spring mantel decor

Remember the before?  My mantel is now decorated and ready for spring. I wanted to keep it simple and to brighten up the dark wood by using shades of white.

These are the dogwood branches before ...

... and these are the dogwood branches after! In their natural state, the branches were lost against the dark wood of the mantel and didn't work with the rest of my accessories so I painted them.  After priming them, I sprayed them with a coat of flat white paint. Much better and it took less than 1/2 hour to transform them.

I used a vintage silver tray to break up the expanse of mirror, added a couple of urns and covered pots along with metal birds and a handful of plastic eggs that I purchased last year.

In the urns, I added paper shreds to resemble nests then tucked a few eggs in them.

Here's the final result! I'm loving the branches and they'll work with all my seasonal decorations ... at least until I'm tired of them. :) Other than the spray paint, I had everything else on hand.

And spring is officially here!  I have a few purple crocus that are almost blooming ... maybe this week they'll be out.  The robins and red-winged blackbirds have returned and the garden is getting greener everyday.

Happy Spring!