Mantle Restyle - Fall 2013

You know what I literally never hear come out of ANYONE'S mouth, like, ever?  "I just have way too much time on my hands".  Like it or not, we're a busy culture.  But, I've come to realize that I don't always USE my time in a way that is productive.  How often do I hop on Facebook for 15 minutes during my daughter's nap?  Um, a lot.  How often do I walk away from said FB sesh thinking "thank goodness I made the time to go on Facebook today.  I feel like that just really made a positive difference in my day".  Never.  

So, this fall I'm turning over a new leaf.  Ha.  Fall.  Leaf.  Get it?  Man, I need some more grown up friends :)  Anyway, I've decided to tackle five projects in my house that can be completed in 15 minutes (those precious naptime minutes) for under $15 (because my little napper, while still so tiny, spends a crazy amount of my money).  I'll do my best to finish and blog about one project each week. 

So, let's start with this week's project.  Hubs and I have lived in our house for six years, and throw pillows aside, not much has changed in the way we've decorated since we moved in.  Now that I'm a stay-at-home mom, I am home too much to NOT make a change.  Starting out with something simple, I made my fireplace mantle public enemy number one.

Our old decor was just picture frames.  Nothing else.  Just picture frames.  And while these frames were filled with pictures of people we love, something about it screamed "nursing home" to me.

It was drab, am I right?  I didn't know what to do, so I took to Pinterest, Dani style.  Since I don't have time to pin things and use Pinterest like it was made to be used, it's become my go to spot for decorative inspiration on the quick.  After doing a simple "mantle decoration" search, I got a boat load of images to start sifting through.  All in, this piece of the puzzle took about 2 minutes.  Found one I liked and got to work.

The second piece of the puzzle was shopping my house for things I already have in my house that I can use to create a mantle that is similar to the image I found.  A 5 minute trip around our house, and I had most of the goods needed to rehab our fireplace.  Remember that wreath project from a few years back?  Or my mercury glass addiction?  A little of this and a little of that, and it all came together pretty nicely.  The only thing I craved but didn't have was a lavender plant.  So, for $8 and a quick trip to the nursery (after baby girl woke up, of course), I was done.

Since saving money played a big role in this endeavor, let's break it down piece by piece:

Wreath:  DIY from a couple of years ago.  Not sure on the initial cost, butfree this go round.
Candle:  Gift to my little one, who graciously (and unknowingly) lent it to her Mama.  Free.
Leaf Tray: Purchased in Honduras four years ago.  Never knew what to do with it after lugging it back all this way.  Until now :)  No new cost.
Art Print: DIY, frame I found laying around.  Free.
Decorative balls:  Came in a package I bought several years ago.  They were too big for the jars I was using, so they've been sitting in the back of a closet for a long time.  Free.
Mercury glass vase:  Christmas gift two years ago.  Free.
Lavender plant: $8 on sale at our neighborhood nursery.

Total cost: $8 and 17 minutes.  I'll call that a win.