Springtime Mantel

This is my new Springtime mantel.  If you click on the picture, you can see it more closely.

(I had to look up the proper spelling of mantel/mantle...it is, in fact, mantel!) 

I have been wanting to do a bird theme on the mantel for a while now, to celebrate Springtime, and today, I finally got it done!

Pardon the horrid photos - my living room is a dark hole that sucks out every bit of light, including flash.  It's a bit of a cave, really.  Another reason I really want to paint that brick white.  I love white-painted brick fireplaces (almost as much as I love painted stone fireplaces) but Jason said I have to wait unti the house is finished until I can use the leftover paint for the fireplace.  Smart and prudent he is, and so I wait.  But I'm chomping at the bit to get it painted because I think that will help reflect light in the room and make it far less cave-like.  It would make my little spring mantel downright splendiforous. 

Anyway, I did a bird theme.  Grandmom had given me an old birdhouse to use for the front of the house birdhouse project, but I thought it was so cute that I couldn't bear to spray paint it, so I decided to use it indoors instead.  Voila - instant cuteness on mantel!  I had to go around the house, trying to find bird-related items (I don't have many knick-knack items in the house, since I hate to move all that stuff hither and yon) and everything on the mantel is what I came up with. 

The pictures in the middle are actually Audubon prints (I have a soft spot for Audubon prints) that I found free online, printed on regular ol' printer paper, and stuck in frames I already had (for another project that I haven't gotten around to).  I couldn't go check to see if I had more frames because Willie is fast asleep in the room where I need to look, so I'll look later. :)

The wooden boat is something we picked up at Uncle Jonny's house yesterday.  An old deckhand of his made it for him, I think out of little wood scraps, and Jonny didn't want it anymore, so we took it.  I don't know where to put it yet, so on the fireplace it sits, waiting for its new home.

 

The only non-bird themed item is the little mouse that I received in my Easter Basket many many many moons ago.  It's Easter, so she's out and in the spotlight :)  Voila - my one single solitary Easter decoration.

The birdhouse, feather in a bottle, and metal bird.

 

Leif with his new train table (just set up this morning). 

His cousin didn't want it anymore, so we took it home yesterday from their house.  It is practically new, and hardly used, and Leif is loving it.  I'm loving that it has its own storage underneath, and a little cushioned chest (also storage) for Leif to sit on as he plays at the table.  Ooh, snap! 

He's playing with his Mallard Duck (He says, "It's a duck.  His name is Mallard.") that was in his Easter Basket this year.

Anyway, I'm ver' pleased with my little mantel...now if only I could get it painted!

Happy days!