Valentine Mantel

I love decorating for Valentine's Day! It's the one time per year you can get away with decorating ultra-girly - pink, hearts, glitter, and frills! It's also Hannah's birthday, so it's extra special for us!

I made this Valentine bunting this year with extra fabric from a table runner I've been working on for TWO YEARS! Yeah, it's still not done. I intended to add letters to the bunting to make it say, "BE MINE" but I didn't get around to that either. Maybe next year when I finish the table runner. Uh-huh.

For my Valentine Mantel, I left the white dishes and silver accessories from my Winter mantel and added a bit of red.

Glittery red hearts on the tree branches (Michaels)...

a little heart pillow tucked in the pinecones...

and the red English transferware dishes that I have been collecting for a few year. The pattern is Woods Seaforth. (eBay!)

More pillow hearts I made from leftover fabric. When I was sewing them, Hannah sat next to me and exlaimed, "You're making pillow hearts for me?!" I said, "Well, for Valentine's Day." Hannah replied, "YES! For my birthday!"

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Springifying

...That's a word, right? My mantel arrangement of bare tree branches and candles was looking too winter-y, so I've been trying to think of (cheap/free) ways to wake it up a bit for Spring. It took me a few weeks, but I think I've finally got it how I like it.

Ever since our fantastic Relief Society birthday dinner a couple months ago, I've been dying to grow me some grass in the house. This white planter from my favorite thrift store ($1.00) was just what I was waiting for! I found the round white platter at the same thrift store weeks later. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it, but it was only 50 cents and I loved it, so I bought it. (I love white dishes!) I think it looks really nice as a backdrop for the grass, and the scallops on the platter and planter look like they kinda go together. A month or so ago, I made these moss balls by hot-gluing moss on Styrofoam balls (you should have seen the mess I made in my kitchen!). I originally had them piled in my coffee table bowl, but thought they would look more spring-y than my red candles up on the candle holders.

This was a semi-cheesy glass bird from the dollar store that I coated in white spray paint and perched on a moss ball. That was fun! I think I need to use spray paint more often! I saved the very best for last:
I have a lilac bush (tree?) in my backyard that blooms beautifully this time of year. The only bummer is that it is so overgrown and leggy that all the flowers are about six feet above your head, so you don't really even notice them. It just occurred to me that I could bring them inside and enjoy them! (Why didn't I think of that two years ago?!) So I went out on the balcony, leaned way out over the old shaky railing (we really need to replace that), and clipped a couple branches. They worked perfectly in the tall glass vase where my tree branches used to live. They are so pretty and smell DIVINE! I wish they could last forever!
The best part is that they are directly above my favorite reading chair, so I get to soak in their yummy fragrance as I read.
So that's it. My spring mantel makeover! It's about two months late, but that's okay, right?