I had this idea earlier in the spring to create a kite themed mantle. Not a kid kite but an artsy kite.

Yeah, I know that probably makes NO sense to anyone but me.

I made a garland that I thought looked like a kite tail  (You can read about that in this post: How to Make a Felt “Kite Tail” Garland for Spring Decorating) but then my plans stalled. I couldn’t find kites I liked and I thought about making my  own but then I got buried in deadlines and the whole project just sort of died and my mantle looked like this for a while.

It made me NUTS!

Then I thought I’d go kind of bohemian for the summer and keep the elephants, urns and Buddhas and add some funky bohemian art to the center.

But I couldn’t find anything I liked.

Again.

So I figured I might make something.

I decided to keep that big, old, beat up black frame so I went into the garage and found a thinner piece of plywood, cut it to size and sanded the edges.

I posted the above photo on my Facebook page but let everyone know it wasn’t a tombstone project in the works. I don’t think I’ll EVER manage to work THAT far ahead.

I pulled out my trusty Mod Podge and a couple of stacks of paper and went to town putting paper ALL OVER the plywood.

The paper is Paper Passport from ProvoCraft – I’m not sure if they make it any more as I couldn’t find a link to share.

I like that it looks a little like a quilt. It’s bright and adds lot of color to that dark wall.

I even tossed the kite tails back on the frame for even more color.

I’ve still got the kite idea in my head and I imagine that by next spring I’ll have worked out what I want to do and I’ll be back with the kite idea again.

Until then, I also have the Butterfly Topiary Urns, the Baby Buddhas and my thrift shop elephants to entertain me.