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St. Patrick’s Day Mantel with Vintage Postcards

I’m bringing a touch of Irish to my home with a St. Patrick’s Day mantel.

I’ve decorated for St. Patrick’s Day for many years but have never done an official St. Patrick’s Day mantel. I love what I created and it’s perfect to enjoy for the beginning of March.

Living room mantel decorated for St. Patrick's Day

I loved how I decorated our formal living room for Valentine’s Day and was sad when February 14 was over and it was time to take down my Valentine’s Day decor.

St. Patrick’s Day Mantel

Instead of jumping straight to spring decor, I decorated our living room for early March for St. Patrick’s Day.

Living room decorated for St. Patrick's Day with Shamrock pillows, green and gold vignettes, green plants and wreaths, and vintage St. Patrick's Day postcards

Today I’m focusing on how I decorated the mantel and I’ll share the rest of the room’s St. Patrick’s Day decor next week.

The shamrock pillow covers are a DIY from a few years ago. I made pillow covers using a drop cloth and then sewed on shamrocks from the Dollar Store.

This project resulted in an invitation to demonstrate how I made the pillow covers on WSLS tv in Roanoke.

I’ll share the details of the St. Patrick’s Day vignettes on the table between the chairs and on the music stand next week.

St. Patrick’s Day Mantel Details

To decorate the mantel for St. Patrick’s Day, I used green candles, a faux Boxwood wreath, faux Boxwood plants, and vintage St. Patrick’s Day postcards.

Living room and mantel decorated for St. Patrick's Day

For the first time, instead of using my collection of early 1900s vintage postcards, I decorated the mantel with copies of vintage St. Patrick’s Day postcards that I found online.

Mantel decorated for St. Patrick's Day with vintage St. Patrick's Day postcards, plants in woven baskets, a boxwood wreath, and green candles.

I did use vintage St. Patrick’s Day postcards from my collection in the rest of my living room decor.

A few years ago I scanned both the front and back of these postcards and shared them along with a St. Patrick’s Day porch vignette. It’s fascinating to see the stamps and to read the messages on the cards.

I enjoyed searching the Internet for vintage St. Patrick’s Day postcard copies to use on my mantel. If you want to use these images, you can find them here.

Vintage Postcards

This postcard left me with some questions. The first one was the meaning of “From the Ould Sod.”

The Ould Sod or Auld Sod is a reference to Ireland as a homeland, a country of origin.

Then I wondered about Erin Isle. I have not been to Ireland and know very little about it.

The Aran Islands are 3 rocky isles guarding the mouth of Galway Bay, in western Ireland. They’re known for their ancient sites. The largest island, Inishmore, is home to the prehistoric fort of Dún Aonghasa, perched on top of a high cliff. Nearby is the Worm Hole, a rectangular natural pool. The medieval ruins of the Seven Churches are in the northwest.

From the Ould Sod St. Patrick's Day Greeting vintage postcard

I realized that I did not know the meaning behind common Irish saying like “The Wearing of the Green”.

The Wearing of the Green” is an Irish street ballad lamenting the repression of supporters of the Irish Rebellion of 1798.

The Wearing of the Green vintage St. Patrick's Day postcard

I loved this postcard’s river scene.

St. Patrick's Day Greetings vintage postcard

This postcard spoke to me because I sure could use some good luck for a change of pace.

Good Luck vintage St. Patrick's Day postcard

This postcard led me to looking up the meaning of Erin go Bragh.

Erin go Bragh, sometimes Erin go Braugh, is the anglicisation of an Irish language phrase, Éirinn go Brách, and is used to express allegiance to Ireland. It is most often translated as “Ireland Forever.”

Erin go Bragh A St. Patrick's Day Greeting vintage postcard

I searched for information about Biddy McCarty but couldn’t find anything. I wonder if this was a lyric from an Irish song?

Vintage St. Patrick's Day postcard

Isn’t the graphic on this “The Wearing of the Green” postcard darling?

“The Irish Americans would wear the green as a reminder that they were nationalists first and foremost.”

“The colors of the Irish flag are green, white and orange, the green symbolizing the Irish nationalism, the orange symbolizing the Orangemen of the north and the white symbolizing peace.”

The Wearing of the Green vintage St. Patrick's Day postcard

I so much enjoyed decorating my mantel for March and especially enjoyed finding vintage postcards to use to decorate it.

To make the cards more sturdy, I glued a piece of a box to the back of each card. My display stands are hooks used for hanging pinch pleat drapes.

Another great way to display postcards or greeting cards is by using DIY Card Holders that I made a few years. ago.

Wood blocks with slots to use to display greeting cards or postcards

I would love it if you would pin this post to Pinterest for others to discover!

Living Room Decorated for St. Patrick's Day including the mantel, chairs with Shamrock pillows, and St. Patrick's Day vignettes

St. Patrick's Day Projects and Decor Ideas

Get inspired for decorating for St. Patrick's Day with these projects.

23 Comments

  1. Loved learning about the Irish sayings on the cards. The mantle is beautiful. Praying your insurance will cooperate. Blessings.

    1. Thank you so much, Wendy! I am super frustrated about the insurance because in December, they agreed to pay for three orders. This order will be number three and they are refusing to cover it.

  2. Most of my ancestors came here from Ireland so your post was such a special treat! I can’t wait to see what you have done with the rest of your home.
    I am praying for you daily very often. ( morning, noon, and night) When I woke up early this morning, I I took your needs known and only those God knows to His throne of grace. I promise you that I will continue to storm the gates of heaven for you and your family.
    Thank you for sharing your beautiful home, beautiful self, and beautiful family with us,
    Love and prayers,
    Suzanne

    1. Thank you so much for your support and especially for your prayers. I so much appreciate both. It’s neat that you ancestors came from Ireland. I believe that a few of my ancestors on my mom’s side were of Irish descent.

  3. Just love those vintage postcards! So pretty! Thank you for the update and I will continue with healing prayers for you for as long as it takes. I will pray, too, that the insurance company gets their heads out of… the sand… (I’m being nice here!) and you get what you need to move ahead. Enjoy your weekend and give Sherman a big hug from me!

    1. I hate that insurance companies can b doctors, unreal they get to decide, I wish you all the Irish and every other kind of luck. So glad you feel good enough to do all this!! You rock, love it all. Stay positive and my prayers are with you!!

  4. Oh Paula, what is their deal? They agreed to 3 orders….by gosh, they should honor their commitments!

    Love these postcards you have posted…..they’re romantic too!

    I continue to pray for your healing.

  5. Paula, thanks for sharing your treasures with us. Repeat after me “I wish to appeal that decision” every time the insurance refuses anything. Be well.

    1. I have a feeling that I will be using “I wish to appeal that decision” way too many times in the near future. Thank you for the advice and let’s hope that I don’t have to use it too many times.

  6. I really enjoyed this post and thank you for your research. I was an O’Malley for 15 years and learned a bit about Ireland during that marriage. Grace O’Malley was a woman pirate almost hanged by the English in the 1600’s (I think it was 1600s!). My son has the family coat of arms tatooed on his back–covering most of his back–including the Latin motto “Powerful by land and sea.” When he told me he’d gotten a tattoo, I envisioned a 3×3″ one on an upper arm! Traditional Irish music is one of my faves for doing housework–those sea chanties are get! As Tommy Makem said, “It’s the land of happy wars and sad love songs.”

    1. I loved reading your comment. You must have been shocked when he saw how large your son’s tattoo is. It’s cool that he picked something meaningful for his tattoo.

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