A Little Spring Decorating

The sun is shining, the buds on the trees are blooming, the birds are singing!

There's nothing like the first sign of Spring to lift my spirits and make me want to bring a little spring into the house. Just a few touches here and there, and a new Spring banner, and the house is already looking more cheery!

The mantel is one of the easiest parts of the house to update for the seasons. All I added was some spring twigs to my metal vase (purchased from Target), a birds nest beneath one of the candles, and a new Spring banner stamped onto dictionary pages. Simple and quick!

My Spring banner. I love how it turned out!

A close up of one of the banner pieces. I tore out a page from a dictionary, folded the page in half (lengthwise), cut out a triangle to form the upside down V at the bottom, stamped 'SPRING', punched a hole in each top corner (I first reinforced the holes with a circle of paper on the back side of each corner), and tied each banner piece with ribbon onto some pre-beaded wire I've had in my stash. I also ran a gold leaf pen along the edges of the V on each piece. Super easy and cute!

A close-up of my candles and  birds nest.

I am in love with this turquoise piece I found at Beverly's Crafts a few months back.

It's hard to see this little guy, but there's a blue mercury glass birdie that I got at Cost Plus last Christmas. He normally lives in my craft room, but I brought him down for Spring :)

I added a real birds nest to a shelf and placed a little bird in it. He looks so cute that I might just have to leave the nest year round.

The buffet in our dining room. The red doesn't photograph that well, especially with a flash.

My uber creative friend Berta made me this antique fork picture stand and the little vintage tag.

A funky, fun turquoise birdie.

The full shot of the buffet.

And the easiest way to decorate for Spring.....add a new wreath to the front door. Simple and welcoming!

Have you decorated for Spring yet?  Looking for some ideas? I participated in my first "link-party", check my entry # 394 here for a plethora of inspiration and spring ideas! Also, shared here.

Jenny

Door, Meet Tres Chic!

I have been itching to paint the interior of our front door something other than the tired oak stain that it has been wearing for the last 10 years. The exterior side is a fun, beautiful RED. Which I love and will never paint over. I had thought about painting the inside the same shade of red, but figured that might be a bit much, even for me.  

Our door isn't real wood, so I don't feel bad painting it. In fact, if I absolutely hate the paint, I can strip it and re-stain the door to look like wood again. The door is made out of hardy fiberglass, which handles well against the elements, from the beating summer sun, to the wet winter, and most importantly, my dog Molly who insists on pawing at the outside of the door when she wants to be let in. Lucky for her she's cute, and the door is fiberglass!

Here's a picture of the little rascal waiting for the door to magically open...

I had taken a few "before" pictures prior to painting, however, it wasn't until I stopped to take a picture of my progress that it dawned on me that my SLR camera did not have a memory card in it. This is not the first time this has happened to me. And I still don't understand why my smart SLR camera would even allow me to "take" photos without a memory card. Personally, an idiot light or beeping noise would be very helpful!

So here is a progress photo. You can see on the one sidelight the door color before I began covering it with Glidden's Black Onyx paint.

And here is the door after two coats of paint. Tres chic!

Now I just need to find a new rug to go with our new door!

Jenny