Spring Flowers

You may remember when I shared my Spring Mantle (here) that I opted to use real flowers that I found in our yard. Well, a week later they were starting to get a bit crispy. So I threw out the old, and set about finding new blooms...still from our yard!

I started with some beautiful dogwood branches in the vase on the entryway table. They had just bloomed and still look fresh!

 For the pitcher on the mantle, I did something I thought I would never do. I stole flowers from the outside! We planted parrot tulips a couple of years ago and they just came up about 2 weeks ago. I love the way that they dress up the outside of the house, but I figured three for the mantle was no biggie :)

 I love the way that they just sort of have a mine of their own. And they are a lovely pop of color!

 I also replaced the old branches in the mason jar with dogwoods.

 I think they are so cute! I really love the look of fresh flowers in the living room!

Also, for a little bit of accountability for us, I wanted to put this out there. Michael and I have decided both for the sake of our dietary changes and mainly for the sake of finances, we are going to take a fast from eating out (lunch, dinner, dessert, etc.) for the entire month of April. We figure we spend $300-400 a month on that junk and its something that we can live without for a month to help pay off other things. I am also hoping that cooking at home a lot more will give my diet another kick-start!

So, my local friends/family, if you invite us out and we politely decline, know that we love you and have a conviction and a reason for turning you down. We are totally okay with having people over or eating in at other people's houses, just trying to cut the money for a bit! :)

Spring Mantle

Happy Saturday, friends! The other day I decided that I had had enough of our winter mantle, so I decided to switch all of that chilly decor out for some spring! I was wanting to do it without spending anything, so I went outside and cut some blooms and branches to use in the livingroom.

For the entryway, I placed some branches in my quatrefoil vase and then filled my cloche with jute wrapped eggs that I made last year and some moss balls.

 For the mantle, I rearranged a lot of what was already there and brought my cute Phaltzgraff pitcher in and filled in with branches.

 Its so cheerful and bright! I know they will wilt soon, but I plan to juse keep replacing them with other branches. I am rebelling against the concept of buying fake ones!

 For the other end, I filled a ball jar with water and placed some blooms in that as well.

 Its such a cheerful change to the feel of the living room. We are spending a lot more time wit the windows open so it even feels and smells more Springy.

 I also filled my little decanter with water, snipped some greens and placed them in the water. It turned out so cute!

There you have it! our lovely Spring mantle and cute little entryway vignette. Have you done anything to spring up your house? I plan to try to do some spring cleaning today!