easter crafts

I went on a wild rampage with Easter decorations last week as I was craving color and a nod to one of my favorite holidays.  I'm on a purging spree in our little apartment, so I knew that whatever I brought in needed to be inexpensive enough that I wouldn't mind throwing it out at the end of the season or darling enough that I'd find a place to store it.  The results were a handful of projects that cost me less than $10 for all of them. 

First up, wall art. I bought a couple bags of paper grass for the colors of them under the pretense that I was going to put Easter baskets together.  When I got the bags home, I was so enamored by the color and texture of the grass that I knew it was never going to see a basket. 

For this project you'll need:

a pair of frames with mats

manilla file folders

paper grass

hot glue

This project barely used half a bag of grass ($1.50 at Target).  I ran hot glue (because that is what I had out already...) over a spare file folder.  Before the glue cooled, I grabbed handfuls of the grass and affixed the grass to the glue in thin layers.  The real impact comes from framing up the folders behind crisp, white mats.  The frames I had on hand, as well as the folders and glue.  So the whole project cost me less than a dollar!

I wish I had step by step instructions for this wreath, but I don't.  I was totally winging it and when I was done, was dumbfounded with how cute it turned out.  I'm suggesting using an embroidery hoop as your base, but I totally used the plastic hoop that came protecting my hydrangea plant.  It's what I had on hand and it totally worked!  Score!

You'll need:

embroidery hoop

plastic Easter eggs in colors of your choosing

ribbon (at least half an inch wide)

hot glue gun

To begin with, secure the end of your ribbon to the embroidery hoop with a dab of hot glue.  Then wrap hoop with ribbon.  When hoop is completely covered, affix remaining end of ribbon to hoop with glue.

Before affixing eggs, lay them around the hoop, bottoms to tops, to see how many eggs will fit.  I didn't have enough room to go through my whole color spectrum 3 times, so I had to abridge my pattern.  You can do one solid color the whole way to simplify this process.  When you have the rough layout figured out, attach eggs to beribboned hoop with hot glue.  For extra strength, glue eggs to the hoop AND to each other.  

For a bit of extra pizzazz, lace ribbon between the eggs to give a more finished look. This is one of those steps I completely winged and am not entirely sure how I did it..  just play with the ribbon! I could be really cute with a really big bow.

When glue is dry, cut a length of ribbon to hang wreath from.   Lace through the center of the wreath and tie a knot with the two ends.  Then, hang it up!

Ready for cost?  Ribbon I had on hand, hoop I had on hang, and all of the glue.  So it was the cost of eggs.  I got bags of 24 for $2 at Target, more than enough for this project.  $2 wreath? Okay!

I used my technique for twine covered eggs again but with a chunkier rope.  Paired with a $5 Goodwill plate, it's a subtle nod to spring and the Easter season!  The rope I had on hand, but can be found for about $3 at Walmart. For step by step instructions, check out this post.

For one last easy project, that I don't have pictures of, string plastic eggs on bakers twine to make an easy bunting.  Just lace the twine through the manufactured holes at the ends of the eggs.  Super cute, super easy.  If you're wanting something that will last beyond Easter, check out my Etsy shop for beautiful prints!