(Almost) Free Art and Mantel Decor

Awhile ago, I shared a really great site for free art printables. It's no secret I've never gotten our mantel looking just right, but that is all about to change. I found some great sea life art on NYPL's site. You can click here to see the images- I chose 6 of my favorites, planning to make a 2x3 collage over the mantel. Here's my favorite of the bunch:

You can tell they're images from a book. At the top of each image is a print button-I clicked that, then right clicked the image to save to my desktop. From there, I imported each image into Picasa. It's free and you can get it here if you need photo editing capabilities. I cropped out the really dark edges-didn't want to waste all that ink!!!! From there: click "File," then "Print." Choose "Full Page" and click the print button on the lower right side, under the image.

With all 6 images printed, the only thing left was to find 6 inexpensive frames for them. A quick trip to Dollar Tree fixed that. I just got plain old document frames with hangers on the back.

If you look closely, you can actually see my reflection in the frame. Not the best, sorry. We're re-doing the flooring in the kitchen and I just had a couple of seconds before I needed to get back to it. I had originally planned to arrange my art over the mantel in a 2x3 collage, but decided to experiment with staggering them as well. We ultimately settled on a configuration that required 7 pieces, so I printed out another sheet and bought one more frame from the dollar store.  We scored a raku-style ceramic vase from Target for about 5 bucks, marked down from 17.99:

And yet again, the picture quality sucks, but I want you to know that I'm not fudging the cost...it's one thing to say that something was "inexpensive" but that can mean different things to different people!

 Then, we added a couple of candle sticks to complete the look, and there you have it. I tried to keep everything "centered" since we have a ridiculously long mantel. i was hopeful that I could visually shorten it up. I love how the sea life art turned out- the husband declared it Pottery Barn-esque- and best of all I'm only into the mantel decor about 13 bucks, so I'm not exactly locked into it.

I love that the reddish brown in the shells compliment our uber-cheap curtains...

Here's the 5 buck vase-love!- and some coral I got from my dad a million years ago...he used to be a professional diver and I've swiped borrowed some really cool ocean-findings from him over the years.

 There was no eliminating all of the glare on the frames in our *lovely* hazy weather, but I hope the pics are good enough to give you the gist- enjoy!

Summer Mantel Decor

With our own mantel decor revamp underway for summer, I thought I'd share some of the mantels that inspired me to make a change. Maybe it's the fact that we've lived in a state with minimal sunshine for several years, but I am really loving the bright whites lately...and the less cluttered, the better. The older I get, the less stuff I want to have to deal with!

Minimal and perfect:

Source: doorsixteen.com via sfgirlbybay / victoria on Pinterest

I'd probably choose a painting that had a bit more color to it, but it would be easy and inexpensive to recreate this mossy/beachy look:

                                   Source: simplifiedbee.blogspot.com via Erin on Pinterest 

I absolutely love this...so simple and traditional, but if you look closely, there is a bright yellow Buddha perched to the right of the mirror. I would have never thought of stacking hardcover books inside of a fireplace, but they've pulled it off beautifully:

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Sarah on Pinterest


Do you see the blue swirl vases to the right? You can read Centsational Girl's tutorial for those here
Can't wait to try it with some of the old glassware we have laying around! 

   

Source: centsationalgirl.com via Rebecca on Pinterest

We should have pics of our own mantel to show off soon. And the best part? It cost us less than 15 bucks!

How to Decorate a Mantel

EDIT: WOW, sorry about all that code where pictures were supposed to be. Darn you, Blogger!

Seriously, how do you decorate a mantel?! I was so freakin' excited when we bought this house and it had a big, old, fireplace and a super-sized mantel for me to decorate. Then, I figured out that I was actually going to have to decorate it. And that's when I figured out that I absolutely cannot put together a decent looking mantel to save my life. To add to my misery, one of my husband's biggest decorating pet peeves happens when I "over stuff" the mantel. Our mantel is pretty massive, so it's a challenge to keep it spare enough to keep him happy without making it look bare. And, I am also the least adept person at decorating a pretty mantel. Here's what I started with:

 Then, I layered in an old mirror that my Dad salvaged from a farmhouse that was scheduled to be torn down. He had it framed and gave it to us at our wedding. Then, an Italian swordsman that my mom picked up cheap at a garage sale. Moved the candles and subtracted the rattan basket.

And hated it. And got accused of "over stuffing." So now it's bare. And there is crap all over my living and dining room that I dug out of basement storage in a desperate bid to get this thing decorated. And I still hate my mantel.

After wasting a good three hours hoping that something might possibly look good up there, I gave up and just searched for mantel eye candy. Here you go:

I love how spare this one is:

Source: 1kindesign.com via Susan on Pinterest

Great eclectic mantle:

Source: girlathome.tumblr.com via Alexi on Pinterest

Kind of arty:

Source: designsponge.com via Sara on Pinterest

Simple and Tasteful:

Source: justagirlblog.com via Beverly on Pinterest

Love how this one is layered:

Source: bellemaison23.com via Roshena on Pinterest

Enjoy!