One of the best features of our house is a great mantle over our living room fireplace. I decorate the mantle for each season, switching up the focus, colors and items to set the tone for the room.
This summer, I wanted to try something different. I cleared off the mantle and assembled some pieces of my grandmother's and some other white pieces I had around my home. I gathered up some seashells collected from family trips as well. Everything was white, ivory and beige so I needed a color. I decided to use a weathered blue tray to anchor my mantle.
As I arranged my pieces, I realized that I needed some height to add more interest. So I hunted around. I came up with nothing. . .and then it hit me - BOOKS!
I scourged my library (a few years ago I parted with many (many) of my hardback books) for hardbacks that were the proper size. A yard sale, used bookstore or thrift store would also be a great and inexpensive place to find the books you need.
Once I had my eight books assembled, my mantle started to come together. . .but the books were too "colorful" and distracting form my calm sea-inspired mantle "vision". How to fix that? Why cover them in brown paper of course!
I had a roll of plain brown paper in my craft stash, as well as some brown paper bags, so I set to work covering the books.
Did you cover text books in school when you were a kid? I used to love to do that with mom. It's the same theory; however, I didn't take too much care with these covers, the spines just needed to look good.
Once the books were covered, they still needed "something". I grabbed by denim twine and doubled a length and tied it around the books. This way I also brought in my blue anchor color. The brown also coordinated really well with the sand I had used in my hurricanes too.Here are the steps I followed:
Now I had height AND my books tied in with my color scheme and vision.
This could easily be adapted for any season, I'm picturing a darker brown burlap ribbon for fall, with some pumpkins and apples. . .
Do you use books for decorating? How do you tie them into your decor?
catch you soon -
Check out the Link-Up for More Summer Ideas
Boy that brings back memories of making covers for all of my textbooks in high school!! Great idea for a different touch to the mantle! Thanks for linking up with Pin it! Tuesday! Don't forget to check back next Tuesday to see if you were featured!
ReplyDelete