Upcycled Copper Lanterns

Spring is here and that means refreshing our outdoor spaces.

I don't know about you, but I do not like spending a lot of money out outdoor décor because I do not have a covered porch and the sun, wind, and rain tend to ruin everything.

As I was cleaning out my garage to go through all of my outdoor items I saw these two copper lanterns that I had shoved to the back of a shelf and forgotten all about.

I remember buying them at a thrift store and they were on dirt cheap Christmas clearance after the holidays. They were $1.98 each! I thought I would paint them or perhaps clean them up and use them in my Christmas décor and I never got around to working with them, so when I rediscovered them on the back of my shelf in the garage, I did the happy dance.

Now, these lanterns are not pretty as they are with that metal ribbon do-hickey attached to them so I decided to try to remove this piece without damaging the lanterns.

To my surprise the ugly metal ribbon do-hickey just popped right off! How many times does THAT happen? ....its NEVER that easy! LOL

See. I told you. Just popped right off with no damage to the lantern. Yay!

Now I have two copper lanterns that are in perfect shape that I plan on using in my yard.

I have a lush area of my yard that is mostly shaded and I wanted to add walk way lights or some sort of yard art to jazz up the space and decided these copper lanterns were perfect for this space. 

I wiped them down, popped in a tea light,  and we were in business.

Now I can't wait until my Endless Summer Hydrangea behind the lantern blooms.

This was the easiest up-cycle I think I have ever done and you would never know they used to be Christmas décor!

Here is the before and after:

So as you walk through the thrift store don't pass up the holiday section because you never know what you will find!

Jennifer


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Some of My Favorite Home Decor Resources

Today I thought I would share with you some of my favorite home décor magazines/catalogs that I go to for inspiration. Of course my number one source for home décor inspiration is from you guys....my fellow bloggers. I surround myself with all of your beautiful décor daily as I open up all those emails and visit my social media sites to see what you are working on. You are my number one resource for inspiration, but I also find inspiration in other ways beyond blogging.


My next favorite resource for home décor inspiration is magazines. Even as a teenager in the late 80s and early 90s I would read my Mom's Better Homes and Gardens magazines and ooohhh and awweeee over all the gorgeous home décor trends and landscape designs and dreamed of having my own home someday so I could make it beautiful just like the pages of the magazine.


So needless to say, I have always been a home décor/style junkie and I have always been drawn to all those pretty pictures in the magazines/catalogs and these are some of my favorites:
(click on picture to go to each website)


Piper Classics:

The Country House:

The Country Door:

I find that these three home décor magazines are my favorite but definitely not the only magazines/catalogs I subscribe to or look through on a regular basis.

The style of merchandise offered by these three fit my personal style of cottage/coastal/farmhouse and the price points are affordable too.

This is NOT a sponsored post. I just felt like sharing with you where I go for inspiration and perhaps help you find some inspiration as well!

Have a wonderful week!

Jennifer 

What Have I Been Up To

I know, I know, it has been weeks since I last posted.

Quite frankly, life hit me hard in late February. I was juggling some family issues, I got sick around the end of February, and then I have been super busy at work, so I just needed a short break.

But never fear, things have started to settle down and I am getting back into my normal routine.

So lets see.....I last left you at the tail end of my bead board entry way wall.

I had put up the bead board, installed a shelf/ledge, and now I need to update you on how we finished it off.

You can see the progress HERE and HERE.

It really turned out nice and I love it so I need to update you and post a final reveal!

Since we last talked, all my Spring flowers started blooming. Yay!

You may remember, I gave my front landscaping a makeover last Summer and I am happy to report that it appears I did not kill anything! So far most of my landscaping looks like it survived as almost everything has buds on it. Woot! Woot!

As for my Spring mantel, I did not dedicate an entire post to my Spring mantel this year, but I did pick up a few pieces and freshened up my mantel.

My favorite piece is this galvanized flower vase that I got at the Target dollar spot for $5 bucks.

I love the detail of the rope handles and the wording. Its very farmhouse meets French flower market.....tres chic.

The bird and yellow forsythia branches I already had on hand, in fact I used the branches in last year's Spring mantel, but I picked up a new Cherry Blossom scented candle from my last visit to TJMaxx. 

For those that follow me on Instagram you got a special sneak peek at the rest of my TJMaxx loot. ;)

I am really looking forward to picking back up on my blog posts over the next week and getting back into the swing of my regular daily activities. Its amazing how much more you appreciate your "boring" daily routine when it is ripped out from under you. I had been so stressed out lately that having my so called "boring" daily routine back is a major blessing!!!!

Jennifer



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