Spring Mantel: How to decorate

Decorating our home is one of my favorite things to do. I tend to keep the Living Room more primitive and decorate with country antiques. And I decorate the Dining Room with a little more color and whimsy.

I have decorated our Spring Mantel with lots of different ideas. Last year, I used a little more color but this time, I wanted to keep it more rustic and give it an outdoor feel. So, I thought about what Spring means to me…Birds, Branches, Watering Cans, Birdhouses and Green.

I have created a tutorial for you for the Mantel as well as how to paint the birds eggs that I have in the nest.

Start with the garland and large pieces

1. I started with the garland. Grapevine rope with some silk ivy cut and tucked in
2. Then some burlap that I bunched up a little
3. A galvanized antinque watering can at one end
4. And some Forsythia branches in Aqua Mason Jars

Add the medium pieces

1. Next came the medium size pieces, a birdhouse and nest
2. A treasurerd birdhouse that my Dad made years ago
3. And a nest that I made from a grapevine wreath {that I took apart}, spanish moss and eggs {tutorial below}
4. To give it some height, I propped up the back of the holder with a small clay pot

And then small pieces

1. A small birdhouse tucked behind a white teapot
2. Then a couple clay pots
3. The grass from the St. Patrick’s Day Mantel returns and a couple more eggs
4. And a wooden candle holder that I spray painted white and added a little egg to the top

The eggs were easy to do, but they did take some time. I also realized after painting them, I would have been better to use a solid egg, and not the hinged plastic eggs. But I used what I had on hand, it worked and didn’t cost me anything.

1. Place opened eggs on a board
2. Spray with white paint
3. Then paint with blue or the color of your choice {I used some leftover paint from The Sports Bedroom}
4. Then spray with Fleck Stone paint {I used plasti-kote brand}
5. And using an old toothbrush dipped in black paint, flick the paint to make the eggs speckled

After taking the pictures and putting the eggs back together, I did have to paint the seams a little more with blue and spray a little more Fleck Stone on them.

Everything I used were items that I already had, I just went shopping in my own home for them. Think outside the box a little, and don’t be afraid to experiment…even with a little spray paint.

Have you started decorating for Spring?