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Decorating For Spring

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Spring has officially sprung here at TLC, and I. Am. Lovin’ it!

First, a whole buncha these guys popped up in the backyard…

I mostly used things I already had around the house…

Grass green, aqua, gray, white, black, brown and blue tickled my fancy this time…

I got this cute little bowl from a local flea market called J&G’s Flea Market and Antique Mall…

The plant inside it came from Home Depot.

The pillar candle holders hanging on each side of the mirror we made came from PotteryBarn.com…

They were $34 for the pair, and I got them on a day they were offering free shipping. Love it when that happens!

I made the bird art out of a piece of green paper I found on the scrapbook paper aisle at Hobby Lobby…

(I darkened the area behind the bird in the photos above so you could see the mat better. The photo below is a true representation of what it actually looks like.)

I downloaded this Bird Silhouette, resized it in Photoshop, and then used the ol’ “pencil-it-on, pencil-it-off” method to transfer it onto my green paper. After that, I cut it out and used a glue stick onto an 11″ x 14″ piece of white poster board…

I got the blue frame last year around this time, and I’m cuckoo for cocoa puffs about the color of it, but the size is a bit odd. It’s 15″ x 19″-  so I broke out my ruler and a sharp pair of scissors and cut a half an inch off each side of a 16″ x 20″ mat I had…

Tip Du Jour: Don’t let those awesome, old, odd-shaped flea market frames intimidate you- just cut your mats to fit!

I bought the ruler box a while back…I can’t even remember where. Seems like it was only a couple bucks. It makes us smile, so up it went!

Tip Du Jour #2: If it makes you smile, up it goes!

I got the mirrored frame several years back from a discount home store…

I printed out a Springy quote to use inside of it…

Here’s a 4×6 version of it if you’ve got a little frame you’d like to fill with one too!

My Aunt Julie shot this amazing photo of the barn on the farm my Grandma Beth grew up on in Minnesota…

She and my Grandma live in the farmhouse on that property now and I think of them (and the farm I grew up on) every time I see it.

Since it was the tallest piece of art leaning against the mirror, I thought I better keep it on the ‘light side’, visually. I simply used a glue stick to secure it to an 11″ x 14″ piece of white poster board, and then I taped it to the back of a 16″ x 20″ mat I had with easy-to-remove painters tape…

I picked up the little, blue, tulip-shaped dish at J&G’s.

It may very well be my favorite non-living thing in the house right now.

This little faux flower plant, and the pot it’s sitting in, came from Ikea in Atlanta…

It’s one of the best artificial plants I’ve ever seen, and it only set me back seven beans. Pretty cool considering it’s never gonna kick the bucket, huh?

And that about does it for the mantel!

Down below, in the firebox, I stacked an old Barq’s soda crate on top of a vintage picnic basket, and threw in a couple of succulents from Home Depot…

(Soda crate- The Old Post Office Antiques; Picnic basket- Seaside Sisters)

The striped pillow cover on the chair on the left is made by Pottery Barn. It’s called “Linen Stripe”, and although I don’t think it’s available on their website anymore, I have seen them spring up on eBay from time to time.

I really enjoyed decking out the fireplace area for Spring. It’s definitely my favorite season, and this particular vignette really reminds me of the colors and textures found on the farm I grew up on…

Don’t let that smile fool ya…I was about 2 seconds away from waterworks when Kev snapped that pic.

My Mom and Dad put that fence up with their own hardworking hands, and my brother and I raised many a kitten in that old barn standing there behind me.

Those days almost seem like a dream now….ya know what I mean?

Uh oh.

Waterwork alert.

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Comments

  1. Layla, your mantle is so pretty and so springy. Love it! I really love that darling ruler box. I can just see it filled with lots of little seashells. Time for a trip to Tybee? 🙂

  3. Hye Layla! Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to comment on my lighting inspiration blog post : )
    You made my day!

    And I have a stack of vintage yard sticks that are just begging to be made into a little tray like yours! Thanks for the great idea!!

    Liz @ bon temps beignet

  4. Your mantel looks so great! I hope you don’t mind, I’m going to copy your bird pic idea. But, I have to say, I just looooove the photo your aunt took of the white barn!!! She could sell those if she wanted to. I would buy one.

  5. Another beautiful mantle! Love the photos of the barns. I too grew up on a farm (in Wisconsin) and our barn looked very much like the white one you have on the mantle. Thanks for all the wonderful posts – I really enjoy your blog!

  6. What a pretty, fresh spring look. Love how you pulled it all together. Enjoy your blog so much, always – thank you! Cailan

  8. LOVE your new spring mantel!
    and I know all about the waterworks! I can’t even think about the house I grew up in or it’s cryfest 2011!!!!!

  10. What a beautiful mantle! So “Springy”! I love the last photo…you are gorgeous!

  11. What a beautiful, special photo of you! I often think about how I took my home from granted when I was growing up. I wish I could look out my windows now and see more nature and less privacy fences! 🙂 Love the mantel, and I appreciate you sharing all the how-to’s! I think I could do some of those things…

    • I agree, Jenny B!
      Someday, Kev and I hope to move back out to the country and raise a few farm animals. Sheep and kittens and chickens, oh my! 😀

  15. Layla I love the little blue tulup bowl it brings back great memories of my grandmas set and how she would serve us grandkids everything in them. It also reminds me of my mom and the special deserts that we would get in them. Now one sits in my house and I think of them often. Thanks for bringing those memories back today on a beautiful spring day in Ohio.
    thanks
    Kelly

  16. Layla, love the spring decorating, actually just getting to post a Barq’s crate to the site, I only have 1, so they better order fast, and the little blue bowl, have that too, hopefully added tomorrow.

  17. Layla, I love the detail that you put in your posts! I also love the photo your aunt took of the old barn. It has so much character! Anytime I can incorporate green in my decor I’m on board. By-the-way, you are very photogenic…cute photo of you.

  18. Hi Layla,
    I’ve been reading your blog for a while and just wanted to let you know that it’s kept me sane while recovering from a broken wrist that I got when I fell on the ice. I can’t wait to get this cast off…. Of course the cast is a HUGE pain, but mostly I can’t wait to try some of your crafty ideas.
    Your sunny personality shines through blog land and has really brightened my dreary six weeks! Thank you so much.
    Many blessings and prayers for you, Kevin and your future young’uns!
    Lisa in Pennsylvania

    • Well, your sunny comment just made my night, Lisa. 🙂
      I appreciate your kind words so much, and I hope you can get that pesky cast off soon!

      BIG e-hugs,
      Layla

  19. This is so pretty and cheerful!
    I’m definitely feeling Spring here in London, too. This past week, I’ve been on a field trip with my school (to study rocks for my geology class – how fun…) and we stayed in the countryside. All the tiny little lambs got me in the mood for Spring! 😀

  20. Love the daffodils and the Mirror frame and quote. The snow’s still too deep for anything to green up yet, but maybe in a month or two it’ll *finally* melt and the crocus’es will come out (fingers crossed that the ones I planted last fall didn’t die).

  21. Love the spring mantel! I still need to figure out how we are going to decorate ours, thanks for the inspiration! Also- speaking of Minnesota, I had to tell you we put some new bedding in our Guest room that you and Kevin redid for us in September. If you get a chance to look at our latest post, I was curious if you’d like the new look? It is still the room we get the most compliments on in our house! Oh, and we still can’t figure out the right window treatments, working on that! Hope you and Kevin have a good weekend! http://hammersandhigheels.blogspot.com

  22. Thank you for the pretty touch of spring. We don’t have those beautiful blooms coming up yet where we live… so it’s fun to see them!

    Oh, and love that cute little birdie it’s so tweet!

    Rene’xo

  23. Layla, your spring mantle is so beautiful and fresh. I LOVE the old barn photo and your little bird. We’ve still got snow and mud everywhere up here in Maine so it encourages me to see that spring is arriving in other parts of the country.

  24. Love your spring mantle! It’s very zen. And I never thought I’d like anything with artificial plants/flowers, but they’re not bad!
    I do love your aunt’s pic of the barn so much. Do you sell those?
    I love old barns and hate that we’re losing so many of them around here. I have a lot of good barn memories from way back…we used to spend a lot of time in ours!

  31. I love your post about fresh things, spring and using creative talents to make a piece of art. 🙂 Spring is a time of creation, so making our homes fresh and our own art is what it’s all about~!
    I especially love the way the barn photo brings so much of who you are into the mantle display. I think that’s one of the most important things about our homes…. our personal stories.
    Thanks for sharing!
    Warmest Spring Wishes to You!
    Erica

  35. Love all of it, but especially love how you filled up the interior of the fireplace. I have a fireplace that’s crying for something more interesting that this winter’s ashes! Thanks.

  36. I want to do the country theme in my house seeing that my husband and I live in the house that his father grew up in, but I am not a decorator and have no idea where to start.

  37. Your fireplace and mantle are just gorgeous – looks like it’s straight out of an interior design magazine! I love how you decorated the inside of the fireplace…instead of it being an empty, black hole, you lightened it up and made it pretty. Gave me ideas! 😉

    I also love the picture of you by the fence. Could you be anymore stunningly gorgeous?! Wow.

  38. Hi, I love your mantel!! The wood part of your mantel…is it refurbished wood? If not, how did you get the look? Thanks!

  41. This blog is soooo inspiring! (but I’m sure you already know that 😉 I can’t wait until we no longer rent, so that I can do EVERYTHING I want, but for now i’ll keep turning our rental into a home <3

  42. Love the “Spring” mantle! I really loved reading that you went to The Old Post Office Antiques…just went to it last month! I moved from Prattville to Pace in December and have been checking out all the local antique/thrift stores…..if you head back down this way check out Alyssa’s in Pace and The Copper Possum in Milton…both are great! Wish you would come down and give me ideas on the 1966 house I am updating 🙂

  43. So beautiful! My husband and I are designing a mantle and I love the simplicity of everything you’ve created. You mentioned that you made the mirror, may I ask how?
    Thanks for the inspirations!