Mantel turned Dining Room Shelf

A few summer’s ago I scooped up a discarded fireplace mantle at a garage sale. I don’t have a fireplace but why would I let logic stop me?

I knew in my gut the fireplace mantel would eventually find a place in my home. Plus, I couldn’t bet the cost. The purchase price? One dollar. Yes, a single buck.

Here she is, with new life, as a dining room shelf.

The Details

I love looking at the framed photo of Pete and I from the year before we were married. We look like kids! We were (and still are) very in love. We had no idea that 8 short years later we’d have a mortgage, a minivan and 4 kids under the age of 5.

I turned my crepe paper centerpiece from Living with Lindsay’s $5 Challenge into a wreath.

My son Ryan contributed his artwork, an astronaut flying in space with a view of Earth, for the mantel. I just love that my white frame has a clip inside. I can quickly change out its contents to meet my decorating whims!

Baby Girl Nursery Decor

Here is a link to my post about decorating the wall above Claire and Leah’s diaper table. Man, I love having baby girls in the house again!

Here is a list of things to think about (in The Nester’s words) when putting together a mantel, wall shelf or table scape.

1. Scale–you want big stuff, you want small stuff, you want medium stuff

2. Layering–don’t be afraid to put stuff in front of other stuff

3. Height Variations–make sure you have tall stuff and short stuff

4. Texture–shiny, smooth, rough, glass, wood, soft, sharp? I can’t think of any more textures but you get the idea

5. Color–consider repeating the same color a few times

6. Natural–try to add in one thing from nature

7. Meaningful–kid made pottery, a grandma’s silver rattle, quirky photo, framed letter

If you are visiting from The Nester’s Mantel Party, thanks for popping by Just a Blink!

Love,

Jess

I did what every good perfectionist procrastinator does – crafts! I have so much do to it seems a bit daunting and the results so incredibly faraway. So, I gave myself permission to get a little thing done. It is only a teaspoon of completion in a lake full of life goals but the reward of completing a project that was over one year old is priceless.

I made the blue photo frame on the left at a Mother of Preschoolers (MOPS) meeting four years ago for my son Ryan. When Molly came along, I purchased a second blank frame from the MOPS leftover craft cupboard with intentions of making a similar frame for my darling daughter. Now she is already 15 months old!

Ryan as a newborn. Molly at 12 months.

Both frames are just paper mache-type cardboard and are cheaper than cheap, but I think they look pretty cute with the personalization.

3 Teaspoon Project Nuggets

1. Limits If it can be done in 1/2 hour – do it, but only once in a while. It is too easy for me to start digging out crafts and seasonal decorations and never stop! The goal is to simplify my life, not layer it so badly I can’t see where I am going.

2. Satisfaction This should be fun. Hey if organizing, planning, and simplifying get me tied up in knots of regret and dissatisfaction they are not working. It felt really good to get a little thing done. Insert pat on back here.

3. The Lily Effect There is a story of a crabby, messy hermit that one day receives a lily in a vase from a neighbor. The messy decides to clear off his table to set the lily on. He washes the table then stops to clean off the chairs so he can sit by the flower. Pretty soon he cleans the whole house and starts doing maintenance work. Somewhere along the way he changes his heart and opens his home to his neighborhood. Doing one small thing can change your outlook on the entirety of a project or idea.