Creative ways to use birch branches in home decor

Hi all! I hope you're having a good weekend!

Do you remember this lovely birch arbor in our backyard?

The hubs, his dad and his friend built it in 2010 to be used in our wedding. It's one of my favorite details of the wedding and I loved having it in our backyard as a reminder of that day.

So I was really sad when the hubs told me it had started to rot. When he went to take it apart to keep it from blowing over before a hurricane, it just totally fell apart. :( I guess we should have sealed it or something so it would last.

I'm hoping there are at least parts of it that aren't rotted and could be reused for something. I just love birch and the white and dark contrast of the bark. It adds some natural texture to any decor.

I'd love to reuse these birch branches in some home decor. There are lots of cute ways to use birch branches to hold candles:

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Or birch can make for some unique furniture and fixtures:

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Birch ups the natural look for plantings and flower arrangements.

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I love when birch is used in an understated way to just let its texture and color speak for itself.

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I love, love, love this abstract art with wood rounds. I think I might have to make one of these.

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Do you have a favorite way to use birch or branches in your decor? I'd love to hear about it!

Organizing the bathroom closet

Over the weekend, I was all prepared to get my spring decorating on and hopefully lure the warm weather to arrive with my springy vignettes. I opened the closet door in our downstairs bathroom, where I keep most of my decorating stuff. And I...was...afraid.

dun...

dun...

DUN! (that's scary music)

It's not like it doesn't usually look like this -- I'd like to say it doesn't, but it does. But for some reason these days I've had such an urge to get things organized, and as I stared into that closet, I realized I couldn't just grab my spring candles and birds and shut the door. I had to get this closet whipped into shape.

First, a bit about this closet. We have two full bathrooms in our house, including this one on the first floor with the disaster closet. Since it's just the two of us, the upstairs bathroom closet is really home to all our regular necessities -- towels, toiletries, medications, etc. That leaves a lot of space in this downstairs bathroom closet, space that I apparently filled with tchotchkes. It's also home to most of our cleaning supplies, and one big bag of dog food.

I started by pulling everything out of the closet (and getting the hubs' sneakers out of the way).

What really needed sorting were all my decorating stuff -- lots of candles and candle holders, some vases, little animal figures, etc. I weeded through it all and got rid of the stuff I didn't want anymore.

I decided to organize my candles by season. Is that a little type A? I used an incredibly high-tech and adorable organizing method ... the Ziploc bag and the Sharpie marker. We spent a good chunk of money on our puppy's surgery, so I did not want to spend any extra money on cute organizing supplies when a plastic baggie could do the trick.

I also used this super-awesome organizing trick called "empty your coffee into canisters and reuse the plastic containers to hold your rock supply." I seriously have lots of rocks. That's kinda weird, isn't it? They make great vase filler!

I scrounged up a couple empty plastic bins that were hanging out in the basement for my candles, rocks, and acorn and pinecone collection. These are going upstairs into the craft room, where they really belong.

Once all this stuff was organized and out of the way, it didn't take long to get the rest of the closet tidy and organized. Ready to see it?

Oooh, so pretty.

Peeking from behind the dog food is this little shelf I was storing in the garage that I put to work to make some extra space. Those baskets hold little odds and ends -- I'm hoping to make some cute labels for them.

A couple spare bins and baskets lying around made for handy-dandy cleaning supply and toilet paper storage.

Other baskets hold dish towels, dish cloths, tablecloths and light bulbs.

The big basket with the green-and-white liner is a hamper for towels and other laundry that needed to get tossed somewhere. This keeps it out of sight and off the floor.

There's still lots of room for the dog food, the mop and bucket and the vacuum, which isn't pictured here but definitely fits. 

Seeing all this order when I open the closet helps me breathe a little easier. It's nice not trying to jam stuff in and stack things on top of each other when I go to feed the dog or get the vacuum -- or go in search of my sea foam scented candles to bring some spring into my living room.

A little before and after action...

So, my spring decorating still isn't finished, but that's okay, because they're predicting snow on Friday. I guess I have time!

Before I sign off, a little update on Colby, who had surgery on his knee, if you recall. He had his two-week follow-up and the vet said he's healing nicely and looking great. Unfortunately, he's not enjoying being cooped up with no activity and has started taking it out on his crate when we leave him during the day.

Yep, he bent the bars with his mouth! So now he's on doggie sedatives so he doesn't break his teeth. Poor little guy. 

I can't wait until he can run and play again!

A springtime terrarium centerpiece

A couple weeks ago, a friend asked me if I was interested in going to a class at a local greenhouse on how to make a terrarium. I didn't know a lot about terrariums, but I was intrigued, so I said yes!

The class included all the supplies we needed -- a glass container, rocks, charcoal, soil, moss and plants -- plus a handy-dandy handout on how to care for them. I seriously, totally kept all the little tags on my plants so I could tell you all what I planted in here...and I lost them.

So, I wish I could tell you what I've got growing in here, but I can't, except that I remember the low-growing green one is called baby tears. I remember that because it kind of bummed me out, but the plant was pretty so I used it.

The instructor said to keep the terrarium in medium light. It makes a lovely spring centerpiece on the dining room table.

Every few days I give it a mist with a mister. I'm really nervous about keeping it alive, since I'm got a pretty black thumb. So far, so good.

I'd love to find a tiny, adorable little animal figurine to put in here. I'm on the hunt for just the right addition.

Have you ever made a terrarium? Any tips for keeping it alive -- I think I'll need them!

Yarn and twine eggs for spring {DIY}

Hi all! I hope you had a great Easter. We had a low-key day because we've got a recuperating pup on our hands. Our poor little guy had surgery on his knee last week. He's been limping on and off for months and other treatments weren't working.

Finally the vet said surgery was the only way to keep him from completely tearing his ligament and losing the ability to use the leg at all. Now he's got a bionic leg with a metal plate and six screws! (If you're curious, the surgery he had is called a TPLO surgery.)

I do not like the cone of shame

He's got six weeks of being cooped up, and then another six weeks of getting his full mobility back. It's going to be a loooong April. But in the end he'll be able to run and play like a normal dog without any more limping or threat of tearing his knee ligament. I can't wait for that day!

Since he's still recovering from the surgery and is in pain and getting used to staying in the pen (and to the cone of shame), we decided to stay home this weekend and keep an eye on him.

So, I took the opportunity of a weekend at home to do some crafts. I have to admit, I hadn't done any Easter or spring crafts -- in Maine, it doesn't feel much like spring in March, and in fact we still have some snow piles that need to melt. So I wasn't really feeling inspired.

But then I found in my craft stash some plastic eggs I bought last year from Target and never did anything with.

I whipped out the hot glue gun, some jute twine and some yarn and got to work. I simply started at the top and worked my way down, gluing as needed.

I did the twine eggs first, and then decided to try yarn. I kind of wish I had done them all in yarn -- I love the pops of color! I'm feeling the need for color these days.

I would say the yarn was harder to use than the jute. The jute was more forgiving if I didn't quite line things up or got a little too much glue under there. The yarn was pretty thin, so there are a couple itty bitty gaps where the egg color peeks through, especially on the bottom. But I'm not going to stare that closely at them.

Greens, blues and neutrals are like my favorite combo.

And while Easter is now over, I think these eggs make great spring decor and can last through April and May.

I've got some other spring touches in the works, so stay tuned!