summer mantle

Saturday's fun with the newest party banner got me in the mood to decorate the house for summertime.  Even though I feel like I'm "late", summer officially starts this week, so I'd say I'm right on time, yes?  (The Easter eggs in the dining room could have something to do with my feelings of seasonal incorrectness.)

Normally it takes me close to a week to work up a mantle design that I feel happy with, but yesterday I found some amazing summer mantle inspiration at The Lettered Cottage and got straight to work. 

My theme colors were red, white, and blue (duh), so I did my usual "shop the house" for anything in those colors that I could use.  I came up with a stack of books, some red and white candles, and a red glass pitcher and bowl. 

And then, of course, I wanted a summer vacation feel, so I pulled out the seashells that we found at the beach, some garden twine, the remaining burlap, and a few striped fabric scraps.  I also plugged in the hot glue gun, because I'm pretty sure that hot glue is the solution to almost any decorating question. 

The part that I am the most proud of though is the sailboat.  After looking at lots of other mantle pictures and seeing cool sailboats, I decided I had what it took to make my own.  I used some sticks from the yard and hot glued them together, then cut the fabric to fit and glued it to the back of the sticks.  It probably only took me about half an hour, total. 

Now that the mantle is done, I'm itching to make a wreath for the front door.  I'm thinking something like this one. 

Tonight is the first summer sewing class session and I can hardly wait for everyone to get here!