Yellow and White Spring Bunny Mantel

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I don't know about you but I'm getting pretty tired of winter and I'm more than ready for spring!  I've been ready for a month now. I've put our shovels and snow boots away three times so far this year...


I know. You don't have to say it, I live in Illinois..and putting those things away any time before May 1st is probably more than a little optimistic..


The official start of spring is twelve days from today and that's backed up this year by the fact that the ground hog did say that Spring is coming early....right?!


So, regardless of the fact that we got another ten inches of snow this week, temperatures in the Chicago 'burbs are headed back into the 40's with FIFTY degrees forecast for this weekend and I decided that, while it's probably not quite time to put the screens on, it is time to do a little spring cleaning...and to decorate our mantel.


As my son pointed out this morning while giving me a quick hug on his way out the door to school (I'm convinced that this was merely a ploy to ensure that my arms weren't free to swat him on his behind), when I do them, spring cleaning and spring decorating are usually mutually exclusive. Of course, that's more true than I'd ever admit to him but this year,  I took that as a challenge!


 I found a bag of wood candle holders that I had stashed in the studio and some wood bird houses that I had purchased on sale at the fabric store...who can resist little bird houses for $0.74?!  I also managed to  clear a space in the garage when I made the Reclaimed Wood Pallet Peter Cottontail Bunny Art that I shared yesterday.

If you haven't seen it, you should...I included printable art and complete instructions for how to make your very own....if you can trace, you can do this project...trust me!


Armed with a little craft paint, a couple of paper butterflies and some hot glue,  I was a woman with a mission...and that mission was SPRING!  First, I hot glued the bird houses to the candlesticks and painted them with craft paint in two shades of spring time yellow, white and a couple shades of the currently popular grey! 

 Up next...the fence boards, a sample pot of latex wall paint, more craft paint and another paper butterfly for the reclaimed wood Peter Cottontail art.

One more time...go to the link above....if you can trace, you can do this project...trust me! You can make it big or small, change the colors, paint it on a canvas...make it into a pillow. I'm making one into a nursery sign....wait 'til you see it!


The remainder of the mantel was done using stuff that I had around the house:  wicker baskets sprayed white, the ivy topiary from my kitchen, a few artificial flowers and a banner that I made using plastic eggs from the dollar store, the same craft paint, decorative scissors and a hole punch...


Nope...no fancy edge cutting punches for this  low budget crafter...although I have to admit that some of the Martha Stewart punches do call my name when I visit Michaels and some day, when my wish list is a little shorter or when I win the lottery, I'll just go in and buy one of everything in the "Martha aisle". Until then, however, my Costco craft scissors and hole punch are doing just fine!


I can hardly wait to see the look on my son's face tonight when he gets home from school. I managed to clean a few things from the garage and my studio and decorate the mantel! Won't he be surprised!?


Now I suppose that I need to clean the hot glue off of the island in the kitchen and the paint off of the kitchen table because at this house, it's always something.....


I managed to clean and decorate simultaneously today...I suppose that tonight, my son will want me want me to cook dinner too!



Have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you on Monday with more "rabbit related" Easter decor!

xo,
Kimberly

Linking to:
Common Ground
The CSI Project
Domestic Superhero
French Country Cottage
Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson
Pottery Barn Spring Share
Tatertots & Jello

Featured at:
Songbird: Spring Mantel Ideas