SPRING MANTLE

Oh my.. how I have let my house go...

You see, I have 3 kids.  #1 is 8, #2 is 4, and #3 is 8 months old. Along with that I have a dbf (dear boyfriend) who, as we all know, counts as an extra kid. And he has 2 kids. #1 is 12 and #2 is 10.  This means alot of dirty towels, mismatched socks, random candy wrappers and dust bunnies. If in between the many interruptions I can feed the masses, clean the kitchen, taxi children, do homework, wash & fold at least one or two loads of laundry and replace the toilet paper on a daily basis then as far as I'm concerned... JOB WELL DONE!

But, I'm going to confess! The last time I touched this fireplace mantel was to clear off the Christmas decorations...

Now, once you all know me I will no longer have to apologize for my photography and as we venture on this journey I hope you will see improvements in my skills as I progress in my free HP photography lessons and hopefully one day receive the Canon EOS 60D I am dying for!!! (shameless hinting)...

I will also confess that since I moved in this house (April of 2009) I said I was going to paint said mantel a crisp white. Along with the baseboards and door frames.  Um, well, let's just say it's on my to do list, okay! This amazing giraffe canvas which I love dearly is only here to fill a void. And I was recently inspired by browsing spring mantel inspiration photos online.  So, I gathered nearly every pastel and white decor item I own, including the few Easter things I have in a box. We can go over later why I have very little in the way of furnishings and decor....

I had to dust and clean EVERYTHING! Which is funny... it's always my reason for rearranging things in my home. My dbf will come home to the living room turned all around but honestly it's the best way to clean every nook and cranny. It's a DO OVER!!

Back to this mantel... At first I just threw everything up there:

See my cute PEEP wreath!!!

It felt cluttered and uncoordinated. I don't really have enough in the way of one solid theme for this large of a mantel. I went through TONS of potential layouts... to no avail!! I won't overload you with the many different attempts at looking fluid!!

I lugged EVERYTHING onto this mantel only to return it to it's rightful place in my home!! I spent about an hour trying to find a look I was happy with but by 4:00p.m. I was starving so I settled for this:

... for now.

The PEEP wreath didn't make the final cut but found a very happy home just off of the kids bedroom on a shuttered mirror on the wall:

Tootles,
TJ