Birds of a Feather

 As I have stated before, my brain works in such a way that when March 1st hits, it is Officially Spring. Nevermind the fact that outside may be cold-enough-for-a-coat-kind-of-weather. Or even (heaven forbid) some snow, but come March 1st it is springtime inside the house. And in my brain!

 I think it is from all those years of living in northernmost Kansas and the brutal (in my eyes) winters we would have. 

 I longed for blue skies (as opposed to gray), green leaves (as opposed to dormant bareness) and the sound of birds singing. 

 Each winter, come February, I feel that same need. I need blue, green and birds. 

 So if an impatient girl can't find them outside, then inside she must! 

 So I pulled from my dish closet things that would transform my hutch-top to a simple springtime. 

 Nothing fancy, just simple plates and bird things. 

 I am sure that it is of no coincidence that my grandmother's birthday would fall on March 1st as well and she was a huge bird lover. She decorated with birds long before it was vogue to do so. 

 So I thought of my Grammie as I decorated the hutch. I thought of the hutch (top) that I had dragged around for over 30 years (and four or five colors). 

 That made me think how quickly and easily things could be transformed and updated with a little paint. Which then made me think about the fact a person can really update on a budget. Which took my train of thought to what bargains every single thing on the hutch actually was when I bought them. Or better yet, got them for free. 

 Which then made me think about the many different ways I have purposed and repurposed those cute little urns. And how I love that white plates can go with everything. Even if you have to stick a nest on top of a stack of white salad plates so that one doesn't see the embossed snowflake. 

 Which then made me think of how much I love warm weather and was glad that it was SPRINGTIME, because it was officially March 1st, therefore SPRINGTIME in my world. Which made me think of how March 1st was also my grandmother's birthday and how much she loved bird decor too......

Which made me think, "Isn't that what decorating is all about? Simple solutions that make you smile and bring all sorts of memories flooding into a (springtime) brain. Bring on spring!!"

 Linking to:

Metamorphosis Monday

WOW Us Wednesday

Once Upon a Mantel...

 By the middle of February, I am itching for spring to arrive. I am sick of winter and want some springtime. Although this winter has been completely mild in my part of the world, I have not even worn a coat a single time. Still, it was mid-February and my thoughts and actions were far from winter. So I changed my mantel.

 That means that anything remotely "winterish" in my home was put away. I wasn't ready to pull out bunnies and eggs, so I tried to think of spring ideas. I looked around the house and I saw lots of pictures of babies and lots of books. And because my mind works in mysterious ways, seeing books and babies made me think of my collection of children's books. 

 Then I thought, "Why not?" You get it don't you?  Springtime....babies and children's book? I knew you'd understand! 

 So the mantel got a facelift. Again. 

 I filled it with some of my books, some of my pictures of babies and a few other little gems. The colors of the antique children's books are just beautiful. Bold colors that are muted from years of enjoyment. 

 What else says springtime?  Well, in my world..puppies. So I added two special puppies to the mix. This one sits on a copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales and flanks a copy of the book. Several of the classic children's books in my collection, I have multiple copies of, yet they are all different. 

 This cute little pup came to me via Harrods

in London. My daughters went to Ireland one summer with my mother and this is one of the things they brought me back. Isn't he cute? His leash even says Harrods. 

 Here's an example of the same book looking completely different. All three of my Three Little Pigs books have very cute graphics inside. 

 I put the pocket watch up there for symbolism. No one will get it but me. Heck, I don't know if anyone will even get any of this mantel idea! Anyway, the watch is to symbolize time....and how quickly the springtimes and babies and puppies pass through our life, and all of a sudden they are grown. (That's why I teach English, I can symbolize the heck out of anything!) 

 And the babies in the pictures?  This one is our sweet Leightyn. She will be 1 in two weeks. That's what I am talking about with that pocket watch!!! How did one year go by so quickly????

 The picture on the left are my two daughters when they were probably 2 and 3. Where did all those years go? I'm telling 'ya, I can almost hear that watch ticking time away!!!  The picture on the right is my Grammie holding my dad. How sweet is that? She was in her 40's when he was born, and her other children were teenagers. (Surprise!!!)

 The baby on the the right is my niece Caroline. She is 10 now. It seems like she "posed" for this picture about 6 months ago! 

Finally, look at that cute puppy. He was sitting out on my piano when I was trying to think of a pre-spring Springtime mantel. He was one of the reasons I thought of the whimsical mantelscape. He came to live at my house last week when a dear friend of ours died. She had him in her living room on a shelf and I got to bring him to my home. Every time I see him I will think of that wonderful friend and family. How appropriate that he is front and center on the mantel.

Wherever you are, no matter your weather, 

here's to early thoughts of spring..

and babies, books and puppies..

and time that passes too quickly! 

Linking to:

Metamorphosis Monday

WOW us Wednesday

Stone Gable TTT

Open House Thursday

Letters and Numbers and Symbols..Oh My!!

My family has been in the newspaper business for over 100 years.

I like to think that there is some ink in our blood.

 So a couple of weeks ago when I was redoing my Craigslist table, I put chalkboard paint on the top. But even when I bought the table, I kept thinking how cool it would be with letterpress blocks on top in a giant collage.

The letterpress blocks are what they used at newspapers a long, long time ago...

Back when my family was starting their business. 

 Over the weekend when we were watching a movie, I lugged out my giant sack of letterpress letters, numbers, symbols and advertisements. (When I say giant, I mean the big plastic bags with zippers that comforters come in...And a smaller version too!) I have been collecting them for years. I started by separating them into number/letter/symbol and ad categories. This is just a smidge of them! 

 Then I began spelling out our names. And the names of our beloved pets. And important dates. And teams we have loved and/or played for. And things we love to do. When you use letterpress blocks you are spelling things backwards....you do realize that don't you? That way when ink is rolled on the letters and the newsprint is put down, the words are then facing the right direction. 

 Here's the table when it was a cute little chalk-table. But then I added all those words and started filling in around my words to form my giant collage. It is fun to look at and try to find some of the words I have embedded. 

 Boomer (our cat) and OKLAHOMA. 

 Sooners! and right now it says "Wucas"...but as soon as I cabbage on to another "L" it will say Lucas. Wucas is okay for the time being, since our youngest son, Luke, pronounced his "L's" as a "W' and called himself  "Wuke Wucas" when he was about 3 or 4. ha!!!
Edited to add: Luke was at his grandparents house yesterday and I told him to get an "L" from his granddad, which he did not do...So I guess he is fine with the "Wucas" for now! (Until I get the "L").

 Tim and Lori

 Luke 18 (his birthdate)

 Cool punctuation marks throughout

 Former jersey numbers from ball teams

 Kelly

 I bought an entire collection of old flag blocks once...and a bunch of filler stars. They are all interspersed throughout. 

 Fractions...Aren't those fun? 

 A little nod to the political side of my family as well...

 And when it was all done, hundreds and hundreds of different blocks. All shapes, sizes and colors, combining to form the cutest little table for my office room. 

 All our names are in there somewhere...and all those other things I added too...pets, teams, hobbies, towns, dates, special numbers. 

 With the rest of the filler numbers and letters and symbols, the whole collage is wedged in tight. In fact I had planned on gluing each piece down and now I am not so sure. I had to get a screwdriver to pry a letter up that I wanted to change! I think it is safe as it is. I will watch and see how it goes. 

 I don't really expect people to try to abscond with any of the wood blocks! 

 I think I love the ink variations the most. I can visualize the printers with their printing aprons on and their rollers full of ink. I remember the printers at my Dad's paper very well...Sparky and Maynard. If I try really hard I can almost conjure up the smell of the ink and the newsprint. 

 That's why I love the table. It brings back so many memories I have from childhood. 

 And also so many recent memories because of the letters and numbers and names and words I put throughout the table. 

 A conversation piece for sure!!! My husband thinks I need to put a piece of glass or plexi-glass on top. I am holding out on that as well. We will see.

In the meantime, I am going to sit back and enjoy my little table-that-could in its latest makeover! ....And all the memories it provides! 
Edited to add also: While the blocks are stained from ink, the ink does not come off on things. They are old enough and used enough that they are "clean". Although I still am thinking about the glass top!

Linking up to:

Metamorphosis Monday

Wow Us Wednesday

Stone Gable TTT

Open House Thursday

Furniture Friday
POP Link Party