With apologies to my northern friends who have been inundated with snow, spring arrived early in Tampa Bay with record high temps in February, followed by a more normal round of weather the first week of March. Although it’s chilly now, about 20° below normal, flowers are already in bloom and butterflies are flitting. It’s going to warm up in time for St Patrick’s Day and I’ll once again pack up the jeans and sweats. Even though Spring isn’t officially here for several days, I decided to break out the spring décor, at least in the dining room.

This year’s table is a bit different, instead of my simple white bowl of eggs and pitcher filled with greens and a sprinkling of sheep on the table, I went with plants and gardening books, some vintage, some not and a cloche covering a nest……because what doesn’t look cool under a cloche?? To round things out, some rusty vintage garden tools. Easy and all things I had on hand, the small plants coming from my own propagations, so no money spent. That’s a bonus. As I view these photos, it’s looking a bit busy and who  knows how long it will stay this way…..but here it is, as it’s already changed a bit over the weeks.

It’s all about the layers and I began with a vintage crocheted table cloth as a base. Then layered it with books, plants, some candles and the vintage doodads. You can use anything in this kind of arrangement. Instead of gardening books, how about books on birds and butterflies? Or if books are scarce in your home, (WHAT???? Get some books people, reading is important!!) ) use cake plates and candle holders as risers for small potted plants instead of books. Add some ceramic birds picked up at Goodwill. Or the quintessential spring decor,  bunnies and/or sheep. Add eggs. Faux or real. Mine happen to be real quail eggs but I’ve seen some pretty good fauxs at the craft stores. Bird’s nests always say spring to me, even more than bunnies and sheep, which I equate more with Easter. Terra cotta pots can be substituted for the vintage white ones I used. Use what you have on hand.  I totally love my little vintage wildflower book, scored for a couple dollars last summer.

If you aren’t into small pots, use one large one and add garden tools, and a couple of bird nests for a simpler look.

Whatever you decide to use, layers and varying heights bring a display to life.

Using the books as risers and different sized pots adds some interest along with height variation to my table. The vignette is easily changed by adding some vintage bird postcards, or taking something away…. so the table can get a fresh look whenever I tire of looking at it. Which as you know, happens frequently here. Because after all, I’m fickle and nothing stays the same for very long here in the sanctuary. I’ve already added a couple of vintage brass hose end sprayers, and because that wasn’t enough crap, the garden tools got embellished with succulents. I’m all about the abundance of spring this year!

I hope you have a wonderful spring, filled with the promise of a fresh start, hope and renewal as we continue to travel through 2018.

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Create the home you see in your heart. Create your own sanctuary no matter where you live. And as always, thank you for following along as I continue to create my own sanctuary, here in the burbs…. in my not a farmhouse.