A Summery Mantle

Good afternoon friends :) Today I wanted to show you the summery mantle I've been working on. There wasn't much DIYing going on for this one, just the arranging of some fun summery items.

The clear vases are ones that I have picked up here and there at the Dollar Tree and the thrift store. Let me stop here and say, to those of you just starting out in the thrifty decorating business, don't be afraid of the dollar and thrift stores! It's true that you won't find every item you need to fill your home in these places, but it's not true that you won't find some fun, cute, quality items here and there, all over the place.

Ok, back to the mantle. The lanterns I found at the Flower Factory -a store I just discovered this year and LOVE!- as well as the art in the middle. My favorite part about that piece is that the price tag read $79.99 and it was mine for $25! I actually didn't believe the price and asked the woman at the check out to check it to be sure. I love that it has a light, summery feel, but doesn't have to be limited to summer decor. 

A million points if you can find Beeb's head in that pic. :)  The little sea dollar jobby I got on clearance at Marshall's for $3. The white frame itself was a thrift store find, and the black frame was a walnut-ish color one I've had around for years and years and just spray painted for a fresh look.

This is my favorite part of the mantle- all the rest of the items are things I already had that were actually collected from the beach. Beeb and I found the large conch shell a few years ago in the Outer Banks. We were SO excited when we found it. Like little children dancing around and singing "we are awesome, YEAH!" to the tune of "We Are Family."  Yeah.  We found it on our first day there and spent the rest of the week trying to outdo ourselves, or at least find it a conchy friend, but it turned out to be our best find. We're going back to the OBX in a few weeks and I'm hoping we find something just as awesome. The other shells are either ones that we collected or that Carrie collected and sent to me years ago when she lived in Charleston, SC.  What a sweet sister :)

The pictures in the frames are ones that I took myself on our honeymoon last year. I actually just had them printed today, and man am I glad I read Sarah from Thrifty Decor Chick's post this morning before I did! Her post is all about taking a pretty picture and how she edits hers with Picnik.  It.is.awesome. I know my pictures don't make you think, "whoa, what a professional," (liiiike the beautiful reflection of some other pictures in the above picture) but trust me, they look a million times better after having been through Picnik editing. Thank you Sarah for your tips! Using Picnik, I completely transformed the pictures we took on our honeymoon in to beautiful photos. And even if they aren't professional, that fact is overruled by the fact that we took them ourselves.

Again, please excuse the reflections :) The pic on the left is of Beeb's and my footprints in the sand on our honeymoon. Sweet, huh? :)  Finally, the "mattes," which I think always help a picture look a little more elegant, aren't mattes at all.  You know the fakey fake pictures in the frame when you buy it?  They're usually white on the back, right?  All I did was turn that around, and tape my pictures in the middle.  It doesn't get any thriftier than that :)  

So what do you think? What summer (mantle or otherwise) decorating have you done lately? Did you use a beach theme or another warm theme? I'd love to hear about it!