Easter Mantle {and a free printable!}

You guys!

I have a mantle to decorate!

Well, sort of...

Ok, so it's a shelf, but it's mine and I get to decorate it however I want after a year and a half of keeping my decorations in a box! It makes me happy.

It's a good combination of things we already had and a few new goodies.

Here are the goods:

The candle holders were a wedding gift from my Aunt and Uncle. I can't find the candles for them so they're doubling as sort-of apothecary jar/candy bowls. The little bird used to sit on top of our cabinets in AZ. We don't have cabinet tops anymore so he'll need a new home. Maybe this is it. The nest is from the dollar section at Target! Woot!

Isn't the bunny cute? Hobby Lobby, 40% off. Go hit up the Easter sales before they pack them up! I love tulips. They might be my favorite. Since I'm dealing with a red wall I had to skip the pretty pink ones, but I like the white ones too!

My favorite part is the banner. It just finishes the whole thing off in a way that makes me happy.

You know what else makes me happy? Giving things to you! Not only do I have a tutorial for that little banner, but I have a printable for you, too! You'll be able to grab it at the end of this post.

Here we go!

I could have just cut triangles and handwritten the letters, but I have not been blessed with cute lettering skills. I knew it would make me crazy if I tried, so I dove into Photoshop and made myself a little template, complete with cute font.

I started with paper grocery bags:

Using a piece of paper as a template I cut the bags into 81/2 by 11 pieces. I ended up needing 3 bags to get the pieces I needed.

I ran them through my printer and printed out my templates.

Then used some pinking shears (the cheap craft kind!) to cut them out.

From there I strung them on some twine and hung it up. Done and done!

Confessions:
- I wish it was a little bit smaller. Not enough to make another one, but I'll probably re-do it next year.
- I may or may not have hot-glued the banner to my shelf.
- This is literally the only spot in our new house that is finished. Priorities.

Want to make your own banner? Download your free printable HERE!

Be blessed!

Heather

I'm linking up at: Sorta Crunchy