Thanksgiving Mantel

Our fall mantel this year is a mixture of rustic-ness and elegance.

Kind of an odd combination, I know, but it works for us.

It all started when I saw a sign similar to the one below in a local shop, 

for way too much money.

I knew I could make the sign myself for much less moolah.

And as it turned out, it ended up being totally free!

There are currently a bunch of new houses being built in our neighborhood and the builder had piles of scrap wood sitting out, waiting to be disposed of.

So I rummaged though the piles, found some scraps, made a few cuts, and nailed my sign together.

I already had some Minwax Early American stain in the garage, 

which I used to coat my sign twice.

Then I used my good ol' white paint pen to fill in all of the letters.

That's it. Not a penny spent.

The book page wreath was something I made last year (using THIS fabulous tutorial). 

The two mercury glass pumpkins were Costco finds (a few months back) as were the flameless battery operated candles (which I love!).

The glass pillar candle holders were from Ikea.

And speaking of DIY projects, I thought I'd share this chalkboard sign that hangs on our front porch to welcome guests. 

It was made using an old white cabinet door found at Habitat for Humanity ReStore. 

All I did was paint the center with chalkboard paint and added the rope to hang it.

Can you believe Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away!?

Linking up to:

Delightful Order: Delightfully Inspiring Party

The Shabby Creek Cottage: Transformation Thursday 

My Repurposed Life: Catch as Catch Can

Spring Mantel

Ah, spring, glorious spring. 

It's been a loooooooooonnng winter here in the Pacific NW. I've been so eager for spring this year that our mantel has actually looked like this since January, when I took down all of the Christmas stuff.

The sun finally showed its face today so I was able to get some pictures of our mantel while we actually had some natural light shining in the windows.

Nothing fancy, just a few vintage finds and some little pops of greenery. The candles, glass pillar candle holders, and faux greenery were from Ikea; everything else were finds from the antique & vintage shops here in Snohomish.

The art niche in our front entry received a coat of SW Comfort Gray to give it some interest. I paired an arched metal mirror with a white pitcher from Ikea filled with pussy willow branches to give it a little spring flair.

Now if we could just get the weather to be a little more spring-y, I'd be one happy gal.

'A Nod to Fall' Mantel

I don't know what it is this year, but I'm having a really hard time embracing Fall.

Maybe it's because we never really had a summer here in the Pacific Northwest - my hydrangeas never even bloomed!

Maybe it's because I'm just not in love with the orange and red fall colors.

Whatever it is, though, I just could not bring myself to put out my usual Fall decorations this year.

So instead, I am giving just 'A Little Nod to Fall' on our mantel this year.

Who knows, maybe as the season progresses I'll bring out more of the orange and red stuff, but for now, this is as fall-ish as the mantel's gonna get.

I wanted to create a subtle fall display that didn't scream FALL. To achieve this, I layered together natural textures, warm hues, and a variety of vintage finds.

I found a small, weathered old window at an antique shop and had some mirrors cut at Lowe's that I glued onto the back.

The FALL banner was made using white cardstock paper that I cut into small rectangles with rounded corners and stained using a tea bag that had been steeped in water. Then I cut out the black letters on my Cricut and glued them on. To hang it, I just taped twine to the back of the papers.

Many of the pieces used on my mantel were things I already had around the house...like the little #3 tin planter with an Ikea faux plant inside, old books, and a white pumpkin bought at Michael's on clearance last year.

The wooden spools were from an antique store and the wooden pumpkins sitting atop were from Ben Franklin last year...and a goofy picture of me in case you were wondering what I look like :)

Jacob and I made the  weathered wood square thing in the backdrop using some pieces from our old deck...anyone know what that thing is called??? I saw one in an antique store and tried to replicate it at home...I even have a tutorial I wrote on how to make it, but just don't know what it's called...is it part of a fence? A gate? A trellis?

Our fireplace is gas-burning, but I still love the cozy look of a container full of wood sitting next to the fireplace. These logs are from a bunch of maples Jacob cut down in our backyard this summer.

 Isn't she purty?

 

Linking up to: 

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage 

Catch as Catch Can @ My Repurposed Life 

Flaunt Your Fall @ Chic on a Shoestring Decorating 

Feature Yourself Friday @ Fingerprints on the Fridge 

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest 

Shabby Shares Link Party @ Rustic Crafts 

SNS@ Funky Junk Interiors 

Creative Genius Link Party @ The Creative Paige

Summer Mantel

I LOVE that summer is almost upon us!

Our house has a little bit of coastal flair year-round, 

but when summer finally rolls around, I feel like I  actually have permission to display my favorite beachy decor :)

Here is our living room mantel, all decked out in her summer gear...

Most of the items were things I already had around the house or things that I picked up from various flea markets around here {like Ruffles and Rust Square}.

I spray painted the mirror and shutters using Valspar's Warm Grey {read about it HERE}

and made the book page wreath {read about it HERE}.

I did end up purchasing the wooden crate {below} at Ben Franklin Crafts and filled it with some of my beachy collectibles.

Below are my most recent flea market finds {and my favorite too}...

I just love the colors and textures!

Some of you may rememebr my dilmmas in decorating the niche in our entryway 

{Read about it HERE}...

Well, I ended up painting the back of it the same blue as the living room {Sherwin Williams Comfort Gray} and I found the perfect arched shaped mirror too {from Timeless Settings}.

So it's looking better, but still needs a little something...

Linking up to:

My summer mantel was featured at

Displaying Christmas Cards

Every year I struggle with what to do with the Christmas cards we receive in the mail.

While we appreciate each one and love receiving them in the mail, 

they usually just end up in a pile on the kitchen counter 

and then {with lots of guilt} get recycled in the new year.

I especially hate getting rid of the photo cards and the handmade ones, 

but I also hate hoarding things that clutter up the house.

So this year I decided to figure out a solution to these problems - 

displaying Christmas cards in a pretty, uncluttered way

and

what to do with the Christmas cards that you hate to toss at the end of the year.

I did some searching to get inspiration for displaying our cards and 

holy moly, 

did I find some super cute ideas!!

 Pretty Handy Girl attaches her cards to shutters using little wooden clothespins.

So easy and cute!

Some great ideas for displaying Christmas cards can be found at BHG, 

like this Christmas Card memo board, 

where cards easily slip behind ribbon attached to a fabric covered cork board.

Centsational Girl also has a unique spin on the cork board turned card holder.

 BHG

How easy would it be to slip your cards into a pretty glass canister!?

This idea would look pretty cute on a kitchen shelf, don't ya think??

 BHG

A vintage painted ladder would be a unique and unexpected card display.

 BHG

To display cards on a wreath like this, simply wrap a straw wreath form with upholstery webbing , securing it in place with small sewing pins. Attach cards with small silver binder clips.

 Centsational Girl also cleverly used jingle bells to hang her cards on display.

 

 Apartment Therapy shows a pretty picture of a traditionally way to hang cards from an evergreen bough.

Country Living shows a cute way to use ribbon to hand cards from a door.

And leave it to Martha to come up with something spectacular!

I liked so many of these ideas, 

that I decided to combine a few elements of some of the above 

to create a card display in our house.

I started with a 15' cedar bough {from Lowe's} 

that I hung {using Command hooks} from our entertainment center in the family room.

Using some little jingle bells and red ribbon {from Michael's},

I tied the bells onto our greenery.

If your pinch the bells together, it makes the slit smaller 

so you can just stick your cards into the bells and they hang onto the cards like a clip would.

Now for what to do with the cards you want to save at the end of the season..

Last year I came across this idea/tutorial 

from For What it's Worth...or Not  

for making your cards into a Christmas keepsake book.

Isn't she clever!?

Why didn't I think of that!?

So here is the book I made last January that holds all of the cards that I couldn't part with. 

I'm looking forward to adding more to it this year!!

And I'm happy that our Christmas cards 

won't be cluttering up my kitchen counter this year :)