10 High End Designer Spring Decor Dupes Under 5 DIY Thrift Flips

Spring is on the way, but you don't need to spend a fortune to get that fresh botanical look. Today we're using the cheapest, most overlooked thrift store items and transforming them into high-end spring dupes that look like the luxury brands, but for pennies on the dollar. Luxury retailers are leaning hard into botanical tea towels this spring. They're beautiful, but you can easily spend up to $30 on just one. So I picked up a package of plain white tea towels and iron-on transfers from Walmart. I actually found the exact chipmunk image Magnolia used on their $30 towel in the public domain. So I printed it onto the transfer paper, but on my first try I forgot to remove the background and reverse the image to match the original. So I grabbed another sheet of transfer paper and printed it out again, this time the right way. Then I carefully trimmed around the image with a small pair of scissors so the final product would look nice and clean. I followed the directions on the package and ironed it onto the towel. And in case you're wondering, the directions say to iron on a hard surface, not an ironing board. That's why I'm on the floor. Honestly, I think it's a perfect match at only 12% of the cost of the Magnolia towel. The next thing I've been seeing everywhere are high-priced journals or planners with whimsical or floral covers. They're gorgeous, but you definitely don't have to spend that much to get the same look. I thrifted this brand new fabric covered 2026 planner for just $2.99. To start the makeover, I used a little goof-off to gently remove the embossed 2026 from the front so I'd have a clean background for my design. Originally, I planned to decoupage a paper image on the cover, but since I had that extra iron-on transfer sitting there, I decided not to let it go to waste and use that instead. The $45 version is just a basic lined notebook, but my planner has a variety of beautifully designed pages inside. So for less than 9% of the price, this is a project you should definitely DIY. Another thing that's really popular right now are those high-end animal planters. Little birds, dogs, and cats with space inside for flowers or greenery. When I first walked into Goodwill, I didn't see a single animal figurine that I thought would work for this project, but just as I was about to give up, I spotted this resin cow for only $2.99. Spencer and Madison gave me a Dremel tool for Christmas and I hadn't even used it yet, but to turn this cow into a planter, I needed to remove the little bird from its back, so I figured this was the perfect time to break it out. I couldn't believe how clean and easy the cut was. Next, I drilled a hole right where the bird had been. I started with a glass and ceramic drill bit to get it going a little faster and then switched to a regular wood bit to widen the opening. Then I filled the opening with some greenery and floral stems that I pulled from previously thrifted arrangements. The stems were packed in there pretty tightly, but I added a little hot glue just to make sure nothing would budge. I also felt like the cow's colors, especially the green boots and hat, were a little too bright for spring, so to soften everything and add a bit of dimension, I brushed on some white wax and then lightly dabbed it back. I want to be serious here with you for just a minute. Lately, I have been thinking a lot about time, how much of it I have left and what the quality of those days will be, because it's not enough just to live a long time. I want to have the strength and energy to continue doing all the things I love and to be able to fully show up for the people I care about the most. That's one of the reasons I started taking Timeline's Mito-Pure gummies. Mito-Pure is an ultra-pure form of urolithin A, a compound that is clinically proven to improve muscle strength, cellular energy, and healthy aging. Timeline is the sponsor of today's video, but you guys know I don't promote products that I don't genuinely believe in. This is no gimmick. Do your research. Mito-Pure activates the body's natural processes to renew the mitochondria in our cells, which boosts cellular health and muscle strength. I love that they come in gummy form and they taste like strawberry candy. I keep them next to my coffee mug, so I remember to take them every morning. No complicated routines, just a daily habit that I can stick with. And right now, you can try Mito-Pure gummies for free. That's right. Just use the link below and the code GUMMIESGIFT to get your free sample. One decor piece that always seems to show up this time of year is the simple rabbit silhouette. Although they're usually made from thin metal or wood, they often carry a hefty price tag. I thrifted this sad little metal rabbit and Easter egg for just $1.99, and I'm going to take it apart and use it in five different DIY projects. I was really hoping I could just pull the rabbit and metal rod out of the egg, but it wouldn't budge, so I grabbed my Dremel and carefully cut the rod right at the top of the egg. I decided to start with the rabbit. While I was trying to pull it out of the egg, one of the back legs popped off, and then I realized one of the front arms was already missing. So I decided to make a new arm out of an empty soda can. I loosely traced the shape of the existing arm onto the soda can and cut it out with a sharp pair of scissors. Then I used maximum strength Gorilla Glue to attach the new arm and to reattach the leg that had popped off. Since a lot of the high-end metal rabbits have that aged rusty look, I decided to paint mine with Dixie Bell's iron paint. I gave it one coat and let it dry. Then I gave it a second coat, and while that coat was still wet, I spritzed it with both the blue and green patina sprays. The green gives it more of that rusty weathered effect, and the blue adds a subtle touch of verdigris patina. Many of these flat rabbits are mounted on a simple dowel rod set into a plain block of wood for display, but for something more interesting, I decided to use a book as my base. To dress up the plain book cover, I printed out a vintage image of a book called My Garden. I used the Print to Size app so it would fit my book and printed it on regular copy paper. To attach it, I brushed a thin even coat of Mod Podge onto the front of the book and on the back of the paper, then carefully smoothed the paper into place. I just used a little goof off and a cloth to rub away the printed title and author from the book's spine. Since the cover design came from a vintage book, I didn't want the book itself to look brand new, so I rubbed a sanding block along the edges, especially the corners, to give it that naturally worn aged look. I wanted to add a little faux vegetable, something you might actually find in a garden, and I happen to have a small lettuce or cabbage in my stash, so I drilled a hole through the front cover of the book and through most of the pages, filled the hole with hot glue, and then inserted the stem of the cabbage into the hole. Then all that was left was the rabbit. I drilled a second hole just above the cabbage, added more hot glue, and then slipped the rabbit's metal rod into the hole. I do wish the metal rod had been a little longer so the rabbit could sit up higher, but I honestly think that my version is just as cute as the $59 rabbit. Recently I've been seeing a lot of metal flowers, often sold as a single stem or designed to double as a candlestick. They're sometimes colorful, sometimes gilded, and they often come with a price higher than you'd expect for something so simple. I'm not paying those high end prices, so I'm going to see what I can create using the metal flowers that came off of that thrift store egg. And since I'm not creating these for mass production, I can use something a little more unique for my base, like this piece from an old hurricane lamp instead of using a plain wood round or block. For a vintage garden inspired look, I gave it a coat of white chalk paint and distressed it with a sanding block. I flipped it over and filled the metal cup with styrofoam, making sure the styrofoam was pressed firmly up against the holes at the top and the side. Then I added a little hot glue to make sure that the styrofoam stayed put. Then I pressed the stem of the metal flowers down through the hole at the top. The flowers look better if you take a minute to bend the petals upward to give them more dimension. And since my flowers were a little plain, I added a small drop of Gorilla Glue to the center of each one and added a faux pearl. I debated about what to do with the hole on the side and ultimately felt that it would look best if I added some additional leaves and a metal flower pulled from the egg. Then I decided to finish off the bottom to conceal the styrofoam, so I just cut a circle of poster board and hot glued it over the styrofoam. For the tulips, I wanted a small base because the flower stem was very short, so I grabbed a wood spool that originally came with ribbon and I filled the center hole with styrofoam and a little hot glue. Then I pushed in the flowers. I wanted to wrap the spool with some ribbon and found this unusual green felt one. It was a little too tall for the spool, so I cut it down a bit. Then I wrapped it around the spool and hot glued the ends in place. I decided to use the last little flower bouquet on this thrift store figurine. He had one rusty metal flower tied to his paw, but you barely noticed it, partly due to all the raffia tied around his neck. So I removed the star and the raffia and I pushed the stems of the tiny metal flowers through the hole in the paw. To make sure they stayed in place, I added a drop of gorilla glue in the hole and placed a tiny bow on top of the glue. The egg transformation ended up being my favorite, but I'm saving that for last. Right now I want to show you how to dupe these expensive botanical textiles. First, I searched the Goodwill shelves for a simple wood frame because I knew I wanted to paint it black for a more vintage feel. Once I got it home, I gave it a coat of black chalk paint and after it dried, I lightly distressed it with a sanding block, especially around the corners. Then to give it that naturally aged look, I brushed on a little dark oil-based antiquing wax and wiped back the excess. To create the tapestry, I found a vintage botanical image in the public domain that I liked. Then I cut a piece of fabric from an old linen dress and trimmed it to fit a sheet of cardstock copy paper. I lightly sprayed the back with pixie spray, a lightweight adhesive, so that it would adhere to the cardstock. Then I ran it through my printer, just like regular paper, and printed the botanical image directly onto the fabric. If your printer ink tends to smudge, at this point I would recommend spraying the fabric with hairspray or a clear sealer to help set the ink. To really highlight that this is fabric and not paper, I pulled threads from all four edges to create a soft frayed fringe. To create a backing for the fabric, I cut a piece of black poster board to fit the frame. Then I sprayed the back of the fabric again with pixie spray and smoothed it onto the poster board. As I reassembled the frame, I realized that the cardboard backing is actually a vintage game board. It looks kind of familiar to me, so if you recognize it, let me know in the comments. There weren't any staples holding the cardboard in place, and since the piece is pretty lightweight, I just used brown paper packing tape to secure everything. And finally, I reattached the sawtooth hanger that I had removed earlier. Many of the high-end tapestries are larger than mine. Even so, mine cost less than one percent of the tapestry sold by Brooke and Lou. For the past few years, high-end home decor stores like Pottery Barn and Ballard Designs have been showcasing cloches, especially styled with botanicals. I occasionally find a traditional cloche like this anniversary clock at the thrift store, but today I want to show you that you can use unexpected thrift store items to create a one-of-a-kind cloche. I thrifted this jewelry box for $4.99, and I really like that it has a chunky wood base. To make room for some dried flowers, I wanted to remove the jewelry rack. I hoped it would pull out, but it didn't, so I grabbed my Dremel to quickly cut it off. Then I realized that the glass case actually comes off the base. If I'd known that, it would have been much easier to remove that jewelry rack. These stems are leftover from the flowers my husband sent me for the Homeworthy tour. I tied them together in a bundle with some twine and propped them up in the case. The narrow shape of this glass case is perfect for displaying a small bouquet. When I went to dump out the crumbs, the door popped off, so I used some Maximum Strength Gorilla Glue to reattach it, which may keep the door from swinging open, but I don't mind too much because I can always lift it off and fill it from the bottom. Botanical and fabric line trays are everywhere in high-end design right now because they add texture and pattern and feel custom compared to a basic wood or metal tray, which is exactly what I found at the thrift store for $2.99. The wood round just sits in the metal tray, so I popped it out and centered it on a scrap piece of fabric leftover from an old DIY project. Then to adhere it, I sprayed the top of the tray with spray adhesive and then centered it face down on the fabric. Then I used the same technique that I used in last week's video when I covered the frame of a mirror with fabric. I just trimmed the fabric to better fit the wood round, then I cut slits in the fabric about every inch to create small flaps that I could easily fold over the edge of the wood. I used more spray adhesive to adhere the flaps. I wanted to clean up the bottom so that either side of the tray could be used, so I hot glued some green braided trim along the cut edges of the fabric. Luckily, we've had some warmer weather this week, so I was able to take the tray outside to spray paint it gold. I wasn't loving the industrial style handles, so I decided to cover them up. This fabric originally came from a table runner, and I had cut off the hemmed edges, so I decided to use those fabric strips to wrap around the handles. And as I wrapped them, I made sure that I covered the raw cut edges. I wish the wood round sat lower, but it's designed to be even with the tray. But at $5, I'd still choose it over the Williams Sonoma tray that cost 39 times more. Designer or collectible eggs often cost anywhere from $50 to hundreds of dollars, but we can dupe them for much less. Now for that thrift store egg. The first thing I did was pull off that straw that I'm guessing was supposed to look like a nest. Then I tried to remove the metal base, and wouldn't you know it, it came off with the metal rod attached. I sure wish I'd figured that out earlier. I originally thought the egg was metal, but it ended up being plastic, which was actually a nice surprise because I wanted to cut it open, and plastic is much easier to cut than metal. I started with a utility knife, and it was working, but since I have that new Dremel tool, I switched and made easy work of it. I made jagged cuts to look like the egg had cracked open. To paint the egg, I stuck a small dowel rod in the hole where the metal rod had been, so I could prop it up to dry. Then I mixed some white chalk paint with baking soda and brushed it over the egg. Once that coat was dry, I applied a second coat using a sponge so I could dab it on and create texture. When the second coat was dry, I brushed Mod Podge over the egg to seal the paint, because I wanted to apply some rub-on transfers. I cut some individual flowers and insects from IOD's Wild Blumen package, and took my time applying each one to make sure it fully adhered. Once the egg was covered, I filled the egg with some repurposed styrofoam. Yes, this is from that big basket of greenery I used in last week's video. I wanted to put a ceramic rabbit in the egg, but I didn't have any that were the right size, so I used a ceramic bird instead, hot gluing it to the styrofoam. Then I began filling in around the bird with faux greenery and florals that I had on hand, some from thrifted arrangements and some from Dollar Tree. With the florals in place, you barely noticed the white bird, so I pulled it out and added a yellow one instead. I wanted to place the egg on a pedestal or stand, so I grabbed a thrift store wood candlestick and drilled a hole through the center, and then filled that hole with wood glue. I cut down the dowel, pushed it through a nest, and then pushed it into the hole. To make the bird's nest feel like it belonged with the egg, I stuck a few similar greenery stems and florals into the side of the nest. Then for a finishing touch, I trimmed off the excess transparency from a Dollar Tree butterfly sticker and hot glued it to one of the flowers. This project only cost me $4.98 for the egg and candlestick, but even if you have to buy a bird, a nest, and flowers, I'm pretty sure you can make this for less than $150. Thanks so much for watching, and if you enjoy duping overpriced spring decor, here's another video I think you'll like.