Easter has come and gone

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter........and April Fool's Day.

My Mom got in on the April Fool's spirit. She used doughnut holes dipped in chocolate to make cake pops. Then she dipped some raw brussel sprouts in chocolate to look like cake pops. She put them all mixed together on one plate so it was luck of the draw when someone grabbed one to eat.

I'm not gonna lie.....it was pretty funny watching people's reactions when they got a brussel sprout.

It was a good Easter, too.

Here's some of our Easter-ness (That's a word, right?):

I made this cheese ball.

It's supposed to look like a chick.

If you close one eye, squint the other a lot, and concentrate, you can make out the chick.

The Easter Bunny still delivered baskets.

If you can see the llama in the llama basket, she is awesome. She's super soft and is wearing pink llama pajamas. If you'd like to order one of your own, I got mine from Polka Dot Pig Folk Art. She's got a lot of fantastic stuff.


I made these individual size apple pies using cupcake tins. I asked Abigail to use the left over crust to put decorations on each. She made Play Boy bunnies. Really?!

This is a final finish on a cross stitch piece I think I had shown previously. The pattern is from Bent Creek. It's the Easter Cracker. I stitched it up on a tan aida. I glued magnets to the back after I mounted it on a square board. The background is a piece of scrapbooking paper. The magnets on the back of the cross stitch piece are holding it in place. Then I made a simple bow from some burlap ribbon, which has a magnet glued to the back of it.  They are all sticking onto a black metal chalk board that I got at the dollar spot in Target.

I can change this out as often as I like...............if I can manage to get more pieces finished.

Anyway, it's an idea.

Quick Easter Decoration

This was so quick, easy and inexpensive. I'm pretty sure that's the crafting trifecta!!

All I used as a tray from the dollar spot at Target, some cheap candles, and jelly beans from the dollar store.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Easter Pillow

I recently finished this cute little Easter pillow.

I got the kit from Sharon at Daisy Cottage Quilting. I don't know if she still has kits or the pattern available, but I know she has (maybe had by now) a finished one in her Etsy shop. She always has some of the cutest stuff. Go check it out.....and then drop by my shop and browse a little too.

Easter baskets

This year I made these cute little Easter baskets.

I just taped four boxes of candy together in a square. I taped cardboard to the bottom and a taffy handle on. Then, just fill them like you would any other basket.

I saw it on Pinterest and had to give it a shot. I thought they turned out pretty cute and the kids liked them.

Easter Goodies

Just finished this cute cat toy order.

It's made with brown felt and in addition to the stuffing, it also has catnip in it. They're so cute when they're all packaged and ready to go.

And yes, I send them in an actual chocolate Easter Bunny candy box. It drives my kids crazy because I make them carefully open their Easter candy so I can have the packaging.

But it's all for a good cause, right?

Fun for Easter

I had an order for chocolate Easter Bunny brooches, which are hand stitched of brown felt. I think these are so fun and make a cute little Easter gift.

I hope they've made their new owners happy!!

Easter Wreath

I saw a picture on pinterest of a cute Easter Bunny wreath so decided I needed to make one.

Here's my finished wreath....

Here's how I made mine:

I started with a pool noodle. (Note: this is one that I picked up off the side of the road to use for something else last year and then changed my mind.)

I cut about 10 inches of it off  so that I could make a smaller circle with it. I used duct tape to hold my circle together.

 

 

Then I wrapped my boas around until it was covered. Because I used a green noodle it took me 5 boas to cover it and probably could have used another but I didn't want to wait to finish it until I made it back to the store. :0)

I used the ears from an Easter headband.

I cut them off of the head band and glued them onto my wreath. The boas have little loops at each end of them and I left one of them loose to hang the wreath with.

So here's the finished wreath.

So.....I still think it's cute, but I made my circle a little too big because I think it looks kind of like a cat. HA! And Dax says he's not sure which end of the bunny he's looking at here. (He's a sick, sick man. lol)

Anyway, today I clicked through on Pinterest and read the original post on how to she made hers -- because who would want to read the instructions first? -- and hers is a lot easier than what I did. Go figure! You can check out Mrs. B's Hive's post here, and trust me, her directions are a lot easier.

Easter goodness

Sorry it's been so long....AGAIN!!


Today is the final day for tax filing or extensions to be filed so maybe I can get back to 'normal' after that.


*fingers crossed*


All three of my girls are really into doing their nails right now. They're always trying something new.


Kirsten did these bunnies on her nails and I just thought they were adorable!!

She painted one of my thumbs like that, but I managed to smear the whole face before it got dry.


Hmmm. Must be why I don't usually paint my fingernails. lol


This year my kids still wanted to dye eggs. Since I haft to boil so many (usually at least 4 dozen) I decided to try something new that I had seen online somewhere (probably from Pinterest. LOL) It usually takes several pots to get all of the eggs boiled but this year I BAKED them.


Yes I did!!

It was sooooooo easy!!

I put a cookie sheet on the bottom rack just in case there were any breaks and then just lined the middle rack with my eggs. That's all four dozen at once!!

Preheat the oven to 325F. Then load the middle rack with your eggs. Bake for 30 minutes.


When they are done, carefully move them into ice water to stop the cooking. I had to fill my sink with water and ice to accommodate all those eggs.


That's it.

They turned out great! I was a little concerned at first because there were brown spots on the eggs when I took them out of the stove. But, when I put them in the cold water, the spots disappeared.

Try it and let me know what you think.

Easter Chicks

I stitched up these adorable chicks in no time flat.

 Here are close-ups.

The kids are gone to their granparents' house for spring break so I had some uninterrupted time to work on these.

I got the pattern from Shiny Happy Word. It was a perk for being a member of her mailing list. I think that the little chicks are taken from her Chickens pattern on her website. She's got some really cute patterns on her site. Be sure and check it out.....and maybe get some Easter chicks made for yourself. :0) Maybe if you sign up for her newsletter too, you can get goodies like this in the future.

Bunnies......

I guess it's already time to start gearing up for Easter.


Actually, I probably should have done that long ago, but where's the fun in not rushing to finish something and set it out before the guests arrive? LOL


Over the weekend I made some of these bunny bowl fillers.

Aren't they adorable?

It's an awesome project for using up some of your bigger scrap pieces.

There's the pattern and a tutorial here. The pattern also comes with a little face that can be stitched and sewn to the front, but I liked them like this.

Mine are stuffed with little plastic pellets, but I think that rice or even stuffing would be fine. They're also called sachets on the pattern, but I didn't put any smell good in mine. Although, I am contemplating making one or two with catnip inside for my kitties.

I tried making some last year according to the pattern instructions because the seams should be on the inside, but every time I turned mine right sides out I ended up with a hole somewhere along the seam line on the ears. So this time around I left my raw seam edges on the outside, and I think they still look adorable.

Easy Easter Decoration

I have a wooden basket on my coffee table. It usually has small rocks with candles in it.

I've also had these egg shaped Easter candles forever and I don't think I've ever actually put them out.

Well, this year I decided to do something about that.

Empty the rocks and grab a few bags of jelly beans and ta-da!!

It looks really cute (live and in person anyway.)

Now my only problem is keeping the kids from eating the decorations.

Luckily the dogs haven't discovered them yet. lol

More stitching

I finished a stitchery for Easter.





This pattern is also from Chestnut Junction. They have a lot of cute things, you should go take a look.


It took a little longer than the cats but it was still a quick stitch. I stitched it on a piece of an old apron. (I think I bought the apron for $.25) It had holes and stains on it but I think that could only enhance some of the projects I wanted to use it for.

I did buy a frame to put it in so with any luck I'll actually get that done before Easter too. lol


I had thought about coloring it in with crayons. I've been wanting to try that technique but I was afraid the busy background would be too much. I'm sure I can find something else to try it on. I mean, I only have about a million patterns to work on and I just keep buying more. I think it's a crafter's disease. lol