DIY with faux florals, birds, and repurposed thrift store finds

Faux florals, miniature birds, and repurposed thrift store finds…Three of my favorite things! The weather is warm, and the sun is shining brightly today—the perfect day to reflect on a couple of previous “make me happy” projects.

I comb local thrift stores occasionally, looking for used and vintage glassware and plates that would work well in unique home decor projects. On one such trip, I found a set of green salad plates and fell in love with the pale shade of green, instinctively sensing they would come in handy in a future creative project. In the same shop, I found small round glasses that were so simple and sweet! You know when you get a sense about something—that there’s something creative hidden there, waiting to come out, but you don’t quite know what it is yet? I felt that and bought them immediately with all the enthusiasm of an artist and designer…And then they just sat in a cabinet…for like a YEAR!
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In my defense, though, once I did pull things out of the cabinet to assess my materials, the creative juices started flowing relatively quickly. 

As the ideas and inspiration started to flow, a final vision emerged. While scouring my favorite internet sites, I found a floral candle ring (from Factory Direct Craft) with vibrant yellow and white flowers that looked perfect with the pale green plates…and the rest was easy! 

The glass was attached to the plate with E6000 glue, the candle ring was placed around the glass and glued down, and a precious little blue bird was attached to the foliage. It was just that simple! A couple of thrift store items, a candle ring, a blue bird…and a bit of E6000 glue.
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The finished candleholder looks whimsical with an LED candle! I use it in a tablescape, surrounded with scatter and fairy lights, and often pair it with my next project, which I called Spring Flower Bed.

​For the second floral project, I used items I discovered at a local thrift shop (because I love my thrift shops!)—a blue metal plate (that was scratched up) and a well-worn metal vase. When purchased, these became a couple more pieces hidden away in a cabinet for an inexcusable amount of time! But I made up for it in the end…
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I chose similar white and yellow daisies and flowers (also from Factory Direct Craft) for this project because I wanted something bright, cheerful, and warm.

I decided to paint the tray with craft paints to make it look “earthen”, like a real flower bed, but it didn't look finished, so I splattered it with black, white, and grey paint to give it a more textured look. The metal vase was sprayed with a stone textured spray paint (from Michaels) to make it look more like a stone planter in a garden.
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Once all the paint was dry, the vase was glued into the center of the tray. Oyster votives were glued around the perimeter, and the space in between was filled with small river rocks, all glued into place and allowed to set for a day or two. The oyster votives were eventually stuffed with Spanish moss and faux flowers, and additional floral sprays were set and glued into the vase. Something was missing, so I bought another bird at Michaels to sit on one of the “nests”. This project was quite a bit more work than the first one! Everything—every little stone and every flower—was glued down with E6000 so that nothing would move once set.
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This second project was a bit more challenging and complicated. This faux floral decor is now one of my go-to pieces for Spring/Summer decor for my home! 

I hope you enjoyed a little look at a couple of creative Spring/Summer home decor projects. Are you now inspired to go rummaging through a thrift store near you?

Please feel free to share in the comments below any thrift store finds that inspired you to tackle a creative project.


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Related blog posts you may want to read:
Tropical-themed projects with repurposed dessert cups
Strawberry-themed projects with repurposed dessert cups
Repurposed vintage candy dishes and cocktail glasses