Spring Forward to a Beautiful Mantel
March 13, 2023
From Graceful Home
Guest Contributor: Gena Caruthers
Hi friends - I am certainly no “Ruthie Tanner” so that should be an encouragement to you (lol) meaning, if I can do this… you can too! Join me today as I work on a refreshing new spring arrangement for my fireplace mantel. Thank you Ruthie for letting me share my idea this week.
Honestly, after Christmas I wanted almost no decor, so the candle sticks were lucky to still be around.
I have fallen in love anew with the vintage mirror that my mom and dad purchased back in 1963! I can only imagine what a huge SPLURGE the purchase this mirror was for my mom. ❤️ I will admit, I’ve been tempted to paint it black but I can’t bring myself to change a thing. It brings me so much joy to relocate it to my living room as a focal point. During Christmas I had the wreath in the center, and decided I could get by with it through February but I was really ready for a fresh change. Here was my process, it was pretty simple.
Start with a good foundation piece. I found this at a recent trip to Canton, TX and thought with some pretty color it would look beautiful.
I found it easier to decorate my garland on the table instead of on the mantle.
Grab some useful tools: wire cutters, flat nose wire cutters that come in hand for pulling the zip ties tight and pinching hard wires, and small zipties. The work wonders when adding your additional pieces. I find they hold more secure than wire.
Next take a few minutes to fluff out your garland. This will help you determine where and how many additional flowers and embellishments you’d like to add.
Using the wire cutters, I snipped the sunflowers & red geraniums apart. I took a few minutes to place them (first the red) along the garland. When I found a look that pleased me, I zip tied them tightly into place. I then followed the same process with the sunflowers. I found it was prettier to put these in clusters.
Next I added the little loops of MacKenzie Childs ribbon. You’ll notice I reused these from my Christmas decor. I LOVE this ribbon!
I admit I needed a little help from the Mr. to secure it to the mantle. I really didn’t want to put nails in the mantle and was excited that my SUPER GLUE DOTS would hold it in place. BUT… the next morning I found it on the floor, so…. he kindly nailed it into place. Notice I added some really cute carrots to the right end to extend it a little longer.
I LOVE the pop of spring color this arrangement adds to my living room.
Since I took the wreath off the mirror I needed to add something to this area. Here’s a BIG TIP… RELOCATE decorative things in your house instead of buying new stuff! When you relocate it, it takes on a completely different and new look!
Later I added this “Family” saying from another spot in my house and love it here!
Finally I added the little birds, on each side of the mirror. They were a replacement too. In the past I’ve used them on my formal table and was ready for a change. A LITTLE TIP… they were too short and hid behind the flowers so I used a little Jiffy Mix cornbread box (lol) for them to stand on and have a little more height so they will be seen better. 😉
I’m really pleased with the BEAUTIFUL fresh and bright spring colors in my family room!
Have a great week and hey, let’s pull out some pretty spring stuff!
Love y’all - G.
