Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Skipping Ahead to Spring



It was in the 60's here Saturday while the northern half of the country was being buried under snow, so I decided to give up on coming up with a late winter theme for the banner in the dining room and just go ahead and accept the early arrival of spring (thus guaranteeing 6 inches of snow sometime in the next few weeks).

Before Christmas, you'll recall, the dining room looked like this:


And then on Saturday, a third of the way into February, it, uhh....still looked like that.

I thought about doing a quick and easy Valentine's banner....I mean, a few hearts cut out of scrapbook paper or something....easy, right? But then I didn't do it. And I thought about presidents for presidents' day, but I never got around to tracking down fun printable president heads either. THEN I thought: chicken breeds! For spring! I love chickens! ....but I couldn't find the right sort of printable chicken drawings, either.

So how about flowers? Flowers show up in spring, and they are nice. We just won't mention to flowers that they were my fourth choice.

I turned again to Botanicus.org, where I found the plant art for Milo and Gus' room and the birds for the master bedroom. I browsed around there for a bit and found Favourite Flowers of Garden and Greenhouse, with many lovely color illustrations.

I downloaded the file, picked out my fifteen favorites, and used up the rest of the ink in my printer printing them out. Printing them out was frustrating, since, unlike with the birds, I didn't want them to print on a full sheet of paper. I tried various methods of getting them to print two per page, but it just wasn't happening (or at least, it wasn't happening in any way that wouldn't take a hundred hours). In the end, I just flipped the page to landscape and printed one per page. This gave me the size I wanted, but it used up twice as much cardstock as I wanted. Oh well.

Anyway, the advent calendar is finally gone, and I don't need to change out the flowers until fall unless I get inspired (Revolutionary War clip art for the 4th of July!). Now I just need to do something about that Thanksgiving/Christmas/Winter centerpiece that's still hanging around.....






Linking with:
Tuesday's Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
TwelveOEight's Pretty Things Party
Tutorials and Tips at Home Stories A to Z
From Dream to Reality at the DIY Dreamer
Tutorials, Tips, and Tidbits at Stone Gable Blog
Hookin' Up With House of Hepworths
Somewhat Simple
The Inspiration Gallery Link Party
Chic on a Shoestring's Flaunt It Friday
The Shabby Nest's Frugal Friday
Countdown to Spring Party at Sand and Sisal
Tatertots and Jello's Weekend Wrap-Up Party
Funky Junk Interior's Saturday Nite Special
Six Days of Spring Link Party
Eclectically Vintage

28 comments:

  1. Very festive! It's about this time of year too I demand spring. Granted, I live in Michigan and we have two more months of winter, but man, do I want a tulip! lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll try to send some warm weather your way! I wouldn't mind trading it for a couple of days of snow (particularly since we get to stay home until it's all over when it snows here)

      Delete
  2. I love those flowers! They look so vintage and classic. They bring in such a light and happy feeling.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We are expecting 80s, I hear, on Friday, which is a big departure from the 43 yesterday morning when I drove over to my local stone yard for some Mexican beach pebbles.

    Love these prints. I can't wait to spend more time on that site.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our weather has been all over the place, too. Lots of days in the 60s and even 70's, but the high is 41 on Saturday.

      Delete
  4. I love everything about this! I especially like the vintage prints paired with the simplicity of the clothes pins and string! Just stunning!

    ReplyDelete
  5. i love the banner you created with the prints! and i am in love with the fox hunt prints! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am really in love with this. Banners are a bit over used lately, but this is such a fresh spin on it! I may have to do something like this at my house. Hope you can stop by the enchanted oven and say hi!
    xo,
    Lisa

    ReplyDelete
  7. This is a super cute idea... kinda a new take on the old fashioned picture molding! I'm gonna pin it too. Little Bit from www.DecorateWithaLittleBit.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. I LOVE these flower images! And they look so beautiful in a banner I have a set of alphabet flower cards from EBoo that I do the same thing with. Thanks for the great tip on the website. I'm on my way over now to check it out. Thanks so much for sharing. Have a wonderful day! Visiting from blissfulroots.blogspot.com.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Love the eboo stuff....I used their alphabet cards on the wall in my second son's nursery.

      Delete
  9. I just love this idea. It is so simple yet thought out. Thanks for sharing. Laura @Top This Top That

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is so pretty and so refreshing to see some spring decor! I love it! What gorgeous prints!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love it.... so simple yet so classy! You have great taste....!

    hugs x
    Crystelle

    ReplyDelete
  12. This is so pretty, and an unusual way to display prints or images. Just perfect for spring!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I can't wait for spring-great spring decor! It's grey and wet here in the Pacific Northwest. What talent you have! I found you at the Weekend Wrap Up Party. Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gray and wet here today, too! It keeps alternating between that and spring-like. thanks for stopping by!

      Delete
  14. The botanicals are lovely! I did a DIY botanical chart a few weeks ago and I love it. I'm going to have to check out that website that you used. Thanks for sharing! Visiting from the Inspiration Gallery.
    -Lora

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I remember seeing your botanical chart--very nice :)

      Delete
  15. The flowers are lovely! I am always drawn to vintage botanical art...great job.

    Renee @http://nostalgic-summer.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  16. That is so cute! I love botanicals and anything vintage, so this is a project after my own heart.

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is beautiful!! Hope you can link it up at my trendy tuesday party!! http://www.sweetlittlegals.com/2013/03/trendy-tuesday-26.html

    ReplyDelete

Like all human bloggers, I love comments! I make a valiant effort to respond to as many as I can and to hop over and check out your blog if you have one. So let me know you're here, if you have a bit of extra time on your hands :)