Hey guys! We’re so excited to be here today with our first official mystery box creative challenge! If you’re headed over from Zevy Joy, welcome! We are so glad you’re here!
What on earth is the mystery box creative challenge, you may ask? We did a little stories number on instagram this week, where we unboxed all our goodies. But we decided to play a game with some of our fave bloggers, and this is what we came up with:
One person sends a box to the next person on the list. The box is a random assortment of merely ten dollars. Each item worth one dollar, all originating from The Dollar Tree. We then create something from the box, using most of the items in the box, for the “theme” at hand. For our first ever round, we thought we’d try coffee table toppers! So while you’re at it, be sure to check out the other fabulous site’s posts as well – here’s a list of the fab sites participating: {in the order in which boxes were sent a-la round robin style}
• My Sweet Savannah
• Thistlewood Farms
• Zevy Joy
• {Us}
• Lolly Jane
See: quick unboxing snippet from our instastories – fresh back from vacay you can tell I’m on vacay hangover mode.
So Annie, Zevy Joy sent us her box, and we sent Lolly Jane one. And the chain reaction kept going… kind of like those games we played in the mail a-la the 80’s. I still think Lolly Jane is a bit miffed at what we sent them – {that’s putting it nicely} and I think we were feeling super inspired that day. That, or high off the fumes from the Dollar Tree cleaner.
We’ll go with maybe a combo of both. Though I say they’re going to create something amazing from it, so be sure to check out the rest of the boxes!
At first, I wasn’t quite sure what to do. But the assortment was easy enough, and I knew by merely toning down the colors and pulling from some other items we had around the house, would create something nice for our coffee table.
So I broke out a few of my paints from the craft section of my studio, and altered a lot of the items so that they fit in easily with our existing decor.
I even went the whole metallic fairytale pumpkin route to alter our little pumpkins for the coffee table.
And here’s what we came up with:
A little “Fall Harvest”, if you will, for our seasonal coffee table.
We added one more candle / glass holder to the collection, and corralled it all with a tray. Then we placed our metallic leaves + flowers, with a touch of cotton + other greenery.
You can see where we placed our starburst mirror, right in the middle! We love the way the colors play with the metallics and natural hues of everything else we have going on.
Our little pumpkins were simplified with a bit of a metallic sheen on top of white, and i added another existing piece we already had. I also topped it with a metallic leaf and berries from the original pieces… the same but modified.
Tada! Sweet little clusters of fall goodness.
With touches of natural hues and metallics too.
I was talking to the Lolly Jane gals just last night and we were mentioning how hard this challenge really was. It was like using muscles that haven’t been flexed in a while, so we definitely want to have another round of this in the very near future.
We think this fun challenge proves that a little elbow grease and craft paint can spiff up just about anything.
What’s your fave rehab/altered element you’ve taken on for fall? Simple changes are the very best!
As always, thanks so much for tuning in. Be sure to check out the other fab sites participating in this challenge… and see what we all sent each other! We plan to host more of these in the future, with versatile combos and themes and items sent, so be sure to stay tuned for more Mystery Box Creative Challenges coming your way!
• My Sweet Savannah
• Thistlewood Farms
• Zevy Joy
• {Us}
• Lolly Jane
We can’t wait to see what they came up with! Be sure to check them out.
Have an inspired day!
valarie sanford says
so very darling and I have most of the same stuff in my stash – thanks for the ideas!
ashley @ the handmade home says
Thanks so much Valarie! Definitely a fun challenge ;} I’m so glad it gives ideas – we definitely think everyone killed it! ;}
Emma says
I love this! How inspirational to turn something so meh into something else so fun for fall.
Lolly Jane says
Hahahahh we weren’t miffed at all…it forced us to dig deep into our inner crafter and get CreAtiVe 😉 Such a fun challenge, thanks for organizing it. Yours turned out AMAZING! xo
Lolly Jane says
Girrrrl! This challenge came together SO well and was a blast to put it all together! Love your goods and how you styled them!! Thanks for including us! xoxo
Kate Jaco says
This is so fun! All of you are very creative.
Annie says
Ashley I love what you did! So fun to see how that box of goodies (that barely made it there 😉 came to life with your beautiful creativity! The candles were such a pretty touch… I do hope we do this again as I agree, I haven’t had to get that creative in a while and I loved it – haha!
Betty says
What a great job all 5 participants did in this fun challenge. Inspirational for DIY readers. Can’t wait to see winter ideas. 😉
KariAnne Wood says
You are a rock star.
SERIOUSLY.
The pumpkin toppers? Ummm. Genius.
Will you be my friend forever? 🙂
me