The Great Summer Spruce-Up

{I apologize in advance for the glarey photos...I am too impatient to wait for better light.}

We finished school a week and a half ago. As my reward for teaching a kindergardener and third-grader at home while keeping a two-year-old from eating cake-scented candles {which he did while I completed this project}, I set about the important business of some long-overdue cleaning redecorating.

Mine is not a house blog but sometimes I want it to be. Seeing as how there are no blog police to handcuff me if I digress from my usual randomness concerning kids and personality tests and birds' nests on my front door, I am going to live on the edge and show you pictures of my newly-remodeled-for-summer hutch.

This first summer spruce-up project just so happened to coincide with a "collections" linky party hosted by none other than The Nester. I think she's totally right about home accessories; complimentary or similar items can work their decorative magic so much better when grouped together. No need to be one of those martyr accessories and stand alone.

I am not a decorator in real-life but I sometimes play one at home. So a few mornings ago, I cleaned out the contents of my rehabbed hutch, grabbed an armful of white stuff from my stash o' junk in the attic, and strapped the hot glue gun in its holster.

As much as I loved the sweetness of Blondie's tea-sets snuggled up alongside mine on the shelves, it was just not the look I was going for long-term. Besides, she's getting her own room this summer and I promised her a little place of her own for tchotchkes.

The top shelf is a tea and coffee set that my parents brought back to me from Germany ten years ago.

It's very sentimental and very lovely and until I put it in the hutch, very unused. In fact, I bought this thrift-store hutch with that tea set in mind. Now it finally has a place to shine and I do, in fact, sip coffee from those cups.

The rest is just a collection of dishes and frames and stuff from nature that I played around with until it looked nice. Those little mini cake-stands are thrift-store candlesticks with white plates hot-glued glued to the top. And while I would love to have mini-cakes on those mini-stands all the time, sea shells and sparkles are more practical and less fattening.

I took The Nester's advice {from one of her posts a while back} and framed up some little trickets to mix in with the stands and shells. Old frames, scrapbook paper, and hot glue...that's it. You can frame a baby spoon, a piece of jewelry, your two-year old, whatever suits you.

The whole collection is sort of summery and beachy and a little bit French, which just so happens to be my favorite blend of pretty. And it didn't cost a dime. Ooh-la-la!

As much as I love diagramming sentences and long division, 180 days of staring at numbers and helping verbs will make a girl crazy for a bit of freshening up at home.

So stay tuned...I have a feeling there's more to come.

Now hop on over to The Nester's Party!