Spring Mantel

In an attempt to decorate frugally, I've resurrected some items from last year to decorate this year's mantel.  Remember the decoupaged eggs that I had in the Pottery barn knockoff moss basket from last year?  They're sitting in a nest of spanish moss this year.

I placed my copycat project on the other side of the mantel.

And the large moss monogram that sat on our front door last year is on this year's spring mantel.

This year's mantel is more nature inspired with the birds and eggs.

A little bit of ivy, and my Spring mantel is complete.  This year's mantel is a lot simpler than last year's, and melds perfectly with this year's theme of Less.

Thanks for popping in and decorating with me.

Winter Mantel

We wait until the Epiphany to take down Christmas.  All of the Christmas decorations came down this weekend and the mantel was looking rather bare and lonely.

I scrunched up some warm flannel scarves, and added a trio of candles,

hung up the vintage sheet music wreath that I made last month.

Tutorial here

I placed a few spray painted and glittered branches into a large footed glass filled with moss,

and picked out a snowfort picture from last year to print out.  There hasn't been enough snow this year for forts.  I hot glued some floral picks to the frame.

And here's my mantel all cozied up for winter.

Thanks for popping in and decorating with me.

Fantel (Fall Mantel)

I love autumn.  It's my favorite time of year.  First of all it's the return of football, my favorite spectator sport(made even more enjoyable this year, because we're winning.)  The explosion of color that I get to enjoy while at my boys' practices and games is so beautiful and ever changing.  I love being able to go apple picking and watch fresh apple cider being pressed.  I love the crisp air that signals it's boots wearing time, without the bitter cold of winter.  People who know me, know I love to play scrabble, and this year's autumn mantel started with a scrabble player's homage to autumn.

I scrunched up a piece of double knit fabric from my stash to use as a runner for my mantel and added some indian corn,

and this fantastic urn that I picked up off at HomeGoods, clearanced for only $12.  I love the leaf shaped handles and the drippy glaze.

On the other side of the mantel, I placed this Smith & Hawken candle holder, that I snagged from Target last year for only $4.98.  I love the size of it, because you can easily use it to build a table centerpiece.

Here's what my autumn mantel looks like right now.  The fruit are just place holders, because I didn't have any gourds in my kitchen.  Easily remedied with my next grocery trip.

On an unrelated note, I'd love a show of hands, for or against, should I paint my brick fireplace?  What about the mantel?  Beef it up?

Thanks for popping in and decorating with me. I'm linking this up to The Charm of Home's Home Sweet Home, The Shabby Nest's Frugal Fridays, Hooked on Houses' Fall decorating party, Hope Studios' Fall Mantel linkup, and the parties below.

My Spring/Easter Mantel

I've been slowly switching my mantel over from it's Valentine's incarnation to a more spring-like arrangement.  I really liked having all the pink up in our house.  I don't often decorate with pink, but an overhaul was long overdue.  Still I had to hold onto a bit of pink.  An orchid was just the ticket.

I love these orchids.  They're so easy to care for with just the addition of a couple of ice cubes each week.

I shared with you the Pottery Barn Inspired Moss Basket and Decoupaged Eggs here and here.  I placed the Basket to the side of my mantel.

I hung the Framed Easter Egg Roll Photos over the mantel.

I used these nifty brick clips to hang it.

Underneath the pics, I placed a cloche with some moss, a shredded paper nest, and some Robin's Eggs inside.

I made a couple of birds with scrapbook paper and paper clips just like my Valentine's Love Birds.  I placed one on a rock candle holder for some height.

And here's my Spring/Easter mantel all finished.

Thanks for popping in and decorating with me.  I'm linking this up to Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday, Just a Girl's Show and Share Day, and Decor to Adore's Spring Linky Party.

Valentine's Mantel

Unlike Christmas and Halloween, Valentine's Day isn't one of those holidays that I completely decorate the house for.  Still it's nice to do a little something.  And decorating the mantel is the perfect little something.  I really liked the cozy winter mantel that I had put together, so instead of creating a completely new mantel, I just added pieces to it.

I added a pink cashmere scarf right ontop of the flannel scarves that were already on the mantel.  CG had brought this super soft scarf back with him from a business trip in Manhattan.

Nothing says love like a wedding picture.  This is one of my favorites.  I love CG's giddy expression in it as he's sliding on my ring.  I scanned it into the computer and used a duotone filter on it, then matted it with some dollar section Target wrapping paper.

I replaced the onyx candlesticks with some crystal ones and added this little crystal bird tealight holder, because nothings more romantic than crystal and candlelight.

The bright pink of the matting was making my mantel feel a bit unbalanced, so I made a couple of paper lovebirds to hang out in the branches.  Their paperclip feet made it easy to perch them where I wanted to.

I needed to change out the bunting from "Let it Snow" to something a bit warmer.

Here's the before(my cozy winter mantel)

And the after - my warm Valentine's mantel.



I needed to keep things cozy inside, because this is what's going on outside.  Brr.

Thanks for popping in and checking out my Valentine's mantel.  I'm linking this up to Between Naps on the Porch's Metamorphosis Monday, Savvy Southern Style's Boring to Better Party, and The Stories of A to Z's Valentine's Mantel Party.