Spring Has Sprung

Spring has sprung!  Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell Mother Nature.  Here in southern Ohio, we woke up to four inches of snow and a school cancellation.  The chilly temperatures and lack of sun didn't stop me from sprinkling a few spring touches around the house.  I thought you might be interested in seeing a few.

Let's start at the beginning.  A springy wreath is hung on the front door to welcome guests.

Did you notice that I opted to take the photo of the wreath from inside the house?  Here's why I didn't go outside.

 Brrrrrr...

 

In keeping with the spring theme, this sweet little guy landed on the vanity in our newly redecorated powder room.

If you've been around here for awhile, you may have seen this apothecary jar.  At Christmas time, I filled it with colorful ornaments (seen here).  For New Year's I filled it with glittery metallic ornaments (seen here).  I love these shimmery Easter eggs (purchased last year at Kirklands).

 

They almost look like they're submerged in water and little air bubbles are forming on the outside.

 

This little rabbit sneaks a peak at my girls in their dresses from an Easter gone by.

 

I like to have fresh flowers in the spring, and this bunny with a basket delivers a pretty purple bouquet.

Speaking of flowers, tulips are a traditional symbol of spring.  I don't have much luck keeping them looking fresh for any length of time, but I like to splurge and buy a bouquet once or twice each spring.

The oven is decked out in it's Easter best.  This cute little dish towel was a recent Home Goods purchase.

I kept the kitchen table centerpiece simple.  I just placed a porcelain rabbit figurine atop a cake plate and flanked it with my Easter salt and pepper shakers.

 

The candy filled hurricanes that I told you about last week were placed on the mantel next to a set of preserved boxwood topiaries.

 

I also dressed up the topiary by wrapping it in a scrap of burlap and tying a bow around it.  This is how it looked before.

 

Finally, I wanted to show you this fun snow globe I recently picked up at Home Goods.  It won't be a part of my spring décor this year because it is going to be an Easter gift for my youngest daughter.  She collects snow globes, loves animals, and her favorite color is turquoise, so I know she's going to love it.  Maybe if I'm nice to her, she'll let me use it to decorate for spring next year.

 

The first day of spring is just two weeks away, and Easter is just over three weeks away.  Have you started getting ready yet?  

 

Linking To:

 

 http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/

My First Easter Decoration, Plus a Better Way to Add Filler to Your Hurricanes

One of my most versatile home accessories is a pair of glass hurricanes that I use as decorative candle holders.  I got them at Target years ago.  I believe they're still available.  The reason they're so versatile is that they are designed to hold decorative filler material in addition to the candles.  I change out the filler material according to the seasons.  Around Valentine’s Day, the hurricanes hold candy hearts.  At Christmas time, I’ve filled them with both peppermints and colorful ornaments.  Some years in the fall I’ve used acorns, pine cones and faux mini pumpkins.  Other years I’ve used candy corn.   During the summer, they are filled with sand and shells.  Now that Easter is just around the corner, I’m ready to change them up again.  I’ve used jellybeans in the past, but this year I wanted to try something a little different.  I settled on these.

I like the colors of these malted chocolate eggs, and the grass is something I haven’t tried before.  I added them to my hurricanes to make these:

 

You probably think I assembled these by placing  a handful of grass on the bottom of the hurricane and then dumping a bag of eggs on top.  That’s how I used to do it, but then I saw a clever little trick on Pinterest.

Yes, that’s a can in the middle of the hurricane.  (On a side note, I have a ton of canned pumpkin in my pantry.  I've been hoarding it ever since the great pumpkin shortage of 2010.  Do you remember?)  By adding the can to my decoration, I’ve reduced the amount of filler material I need to use, thereby reducing my costs.  Less fill, more thrill!  

I simply put the can in the hurricane and surrounded it with grass.

 

Then I placed the candle on top of the can.

 

Finally, I added the candy.

 

 

Here’s the same amount of filler material without the can insert. 

 

They don't look too bad, but adding the can definitely gives you more bang for your buck.  Notice that without the can the candles sit much lower, and there appears to be fewer eggs.  An additional benefit of using the can is that it's  a more stable surface for the candle.

To summarize the procedure...

 

As always, never leave a burning candle unattended.  We'll probably only light these when we sit down for Easter dinner.

I plan to put out a few more Easter decorations this weekend.   I hope you'll stop by the blog next week to check them out.

Linking to:

 

 http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/

http://www.ourfifthhouse.com/2013/03/celebrating-easter-hop-to-it-link-party.html