Adding touches of spring

The calendar shows that we still have a few days to go until the "official" start of spring, but the weather is most definitely springy. We haven't hit prime pollen season yet, but the flowering trees are in full-on glory here: Bradford pears, redbud, and deciduous magnolias are all flowering profusely. I just love these days when the sun shines bright and the sky is Carolina blue.

In the spirit of the season, I'm making some easy, inexpensive changes in my decorating, too.

This wooden planter held gourds and pumpkins in the Fall and pinecones at Christmas. Now it's feeling springy with its cheerful pansies:

I was the lucky winner of some wonderful DaySpring products at this January's BlissDom conference. I was already a huge fan of DaySpring, having purchased a number of their products in the past. Now I'm a fanatic. In addition to inspirational cards and stationery, this company produces truly beautiful home decor items. I won this gorgeous tray, which I filled with river rocks and tealights for the winter:

Now I've traded the rocks for seashells, and voila! Instant springiness! (Some of the seashells I collected at the beach; the rest I picked up at Dollar Tree.)

I also won this lovely pitcher from DaySpring. The inscription reads "Thankful for simple graces." That deserves an Amen! I love the way it looks on my table holding grocery-store alstroemeria. (These flowers are a frugal decorator's dream--they're beautiful, cheap, and the blossoms last a long, long time.) Here's a tip for arranging your own flowers: cut the stems. You want to see a profusion of flowers above your container, not stalks. So chop off those long stems! And to make your flowers last even longer, add a couple of drops of household bleach to your water.

To set a fun springtime table, I pulled out the green chargers I bought on clearance at Target after Christmas. I paid $2.50 for eight chargers. Aren't they a pretty springy green?

And last but not least, I added a touch of spring to my dining room table by spreading out the darling runner I won from Melissa of Melissa's Heart and Home! I was the lucky winner of her spring giveaway. Thank you, Melissa, for sending me so many wonderful goodies!

Thanks to the blessing of winning some of these products, I spent less than $20 and added a lot of springtime to my house. What are you doing to add some spring to your nest?

**I'm joining Amanda for Weekend Bloggy Reading and Wendy for Frugal Friday.**