It must be SPRING Mantel

Trees are blooming ... getting green leaves and pollen ... 
... it must be Spring!

Time to start some SPRING in the house by making the mantel bloom.
 

I hung my favorite summertime oil painting of Spring flowers for inspiration. I wanted to pull the aqua and yellow to create a simple, light and airy look.


I had yellow tulips, yellow chicks ... aqua Mason jars and a link of  metal flowerbed fencing that I had bought at the weekly 25¢ Thrift Store Sale ... yes for 25¢ ...

Sooooo, I zigzagged  the metal fencing across the mantel. 
It is covered with a thin coat of plastic which is brittle and making a mess all over the place, but it looks very time-worn-shabby and I love it.

... in the aqua Mason jars, I added eggs, lemons, Easter grass and stuck three yellow tulips in each and placed them in the zig or zag of the fence.

   

Rather than take a chance on misplacing the zinc lids taken off the Mason jars ... I just turned them over and stuffed grungy Primitive cotton rabbits in them ...would not be Easter without some "Prim" rabbits ...  

 

... and some pretty fuzzy yellow baby chicks ... and

... birds and bird nests ...

of course ... must have some tiny white lights to shine/show off the pretty jars.
 

The garden theme continues on the hearth.

 Happy Spring ...........


 
This header from an antique piece of furniture had some of the same colors to inspire me but could not find a good place to hang it. It just sits on the hearth to be enjoyed. 

Design is carved and not applied ... painted ages ago by a lady who did more recycling and re-purposing than any of us will ever do.

Hope you enjoyed our Spring mantel.
Thanks for stopping by.
Your comments make me smile.

Blessings ...

 Linking to: 

Ivy & Elephants What's It Wednesday

Lavender Garden-Cottage Style Party

Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday

 

Knick of Time Tuesday

 

Kathe With an E ...You're Gonna Love It Tuesday

The Dedicated House Make it Pretty Monday

 

A Stroll Thru Life-Inspire MeTuesday

Welcome to Fridays Unfolded

From My Front Porch To Yours-Treasure Hunt Thursday

Revisionary Life ... Thrifty Life Thursday

Do you know what this is?

Do you know what this is?

  

It has a pretty cast iron foot-print.

It can look up !!!

                It can look down !!!

    

It has a lovely reflective face.

... and  a pretty black handle so you can carry it around.

             ... a pretty backside too.

remove the heating coil ... 

add a Edison-style light bulb ...

and you have turned a Vintage heat lamp 

into a very pretty industrial table lamp.                                                                                                                                        

Thanks for the visit ... 

Hope you will let me know you were here.

Your comments make my happy.

Blessings,

Linking to: 

Angie at Knick of Time Tuesday 

Revisionary Life-Thrifty Life Thursday

  That DIY Party Time DIY Show Off 

The Sunday Showcase Party

DIY French Jewely Display Stands

Last year, we added a storage room to our workshop

and as usual, we ended up with scrap lumber ...

a lot of nice clean 2x6 cut-off from the rafters.

We need to put these boards to a good use, so I asked Mr. Z if he would like to make some small benches to sell in our garage sale this Summer ...

He was not very excited about this idea ....

So ... how about making some jewelry stands ?

(can't remember the source)

(source)

  I showed him how I wanted them cut into a wedge that would resemble a mannequin bust.  Not easy and after cutting one ... that was about all he wanted to do.

We did end up getting three cut. 

The one laying down is one 2x6 and it needed more weight so I glued two boards together in the one standing and it was heavy enough to stand with jewelry draped on it. 

I painted them with a light jade paint, lightly distressed and waxed. 

Karen at Graphic Fairy has some wonderful French Typograpphy where I found graphics for these stand.

    

 

Don't know why these look gray ... any way ... 

I printed these graphics out on my laser printed using regular copy paper and waxed freezer paper. 

To print on freezer paper, attach wax paper (wax side up) to a sheet of card stock paper. I just securely tape the two sheets together at the top and bottom and ran it through our laser printed.

The graphic on the left one was printed on the waxed side of  freezer paper.  I was happy that the print turned out darker. The right one was on regular copy paper.

I had the wax paper cut to cover the entire board because it not only transferred the print, but also wax and that is good.

The heat from the iron will also darken the paint so good to have any transfer paper cover the entire surface.

 The heat will sometimes pull some of the paint off and of course, the sap in the wood comes to the surface and released the paint ... distressing them a little more. 

The heavy streak is sap from the wood.

Use a very  hot iron and keep ironing until the paper will release on its own. You can take a peek and if the transfer is not complete keep ironing. 

 If you have a shop or do craft shows, these would make attractive stands for display.

Thanks for visiting ... hope I have inspired you to try something new even if it is not easy.
Blessings,





Linking to: 

Savvy Southern Style-WOW us Wednesday
Angie at Knick of Time
Revi at Revelation Thrifty Life Thursday

Marty at A Stroll Thru Life Inspire Me Tuesday



Ivy and Elephants What's It Wednesday