Friday, March 23, 2012

My Cheery Spring Mantel and a Topiary Tute

Happy Spring!  Now that we're officially in the season of new life and rainy days and pollen and blooming things, I'm ready to share my Spring Mantel.


I wanted something that could transcend seasons, so I assembled a colorful display with some touches of Spring that can easily be switched out for seashells in a couple of months:

My new subway art is stealing this show.  It lists all the places my hubs and I have lived  together (current address bleeped out).  We didn't know each other when both lived in Fairfax, but it still counts;) 
The long view shows off my new fireplace screen, too.  I was tired of worrying about a boy faceplanting on that hot glass.  Now he'll just faceplant into some sharp wrought iron. 

As for my touches of Spring, I have  a sweet little nest in my cloche:


Split peas for St. Pattie's Day in my candle-holder:


 And moss galore, including my little egg-shaped moss topiaries:


Speaking of which, I made these sweeties in about 10 minutes, want to know how?

Supplies: styrofoam/plastic eggs, sheet moss, floral foam (all from Dollar Tree), embellishment such as my green ribbon, skewers (mine are painted champagne from a prior project), cute little pots and hot glue.
Pop some floral foam in your pots, and attach your skewers to your eggs.  My eggs had a very hard plastic surface so I had to pierce them with a sharp object first.  Use extreme caution, please!  Then comes the fun part: pulling apart the sheet moss into small chunks:


...and just glueing them on.  Its fun 'cause its like a puzzle.  And maybe that's just me, but that's fun.  Wild times, indeed.


A little ribbon, and there ya go!  Vaguely egg-shaped moss topiaries for Spring!


Thanks for stopping by and checkin' me out today!
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5 comments:

  1. That is so pretty, Michelle! I think I may be borrowing a couple ideas when I redo my mantle.

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  2. My FAVE mantel yet!! The split peas are ingenious!!

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  3. That's so pretty. Love the subway art!
    I really don't have the design ambition to make such a great mantel, let alone change it up seasonally. Love it.

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  4. Where did you get the subway art with all the places you and your husband have lived? Did you make it? I REALLY would love this for our home.

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    1. Allyson, thanks for checking in! Yes, I made the subway art using the same technique I used for the Family Rules subway art I made for a friend recently. You can see my post on it (with links to tutorials) here: http://thatmommyblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/wall-art-bonanza.html

      Thanks!

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