Since neither one of us has an outdoor mantle, we had an idea for an outdoor-indoor spring mantle. Our concept for this springtime mantle was to use living materials from the outdoors. None of the plant material used for the decorations here was artificial. We created an outdoor-indoor spring mantle by bringing the outdoors inside.
One of us has a fireplace mantle at their house, and we came up with some fun ideas to decorate it for spring. Some of the live decorations included branches from a serviceberry (see Note below), violas, vines, Spanish moss, and Irish moss which you will see in the photos. The other decorations were things on hand from years past, so the entire project was rather inexpensive.
Note – we are not suggesting cutting up the trees in your yard to get decorations. One of us had a serviceberry pruned recently and that is how we got the branches that we used in the decorations.
This small planter has a weathered appearance, and was a perfect size for holding 3 pots of violas. The tops of the pots were covered with Spanish moss.
At this end of the mantle, a candle in a hurricane provides a nice warm glow.
The other end of the mantle is accented with a vase of wispy serviceberry twigs. The light and airy branches with their showy flower buds turned out to be a great spot for decorative butterflies. Serviceberrys actually have some very colorful buds – a light shade of green with a tinge of coral. We used dried vine and pods to wrap around the vase, with a grosgrain ribbon for color.
Irish moss in a springtime motif pail and a few colorful Easter eggs.
Decorative basket with more violas and Spanish moss.
A taller arrangement of serviceberry twigs in a galvanized container sets on the hearth. Keep any cut flowers and twigs watered, to maintain a fresh appearance.
Little decorative bird perched on a twig branch.
You can add many different types of small decorations, like this bird’s nest with wooden robins eggs, to the twig arrangement.
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