Colorful, Layered Art Spring Mantel

I finished decorating our mantel for Spring and I love the way it turned out.  I've long been a lover of layered artwork (like this, this, and this) so I decided to incorporate that into my Spring mantel.

I left my DIY antiqued mirror as the base layer and added a new print by Britt Bass over the top of it. To keep with the decorating rule of threes, I added a postcard sized print that Clare Elsaesser included with my most recent order (thanks, Clare!).  I used a piece of washi tape to secure it onto a wooden picture frame that I recently picked up at the thrift store.  I then attached the frame to the antiqued mirror with 3M picture hanging strips.

  

The turquoise vases are from Target.  The yellow flowers are my first attempt at coffee filter peonies. (I  roughly followed this tutorial and I think they turned out pretty well.)

The garland is another DIY project.  I used this finger knitting technique to make it one night while watching television.

To augment the bright, colorful look, I switched out the sparkly silver candles from Christmas for some fun orange ones that I found at Marshall's.

The cheer that the newly styled mantel brings to the living room is just perfect for Spring.

Here's a peek at a seldom viewed corner of our living room.

We still need to clean up the electric cords and I'd like to freshen up the storage inside our entertainment center but the living room is quickly becoming one of my favorite rooms in the house (and one of the closest to being "finished").

I hope everyone is experiencing some milder weather as we head into Spring.  I am ecstatic to feel 60 degree temperatures again.  (I really really dislike cold weather.)

I am also happy to report that almost all of the perennials we planted along our driveway last year appear to be making a comeback!  I'll share some pics in a couple months when they start blooming again.

Colorful Fabric Bunting Spring Wreath

Spring is officially here.  To celebrate, I finally got around to making a Spring wreath for our front door.

I wanted something inexpensive, fairly easy to make, and colorful with a nod to the season.

I simply cut strips of my gold polka dot burlap (from Joann's if anyone is hunting for some) and wrapped them around a straw wreath form (I left the plastic on for ease of use).  I used thumbtacks at the beginning and end of each strip to hold them in place.

Inspired by this, I made some bunting using twine and torn strips of fabric.  I had some on hand and picked up 1/8th of a yard of a couple other colors.  Even 1/8th of a yard was more than enough (I got two strips out of 1/16th of a yard).  

To make the rabbit, I traced an image from Google onto some scrap 1/4" plywood and Seth cut it out with our jigsaw.  I then slapped a couple of coats of grassy green acrylic paint on the front of it.  To secure it to the wreath, I found a couple of bamboo skewers in our kitchen cabinet and attached them to the back of the rabbit with super glue.  Then I just pushed him down into the straw wreath form.  (You can see one of the bamboo skewers in the photo above - I couldn't get him as flush with the bottom of the wreath as I intended.)

The new wreath adds some extra color to the front porch for Spring.  

And I don't think you can go wrong with a cute little wooden bunny.  

I'm still making decisions about outdoor pillows.  I just can't seems to find the right combination.  However, we are making progress with the new headboard for our master bedroom.  

Happy Spring!

Tribal Inspired Curtains, Switching Up Our Bedding, and a Zebra Rug

As I mentioned in this post, I'm slowly but surely honing in on my design style.  I am now going to be tweaking some things around the house starting with our master bedroom.

First up were our curtains.

The tan ones were bland and boring.  We've had them up for over a year, which made me feel better about making a change (so maybe they weren't a complete waste?).  

I was browsing Crate and Barrel Outlet a few weeks ago and found the perfect curtains on sale (I can't find them on the website anymore so they may have sold out).  

They are a sheer, cream colored linen with a fun tribal-inspired design printed on them in navy blue.  They make me smile.

As you may have noticed in the first photo, we also added a new rug.  I've been doing some rug shuffling and our bedroom ended up with a bare floor.  I ordered the rug before I found the curtains and now I'm not 100% sure about the combination.  I'm letting it marinate for awhile before making a final decision.

I swapped our woodland duvet with the white square tuck one that was in our second guest bedroom.  

I've also been playing with some new pillow combinations on our bed.  I stole the Adras ikat pillow from the living room and a couple of euro pillows from the second guest bedroom.  I'm still playing around with the final pillow combo and color scheme a bit so I'll keep you posted.

This pic shows more accurate colors.

We are also DIYing a new headboard and we have painted over the navy blue accent wall (gasp!). We're should finish the new headboard this week and have it up on the wall by the end of the weekend.

It's definitely looking more colorful and cheery for Spring.  Bring on the heat and humidity!

Outdoor Pillow Roundup

Spring is coming.  Finally.  And since we've painted our front door a fun aqua color, I've been itching to update our outdoor pillow collection.  I didn't think I was being picky (ha...those who know me are probably raising their eyebrows right about now because I'm always picky particular).  However, I've been having a difficult time locating reasonably priced, colorful, modern outdoor pillows.  I don't want flora and fauna.  I'm just not a floral kinda gal.  I'm looking for geometrics, ikats, stripes.  So since I've spent hours scouring the web to find some options, I thought I might save my fellow discerning readers some time by sharing my finds.

top row:  1 //  2  //  3,  middle row:  4 //  5  //  6,  bottom row: 7  //  8  //  9

I'm still trying to decide which ones I'm going to order.  I'm loving the Trina Turk fabrics (#2, 5, and 7) but they are a bit pricey.  I am leaning towards splurging for one of them and then filling in with less expensive pillows.  I'll keep you posted.

We started some minor projects in the master bedroom and I should have a post for you soon.  Have a great weekend!

Guest Bathroom Art Sources

As promised, I'm back with a post about the art in our guest bathroom.

It's a mix of super easy DIY art and a couple of purchased prints.

The color scheme for the whole bathroom is drawn from this gorgeous Michelle Armas print.  It perfectly pulls together the colors from the (somewhat ugly 1960s) tan tile and the teal shower curtain fabric.  

I ordered the "But the greatest of these is love" print from Jones Design Company.  The geometric heart was a quick DIY.  I just found a heart that I liked through a google search, transferred it onto some white card stock in pencil, and went over that with a copper colored sharpie.

The circular art is an elephant butt super glued onto some mint colored scrapbook paper.  I like that it's a little bit cheeky (pun intended).  The elephant butt was leftover from this project.  Inspired by this pin, Seth and I forced Amos to participate in art making.  He was not enthused.  After multiple attempts, we were able to create this paw print by dipping his paw in black acrylic paint and stamping it onto white card stock. I added his name and the date to commemorate the occasion.  Above the paw print is another simple DIY geometric piece.  I just drew some squares of different thicknesses with the copper colored sharpie.  Easy peasy.

For the art above the toilet, I used thumbtacks and a plain white canvas.  I painted the sides the same color as the vanity.

As I mentioned in the reveal post, the small gold frame contains a piece of the wallpaper that used to grace the walls in here.  Click here if you need a reminder.

The artwork above the hand towel is also a DIY piece.  I did a quick watercolor painting (drawing my palette from the room and the Michelle Armas print), cut it into 1/4" strips, and wove them together randomly.

I used a clip board with a chip clip on the side (because the clip on the clipboard wasn't long enough) to hold my pieces together.  Once you get started and have a few rows in place, everything becomes a lot more stable.

Hope this gives you some ideas for filling up your walls with inexpensive DIY art!