Anatomy of a Mantle Idea.

(Spring mantle.)

The way my brain works is quite random. I suppose no one's brain is that systematic but sometimes I think, "How in the world did you get here?" It works though... I wanted to do something new for the mantle to be spring-like and was looking for inspiration so where did I go other than... Pinterest. I started with the thought, "What do you think of when you think of spring? Flowers. Alright, let's go from there." And the rest is history...

I liked this idea of multiple vases with frames. Instead of buying real flowers (too temporary) or buying fake flowers (can be cheap looking) I decided to make my own.

I went to Design Seeds to find a unique color scheme to base my flowers on. I had this picture and headed to one of my favorite stores Paper Source to see if I could find some fun paper to make my own flowers with. (I ended up not using this color scheme exactly but it gave me something to go off of.)

I found this Poppies Flower Kit and decided it would be a good jumping point. Turns out I'm not as good at making paper flowers as I'd hoped but I made a few good ones. I tried to find other paper flower tutorials on Pinterest, but couldn't really find anything that great. So... I was left with a few good poppies. That can't fill a mantle...

Then I remembered seeing this cute garland on Pinterest. (You sick of hearing about Pinterest yet?) I could easily recreate that with some cute paper I had bought from Paper Source to originally make flowers with and yarn. Done and done.

But then I wanted to put some kind of words like, "Happy Spring!" or something. My mind went back to the first picture with frames on the mantle and this quote print above. And I thought, "I'll combine the two and make a quirky picture that says 'Happy Spring!'" Then my roommate Paige walks in and says, "We should keep this up longer than spring, it could go into summer... even fall." (I am still not sure if that means she really liked the design or she's sick of me changing things around. TBD.)

So I remembered seeing the above picture that just said, "hello" and liking it so I suggested that. Paige took it one step further and said, "How about 'hey y'all'?" They are from Texas and I just like using the word "y'all" so we went for it.

And that, my friends, is how a mantle is born. Below are some pictures of the finished result. Our spring (or summer, or even fall) mantle...

(The big picture.)

(Thrift store frame I had laying around with cardstock cut by yours truly.) 

(Paper Source Poppies.)

(Side angle.)

Hope you enjoyed your trip through the creative side of my brain.