MY Easter Extravaganza

So....this was pretty out of character for me to do, but I had a free day and I decided that it was time for me to learn some new skills that have nothing to do with singing or dancing or acting. I decided to raid the dollar store, Joann's, and Wal-Mart and come up with some cute, but not cheesy,  home-made Easter decor. Pinterest gave me some inspiration, but because I've never really done anything like this, I had  a lot of figuring out to do on my own. It was fun, but I'll admit that it took a lot longer than I thought it would. Probably because I did a lot of painting and I had to wait for it to dry in between coats. I'm SO not patient when it comes to this type of THANG either. However, I proved to myself that I can do crafting if I put my mind to it and I felt so accomplished that I had created something that wasn't there before. Trust me, if I can do this, anyone can!!! I can totally see why so many people are into crafting. Good times! 

My first project was to make a peeps wreath. I got 4 packs of peeps, a foam wreath, and toothpicks. First I painted it white in case there were not enough peeps to cover the holes and then I started at the top and poked those little critters all the way through and around until I ran out. I got some burlap and covered the inside of the wreath so I didn't have to buy more peeps. Then I made a little bow out of the burlap to top it off. Don't look too close or you'll see the imperfections, but it looks fine from afar. I was going for the Monet effect :)

Next, I found a bunny picture online that I turned into a stencil and painted it onto burlap. I put it into my freshly painted white dollar frame, and voila! Cutting out the stencil was the hardest part of that one, but I really love how it turned out. Here's the pic if you want to try it, I love her! Yes it's a girl, but if you want to make it a boy I think it'd be cute glue a bow on its neck. 

I also made some cute little holders (I know there's a better name, votives??) out of candle sticks and candle holders. I painted the bases brown and pasted it together with E6000 glue. I filled it with some grass, wicker balls, eggs, and pastel m&m's. Too bad that the only place we have to put them on is our TV, but I like how they all came together. 

My wreath was super easy. I got an already made wicker wreath base then bought some lace ribbon (2 different sizes for bow and wrapping), burlap ribbon, wicker balls, and eggs from Jo-ann's. I just messed around with the items, used some more of the E6000 glue, and came up with this. KINDA cute...I'm sure I broke a lot of wreath rules, but it was my first attempt so hopefully I can only go up from here! 

Lastly, I found this weird tree thing at the dollar store so I painted it white then painted some plastic easter eggs and strung them on. I only had black thread, but I should've used white because it would've looked a lot better. It's an Easter Tree! Get it? I don't think it's very cute, but it Easter-ish so it works for me! 

I hope you're proud of me because I was proud of me even though the hub was oh-so confused when he found me "crafting." Next to Christmas, Easter is my fav!!! So excited for this weekend! Let's just remember what Easter is all about. I read this article this morning and thought I'd pass it on. It's called "He is Risen." The title sums it all up, but I encourage you to take a sec and remember our Savior and what He has done for us. Copy and paste in your URL. HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!

http://www.lds.org/liahona/2012/04/he-is-risen-a-prophets-testimony?lang=eng