grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

Simple Spring Decor

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Raise your hand if you thought spring would never arrive! I know, me too. In Dallas I’ve learned to really appreciate spring because summer brings challenges I’d rather not think about like trying to keep plants alive in blistering days of drought. But right now I’m celebrating cool nights and perfect days, days of front porches, a good book and a glass of white wine.

Okay I’m rambling, but I do have a point, and that point is how simple spring decorating can be. With only a few dollars (or zero dollars) you can transform your home from dull and uninspired to fresh and inviting using items around your house and plants growing in your garden.

Take a look at the centerpiece (below) I arranged for my dining room table. For five dollars, I purchased a bouquet of white gerber daisies at Trader Joe’s and created this natural look using Fostoria goblets (handed down from John’s Godmother) centered inside an antique picture frame layered over a plaid runner that covers my table almost year-round.

Easy Spring Decorating

The next arrangement is so basic I almost didn’t include it—a crystal vase filled with budding branches. Take advantage of the many trees and shrubs in full bloom now. Forsythia, Redbud, Dogwood, Spirea, Azalea… Snip a few buds or branches from your own yard, alley or roadside. Or maybe your neighbor will share? Ask first of course.

natural spring table

The vintage glass basket (candy dish?) which belonged to my mother-in-law makes a sweet and aromatic arrangement of herbs and flowers from the garden. Only a few snips and it is filled. Keep it nearby in the kitchen, and you won’t forget to use your herbs when cooking supper.

Simple Spring Decor

Bring spring indoors by placing dogwood blooms in vintage drinking glasses. Clean, classic, timeless.

dogwood blooms

If you are a regular reader, you probably already know I have a love for dandelions. This casual looks is perfect for outdoor spring entertaining.

dandelions

What are your favorite spring decorating ideas?

Grace Grits and Gardening

Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

[tweetthis]Sometimes not much is just enough. #Simple #spring #decor. [/tweetthis]

“Sometimes not much is just enough.”
― John O’Callaghan

Musical Pairing:

Joss Stone: The Simple Things

Youtube video

spring in the Ozarks…

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Childhood drives through the Ozarks happened only in summer when our perfect lake was surrounded by fifty shades of green with black-eyed Susans dotting the roadside. Lately it seems, I spend more time in the Ozarks during fall and winter. Fall is the most brilliant time of the year. The mountains are alive, and the very landscape provides inspiration. I appreciate winter too. The grace and gray of a cold Ozark morning provides a calm, serene backdrop for writing.

But yesterday as I drove to Eureka Springs, I realized I’ve never visited the Ozarks during early spring. And I have a good reason…spring is the best time not to leave Dallas. Dallasites know to soak up spring in Texas before summer settles in, hangs on, wrings every drop of energy from every living thing. Even so, I left a breezy 75 degree spring Dallas morning and headed to the Writer’s Colony at Dairy Hollow.

Sometimes writers need to get away to write.

My writer friend Tom from New Hampshire joined me which made the drive more entertaining. We talked about writing because we are addicted. We stopped in Oklahoma and took pictures of random things. Because that’s what addicted bloggers do.

Spring has even found Oklahoma.

Oklahoma bluebonnets

We made a quick stop in Fayetteville mainly so I could lay eyes on my handsome son. Driving into our Fayetteville driveway, I received a delightful welcome back surprise from Mother Nature…tulips! In the two years John and I have owned this house, we’ve never seen evidence of tulips. 

Fayetteville tulips

The Fayetteville I’d begun only to think of as fiery orange and red was painted the colors of Easter. Pink redbuds decorated the mountainside. Clumps of daffodils blossomed thick along sidewalks and along highways. Sprays of forsythia bloomed underneath giant oaks. It was hard to concentrate on the road. (Especially with Tom snoozing…)

We made it to Eureka Springs just in time for supper. And believe me, mealtime at Dairy Hollow is not something to miss. Our friend Dorothy (from Little Rock) was already checked in and writing. After an amazing meal, Tom disappeared to write while Dorothy and I sat on the deck overlooking a hollow (THE hollow I suppose).  We enjoyed a glass of wine and discussed how blessed we are to spend time at this magical place, especially in spring. 

Ozark Spring

Grace Grits and Gardening

“That is one good thing about this world…there are always sure to be more springs.”
― L.M. Montgomery

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

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