Ideas for Spring Decor

Searching ideas for spring décor?  We are excited to share with you our antique basket brimming with spring to spread a little happiness your way!

I am finally getting around to a few projects I have had on my mind here lately, and can I tell you how happy I am to be busy working on these projects?  So happy!  In fact, I may do my happy dance, and if you know me at all, you know I do not dance!  

I found a wonderful vintage WWII artillery basket that I am pretty excited to share with you today.  You know when you see something you love and think you must have this piece?  Well, that was me when I saw this basket!  

As we all know, I was a grandpa's girl...  I cannot recall if I have ever shared with you before, but he fought in WWII and documented his tour by taking photographs while overseas.  We actually have some of my grandfather's photos displayed in our home from his time in the Army.  

Old black and white photos are my favorite.  Color?  No thank you, I will pass, black and whites grab my attention every time!   

 

I saw this basket on a store site on Facebook and I knew I wanted it immediately!  I have seen them before and have always been drawn to them in the past, and when I knew I would have the opportunity to have my very own in our home, well, it was a no brainer.  

Do you know despite the fact I loved this basket, I nearly passed on it?  Mr. VS said get it, you know you want it.  Do you know he is not always the best influence for me?  I chuckle as I say that because he comments I want things, then pass them up, and then decide I want it when it is too late.  

I need a plan when I see something to know how I will use it in our home, and sometimes that plan does not come to mind right away.  I think my subconscious works on a plan and then BOOM!  A plan all of a sudden comes to me and I am like why did I pass on that piece?  Only guess what?  I did not let that happen this time around.   

When I saw this wicker basket, I thought oh... flowers!  And lots of them!  Peonies and roses are my favorite flowers and I could visualize scads of peonies all piled on top of each other overflowing in this basket for the most perfect flower arrangement ever hanging on our dining room wall.  

I did not expect that the basket would be so narrow, but it ended up working in my favor.  I have shared this before with y'all, but I love to use what we have around the house.  I can hear Grandma saying, "waste not, want not" in my mind now and so the peonies I already had displayed in another part of our home were moved immediately!    

I did a little research on this basket and found that they were filled with artillery shells.  Each canister would be placed down inside the basket, do you see where the canisters would set in each cut out?  The bottom of our basket has Switzerland burned into the wood.  The handles on each side are made from canvas and woven into the wicker.  A very sturdy piece with a lot of history, just how I like to fill my home with pieces that have a story.

I may not know this basket's exact story, but I can definitely come up with one in my mind.... I am not lacking in the imagination department.  Ha!  Since I am a fan of a good love story, I am sure I could come up with one for us that could revolve around this basket.  Maybe another day...     

I knew I needed to fill the basket so my flowers would lay just so.  I am not one who buys foam for flower arrangements, why spend the extra money, and it just adds more waste.  I use packing materials from my purchases to fill in with on all of my arrangements.  Cheap.  Frugal.  Whatever you want to call it, but I like to think I am not adding to a landfill somewhere with packing materials.  I am reusing what we already have.

Flower boxes?  Fill them with Styrofoam, it also doubles in keeping your flowers upright and you do not need to use as many flowers if working with faux flowers.  We all know I cannot keep anything alive to save my life, so faux if the way to go for me.   

I did not have any Styrofoam on hand for this project so away I went and grabbed a bunch of grocery bags and began filling the basket.  I kept adding more and more grocery bags until I had enough that my flowers were not drowning in the basket.  

I kept playing with my flowers until I had a look I liked.  I bent a few down so they were drooping over the side, added more grocery bags to the back so the flowers in the back were standing a little taller.  I fussed until I saw something I liked.    

Mr. VS hung the basket on the wall, and I stood back and thought it looked like it was always meant to be there.  It even reminded me of Grandpa.  I love mixing old and new in our home, and as you can see slow decorating is still my preferred path when it comes to giving our home a curated look.

Some folks say when will you be done with your house?  My response?  When are we ever finished with anything in life?  I think some part of me will always tinker around changing things up, but for the moment, I am content, minus my nemesis the kitchen.  Don't even get me started on that though.  One of these days the plan will become clear to me, until then, I have my lovely basket to admire with all of those lovely peonies peeping out saying hello.

What is your go to flower in arrangements around your home?  I think peonies and roses with hydrangeas thrown into the mix are my favorite.  And for some reason I tend to gravitate towards the color pink.  Not sure why, I just always do when it comes to flowers.  

I did pick up some blue hydrangeas I will share with you shortly, I am not even sure what my plan was when I picked them up.  They have been in a crock for several years just hanging out.  Now?  They were rehomed to a new location, finally.  I nearly have my dining room the way I have always envisioned it and that gets me excited knowing the dining room is near perfection.  

Keep in mind, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Beauty to me is this WWII artillery basket brimming with pink peonies popping out as a hello as you enter our dining room.  Your home does not need to be perfect, as long as it is perfect to you.  

I think we tend to get caught up in what others have or we see while perusing social media, or websites.  Just know what you love and stay that path.  As long as you are happy with your home, that is all that matters.  I do not tend to follow trends, I just know what I like and roll with it.  

And today perfection is an antique basket filled to the brim with peonies for me... yes, I am quite content just looking at my basket, and dictionaries, and the camera that I wish I knew all it had seen as well.