had enough of that doom and gloom, so I snatched her out of there and told her we were making a craft project together. I had nothing planned, but when I spotted those tile samples on my desk, I knew we needed to turn them into ornaments.

We gathered multi-surface acrylic paints in various colors (primarily metallics, glitters, and pink (yes, pink. She’s seven, after all.), and Christmas-themed and letter rubber stamps, and we set off to work!

We applied thin layers of paint to the rubber stamps and gently pressed them onto the tiles, fixing mistakes as we went along (trust me, there were lots of those!).

She worked on making ornaments for her friends, while I played along.

After a while, my five-year-old son also got in on the action and he mass-produced about 29 of these things in an hour (they are all lime green). My daughter and I preferred to work more slowly and thoughtfully, and once all of our creations dried, we turned our tiles into actual ornaments. We used special glue to attach pretty ribbon to the backs of the ornaments.

Once that glue had set a bit, we cut pieces of stiffened felt and glued those over the ribbon. This made the ribbon a little sturdier, which is great for ornaments that are on the heavier side.

We let them dry overnight, just to be sure the glue was really holding everything together, and then our ornaments were finished!

They turned out so much cuter than I expected!

My daughter’s tile ornaments are so sweet, but I didn’t take pictures of them because she put all of her friends’ names on them and I didn’t think I should put those on the Internet. So . . . you’re stuck with my generic Christmas sayings.

In the end, a day that started out very rough turned out to be a wonderful one that I won’t soon forget. We made more than ornaments on Sunday – we made wonderful memories together. That sounds cheesy, but this project helped remind me how important it is to really be there for our kids when they need a little extra attention. AND it also reminded me how important is to never throw anything away – HA!

If you agree, or if you just think this is a fun project, please make sure to “pin” this project to help others find it! You can pick up tile samples just like the ones we used, or less expensive ceramic versions, at any home improvement store, so replicating this project is very easy!