My Summer Mantel Revisited

Hi sweet friends, the weekend is over and play-time will once again have to wait for five days. And play I did, this weekend. Yesterday we had probably our very last day of Summer. And what a gorgeous day it was, sunny, blue skies, warm, wonderful. I took full advantage of it by getting out of bed early, grab my camera and head for some beautiful spots to catch the morning light. I still have to sort those photographs, so I’ll share later. The rest of the day I played stylist/photographer in and around the house, and we had a party to go to at night.

I guess after such a fun-filled Saturday it was no wonder that on Sunday I just felt like lounging around. So that’s what I did. Hang around in my PJ’s until 2, wandering around Pinterest. The rain outside gave me the perfect excuse. And when the sun came out, I just got dressed to go out and eat ice-cream! Don’t you think I know how the make the best of my weekend. Yeah, me too.

Ok on to the topic at hand (and excuse me if I start rambling, I am in that kind of a mood).

Remember my pallet wood summer mantel? I showed it first in May, decked out in pink and Peonies. Since then it has had quite a few transformation, just like I intended. One in particular I’d like to show you know, because it is so wonderful and summery and I want to take that summer feeling with me just a bit longer.

For this mantel outfit I went with my beloved white. White flowers, grey leaves and white coral. The shells bring in just a hint of pink. I think this really was one of my favorite mantel reincarnations. And I love looking at it again now. Apparently tomorrow we will nose-dive straight into Fall, with low temps, hard winds and lots of rain. So seeing this mantel again is good for my soul. It reminds me of the summer behind us (even though that wasn’t the best of summers in these parts). I love that photographs can do that, lift you up and take you back to times that might otherwise stay forgotten.

I think that that is also one of the reasons why I love my blog so much. It gives me a reason to catalogue my house and all the bigger and smaller projects I do here. Like this summer mantel redo. Seriously who would be taking pictures of that without a blog? Not me. And I know most of the people in my life, think I am absolutely crazy for taking my camera out all the time to photograph the flowers in my house, or the pillows I put on my couch. But you all get that, don’t you?!

You all understand how wonderful it is to read your own blog from time to time and be reminded of that quirky little corner you did for Easter or how your Christmas wreath turned out particularly good two years ago. And of course how much your taste and preferences have changed. I started my blog as a true journal, a memory keeping tool. And I have decided that that is what I want it to be, in the future too. Just me, my projects and vignettes, my day to day experiences and my thoughts and things I want to share.

So many blogs have turned into (professional) style catalogues, expert sites and educational tools. And I really don’t mind that, heck no, I turn to them frequently. But that just isn’t me. I don’t know anything about the real do’s and don’ts of decorating, I am no expert, and I always feel funny if I try to give advice that isn’t based on my own real-life experience. I’ll just stick to being myself, PJ’s wearing, little old Songbird, and I’ll leave the big girl blogging to the big blogs.

So what do you think about this mantel? Sure looks different from that first one that was an explosion of pink, doesn’t it. There have been a couple of other colorful ones too, maybe I’ll do a roundup post, before I say goodbye to my pallet wood on my mantel. Because I am not sure yet what I am going to do for Fall but I am pretty sure it isn’t going to involve this particular set-up.

I love these little flowers. I have them in pink too. They start blossoming around July and keep it up well into October. The flowers tower high above the plant on delicate looking stems that don’t need any support though. In Dutch they are called ‘Herfstanemoon’ which would be Fall Anemone in English, but I don’t know how they are actually called. I just know that I really like them. They are great bouquet flowers.

Yeah I am sorry to see Summer go. But I sure had fun while it lasted. And well, at least Fall brings a whole new set of decorating possibilities…..