SUMMER MANTLE.....THINKIN ISLANDS & COASTAL AS USUAL

Well the rain has finally stopped here in New Jersey and the sun has been shining with temps in the 80's!   So I decided it was time for a summer island mantle.

The decor in our living room has a lot of island inspiration......palm trees, banana trees, animal masks & prints.  So when doing my mantle I try to keep within the color scheme if I cant go with theme.

Finally here there was no issue.....sand, shells and glass and I had myself and mantle!

Here is the fireplace wall in the living room

An apothecary jar from Home Goods filled with sand and Ocean scented candle, starfish, seashells and some coral crustation under the glass lid

A glass bowl filled to rim with variety of collected seashells, 2 large shells on display and a palm leaf inside old pottery piece.

Here is our Summer Mantle!

-MJ

UPDATE:  I SWITCHED IT UP A BIT.

Since my little one is walking, I took the glass dish with shells from coffee ottoman and moved it up onto the mantle.  I added a few more shells.

Took this big shell from out beachside bathroom downstairs and also switched out the palm leaf for a ocean breeze candle (you can see I use my candles)

apothecary jar top with pieces of interesting beach finds

I think this will do.......for now

Linkin up to this party because I love this couple, their blog and their project ideas.

The Lettered Cottage

CLOCHE ENVY!

Okay so Im guessing I am the only one who doesnt have a cloche in their home. lol      I always see them in all of your posts, and frankly im a little jealous.   Sooooooo in getting ready for Marty's Cloche Party....Ive decided to make my own from stuff in the house. (here we go).

1 saucer

1 handfull of moss

1 votive candle

2 fall leaves

1 glass container

1 pumpkin salt shaker

Saucer

Add a little bit of moss in center

Place votive nesting inside

Add 2 little leaves as accent

Place glass over and add your accent top

I think it came out pretty cute!   Its at home in the kitchen hutch with the rest of the fall farmhouse gang.


Of course Im linking this up to some of my favorite parties:

http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2010/09/welcome-to-87th-metamorphosis-monday.html

http://astrollthrulife.blogspot.com/

http://www.debbie-debbiedoos.blogspot.com/

http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/

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MY 2nd TABLESCAPE THURSDAY!!!!

Well after a little break from work and as much as I tried to stay away from my laptop I couldnt. lol   I tested the waters of a coastal tablescape.  I was working with what I had and didnt want to purchase any new items so its not elaborate but I think its nice. Hope you like it.

This is on the antique buffet....I liked the taller candle on the table better so I stuck a smaller one in this apothecary jar (remember $3 at Marshalls).
This was my $3 creation from yesterday....all 3 items purchased at Dollar Tree for $1 each.  I didnt use glue because I'd like to use pieces separately as well.
This is the center collage of the table....im not thrilled with the tablecloth and have since removed it (too much to re-photograph this late. lol)  You lose the impression of the clear glass items against the wood table. But we live and learn ladies.
Another one of my apothecary jars...i just placed 3 bags of sea glass in it (Dollar Tree) but I already had it because I have it in a tall glass vase in my bathroom.  Once again, you lose the detail on the base with the tablecloth.
Dollar Tree Beige Plate
Grandmothers Battenburg Napkins
This basket is the basket I purchased the shells in, its decorative of course but I thought it was different. It could always hold a roll.


These shells were in a huge bag of seascape items from Home Goods....I split the bag up and have items in 3 different rooms.
Ive since removed the tablecloth and now will have to hunt down some placemats....back to Dollar Tree!

MAMA'S BOY MONDAY.... NOT SO MANIC TODAY!

So I was out picking up an ottoman from Craigslist with my son.   We were in a parking lot of a shopping center that happened to have a TJ Maxx!  Now I know this may seem strange to alot of you ladies, but Ive never been to an actual TJ Maxx.  I shop Home Goods, Marshalls but there just wasnt a TJ Maxx that I knew of until right then.   So we go walking in and my son asks what we are getting, and I explained that Im just going to look because Pops (my husband) will not be happy if I come home with any more stuff. (haha....you ladies know that means you've been shopping way too much if you have to start doin it on the sly)

  My son's response " It's okay mama, I will buy you something with my money.  You can think of it as a late mother's day gift!! (Awwwwwwwwwww that's my mama's boy) I said no its okay Im alright with just looking (such a lie.........parents shouldnt lie to their children. lol)

  Of course I head straight to the CLEARANCE section and he's talking about a girl he'd like to buy something for (a sweetheart since Pre-K 3) so he wanted to go to the jewelry section.  I quickly scoured the shelves and just like at Marshalls on top of the highest shelf was this long glass container.  I think its the bottom of an apothecary jar but top was missing.  I checked the sticker on bottom.......$4.50 WOOHOO! He said how much is it mama?  I said "Dude, its only $4.50, she i'm a cheap date.  He replied...ewwww that's kinda gross mama cause I wouldnt date you, your my mother!    I just laughed, I also found a bag of those fun decorative balls for 4.99 and debated on whether I should get them.  He said, "I'll get those too, its the least I can do for you mama, you gave me life".   The 2 ladies in the aisle turned around and were like "OMG, can we have him please, he's so sweet...we've been listening to him talk with you this whole time.  I apologized and said "No I like my mama's boy I think I'll keep him. 

Here are the gifts from my mama's boy......

MANIC MONDAY.....MARSHALL'S STYLE

 I haven't been to Marshall's in forever but since Ive been on a dish hunt lately I decided to make a stop.  I use to shop there alot for house stuff. Well less than 5 seconds in the store and of course i'm in the CLEARANCE section and I spot the HUGE glass vase (about 20inches)...its on the top shelf and I think wow that's nice wonder how much. So I take a look from underneath the glass shelf and there is a big red tag with $3.00 on it.  I was like OMG...I actually looked around as if I had discovered something and didn't want anyone to see it. lol    I reached up and slowly took it down, checked it out and then realized there was an apothecary top next to it.  IT COULDNT BE......did I find an apothecary jar of this size and condition for $3.00!   So I now need a cart for my treasure, then I head over an aisle to the dish section of the clearance area.  There I find these wonderful dishes..a nice selection to chose from so I had to think about what I had in mind.  I decided on 2 of these wonderful Portuguese Majolica style plates....Ive been watching some on ebay and figured these would be perfect dinner plate to the dessert ones I have in mind.  When I flip for the price....$2.00, i'm like in heaven now.  So I keep looking and I find thESE white weathered looking plates...they also come in a golden color but I have so many from my tuscan dining room in my old home.  So I decide on 2 dessert plates and these are marked $1.00.   At this point, i'm estatic with all my finds and decide to quit while i'm WAY AHEAD.   However on my way to the register, I spot a lovely aged pale turquoise stone candleholder.  It was also $3.00 and probably weighed about 3 lbs....it was very heavy.    Below you will see photos of my fabulous finds at Marshall's and hopefully soon I will post their final resting places.

FINALLY I THINK ITS DONE

Well I changed things around a little and decided not to use my new ebay bird plates (they finally arrived) because they are very large for dessert plates.  So I added some apothecary jars that I just purchased this week from one of my favorite stores HOME GOODS for $9.99 (still need to fill them with more goodies I think)  And I need to add some birdies...I couldnt find the ones I originally saw at the store this week.  I didnt use placemats or put out flatware...this is a very casual tablescape. This is a birds eye view (pssst...pretend you dont see my daughters sneakers under the table...lol)