Easily Create a Beautiful DIY Thanksgiving Centerpiece from Thrift Store Items

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Taking something old and making it new is something that has always been dear to my heart. As a teenager,  I earned the nick name of “Bag lady,” when I took an old guitar out of a dumpster. That guitar was spray painted silver with metallic floral accents and later given away at Christmas time as wall art. Recreating is in my blood and here is another idea that would make an awesome DIY Thanksgiving centerpiece floral decoration. 

 

Since Thanksgiving is coming, I am in the process of collecting potential fall centerpiece ideas and awesome fall mantel pieces. This year, I am hoping for a more rustic homemade-feel to my home so I created a really simple fall floral arrangement made with a thrift store pot, flowers and a little chalk paint. 

 

Here is what you will need:

A large container from the thrift store that will hold flowers to the size you are looking for

Some floral foam (enough to fill the container )

Flowers (mine were from the thrift store)

White chalk paint

Tan chalk paint

A stencil of your choice for the front design

Brown acrylic paint

 

Here is what I started with:

The shape of this pot was awesome but I was not too fond of the glaring gold color. I decided to cover the entire thing with white chalk paint. When you are browsing the store, look for anything with awesome bones. Check out old pots and pans, watering cans and decorative containers.

Since this was slippery metal, the paint did not want to stick. I added two coats of paint and decided that I liked the look of a little metal shining through.  (If you are using a similar material to start out with and prefer the color to be solid, I would recommend spraying this with a primer first)

 

After I let the two coats of paint dry, I added some weathering effects by lightly painting a few streaks of tan chalk paint over the white. This added depth and a little color to the mix.

Adding the Finishing Touches:

After the container was completely dry, I added the flowers. I simply fit the green flower foam tightly into the area and started adding the flowers I found from the thrift store.  

 

I put the tallest stem I had in the middle and two shorter stems on either side. Then I filled the rest of the area in. When working with flower designs, keeping an odd number of flowers will make it interesting, as well as adding height in the middle. Some fall flowers that I love this year are cotton and cattails. 

 

I had the fall centerpiece completed, but I thought it still needed something to make it look a little more unique. This is when I decided to add some stenciling on the front. Since I have Arthur’s picture mash up DIY hanging in our kitchen, which has a lot of french on it, I decided to use a french stenciled word on the front. 

 

To do this, I taped the stencil tightly down on the side of the container and used a stencil brush and brown acrylic paint to dab a little something extra on it. 

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Here is how it turned out:

I love how you can take practically anything from anywhere and form it to fit your personality and your needs.  Now that this container is painted, I can seasonally switch out the flowers and have a floral arrangement for any season! 

 

I hope you are inspired to try to change something old into your own style! Your imagination is the limit! Check out our 10 minute fall wreath here and show us your creations on Instagram #bathtubartsy and be sure to follow us for tons of new DIY projects! And don’t forget to subscribe for more DIY ideas and inspiration!