Happy Easter!

Some of my favorite Easter things on Pinterest :)

1 Adorable chickies {source}
2 Sweet bunnies {source}
3 Chicktastic craft {source}
4 Simly beautifull placesetting...maybe next year ;) {source}
5 Incredibly cute carrots {source}
6 Gorgeous Easter tree {source}
7 Cutest mini pillow {source}
8 Could peeps get any cuter! {source}

Pretty Peeps

I have been crushing on all the candy and flower arrangements out on the blogaritaville Easter parties.  I have sweet glass containers...I could stand to sacrifice a little sugar to decorating...it was only a matter of time

These don't really reqiure a tutorial - its candy in a pedestal vase.  But I do have a few tips to share, because I like tips and peeps.  Tippin it to the peeps.  Ok, maybe I ate a little to much sugar while putting this together :)

Tip #1 - If you're using a tall thinish vase (like the dollar store vase/candle holder that I am) an empty TP roll stuffed with paper takes up some space so that you don't need quite so many jelly beans

Tip #2 - These take ALOT of jelly beans.  I had 5 bags to make 4 arrangements.  I need to get more to finish the other 3 (and maybe beef up the finished one).  Thank goodness these bags o beans only cost a dollar (I used Brach's pastel jelly beans).

Tip #3 - To keep the peeps pressed to the glass while you're adding a layer of jelly beans, stick a jelly bean between the peep and the tp roll

Tip #4 - Try not to eat your arrangement :)

I participate in the following link parties: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Miss Crafty Pants, Super Stinky Boys, Mad In Crafts, Embellishing Life Everyday, Keeping It Simple, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, Chocolate Drool & Kisses, Simply Cadence, Polly Wanna Crafter, Sew Can Do, Tip Junkie, My Frugal Family, Coastal Charm, New Nostagalia, Blessed with Grace, The Creative Itch, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, The Lettered Cottage, A Bowl Full of Lemons, At Home with K, All Thingz Related, Today's Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, My Backyard Eden, Gluesticks, Extreme Personal Measures, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Someday Crafts, All Things Heart and Home, Elements Interiors, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Seven Thirty Three, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Black Kat Design, Thrifty 101, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Finding Fabulous, Poppies at Play, The Inspired Room, KoJo Designs, Whipperberry, Inspiring Creations, Romantic Home, The Speckled Dog, At the Picket Fence, Little Brick Ranch, Designer Garden, Simply Sweet Home, Simply Designing, Tatertots & Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Saturday Morning Blog, It's a Crafty Life, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Jewish Mom, Flamingo Toes, The DIY Showoff, Nifty Thrifty Things, Thrifty Decor Chick,

Does the Easter Bunny Like His Carrots Glittered?

During my weekly blog stalking reading, I came across this great baking soda clay tutorial over at Creative "Try"als.  Her step by step tutorial for the clay is awesome and so easy to follow.  And I was oh-so-exited to have the 3 (yes 3!) ingredients for the clay; Obviously I had to give it a try!  While I love the adorable eggs, I was itching to make some carrots.  Some beautiful glittery shimmery carrots. 

I love how cute they turned out!  What's that?  You too have a need for more glittery awesomeness?  Well here ya go...

Make a batch of this awesome clay-dough

Shape the clay-dough into carrots (I shaped carrots in various sizes)

Using a skewer, poke a hole in the top of the carrot (this is where the green tops will be attached)

Let the carrots dry...and dry...and dry  (I helped the drying along a bit by baking the dough on 200 degrees for an hour - but I still waited overnight to ensure they were dry)

Paint one coat of orange craft paint (I mixed a few orange & mustard colors together to get an orange that I liked) and let dry

Paint a second coat and sprinkle with the wet paint with glitter (I used an orange glitter from JoAnn's dollar bin) and let dry

For the carrot tops, I used green foil used for wrapping candy.  I litterally saved the foil from Easter candy last year because the foil is nice and heavy and the color is on both sides.  Green scrapbook paper, shredded paper, felt or fabric would also work great.

Cut the foil/paper/fabric into thin strips (these are about 2 inches long - for the tiniest carrots, I folded them in half)

Add a little dab of hot glue into the hole on top of the carrot

Add the foil/paper/fabric strip and use a small pointy instrument to push the foil/paper/fabric into the hole (a toothpick would work perfectly - I used a leftover silk flower stem from another project that I was working on)

Continue adding strips until the top is full enough for your taste

Add your adorable carrots to a pretty container

Now I'm looking around the house for things to embellish with tiny glitter carrots :)


I participate in the following link parties: Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, The Girl Creative, Making the World Cuter, Miss Crafty Pants, Super Stinky Boys, Mad In Crafts, Embellishing Life Everyday, Keeping It Simple, The DIY Home Sweet Home Project, Chocolate Drool & Kisses, Simply Cadence, Polly Wanna Crafter, Sew Can Do, Tip Junkie, My Frugal Family, Coastal Charm, New Nostagalia, Blessed with Grace, The Creative Itch, Funky Polka Dot Giraffe, Home Stories A to Z, The Lettered Cottage, A Bowl Full of Lemons, At Home with K, All Thingz Related, Today's Creative Blog, Not Just a Housewife, Sew Much Ado, Blue Cricket Design, My Backyard Eden, Gluesticks, Extreme Personal Measures, The Thrifty Home, The Trendy Treehouse, Someday Crafts, All Things Heart and Home, Elements Interiors, My Girlish Whims, DIY by Design, Somewhat Simple, House of Hepworths, Seven Thirty Three, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Beyond the Picket Fence, Black Kat Design, Thrifty 101, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Finding Fabulous, Poppies at Play, The Inspired Room, KoJo Designs, Whipperberry, Inspiring Creations, Romantic Home, The Speckled Dog, At the Picket Fence, Little Brick Ranch, Designer Garden, Simply Sweet Home, Simply Designing, Tatertots & Jello, Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal, Saturday Morning Blog, It's a Crafty Life, I Heart Naptime, Under the Table and Dreaming, Creative Jewish Mom, Flamingo Toes, The DIY Showoff, Nifty Thrifty Things, Thrifty Decor Chick,

Robin's Egg Garland

Last year I bought the local Dollar Store out of tiny egg ornament to make these Robin egg vase fillers.  This year when I busted out my Easter decorations, I felt like using the little Robin eggs for something different.  Since the eggs had already suffered through such pain (the ripping out of the ornament hanger...the indignity of being painted over and then splattered with paint), I was trying to think of somenway to use them that didn't involve more torture.  I was unsuccessful ;) 

Instead, I poked them with crazy-sharp toothpicks and then strung them into a garland.  So simple, but I love the result.  It kind of reminds me of Wilma Flintstone's necklace...if her necklace was blue.

Would you like a strand of egg pearls for your very own?  If you'd like the Robin's egg variety, check out the how to here.  Otherwise, proceed to the tute :)

Supplies:
Eggs of the foam variety - enough to form a nice garland
Somthing to thread the eggs onto (I used embroidery thread - all 6 strands)
A long, heavy duty needle (fair warning - it will be pretty useless after this project)

1- If your starting with egg ornaments, rip out the ornament hanger.  Otherwise, continue on to step 2

2 - Using a sharply pointed instrument (large toothpick or bamboo skewer) poke a hole from one end of the egg to the other (lengthwise).  Repeat for all your eggs.

3 - Thread your eggs onto the thread/ribbon/jute of your choice

4 - Hang and admire

I hung the garland on my dining room hutch to add a little more Easter to the dining room.  The puff on the far end of the garland is something I'm trying out.  I'm still not quite sure how I'd like to finish the ends off... 

Pinterest Inspired Easter Egg

Looking at all of the gorgeous springtime pictures pinned on Pinterest inspired me to whip up another decorative Easter egg over the weekend.  It feels kind of vintage to me and I'm really lurving it!

It's a pretty easy but oh-so-time-consuming project.  The kind best tackled snuggled on the couch watching a movie or ten ;)  If your up to the hot-gluing challenge - here's the breakdown...

Start with an egg shape  (I found these eggs filled with Pop Rocks at both the Dollar Store and Walmart - I like the size and that they're flat on the bottom)



Since the colors were a little...um, bold, I sprayed the eggs with a beige paint for plastics

Cut fabric strips (for the mini rosettes) 1 inch wide by 4 1/2 inches long (I used two coordinating cotton fabrics from a Quick Cuts Stax)

To make the rosette, start by folding a strip of fabric in half longways

With the fold facing up, fold the right corner to start the rosette

Release the lengthways fold and wind the strip around the center, twisting as you go to create the rosette

Hot glue the edge of the fabric to the underside of the now-formed rosette

To assemble, hot glue the rosettes to the egg (I ended up using approximately 250 rosettes - there's alot of gluing here!)

For the finishing touch, I glued in a few hydrangea petals that I had left over from the Hydrangea Easter Eggs

I am thrilled with the result!  Here's the inspiration board again

And here's a little Easter vignette

Luckily the weather is still unseasonable chilly, or I don't think I would have finished it in a weekend!

Elegant Hydrangea Eggs

Everywhere I look (ok, so maybe it was just PB) I'm seeing gorgeous floral-covered eggs.  This weekend I ran out to get the two supplies (plastic eggs and flowers) that needed to make some for myself, and spent the better part of Sunday afternoon hot gluing a little Easter decor:

Aren't they lovely?  What's that?  You'd like to make some too?  Well, read on my crafy friends :)


Start with some lovely run of the mill Easter eggs (I got mine from the Dollar Store)

and a few silk hydrangea bushes (I got mine at Walmart - these were incredibly pretty for Walmart's craft floral dept, and only $3 a bush)

strip the little petals from their plastic stigma (center of the flower) and fire up your glue gun

apply a nice dollup of hot glue onto the egg (yes, I like to get the hot glue gun as close to my laptop as possible)

pinch the petal edges together

and press the center of petal (with the edges still pinched) into the glue

and repeat...again...and again...and again...for what may be a full hour, ok two

but the results more than make up for all the gluing and pinching

Hello my pretties.  I think I'll keep you :)

Goose that Laid the Golden Egg

Happy Wednesday!  I know that Easter is over, but I have one last minute egg craft that I think turned out awesome.  I whipped up another batch of Rollo Cookies last Friday because I'm totally addicted my family loves them.  As I was unwrapping all of the little rollos, I was thinking that there must be something that I could do with their shiny gold wrappers (I'm really getting into repurposing!).  So I put all the wrappers in a baggie and put them up in my creative space, right next to a package of plastic eggs.  The lightbulb went off and after a little trial and error with the Modge Podge, I ended up with this beauty:

I LOVE it!  I wish that this revelation would have occured to me a little earlier.  How gorgeous would a bowl of glittering gold eggs be?!  Now I'm thinking that I might have to make those tasty cookies every few weeks to get a good supply of gold foil - the Modge Podging possibilites are endless!

Linking to:

Bunny Peep Pillow

Happy Thursday!  I'm sure everyone has seen the amazing Easter bunting from Dana at MADE (guest blogging at V and Co).  I already have all (ok, most) of my bunnies cut out of bright yellow felt for a sew-a-thon tomorrow, but I wanted a little bit of peep decor today (I'm impatient!).  Sooooo, I whipped up this little pillow in about an hour.  I love that it gives a little shot of Easter to our loveseat :)

I used canvas, a sheet of hot pink felt and a strip of scrap fabric.  First, I cut the canvas to make an envelope style pillow cover.  Then it was off to snip two bunnies out of the pink felt and one out of the scrap fabric (I used the bunny pattern that Dana generously provided here).  I used brown craft paint for the eyes and nose.  To create the little dots, I dipped a ball-head pin into the craft paint and dotted the felt. 

I sewed the bunnies onto the canvas and then finished the envelope cover.  After a little little quality time with the sewing machine, I had a cute little bunny pillow ready to brighten the living room (sorry for the blurry photo - it was getting late, I was getting sleepy):

Hoppy Crafting!

Linking To:

Easter Craft Countdown

Happy Wednesday!  Easter baskets pose a challenge to me.  Is it just me?  Am I just not thinking outside the basket (heheheh)?  Sure, candy is the star, but one little munchkin can only eat so much sugar (I'm sure he would disagree with me on that).  Bunny bum's basket will have some requisite candy (Sarris mmmmm), but we'll also be including cars (stuffed into the plastic eggs), books and a nice chunk of his basket will be filled with sidewalk chalk.  Now, I couldn't just put a plain old box of sidewalk chalk in :) 

I started with a plain white pail from the Dollar Store

A little chalkboard spraypaint and now it's bunny-worthy:

And just because I can't have less than a hundred projects going at one time, here's a list of the other things that I'm trying to get wrapped up before the weekend:

• The world's CUTEST bunting from Dana at MADE (guest blogging at V and Co)
• My Easter Rag Garland (it's serving as a backdrop in the picture above) - it's 4 feet long right now and I'm trying to get it to 6 or so
• The most adorable burlap bunnies from Missy at The Little Green Bean (guest blogging at Someday Crafts)
• A little something with a giant plastic egg (teaser!)
• A few spring-y pillows

Whew!  Well, I'd better get busy - have a wonderful Wednesday!