Here’s a simple Turquoise and White Spring entryway table that I put together as a mantel alternative.
Friends, I have joined another blog hop! In following my friend, Julie of My Wee Abode, I have been enjoying her Pinterest Challenge posts, and finally reached out to Cindy of County Road 407 around Christmas time to see about joining in on the fun. I have really been wanting to work on turning my house into a cozy little home, and I think this is an excellent way.
So what is the Pinterest Challenge?
Well, Cindy chooses an inspiration photo for us, and then we use the inspiration to create our own version. So fun to see how many different ways it can go.
This month’s theme is a simple Spring Mantel, and am joined by 15 other co-hosts!
Our inspiration comes from Deborah of Hip and Humble Style, and it’s her How to Make Faux Cherry Blossom Branches (shown above).
The Challenge
First, I want to remind you (or tell those of you here for the first time) that I live in Florida. Not many houses here have fireplaces, but I have wanted to have a mantel for quite some time.
My thought for an alternative to a mantel was a long, skinny entry way table, and I’ve had my eye on some, but I just don’t have the space for it in my tiny house. I also considered adding a long shelf up on one of the walls, but I couldn’t get my husband on board with this idea.
So, after I received the inspiration photo, I started thinking… “I could move this bookshelf over there, but then…” … “oh, but I could…” … I was feeling stumped! But then it dawned on me!
The space you see decorated as my Spring Mantel is just two folding TV tray tables. My dining room table is where I have my embroidery and sewing machines, and where I do my big craft projects as well as work on my computer. It is also where we put our Christmas tree, so for the holidays, I had to find a new place for my machines while the table was being used, and so they went onto the TV trays across from the table – out of the way, but still usable.
After I took my tree down, I was being lazy, and left my machines on the TV trays until this challenge came to light, and it dawned on me to use these two tables to act as my long, skinny entry way table! YES!
The Pieces that Inspired Me…
Looking at the inspiration photo, I noticed:
- Flowers in a vase.
- A simple, sleek mirror.
- Wood.
- Black and white elements.
I only had two pieces on hand for this table, and that panicked me a little because I am not very confident in my abilities to color match to odd pieces plus, I did not want to spend a lot of money…
One of them was the table runner. I received a request for an identical runner a few years ago, and after it was sent to it’s new home, I reached out to Happily Hooked Magazine to see if they were interested in the design. A new one was worked up, and the crochet pattern can currently be found in Issue 50, which features Motif Designs.
… and the other…
The Vase with Flowers…
And the other was the vase with the turquoise and orange flowers. The vase was a gift from my husband several Valentine Days ago, and the flowers are from our wedding – they were used as part of table centerpieces.
The Mirror…
I have a few easels that I bought on clearance at Ross, and I use them to showcase projects on canvas, or similarly sized wall art, so I was thinking that I could find a square mirror about 12″ that could sit nicely on one of my easels.
I found some at Ross, but they were only in a copper frame, and I didn’t feel like painting them. It kind of worked out because then I started thinking about what I would be seeing in the reflection of the mirror, and I wasn’t happy with the thought, so I needed a similar alternative.
During one of my lunch dates with my mom, I asked her to drive me over to Hobby Lobby so I could browse their decor pieces to see if I found anything, and I did! I wanted something fresh looking, and kind of with the farmhouse theme. When I saw the Home Sweet Home canvas you see at the center of my table, I grabbed it up! AND on the way to check out, I stopped to look at a display of birdhouses, and found the little floral bird house too.
The Wood…
Can be found as the roof of my birdhouse, as the “background” of my canvas piece, and wrapped around my flower vase.
The Remaining Elements…
My table sat naked for a few days as I tried to think about what else I would add to it to bring it all together. I panicked a little because again, not my area of expertise. My next thought was a trip to the Dollar Tree to see if I could find a package of faux Robin’s eggs (for the turquoise color), and some white candles of various heights. I added it to my list for the weekend.
Before I could got to the Dollar Tree, I made a stop at Ross, where I found the turquoise, white and silver vase next to my birdhouse, and the tall turquoise, white and silver candle next to my floral vase. I felt quite proud of myself with these finds because when I saw them, I knew they’d be great additions, and I felt no anxiety at all at the fact that they were mismatched pieces. You may find this silly, but as someone with anxiety, it is an accomplishment.
Next stop, Dollar Tree! Here I found the white and turquoise candles, and the votives.
My mantel was now complete! And I couldn’t be happier with the finished look, entryway table idea, and feeling of accomplishing this task!
Linked Up To…
Craft Schooling Sunday – Creative Jewish Mom
Happiness is Homemade Link Party #312 – Create with Cynthia
Unlimited Monthly Link Party 10 – Grammys Grid
Creative Mondays – Claire Justine
Handmade Monday #165 – Sum of their Stories
The Really Crafty Link Party #207 – Keeping it Real
Craftastic Monday Link Party – Sew Can Do
Little Cottage Link Party #41 – Love my Little Cottage
Fabulous Party #309 – Lou Lou Girls
538th Inspire Me Tuesday – A Stroll Thru Life
All About Home #29 – Common Ground
{Wow Me} Wednesday #444 – Ginger Snap Crafts
Your Whims Wednesday #449 – My Girlish Whims
The Wednesday Link Party 337 – The Stitchin’ Mommy
To Grandma’s House We Go Link Party 182 – Chas’ Crazy Creations
Tuesday Turn About #38 – My Wee Abode
Waste Not Wednesday Link Party 195 – Faeries and Fauna
Thursday Favorite Things #429 – An Artful Mom
Creatively Crafty Link Party #213 – Life Beyond the Kitchen
Creative Compulsions Linky Party #49 – My Bijou Life
Pin Party #358 – The Pin Junkie
Traffic Jam Weekend #224 – My Bijou Life
Best of the Month Link Party March 2020 – Calypso in the Country
Home Matters Linky Party #272 – Modern on Monticello
Create, Bake, Grow & Gather Party #409 – Shabby Art Boutique
Handmade & Otherwise Weekly Link Up Week 39 – Petals, Pies and Otherwise
Link Your Stuff – Annemarie’s Haakblog
Snickerdoodle Create Bake Make Link Party 325 – EyeLoveKnots
A Themed Linkup 14 for Spring Crafts and Decor – Grammy’s Grid
Now, Time to See Our Friends Spring Mantels!
Join the EyeLoveKnots Crafting Community on Facebook to share your creations, and see what others are up to!
Such a fresh take on the inspo photo. Love the pops of turquoise!
Thanks! My favorite color 🙂
Love the pops of turquoise! So fresh for spring!
With it being my favorite color, I am so glad it’s available everywhere right now! Trying to stock up for home decorating.
All your Spring touches are so cute. Love the brighter colors, it excites me to start decorating my home with those pastels. Love it!
Spring is definitely a page changer. It’s kind of like that feeling when they start playing Christmas music on the radio.
Yep, sometimes we all get stumped and it takes a day or so to pull things together. Love your colors and that you thought outside the box. Glad you joined us today.
Glad I was able to! I really loved it – and it boosted my confidence on home decorating too.
You are clever to think of using two tray tables to make a spring display in your home. It looks festive and I can imagine that you enjoy looking at it as you craft.
Thank you! When I thought it of, it was like “why didn’t I think of this sooner?!” Haha. Just needed a little push I guess
What a darling vignette. That sign is precious.
Thanks, Katie! I went to three other stores before Hobby Lobby looking for the perfect piece, and as soon as I saw it, I knew it was it.
HI Alexandra,
Let me start with I love your blog name! Awesome! And, the use of the trays is perfect! Great job!
laura
Thanks so much, Laura! Can’t take all the credit for the name – my cousin helped me bring it all together.
Hi Alexandra! I love how the flowers on your tray table match your wedding bouquet. The turquoise objects look great together! Congrats on your first Pinterest Challenge!
Originally, my plan was to crochet the flowers for the centerpieces too, but when I found the flowers in the vase on sale, and the perfect colors, I grabbed those up, and saved myself the time. Worked out perfectly, and I just love them.
So glad it all came together for you! And glad to have you join us, too! I love your handcrafted foundation the best; so pretty!
Thank you, Lora!
I love how you’ve included your crochet table runner into your mantel-style display, Alexandra! I go to Dollar Tree once in a while but I’ll definitely have to get over there to look for turquoise candles ~ so pretty!!! Welcome to the Pinterest Challenge and I am happy to be part of your first tour. <3
Happy almost spring to you,
Hugs,
Barb 🙂
Thank you, Barb!
Wow, your Dollar Tree has some nice colored candles! 😉 Love that mosaic hurricane, too! Hope you had lots of fun with your first PC with Cindy’s group! (Congrats on your pattern feature, too!)
I had so much fun!
Great job adapting the inspiration to your home and making it your own! Happy Spring!
Thanks, Michelle! Happy Spring to you too!
This turned out nicely! Hobby Lobby has such a great selections of signs, don’t they? That crochet table runner is my fave!
Carrie
curlycraftymom.com
Hobby Lobby is great! Even if not buying, I always feel so inspired walking through there.
Looks nice, love the crochet! Thanks so much for linking up with me at my #UnlimitedMonthlyLinkParty 10, open March 1 to 26. All entries shared on social media if share buttons installed.
Thanks, Dee!
Everything looks so pretty! I love the vase.
Thank you, Michelle! Beautiful gift from my sweet husband 🙂
Really sweet! Yay for innovation!
Michelle
http://mybijoulifeonline.com
All so pretty and spring like! I love the folding table idea, you are not stuck with it in that space at all now and can move or remove the display space as you need to 🙂 Brilliant!
Yes, so true! Thank you.
Such a sweet look for spring! I love that runner. I knit, but have always wanted to learn to crochet!
I think it’s must easier than knitting, but then I could be biased – haha! I have pretty basic knitting skills, but I find it takes so much longer to produce a piece that looks pretty similar to what I can crochet. I would like to work on it though. #goals
Visiting again to say thanks so much for linking up with me at #AThemedLinkup 14 for Spring Crafts and Decor, open March 29 to April 10. All entries shared on social media if share buttons installed.