Spring Fireplace Mantel

The Spring of 2012 has been a bit of a let down.  Cold, rainy, snow, what’s a girl gotta do to get some sunshine around here?  Since the weather has been gloomy and grey, I figure why not make the inside of my house as cheery as possible.

I started with a DIY blackboard.  I found the frame at a second hand store for $1 and painted it a mustard yellow.  I then cut out a piece of cardboard from a pizza box and painted it with black chalkboard paint.

I grabbed some old books, some terracotta pots and fake greenery (because my house is the place that real plants come to die).

My ceramic owl (which I bought at Home Hardware for around $15!).

The mercury glass votives are from Cindy Crawford’s Home Collection.   I think there were 3 votives in the package and they were marked down to $2.  SCORE!  Who would have thought that Cindy Crawford would have a hand in my home decor?  Isn’t she busy with infomercials?

And finally, I found my Scrabble game hidden in the back of my spare bedroom closet under a mountain of purses.

I forgot about the wine!  The most important part!  I put some of our wine stash in an old pop crate.  I like how it filled the empty space.

Please don’t get the wrong idea that we’ll be drinking all this wine to make it through this dreary Spring.  We’re hoping Cindy Crawford won’t let us down.