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At The Picket Fence with Vanessa Hunt

Where Ideas for your Home Meet Inspiration for your Heart

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March 12, 2015

Easy Budget Friendly Spring Decorating

I’m nominating myself for an award. It’s probably not one you’re familiar with but I think I have a really good shot at winning this one.

It’s called the ‘Longest Amount of Time for Having a Hot Cocoa Station in Your Home‘ award.

Oh, you haven’t heard of that one? 😉

spring decorating ideas for a sideboard atthepicketfence.com

You see, waaaaaaaaayyyy back in early November I transformed the little buffet table in our breakfast nook into a fun hot cocoa station for my family.

Bing Crosby was crooning in the background and the spirit of the season was making it’s way through the whole house. The kids came home from school and immediately wanted to put the station to good use. They ooooohhhed and aaaaahhhhed and quickly got high on marshmallows and peppermint sticks.

November went by, December went by, January went by and when February rolled around I decided that I was over it.

My kids, on the other hand, were not. They begged for me to keep it there just a little bit longer.

So it stayed.

Hot Cocoa Station atthepicketfence.com

Until March rolled around and it literally made me grumpy every time I walked past it.

It was time to Spring forward! To say goodbye peppermint sticks and hello lemons and birds nests and blooming branches!

So everything got cleared off and I started fresh. All of this took about 10 minutes and I simply pulled things from around my home and put them here.

It was easy and FREE!

I started by keeping the lamp and the vintage scale on the table.

simple buffet table decorating for spring atthepicketfence.com

A white bowl with faux lemons gives such a fresh pop of color.

Next, I added a simple stack of white plates. On top of that, a silver creamer and spoons add some shine.

simple decorating ideas stacked plates and silver spoons atthepicketfence.com

A vintage butter box which belonged to my grandmother brought in a different tone and some white cocktail napkins were tucked inside to add a little bit of softness.

simple buffet decorating ideas for spring atthepicketfence.com

A sweet little birds nest was placed on top of the vintage scale. So simple and so easy!

simple spring decor idea birds nest on vintage scale

And finally some faux spring branches were placed inside a glass jar.

I mean, does it get any easier?? Or free-er? 😉

spring kitchen sideboard decorating atthepicketfence.com

So, now I’m happy to accept the award for

‘Longest Amount of Time for Having a Hot Cocoa Station in Your Home‘

I’d like to thank my family for being there for me through all of these months. Through the stale marshmallows and the times we ran out of cocoa and when we had to borrow the chocolate chips from the hot cocoa station in order to have them in our pancakes on Saturday morning. And God. I’m thanking God. And I want world peace. And now the orchestra is playing which means it’s time for me to get off the stage which is a good thing since I’m so emotional about this award and can’t hold back the tears any longer. 😉

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So thrilled to be joining these ladies again this month as part of our ongoing Budget Decorating Series!

Budget Decorating updated

Make sure to pay them a visit to check out their ideas!

vintage-pillows

CEDAR HILL FARMHOUSE

budget friendly ideas- decorating with plants-stonegableblog.com

STONE GABLE 

11 Comments Filed Under: Decorating, Good Ideas, Holidays, Spring Tagged With: decor, decorating, spring, spring decorating

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Comments

  1. Peg says

    March 12, 2015 at 4:26 AM

    Simply beautiful! : )

    Reply
  2. Yvonne @ StoneGable says

    March 12, 2015 at 4:27 AM

    I don’t blame those kiddos for wanting the cocoa bar to stay up! You free, shop-the-house vignette on your buffet is beautiful! LOVE the touches of yellow in the lemons and the little flowers! And that butter box! A real treasure! Thanks for inspiring us… once again! You do that ever time I come to visit!
    xo

    Reply
  3. barb says

    March 12, 2015 at 4:59 AM

    I second that emotion!

    Reply
  4. Susie @ The Chelsea Project Blog says

    March 12, 2015 at 6:22 AM

    Lovely story……and love the new look. Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow. Have a glorious day, Susie

    Reply
  5. JEANIE says

    March 12, 2015 at 8:30 AM

    Love the new spring look!!

    Reply
  6. Marty@A Stroll Thru Life says

    March 12, 2015 at 11:23 AM

    Love the new vignette and such a cute story and post.

    Reply
  7. Jane says

    March 12, 2015 at 11:32 AM

    Love it!! Fresh colors and nature…the key ingredients!!

    Jane xx

    Reply
  8. Anita says

    March 12, 2015 at 12:24 PM

    I love the spring look! My son still has a small Christmas tree in his room and will not let us put it away. That, and my porch is still decorated for winter complete with dried evergreen swags and red bows. Yes, I just wrote that. Love it Vanessa!!

    Reply
  9. Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions says

    March 12, 2015 at 1:36 PM

    It looks so pretty and light, Vanessa! You’ve some of my favorite decorating elements, too, with the lemons and the nest.

    Reply
  10. Michelle says

    March 12, 2015 at 7:01 PM

    Your spring vignette is beautiful! It will be good for the kids to miss the cocoa bar, so they can be excited for it when it comes back! I made the mistake a few years ago of making pumpkin bread all year for my boy who loves it. Unfortunately by Fall, nobody really wanted it anymore. Lesson learned!

    Reply
  11. Pamela Smith says

    February 20, 2016 at 4:19 PM

    I just took down my hot chocolate bar today, which means I run a close second to you!! The hot chocolate was empty and nobody was even drinking it anymore. Time to move on to spring! Love your ‘free’er new look!

    Reply

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Yesterday on the way home from school I had the ra Yesterday on the way home from school I had the radio tuned to my daughter's favorite station and a song that was playing had a line in it that really stood out to me. It made reference to a 'season of the sticks' which I think its safe to say must mean winter. I thought that was such an accurate, albeiet kind of depressing, picture of this time of the year.

While we definitely have more than our fair share of evergreen trees here in Oregon, we also have plenty of trees and bushes that are reduced to sticks during the cold months. But, this morning as I looked out my kitchen window, greedily sipping from my mug of coffee, I marveled at the beauty of the winter sunrise. The sky was all pinks and oranges with frost on the rooftops and a little bit of fog. And, I realized that part of why it was so amazing is because I could see it more clearly through the sticks. The bare branches allowed me a view that I wouldn't be able to see if those same branches were covered in leaves. Being stripped down to almost nothing revealed something magnificent.

We have seasons of the sticks in our lives too, don't we? Times when we feel as though we've been stripped bare and left exposed. It's easy to think that this is a place where all is ugly and dark. And yet, just like the winter sunrise was more visible because of the bare branches, the vulnerability we feel in the winter season of our souls allows us to get a glimpse of beauty that we wouldn't see otherwise. In the lush, warm seasons it's so easy to become comfortable. But in the bare, cold seasons we recognize just how much we need to rely on the One who placed the stars in the heavens and is sovereign over all.

If you feel like your soul has been stripped bare and you've been left exposed and vulnerable, may I encourage you today to ask the Lord to help you to see the beauty in this 'season of the sticks'.

“Answer me quickly, O Lord! My spirit fails! Hide not your face from me, lest I be like those who go down to the pit. Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul." Psalm 143:7
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