Holiday Archives - Average But Inspired

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!

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Display the Vintage Bug Decorations with plate stands or tiny easels (I’ve even seen them at Dollar Tree)!

Super creepy and also super cute!

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

-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

It’s been an incredibly long time* since I’ve shared a Dollar Tree makeover, so when I saw their fresh crop of fall arrivals, I suddenly felt inspired to get dollar store crafty again. (*Probably a few months or something. I’m just being dramatic.) I purchased a couple of their fall pumpkin chipboard decorations and knew I could turn them into something cuter and more personal – fall pumpkin picture frames, to be precise!

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!

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.

After the paint dried, I tied ribbon and raffia around the top of each pumpkin for some cute detail and color.

Then I wrapped twine around the top and bottom portions of each pumpkin and hot glued it to the back of each pumpkin.

When the hot glue dried, the pumpkin frames looked like this.

Super cute, but even cuter once I added pictures of my kids at the pumpkin patch, and my dog posing with a pumpkin.

The twine holds the photos in place, and these little Dollar Tree pumpkin frames are the perfect spot to display fall themed photos!

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!

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

-Bre

September 12, 2018 by Bre

A Pumpkin Filled Fall Mantel

The weather has started turning cooler and the sun has begun setting earlier with each passing day. Although I’m still in somewhat of a summer mindset, there’s no denying that fall is on its way. Because of that, I’m so glad to be part of the Decorate Your Mantel Fall Blog Hop, which is hosted by my friend Amy at My Life From Home. It gave me the kick in the pants that I needed to pull my fall decor from storage, pick up a few new items, and get things moving toward a cozier look in my house!

Although I love the vibrant colors that fall brings, I went with a muted look for this mantel. For some reason it just felt right this time around. Maybe I’m craving a break from the sun and brightness of the summer – who knows?

Buckets, bowls, and containers in varying shades of silver give faux pumpkins the height they need to flank the mirror.

Although each pumpkin is different, the commonalities in their pedestals makes the look cohesive.

The picture frame holds oak leaves cut from book pages (a terrible piece of chick lit I read back in the early 2000’s. My tastes have matured since then. Ha!), and acorns I gathered from my mom’s yard over Labor Day weekend.

Faux floral picks stuffed in a wood centerpiece box I use all the time completes the look.

P.S. the new candelabra I put in the fireplace is totally beautiful when it’s all lit up. Just perfect for my non-functional fireplace.

To me there’s something very peaceful and comforting about this year’s fall mantel. I love looking at it and thinking of all the fun fall activities ahead for me and my family.

Now that you’ve seen my fall mantel decor, I’d love for you to visit the other ladies participating in this blog hop! They have wonderful ideas for your fall mantel, too. Click any of the photos below to be taken right to their blog posts.

Have you begun decorating for fall yet? What type of look are you going with this year?

-Bre

June 26, 2018 by Bre

Free Vintage Patriotic Printables {Perfect for the Fourth of July}

Anytime I think of the Fourth of July, the sounds of old-time patriotic music fill my mind. Usually it’s the tune of “Stars and Stripes Forever” or “God Bless America,” and I kid you not, I see fireworks in my mind! It’s like I’m back in my town’s park watching the fireworks all over again! Because of that, I just knew I had to share these fantastic vintage patriotic printables, which are taken from the covers of vintage patriotic sheet music books.

Can you believe the artwork on these pieces of music? What a gift!

I found six of my favorite public domain sheet music covers and have uploaded them for you, just in time for the Fourth of July. Just click the linked title above the patriotic printable(s) you want, download to your computer, print (either at home or at a print shop), and enjoy! These images print best up to 8×10.

America and Old Glory

Stars and Stripes Forever

Stars of our Union

Under One Flag

For Old Glory

My Country’s Flag

Of course you could just pop one of these into a frame, but wouldn’t they look adorable printed in a smaller size and turned into a bunting/banner? That’s what I’m planning to do for my fireplace mantel. I just didn’t have time to do that before writing this post.

How else would you use these vintage patriotic printables?

-Bre