As promised, today I am sharing with you our spring mantels decor for March, the month of St. Patrick’s Day, and the beginning of the spring season. (Calendar-wise anyway. God-willing the weather will reflect the same.)
The decor for these mantels is super minimal and simple. It also features artwork I recently did, 4-Leaf Clover Art, which I blogged about most recently. Visit the link to see more about the inspiration for the piece. But right now in this post, here are some photos to [Read more…]
Back-To-School Mantels | Home Decorating Ideas
There is something about the back-to-school season, that I have always loved. With all of the fresh new supplies and clothes, and the whole new school year stretched out before us, with so much yet to be learned, it’s just always been an exciting time to me. Even though we homeschool, and even school right through the summer, we (even the kids) still love the excitement that the start of a whole new school year brings! All new books, fresh supplies, new experiences, and a new season to grow academically.
It’s that love for all things ‘back-to-school’ that inspired these mantels in our home! It’s a theme that fits just right, through the month of September!
I used [Read more…]
Our Fall Mantels 2013 | Home Decor Ideas
Today, I wanted to share with you our mantels, decorated for Fall! Alright, so I realize Fall is a month in here, and many are maybe so over it. But you know….there is two months more of the Fall season to go, you know! (Can you even believe it is the Fall season until December 20th?) Yes, in the bloggers’/crafters’ world, I could be a little late with this. But that’s OK! I figure, you can pin it for some ideas on Pinterest for next year! Or find a little inspiration in it for your Thanksgiving mantels. Regardless, I am really enjoying the mantels I put together for our home decor and for my family, and I hope you enjoy seeing them as well.
By the way, I actually did ‘Back-to-School’ mantels, you never got to see. YET. That’s a season shorter lived than Fall! BUT….take heart, I did take photos to share with you next year, in a timely manner, that would allow time to be inspired. But let’s get back to our mantels decorate for Fall here, shall well?
Here’s an overview of our Fall double mantels.
Can’t tell you how much I love having double-mantels.
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A closer look at the first mantel….
Now for some details . . . . . . (I so love details . . . .) . . . .
By the way, I made four of the objects on this mantel. I’ll discuss a little about them along the way here. Pay attention if you care to. 😉
A simple basket of apples. Which wasn’t quite as simple as you think. You see, my Fall mantels have been done for some time, except for one project I was working on. So while I wanted this basket of apples to be part of my decor, I also wasn’t going to make it off limits for my kids to eat. Because….they just seem to always be hungry, always looking for food, and always eating. So I told them, “Hey, go ahead and grab an apple off the mantel whenever you want. I don’t want them on the mantel going bad.” Well, I think I had to buy more apples and resupply this basket four times already. And the cycle will continue until, well, I guess December!
This sign; I did make it. I’ll do a separate short and simple post about it, such as what inspired it and how I made it, at some point soon.
I can tell you now, that I love it. It’s not quite as elaborately simple as I had intended….more simply simple in the end….but I love it nonetheless.
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I also made this set of greeting blocks, which were so fun to make! And…..there is much more than meets the eyes with these! I can’t wait to show you how versatile they are! I took photos along the way, and will have a whole tutorial for you on this project as well.
I did not grow the pumpkin, because, well, if you follow me on our Facebook Page (please come ‘LIKE’ us if you’re on Facebook!) you may know that our pumpkin patch bit the dust hard and early this year!
(Vine borers…..I despise them oh so much!)
BUT, I did indeed make the candle a bit behind the pumpkin, with real leaves embedded. I made two, and gave one to my sister.
You can find the post with directions about how I made them HERE.
This rustic Autumn wreath is the fourth homemade item I made last year, as of the date of this post Simple, simple, simple. It’s more….assembled, than homemade.
You can see just how I did that, what I used, and from where, in this post on this wreath HERE.
And that concludes the details of the first mantel.
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On to the second mantel….
for which I made nothing for, with my own hands. But I can share some ‘where to get’ info, for this year anyway.
The overview, of mantel #2.
I spotted this pumpkin, adored it, and purchased it at the Home Goods dept of TJ Maxx.
I think it has a really high cute-factor, and I love the rustic qualities of it.
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Now, you all may know custom lettering is at the snap of my finger! As my husband, Michael is a professional truck letterer / sign maker. But, I saw this wall adhesive at Michael’s Arts and Crafts, and fell right for it! It not only expresses one of the many things I love about Fall, but I really loved the leaves accents. So while I could have asked Michael to whip this up for me, why, when this was $1.99! And ready to go!
Here’s what’s even greater about it: I had imagined I would stick it on one of our painted walls. But when I got it home, I just though the best placement for it, was within the theme of our mantels. I wasn’t sure how well it would work on the bead board though, with all of the grooves. So I was very pleased to discover it worked beautifully! And I was really impressed with how discreet the fact that it’s a one-piece adhesive, is. People come into our home and when they see it, they get right up close to try and figure out…how did we do that? LOL. It’s a cool thing, and a very nice accent for the walls behind mantels! I always try to have some accents on the walls, behind the mantels, somewhere. Such as the wreath as well. It really just extend all of the beauty, and adds dimension with the various levels. It’s more pleasing to the eye.
Lastly, I simply placed a pot of warm orange colored mums in an old cranberry crate Michael brought me home one day. (Actually, he brought me home two.) I love these crates, and I love that he found them in shed he was hired to clean out at the parish he was working for, and thought of me.
And that’s the end of our Fall mantels tour.
I may mix things up just a little for Thanksgiving, but I haven’t decided yet. I do know that I am enjoying my mantels as much as I dreamed, from putting them together through these various seasons, to the holidays we celebrate. I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing them as well, and have found any bits of inspiration in them, for any areas or even shelves in your own home. PIN away!
I plan to share the tutorials or details of some of the projects on mantel one, soon. So please share your thoughts, hopes, or questions of what you would like to know in those posts coming up, in our comments below! You are automatically notified by email if I reply to you, or if more fitting, I will address those questions in the posts coming up.
Hope you are relishing in all of the gifts of Fall, as much as we are!
Our Summer Mantels | Home Decorating Ideas
We’re three weeks deep into the summer season, so I thought it was high time I got our summer mantels decor on the blog. It’s not only fun to show, but hopefully it gives someone some home decorating ideas. And if you aren’t aware of it, mantel decorating is twice the fun around here, because we have double mantels! Courtesy of the hard-working hands of my carpentry-able husband. So the mantels inspiration, ideas, photos, decor, fun….is always x2 here at the House Of Joyful Noise!
I knew the season of summer was going to be fun to work with. Once I got thinking about it, I started getting all kinds of ‘theme’ ideas that fit the summertime season! But, where we live right by the ocean, it only seemed to right to go with the beach/nautical/seaside authentic decor, this first summer with our new mantels. I am sure as the years go by, I’ll continue to get this thrill from the creative process of putting together pieces to decorate the mantels, and so it will always be somewhat difference from year to year and season to season. And by seasons, I am referring to both the four seasons of New England climate, as well as holidays. In other words, no 2 summer double-mantels will be just the same.
That said, I AM so in love with my finished summer mantels right now, that I can’t imagine ever taking it down, or putting it back together just like this, next year.
Do you love them too?
I just love seeing them. Whether on accident as I breeze through, or just sitting there, looking them over, and enjoying them.
I realize Autumn will descend on us at some point, and I’ll have new excitement and inspiration for that season (which I love), but for now, I am digging summer. A LOT. In all kinds of ways.
Oh you know I took details photos, so I can tell you [Read more…]
Our Spring Mantels | Home Decorating Ideas
So if you’ve been following along with us here, you’ll know that earlier this week we revealed my new double mantels in our sun room, which Michael custom built for me, and I finished in my own style, to give them the look that I was going for.
As promised, today I am sharing lots of overall and detail photos of how I decorated those mantels (for the very first time) for the spring season, as well as some home decorating ideas, and tid-bits of other information you may find interesting. I can tell you that I had way too much fun, both decorating and photographing my new mantels, but I truly don’t mind! Mind you, I’m not a professional decorator, but I do feel comfortable relying on my artistic eye and education, and just what looks good to me. My ‘mantel envy’ that I spoke of, was as real as I thought it was, too, and my appeasing it is already as fulfilling as I knew it would be. More than ever, I am looking forward to all of the seasons and holidays I can spend being creative in home decor, with these mantels. Even if it does mean more to dust!
So let me show you what I did:
This is the view straight ahead, when you walk in through our front door, into the sun room.
There you see our mantels corner, over our wood stove. We spend a lot of time in this room year round; and it’s a favorite of guests too.
Viewing left to right, here is the first and longest of the two mantels, I’ve decorated, measuring 4 feet long.
As I was gathering items I had hoped to use for this spring theme, from other places throughout our house, I realized I had two wonderful groupings for both mantels, where I could have a featured color for each mantel, but where also there were common colors that tied the two mantels all together. So I immediately started working off of that kind of color theory in my head. Also, I added some pieces of burlap as texture-accents with both mantels, but were used in different ways for each. For this mantel, I simply took a long piece, and strewn it along he back of the mantel as a backdrop.
So if you refer to the entire first mantel above), I thought of the greens as much featured color, and then the browns as the common color, because it would be a part of both mantels.
You’ll see that in a moment. But first I’d like to share with you a little more about the details of this one.
Here we just have a simple couple of glass decorative bottles I had, and a cute set of little dishes, that I picked up at TJ Maxx. There is a fourth dish, the color of teal, which I actually bought the set for, because that one went well with the decor I was putting together for my bathroom cubby shelf, which can be seen in the first few photos of this post.
Here are the next few things I grouped sort of together.
This was one of my mother’s personal journals.
The colors and the spring theme went well. And seeing it of course also reminds me of my mother, and makes me smile.
A really good pair of binoculars, in a very weathered leather case. I thought they were once Michael’s parents, but, Michael just called and while I had him on the phone, I double checked with him. He says they were actually my grandmother’s. (We call her Nana.) Hmmm. I’m not sure how we got them, but I’ll guess my father brought them down. He’s always bringing us all kinds of things when he comes.
These items are all new little things I had just picked up, specifically for my spring decor. There is an new, awesome, huge 3-floor place in town that is loaded with the most gorgeous inventory! From large furniture of all kinds, much clearly hand-crafted, to a wide array of small home-decor accent pieces, as well as signs, fashion accessories, etc. One could spend hours in this place, and this one has! My kiddos enjoy tagging along with me too. Honestly, I should do a whole post on it for another day. But in this photo above, notice the super rustic little chalkboard easel. The surface is merely wood painted with chalkboard paint, so it’s not the easiest to write on, but I love it anyway. I think it’ll be a versatile piece, and I’ll be using it a lot, on these mantels.
Also there, I picked up this adorable little ceramic clay bunny, and tiny potted Grape Hyacinth bulb plant.
It was a tiny bit limp and dehydrated when I bought it that day, but I knew with some water and sunlight, it would quickly recover, and it has.
And that wraps up the first mantel.
On to the next . . . .
The second mantel is shorter, measuring just short of 3 feet long. I think it’s so cute!
The colors for this one are just a bit different, with a teal being the focus colors, and the green and brown being 2 common colors found in the first mantel as well, where the green was the featured color in that one.
Dressing the cake dish from my kitchen in burlap and jute string, I placed a beautiful bird’s nest, which I also finally found at the same big retail space I spoke of a minute ago. I’ll give you a closer look at the next in a moment. But notice the mail against the back wall: As I was looking pieces in my house that fit into my color theory, I spotted this mail that was so thoughtfully sent by our fan-friend Julie! The envelopes to the kids’ Easter cards from her, happened to be teal. And then I had some mail for me that she had sent, for which she had made the envelope from a mao (LOVE!), that was made up of some of the warm browns I was working with too. So see…..anything can be used as decor. And it’s always nice to use the little things that give us warm fuzzies inside, and I think such things also add an element of really personal touch and warmth to your home setting.
I really had been looking for the supplies to make one of my own for weeks, but was having little success. I was even considering making one of my own, if I found the right materials. While I did find a little next at Michael’s Arts & Crafts, I wasn’t crazy about the way it was made, and the (blue) eggs I found were also not quite real enough for me. I’m really particular about that kind of thing. So when I spotted this bird nest, with much more realistic eggs already in it, I grabbed it.
A closer look at the base of the cake dish, wrapped purposely haphazardly, in burlap, and tied secure with jute.
This teal colored canister-jar was the first piece chosen for this mantel, and sort of kicked off the feature of the teal color. So I purchased some faux apple blossom branches to go in it. Then I Googled for a little about arranging such things, and learned more than I knew I had to learn! I had no idea so many parts were meant to bend, and things could be moved around from one part to another, etc. Lots of little tips I found helpful, to help make the bloomed branches look more life-like, and compositionally pleasing and balanced to the eye.
The wagon wheel was elsewhere in our sun room, and I noticed it also fit in with the common color for this mantel, so I threw that in as well.
Taking a look at both mantels together, from a different angle, you can see how they are really different enough, and yet compliment each other well, in both theme of spring, as well as textures/materials with wood, glass, burlap, clays, and plants.
As well as in color theory, which is always fun to work with, no matter what the artistic project at hand is.
I really hope you enjoyed this in-depth discussion of decorating mantels, because there will be a lot more of it in the future, all throughout the year!
GOSH IT’S FUN!!
I’m happy you’re here! I’d be happy to continue this chat with you all, in a more two-way manner, in the comments!