Spring Mantle

Just in time for a nasty storm yesterday evening (the worst part hit during evening rush hour):

I reached a more or less satisfactory detente with my mantle, that in a fit of decoratitis I had decided a few days before to "decorate" for Spring!  Yeah, right, Jan.

Crappy "before" photo taken a few nights ago -- not very good but you get the general idea, I can be rather minimalist in my approach to "decorating," LOL!  That's the only place in the room for the t.v. and it's staying there.  At least in this photo you can't see the rabbit airs with tinfoil tips and the bent-up hanger that supposedly gives better reception (a Mr. Don assertion) is nearly invisible!

Here's the "after"!  I'm pretty happy with it.  However, I don't think the upside down fishbowl is quite the look of refined elegance I was going for.  I'm going to experiment this evening with making my own "cake stand" out of a big glass with a long stem and a plate plopped on top to see if that works to elevate the bird house where I want it. 

These things are new:  (1) the two small bird plates on either side near the front; (2) the square bird plate on the left; (3) the tall stemmed candleholder in a lucious shimmery pastel green.  All were purchased at TJMaxx and the candleholder was on clearance so I got an even better deal than usual on that.  Everything else I shopped the house for.  I was absolutely amazed how much stuff I was able to gather from here and there to put a "spring" look together!

The side table.  The little ceramic bird with holes (it's a sachet) and the papermache bird "book" (it's a trinket box and I fell in love with it the second I cast my eyes upon it) are both from TJMaxx.  The old tulip pic was a Target acquisition from eons ago.  The enameled and brass egg on stand was purchased in Las Vegas during a 2001 visit.  I am probably going to swap out the pic.  I found some beautiful colored bird photos on the internet and if they print out clearly I have a frame that I want to use that will perfectly tie together the look on the mantle and the look on this side table.

Creative chaos!  A lot of stuff cluttering the coffee table, various things I tried on the mantle and side table, things I tried on and off the walls, and things I'm going to experiment with on the dinette table later. 

A final photo - see the tinfoil-tipped rabbit ear?  LOL!  I thought this would be an "easy" project that I could whip together in one 30-minute session one night after work.  WRONGO!  I dithered with this and that, slid things around, added things, removed things, threw things through the window, etc. etc.  Nearly every single item in my "storage" kitchen cabinet was washed and examined for possible use.  Well, that's one way to get spring cleaning done around here. 

No fancy close-ups -- I'm not very good at those anyway.