Wednesday, August 5, 2009

A Garland Will Rise

easter spring egg wreath decor bunny mantle decorations
Easter mantle

This is my minor, yet irritable, yet fixable and I'm okay with that lament. I have one space in which to arrange decorative items that my boys cannot climb and destroy, the only safe surface in my home (besides the top of the refrigerator)is my mantle. (click on images to enlarge for detail)

halloween party decorate decor blythe
Halloween mantle

Oh, the IKEA shelf that matches my tv console, you complete me. I have had lots of fun arranging my mantle. I was even about to show it to you because I recently made it so cute!

But, it fell down. Not just fell down, "oh honey let's put this back up".

christmas party decorating decor shabby chic
Christmas mantle

Fell down to the point that now there are gaping holes in the wall and we (as in husband) had to push the wall back together to try and make it flush.

valentine valentines party decoration decor mantle
Valentine's mantle

Perhaps I got so overjoyed with some new pieces that I forgot they were a little heavy, and our walls are a little flimsy, and though it was anchored, it wasn't anchored in any studs and that shelf has been there 3 years and all. Surely, this wasn't MY fault then, I ask ;)

globe shabby chic bunny aqua turquoise mantle decorating
Globey mantle

So, what do you do when you have no paint to cover up the mantle's shadow of shame, and no mirrors/paintings... to cover it... and you have guests coming over in a few hours (and you nor the boys nor the house are near ready)?



I took some scraps from the freshly slipcovered pillows on my couches in my room and cut out triangles. I used no pattern, so they aren't perfect, but they are okay.

how to tutorial banner

Then, I hot glued the right side of the fabric to the lower half back of the ribbon.



Once I completed that "task", I pinned some lace on the upper half of the front of the ribbon. Notice, if I had hot glued the fabric to the top half of the ribbon as well, then no pins or sewing needles would be able to go through that.

garlnad how to tutorial fabric bunting banner

Now, I hang my little garland. It's not perfect and if you look close, you can see some unpainted wall behind the swoops, but it's purpose was to mask the nasty holes and that it did. Hey, it's temporary, and I like it! I have been aching to make a banner for a while now, but it's amazing how we only do things when we have the need to do it.

tv center television entertainment decoration turquoise decor wall art white letters banner garland bunting

All the while, my eldest says, "You make my house pretty?" "You so nice mommy!" "Daddy is going to be so happy!" "You so special, mommy!"

I was given the giant letter A already painted white by a friend, and I remembered I had 2 smaller A's, so I threw them up there. Isaac helped pass me the letters as I balanced on a chair and painted the fronts while they hung on the wall. Yeah, I do that.

 white wood letters A decoration turquoise aqua round iron scroll

The metal scroll I got at a garage sale and beautified it with layers of blues, greens and white paint.

The white paint was almost gone so it made all types of squirting noises.
"Sounds like Isaac going poo-poo!" my son exclaimed happily.

I gave my eldest the leftover white to hide the nasty hole where we banged up the wall in the hallway moving furniture.



Then, he begged for more colorful paint and I let him paint on the wall he vandalized a couple of months ago. This wall can be his! (He did get carried away and painted the faux grout lines on the kitchen floors, but really, nothing could make those apartment laminate floors look any worse.)



You can see more project show off at Between Naps on a Bench's weekly post, Metamorphosis Monday and even more at Kimba's A Soft Place to Land DIY Day! Do you have any crazy quick fixes? How long did that temporary quick fix end up staying there?

10 comments:

bodoba said...

Now that is quick thinking! Good job! I think I may get a mantle for my holidays, I've never thought of doing that!

MommaDJane said...

Although I loved your mantle before, it was sooo cute, the new temp fix looks good too. You're very creative and I love it. Wish I was more creative.

the undomesticated wife said...

That's a great fix for a "hopeless" situation! You gonna keep it like that for a while, or fix the holes/paint and put the shelf back up?

Little Lovables said...

I'd love to fix the holes and put the shelf back up, but I am really hoping to move in December, and I don't have the desire to paint the entire wall (since we don't have the old pain color anymore).

vivian said...

good thinking Lisa! I know if I'm having company I usually come up with some quick change decorating ideas!
I love that your son has a wall to paint. you should look into that chalk board paint adn givet him some chalks!
hugs
vivian

Enchantresses Three said...

First of all I wanted to say that I love your blog, and look at it daily! I have a feeling if we lived close by we would be fast friends! Second, how nice of you to offer to help us with our blog banner!!! Seriously, we (my sisters and I) have limited computer skills and just have the generic stuff on our blog. We have been wanting to change it up, but dont know how! Any help would be amazing!!! Thanks so much! P.S. we are also members of the church! Just another thing we have in common!
Hugs,
Sariah
sariahs@live.com

Decor To Adore said...

Happy squeals~well done!

Come by and see my Pottery Barn inspired typography basket.

Kitty Scraps said...

Hi, thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving such a sweet comment *smiles* I love all the ways you've decorated your mantel seasonally, great job! Too bad it fell down :( But I think you must be part magician because you certainly did a fast changeroo and made it all better *smiles* Great job!

Sharlotte said...

Wow, you think really great on your feet! I completely understand having little ones and the room ration idea. I think you've done a fabulous job of carving out your special place to release your creativity! Great mantlescapes!

Chantel Monet said...

I love this! It doesn't look like a quick fix, it's like it was meant to be there all along. Beautiful!

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