Easter 2021

Spring doesn't feel like it's sprung yet in Las Vegas - our weather is still a little blustery (not to complain, as many of our neighboring states are getting record snowfalls). Inside our home, it's another matter: Easter decor reminds us that warmer (and COVID-free) days are coming!

Here's a close-up of one of my wreaths. I purchased simple hydrangea wreaths, and added lots of pretty Easter eggs.

I couldn't find the right size sign for our mantel, so I purchased the pre-painted "Easter" sign, then mounted it to an empty frame, after painting the inside of the frame a cheery yellow. I hot-glued little daisies on the pre-made sign to cover the holes that were left behind after I removed the hanging wire. I also glued little pastel-colored gems onto the center of each daisy, to tie in the spring colors.

I made the colorful spheres by coating styrofoam balls with joint compound, and then spray-painting them. You can see the DIY post here: Dimes are a Girl's Best Friend: April 2011

I don't know why I love this little bunny, holding his cabbage vase full of colorful Easter eggs. 

I wanted this cute bunny to coordinate with the eggs in the vases, so I added a thick ribbon with the same colors. I think they tie in perfectly now.

Here's my DIY for the egg-shaped topiaries: Dimes are a Girl's Best Friend: April 2011

I took a close-up of these bunnies because I wanted to explain what I did with them. I actually purchased two of the same bunnies (the craft store only had the male version in stock), then I transformed one into a girl. All it took was some burlap, hot-glued into place to resemble a jacket and a skirt. Then I glued on some daisy buttons, made a little pearl necklace, and used floral trim from the sewing department to give her a spring tiara. I found a mini basket and placed some eggs in it for her to carry. I think she turned out pretty cute.

Another bunny holding a cabbage. I filled this one with realistic-looking carrots from the craft store, which I sometimes use in my Easter place settings. When you use raffia to tie the carrots to an Easter napkin, they look adorable.

I like using inexpensive touches in unexpected ways. Here, I filled my apothecary jars with different colored Easter grass from the dollar store.

I couldn't find a garland that I liked, so I combined two of them. I found the bunny garland on Etsy, and the wooden bead garland at Hobby Lobby. By restringing them together, I created what I think is the perfect garland for my living room mantel.

I don't like pre-made signs that are unfinished on the back, so I bought two identical signs at Home Goods. Then I epoxied them together, and hid the seam with a pretty spring ribbon. Now, my sign looks great from both sides.

I think everyday candleholders can look festive, too. For Easter, I use a little Easter grass under some large glass eggs.

I mentioned place settings earlier, so I wanted to share the ones I made for my last big Easter dinner. Here, I placed my china on silk cabbage leaves. I tied the napkins around faux Easter eggs (but they'd be cute around real ones, too). For the centerpieces, I took inexpensive glass jars and placed a styrofoam disk inside each jar before I filled them with jelly beans. The sytrofoam makes the candles appear taller, and it allows you to use fewer jellybeans. I couldn't find candles in the right color, so I bought inexpensive white candles and painted them with acrylic craft paint in lilac.

Happy Easter!

Wine Cellar Christmas Tree

Here's another fun tree that I made for a special room in our home: the wine cellar. I can't fit a huge tree in the space, so I had to use a super slim one:

For the tree topper, I cut the bottom off an empty wine bottle, then stuffed it with LED lights. I specifically chose this green glass bottle with its pretty red and gold label because I thought it would look festive:

Of course, the ornaments are all wine-themed. I added bunches of plastic grapes from a craft store, and I made garland from wine corks strung with burgundy wood beads in between (to resemble grapes):

The tree base is a wine barrel planter from my local garden center. Inside, I mounted a metal floor flange fitted with a threaded pipe (both from Lowes). My tree slides right into the pipe. I then added styrofoam around the pipe, and used extra wine corks to fill it in. I inserted a toothpick into each cork, then pushed the toothpicks into the styrofoam:

Gym Christmas Tree

Our home gym was begging for a themed tree; here's what I came up with:

I used a NY Yankees cap for the topper:

I purchased the cutest string of lights on Amazon. They're little baseballs and mitts (from Amazon: Kurt Adler UL 10-Light Ball and Glove Light Set). Besides the sports-themed ornaments, I laminated baseball cards and hung award ribbons (also from Amazon):

I made the tree skirt from baseball-themed fleece and fur trim, both from JoAnn Fabrics. I added thick batting between the layers of fleece, to make the skirt nice and thick. Although I sewed the skirt, I hot-glued the trim on afterward. Non-sewers could assemble the entire tree skirt with hot-glue: