Monday, March 09, 2009

tabletops: spring has sprung!

on this side of the world, spring is in the air. i see lots of windows down when i'm driving, smiles on faces, and already, i have seen lots of flip flops. people love spring. it's like a new beginning, a fresh start. i think it makes people happy; energizes some, gives hope to others, and flat-out brightens most peoples' day.

as soon as the blossoms started popping out a couple weeks ago, i could hardly wait to decorate. in all honesty, i just wanted to chop down some of those bloom-filled almond trees and bring them inside my house. but that would be bad. very bad. so instead, i decided to get crafty. i did NOT want to spend a lot of money. instead, i wanted to use what i had already. so that's exactly what i did. i went shopping in our cellar (i love old houses) and in our back room and found lots of treasure worthy decorations. i made one quick trip to michael's for spray paint, new birds, and fun lil butterflies. about $15 later, some branches, a pile of junk, a few bottles of glitter and a couple cans of spray paint, spring has officially sprung in the trig's household.

scrap branches i found in the "burn" pile at our house, paired with smallstumps birch tubes. a freshly painted bird cage with those fun wired butterflies i found at michael's sit on faux grass i already had (i think it was from michael's as well).




cute little guy

i originally wanted to hang the bird cages from the ceiling with fishing line, but due to the "old house" issues, i decided it was best to not hang them. (although i very much wanted to). i did not want all three bird cages sitting directly on the table and i definitely did not want them to be at the same height. so i had to get creative. how could i elevate the bird cages without putting holes in the ceiling? i decided to use some of the clear square and rectangle vases i have by filling them with faux mossy stones and placing them on their sides with the bird cages on top. then the entire entry table was covered in spanish moss along and of course some more branches. :)







i feel like i always struggle trying to come up with a center piece for our coffee table. our coffee table is directly in front of our tv (as most people's are), so to do a tall centerpiece would just be silly (especially because we have an extremely low couch). but for whatever reason, coming up with a low centerpiece for this table just isn't easy for me. i always feel like they look silly and i end up taking apart whatever it is that i made. that is until this project... i really love how this little centerpiece turned out. it just makes me happy. and in the end, that's what it's all about, right? i don't know about you, but that's the only reason i decorate my house. because i love it and it makes me smile each time i see every little detail.

the moss, mushrooms, and bird combination is just so earthy and raw, yet cutesy too with those glittery butterflies, isn't it? i love it.


this tree was born out of an idea to bring springy colors into the house. i saw some lovely branches outside and thought it would be fun to turn one into a tree. i had this silly idea to hang circles of different colored paper from the tree to resemble the spring and easter season. after a couple days of thinking about it, i remembered that i had some old scrap-book paper in just the perfect colors! i wasn't sure how it would turn out so i just went for it. and i am so glad i did...i just love it. it's so playful and silly...goes well with all the butterflies and birds flying around the living room. :)


it's hard to tell, but i actually spray painted this entire tree a khaki color. i was curious as to how it would turn out as compared to the natural brown branches. result? i love the color and i especially love it up against my blue walls. there is something about chocolate brown, blue, khaki, and white that just works. it works well. the problem is, on these skinny branches, it's hardly noticeable unless you know i painted it. conclusion? waste of $4, waste of 1 hour painting, and waste of losing the feeling in my index finger for 1 week.



here is the moss i harvested from the roof-top! so far so good, i am keeping it alive as much as i can tell. i am definitely keeping those sprouty-weeds alive that's for sure...they just keep growing! the first thing i did was fill the ceramic bowl with small rocks, then placed the moss on top so that it would act as a drainage system. i decided if the moss doesn't do well, i'll just go harvest some more.



my MIL bought a dozen farm eggs for us last year and i just about screamed when i opened the container. who knew eggs could be so cute? light brown, dark brown, cream, green. lord knows we couldn't throw those shells away! so what did that mean? it meant me blowing all the egg out of each shell. i then soaked them overnight in bleach water in order to clean the "raw" eggy out of the shell. they are now ready to be used for spring decorating! (btw, i do not recommend blowing eggs. my cheeks hurt for one month afterward. surely michael's has to have good enough faux farm eggs, right?)

when you are short on counter space, you even decorate your stove.



these are so cute aren't they? my mom gave them to me last easter. :)


she also gave me these fluffy chicks...i love them sooo much. i wish i had 5 more of them.

so how 'bout that! why don't you pull out some of those old treasures that you've stuffed away, grab some spray paint, glitter, and that ever-faithful glue gun, and spring-up your home! more than anything, i hope you're inspired to take a step outside to see how you can bring some of the outdoors in. after all, it will be 107 degrees out (in the central valley at least) before you know it and all you will want to do is shut the outside OUT.

happy spring and happy decorating. :)

6 comments:

Mumsy said...

So cute, Rae! I love your spring decorations.

themom said...

Oh my gosh, I love the circles on the tree! If I was getting married, I would totally hire you to do that at my reception. Way too cute! I love your house. Just sad it's so dang far away from my work. I'd love to come over for lunch some day!

Jamie said...

Way to use all the great decor you already have. So creative! I really love how you elevated the birdcages and I love the chick and bunny from your Mom! The colors you used are so happy, perfect for Spring! I always wished spring would last longer when I lived in Visalia! Now for you it can.

Anonymous said...

Rae - I wanted to thank you for stopping by my blog and actually leaving a message!!! It is so nice to meet new and talented people who are as friendly as you! Please come back often and if you are ever interested in my jewelry, just say the word!

I also have an etsy shop full of goodies. Just click on the link from my blog!

Talk to you soon ;)

Kat said...

So I went to the Farmers Market in Visalia last nigh (first one of the season) and guess what.... They had fresh eggs, and I was so excited! I bought a dozen! And let me tell you... I will be saving the shells!

By the way... how do you store them so they don't break? And did you spray them with something to preserve them?

bloomers shoppe said...

so glad to hear you got some fresh farm eggs kathy! ...good luck with that. :) the best storage for the eggs is an actual egg carton. what did you buy the eggs in? if it's not a full egg carton like one you get at the store, i'm not sure how it will hold up. i suggest getting a dozen eggs at the store and using that container to store your "shells" in. it's perfect for that (that's how i have mine).

i did not spray them with anything, just let them soak in a water/bleach mixture in the kitchen sink for a couple days to clean out the insides.

have fun!! :)