Monday, February 28, 2011

The Unveiling of the March Mantel!

Wow, can you believe March is here? February just seemed to fly by, probably because I was busy working on the March mantel which turned into a TOTAL redo!

First, I need to give credit where credit is due, I was so totally inspired by Donna's mantel gate over at Funky Junk Interiors. If you haven't seen it, quick, click this link because her gate is awesome!

Donna at Funky Junk Interiors Awesome Mantel Gate

Did you see hers? And you came back here? I'm honored, because usually I get lost over at her website and forget what I was doing.

Anyway, so all I had to say to my husband were those two sweet little words to get him to help me build a gate. Those sweet little words were "Power Tools."

Let's get this show on the road.  First we took an old pallet we got for free and put it on the back of the truck and began dismantling it:

That's our border collie mix, Gulliver. He wanted to help.

I decided I wanted my gate slats spaced apart and not butted together because I wanted more of an open, airy garden gate, so we spaced them evenly and added the cross bars of the "Z."


Yup, Gulliver is still there. I kept wondering why he was hanging around then saw the dog treat bag up in the truck. Oops!

After we spaced the slats so carefully, I realized we had to flip the whole thing over because I wanted to drill the screws in from the back so you wouldn't see them. Ah well.

After the top and bottom parts were screwed together, we added the middle cross bar.


Okay, confession time, after I took the above picture (by the way, that's hubby's arm), we realized the gate was too tall for above our mantel, so had to disassemble, cut off some more of the length and reassemble again. Measure twice, cut once anyone? Maybe next time.

Then I sloppy painted it with flat white paint. I wanted some of the natural wood showing through so didn't put too many coats of paint on.


After that I sanded the gate in spots to make it look more worn. Especially the upper right "grab to open" area.


See? Doesn't it look like we've been grabbing that corner of the gate for years to open it? After I was done sanding I added some gate hinges on the left side of the gate.

Time for the reveal! I found some barbed wire in my husbands shop area and took a metal star I've had for a while and decorated the front of the gate.


I LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!

For the rest of the mantel, I added a few pieces from my white enamelware collection and also some homemade finials I made (tutorial on those later this month).


Of course, I needed to work a bird in there, so a nest with a small ceramic bird sits on top of one of my enamelware buckets.


Homemade finials with a cow that was given to me by a friend a few years ago.

Now the mantel in its entirety:


My picture this month is just a silly shot of the 3 of us that I had printed in sepia.



Now the best part, my total cost this month was $14.50!
$3.00 for the flowers (1/2 price coupon at Dollar General), $5 for the gate hardware, $5 for the white paint and $1.50 for what I made the finials out of. Woo hoo! Under budget! Everything else I already had.


Thanks for looking!

Until next time,

3/7/11 update. Just found out that Linda over at Coastal Charm featured my mantel gate.  Wow! Thanks, Linda!

 http://linda-coastalcharm.blogspot.com/


Linking to these fun and fabulous linky parties:



35 comments:

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  2. Very pretty! You did a great job with the gate. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I sooooo LOVE your gate and your mantel display...thanks for sharing it at NIFTY THRIFTY TUESDAYS.

    Blessings,
    Linda

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kim,

    Your gate looks great and makes for a wonderful country display with your other items. Thanks for including links to the tutorial.

    Deborah

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  5. Oh, I just love it! That gate is just awesome! I'm sure Donna is proud! Thanks so much for linking up & I am your newest follower!

    ReplyDelete
  6. ohhh I love it too....well done girl! so glad I found ya - off to check out more of your blog! come on by for a visit sometime!

    www.northerncottage.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love the gate. It would work with my living room decor too. I already have a pallet in the back yard. HMM!
    Thanks for sharing.

    sparechangechic.com

    ReplyDelete
  8. LUV LUV LUV this!!!!!! You did a fantastic job! I'm saving this project for when the snow melts! Thanks for sharing! :)

    xoxo laurie

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love it! Super shabby chic! Now - where can I find some barbed wire - LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Most excellent! Very clever and it turned out wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Turned out so cute! Nice job! Thanks for linking up Flaunt it Friday. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love it. It turned out fabulous. I'm your newest follower. I would love it if you linked your project up to my link party on Monday.
    More The Merrier Monday.

    http://diyhshp.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Kim,
    Hop over for a visit...I have featured you at COASTAL CHARM...please feel free to grab my stafish featured button for your blog...thanks so much for coming to my party.

    Blessings,
    Linda

    ReplyDelete
  14. Wow...that is so cute! I want one!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. That is so cute... I will have to keep an eye out for an old pallet.

    Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow, I love it!! I've got some old pallets lying out back and this may just cause a project! I'm a new follower. You can check me out if you're so inclined and I'd be one happy girl. Have a great one ;^)

    ReplyDelete
  17. this is SOOOO cute!!

    we would love it if you could link up w/ us this weekend :)
    lollyjaneboutique.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hope you don't mind...we love your lamp turned final project and will be featuring it on our FancyFriday post tomorrow!
    At the Table,
    Kristin & Chris Ann

    ReplyDelete
  19. Aaaahh!! I missed this the first time around! Lookit you!! I love your rendition with the spaces. Fabulous idea I may have to copy... :D

    Love it! I found you on Pinterest! :)

    Donna

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  20. I just added your star to my original gate post. Yeah, I'm just that proud. :)

    http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/2010/11/creating-old-gate-for-fireplace-mantel.html

    Donna

    ReplyDelete

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