Living Easter Decorations

My childhood Easters were full of plastic eggs full of jellybeans and Peeps, stuffed bunnies and a new Easter outfit.  Although I still do baskets full of treats for my kids, I have tried to make our decorations less plastic and expensive by using things I already have around the house and adding a fresh spring twist.  I wanted to share a few of the Easter decorations I put together this year.

I made a couple living Easter baskets this year.  Yes, that's real grass growing in that basket!  It couldn't be easier to make too.  First, choose a basket.  If you want to have this on a table inside, be sure to line with plastic to prevent drips.  Fill your basket with potting soil and sprinkle on grass seed.  I bought a small bag of grass seed that is used to fill in spots on the lawn, about $3.  Cover your seed with about 1/4" of soil and spritz with a water bottle.  You want to keep the soil moist.  You should see grass coming up within 3 days.  The basket above is about 5 days of growth.  I even had to give it a haircut.  I made the banner by printing out computer-generated text on copy paper and then distressing with Tim Holtz distressing ink.  The banner is secured by three skewers.  I plan to add some little chocolate eggs to the grass for easter and use this as our centerpiece.

Here's one of the favor boxes I made for my guests for Sunday.  I started out with an unfinished box from Michael's ($2.99).  I painted the box with acrylic paint I had lying around the house and used a crackle glaze to age it.  I added wooden beads, also from Michael's (.99 for 12).  I created a small tag using an SU punch and added the bunny from Tender Toile stamp set.  Now, wait til you see what I did to the back of the box...

I printed out a vintage image, distressed and adhered it to the inset of the box using white glue (couldn't find my Mod Podge), then I sealed the surface.  I have a whole bunch of vintage images saved for projects.  You can too.  Just subscribe to the "The Graphics Fairy" blog and receive free vintage clip art every single day.  She also has free backgrounds for you bloggers out there.  Click on "The Graphics Fairy" button on my sidebar to sign up.

On with the decorations... I had this decorated basket sitting on top of my china cabinet in the kitchen and I had carrots growing in pots on my deck, so I thought why not combine the two for Easter?  I repotted some baby carrots into smaller pots that would fit nice into the basket.  You could add moss too, but I like it just the way it is.

Now, lets go see the outside decorations...

Here's a planter I created for beside the front door to welcome my guests.  I found this gorgeous camellia that was just fanning out that way and just couldn't resist.  I added a couple Creeping Fig and a bunny statue that was hiding out in the garden.  What's nice about this is I can relegate the planter to another part of the yard when Easter is over.  I have a particularly ugly cinder block wall I would like to cover, and the Creeping Fig will do just that in no time.

Okay, you're probably saying "What in the world did Wendy do with her poor garden boots?".  Well, yes, they were my boots, but after wearing them just one time, I almost broke my ankle trying to get them off.  They were just too cute to give away, so I poked some drainage holes in the bottom, added some pebbles, and put some perky little flowers in the top.  They make me smile every time I see them.

I leave you with a quick little card I made using another vintage clip art image from "The Graphics Fairy".  This print reminded me of French carrots, so I printed out a computer-generated title and sentiment, added a cuttlebugged BG and some brads.  This will be going off to my high school best friend. We met in French class many moons ago, so I thought she would love this.  By the way, she aced that class, while I barely made it through. 

It may be a little early to wish everyone a Happy Easter, but I do hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend full of special moments and people you love.  Oh, and a few Peeps just to make life interesting.

Til next time,