The Lettered Cottage

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Spring Decorating Link Party

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Hello- and welcome to our first “Spring Fling” link party!

We’re kicking things off with a mantel/shelf/ledge link party here on our blog today, and Kate, Rhoda, and Sarah will be hosting some more Spring-themed parties on their blogs on March 22nd, 27th and 29th!

I always look forward to Spring cleaning/decorating. It’s my favorite season, and I can’t tell you how much I enjoy throwing open the windows, throwing out a bunch of stuff (not out the windows- hee hee), and livening up the place with a little more green! I sprinkled it into our living room in the form of books, butterflies, a vintage metal picnic basket the other day, and I’m loving it! I also used a couple of (very realistic-looking, if I do say so myself) faux plants from Ikea…

I hope they live ’til Summer!

We made the wood art out of some 1×2’s and some “fill-it” strips from the fencing department at Home Depot, and I stained it with a combination of leftover “Special Walnut” and “Provincial” stain we had from other projects. When the stain was dry, I used our electric hand sander to give it a little age.

Next, I punched a whole mess of butterflies out of some old magazines I had, and I love the swoosh of Spring they add to the the room!

(The one in the upper left hand corner reminds me of my bike-ridin’ Mom. Hi Mom!)

I got the butterfly punch at Hobby Lobby ($14.99), and each paper butterfly measures about 2 inches across. To give the flock(?) a little more interest, I made a handful of  larger butterflies by enlarging one of the 2″ ones with my printer, and using it as a template to create some 3″ ones.

(Update: Turns out a group of butterflies can be called a rabble, a swarm, a lek, a flutter, or a kaleidoscope. How fun is that?!)

I used “Simply Tacky” mounting putty (from Hobby Lobby) to hold all the butterflies in place…

…and I got all the old crocks from my Grandma the last time I visited my family in Minnesota. I wrapped a couple in twine because I love mixing those kinds of textures…

The crocks have actually been up on our mantel since last Fall, and it’s amazing how versatile those suckers are! They were fun to mix with mercury glass around the holidays, too.

Springtime = fiiiiiinally being able to enjoy walks and eating lunch at the park around these parts, so I thought I’d create a little picnic-themed display down below our mantel while I was at it, too…

And can I just say that all those vintage metal and leather bits drive. Me. WILD?

(metal picnic basket ; wicker picnic basket ; soda crate)

Love ’em!

Anywho, it was a super fun/super inexpensive display to put together, and we’re really enjoying the fresh new look in our living room!

Alright! Let’s get this link party started!

Many of you probably already know the drill, but just in case you’ve never linked up a blog post before, here’s how it works:

Scroll down until you see the little, blue “Add Your Link” button. Click that, and follow the instructions on the page you’re redirected to. The instructions involve uploading a thumbnail image and creating a title for the image you’re using. You may want to title it with the name of your blog, or with the title of your Spring mantel/ledge/shelf display post, but it’s totally up to you. (Note: make sure to link to your Spring Fling post- not to the main page of your blog.)

Last but not least, I created a nifty little badge especially for this party, and we’d love it if you’d post the code in the box below at the bottom of the post you’re linking up…

The Lettered Cottage
<div align="center"><a href="https://theletteredcottage.net/spring-decorating-link-party" title="The Lettered Cottage"><img src="http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/jj29/LaylaPalmer/Linky%20Buttons/Spring_Fling_Button_Layla.jpg" alt="The Lettered Cottage" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Thanks so much for partyin’ with us this week, and here’s to an amazing Spring!



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Comments

  1. Liz@HoosierHomemade

    I love those butterflies! I used my butterfly die cut last week and hung them from branches, but I like your idea much better.
    Thanks for hosting! Can’t wait to see all the Mantels!
    ~Liz

  5. the cape on the corner

    yes for faux-i just bought fake floor plant, and i think it’s grand. i put it in a new pot, so to me this makes it more convincing. at least i hope so! love the pallet look and the butterflies. so fresh!

  6. nest of posies

    it’s beautiful! i love your pottery collection. so pretty.

    i did butterflies for my mantel too. i just love the look of those happy little lovelies flying around.

    enjoy the first day of spring!

    thanks for the party.
    kellie

  8. shaunna

    Sooooo whimsical and fun–lovely. Those butterflies take me to new heights, hehe. Love it and thanks for hosting for us!
    🙂
    xoxo,
    shaunna

  9. Debbie

    Love the butterflies! You mantel looks great, I love versatility too!
    Thanks for hosting and have a great day!
    Debbie

  10. Miss Kitty

    Thanks for hosting the Spring Mantle party, Layla! Your mantle looks so fresh. I put a ‘rabble” of paper butterflies in a cloche the other day…don’t they just say “Spring”!

    • Layla

      Just clicked over and saw your Spring mantel display. PRETTY, PRETTY, PRETTY! So gorgeous, Kristen!!!!! 😀

  13. Karen

    That is the most original and gorgeous spring mantle that I’ve ever seen. The butterflies are so pretty. Thanks for hosing Layla, happy spring!

    • Layla

      Well aren’t you just the sweetest thing?! 😀 Thank you so much, and happy spring to you too, Karen!

  15. DIY Show Off

    Beautiful job, Layla. Super sweet butterflies and the vintage and leather just brought to mind the countdown to fresh air, warmer temps and yardsale season!

  16. Becca

    What a whimsical, beautiful and colorful Spring mantel you’ve created, Layla and Kevin! Your butterflies are too cute (love that you made them out of magazine pages)! … and, I love your picnic vignette in the fireplace! Thanks so much for hosting.

    • Layla

      Thanks, Becca! I’m sort of obsessed with punching things out of magazines now- ha! 😀

  17. Sherry

    Lots of great looks going on at this party! Love your butterflies and the picnic basket! Great job. Thanks for hosting!
    Sherry

  22. JoAnne

    Your mantel is so pretty and creative. The crocks and books add a unique touch and the sweet butterflies just top it all off! Thanks so much for hosting the mantel party!!

  23. brandi

    Layla, you definitely have the Midas touch! Your mantle is gorgeous! I love the butterflies even more knowing you used old magazine pages!

  24. kelly@refresheddesigns.

    This is a great Spring mantle. I love the wood art piece that you created – it’s so versatile that you can use it year-round with or without the butterflies. And I’m so happy to see that someone other than me uses faux plants! They make them so realistic now that I find its much better than the dying real versions that would otherwise grace my home. 🙂

  25. Leanne

    Thanks for the fun mantel party. I’m glad I was able to get mine finished in time to join the party. I love your butterflies! I made some last year to go across my old windows but they were made of dictionary pages. I love the colors from the magazine pages. Hmm! Maybe I’ll do that this year. You mantel is always so inspiring!

  27. Cindy

    That is so very sweet, happy and clever. You’ve inspired me to do something similar for Easter. Great ideas!

  28. nancy

    What paint did u use for your fireplace bricks? My daughter bought a house and we want to change the color of the bricks to black such as yours. Thanks for your help.

  30. Jude

    Love it! Thanks for the 10:00 coffee break entertainment and smiles 🙂
    Save that biker butterfly for me!!

  31. jessica@fourgenerationsoneroof

    Just beautiful! The butterflies made from old magazines is such a clever idea. Never thought of that. The wood piece is awesome and the butterflies swarming around it are just adorable . Love all the books and candles. I always try to arrange stuff like that and it just never looks good. Always looks better when someone else does it! Thanks for commenting earlier on our blog 🙂

  33. Betsy(@coastal-colors)

    Layla, thank you for this awesome idea! I love, love, love your mantel! The butterflies are great! You always amaze me! Thanks for hosting this wonderful link party! It’s always fun to see such inspiring ideas!

  34. Rebekah

    I love LOVE the butterflies — you may have just inspired me to go punch shape shopping at Michael’s! =) Thanks for hosting the party; I just linked up! Happy SPRING!

  37. SheilaG

    LOVE the butterflies- your mantel is so fresh and spring-y and lovely. I may need to re-adopt some crocks from my dad that got returned to him in one of our [too many] moves. Thanks for hosting!

  39. Shirley@Housepitalitydesigns

    I have used butterflies in my last two posts; however, yours is the cutest!..I am definitely going to make those cuties!…Your mantle is so authentically magnificent..your careful selection and placement of items to create your vignette is a work of art!…..Thank you so much for hosting!..

  40. CherylK

    That’s the prettiest, springiest mantle! You’ve inspired me to spend the rest of the day “springing” up my house…I don’t have a mantle but I do have crocks and I do have twine…somewhere I have silk spring flowers, too…off to hunt them up!

  41. Emily

    I’m a sucker for picnic baskets. Love yours! Your mantel is super Cute.. like I knew it would be, I ‘ve been looking forward to seeing it. Thanks for the party!

  42. lesley

    Layla, Thanks so much for this awesome mantel party. Believe it or not we moved into our first house with not 1 but 2 mantels this year! I know, I know we’ve never had mantels to decorate. I love the fresh and fun interpretation of your mantel decor. The 3-d butterflies floating off the mantel are AMAZING! Lesley

  49. Kate Rossing

    Thanks for hosting this party. Great thinking with the butterflies on the jars! It really does look like wild butterflies in frolicking in a field. So Spring!

  50. Flower Patch Farmgirl

    I think I’m in LOVE! You make me want a butterfly punch now. (Imagine the possibilities! Though none could be more functional than my beloved heart punch…) You also make me want a mantel. 🙂