Spring Has Sprung Decorated Birch Poles

Finally...yesterday was the first day it really felt like spring here in Southwestern Ontario. The sun was shining, the mercury reached 18 degrees...it was pure bliss!

But with the trees still noticeably absent of leaves and the grass a mosaic of browns and yellows, it's hardly beautiful to look at. I don't even want to put out a spring planter yet for fear of overnight frost. But the beautiful weather had my creative juices flowing and I wanted to do something to add a little happy to my front porch, so I came up with this super simple idea: decorated birch poles to bridge the gap between winter and spring.

What you''ll need to make this at home:

• Two or more birch poles
• Scraps of fabric, ribbon and twine
• Rusted metal star-shaped ornaments (optional)

I cut several lengths of different scrap fabrics and tied them once tightly around the poles at staggered intervals. (I really like off-white linen for this project because it looks just like peeling birch bark.) I wound some sections with brightly coloured ribbon and black twine for a more random/textured effect and added these star ornaments that I happened to have kicking around. The poles would look just as stunning without the ornaments, though, or perhaps you could use something else to decorate them with--fishing lures might look cool, for example.

This is such an easy project, but I really like how inviting it makes the front porch look in these dull brown days before everything starts to bloom again. It would also be a fun thing to do with the kids.

That's it for now...it's another beautiful day and I've got some "real" work to do before I can go out and enjoy it! Happy Spring, everyone!