Easter; simplified.

This year, with such a busy family, I wanted to keep Easter very simple. After all, simple is the new detailed right?

I've found that browsing Pinterest and braving the frantic chocolate-filled stores does two things to me; either 1. I become this crazed woman who pulls hair to get the best eggs in her basket and spends four hours seeking out matching bunny outfits for the entire family or 2. I shake my head in disbelief and disgust at the hype surrounding holidays and the loss of meaning in such things.

My default of course, is to do the crazy mama thing and go berserk. It's in my creative minded nature and OCD tendencies, but this year I decided to chose the latter. No, I haven't banned chocolate and yes, I do have an Easter board on Pinterest. But I am not letting the preparation and expectations of this holiday smother me. I am not letting this be a stressful Easter. (I'm a stress-free mama, hear me roar!)

Each child or couple within our family is getting a very simple brown paper bag, filled with very simple and average sized Easter eggs. Nothing the size of a saucepan, nothing shaped like a bunny with ears on steroids and nothing stamped with branding not at all related to the meaning of Easter. (I am working on a post about what Easter means for me and for our family, it will be here soon!) I jazzed up the bags a little with some very cheap craft supplies and now, three days out from 'bunny day' we are completely organised with having only stepped foot in a supermarket and a craft store.









However, I couldn't escape a few creative details that my heart was desiring. I let Stella paint some polystyrene eggs in purple and beige and we went crazy with superfine silver glitter. The result; a pretty centrepiece to sit on our table for the Easter holidays. I've also got plans for my first ever cake-pop making experience and have made some seriously sweet bunny ears for my little bunnies to wear, both of which I will share with you soon!

Easter Sunday itself will most likely be very simple too; a casual family BBQ. As long as the girls are surrounded by people who love them, the smell of chocolate is in their hair and the sun is shining, I am happy.

Perhaps this will be my new motherhood mantra; Everything Simplified.

What are your plans for Easter? Do you at times feel overwhelmed from the 'hype'?
Plenty of love,

Easter Crafts; Part 3.

The third and final Easter Crafts installment features two very easy ideas for stunning Easter lunch table centrepieces. No fluff or pastels required!




Nothing symbolises Easter more recognisably than an egg, and they are something we use many times a week. So why not recycle your egg shells and put them to pretty work! For this centrepiece I washed eggshells well, let to dry and then painted with a coat of white acrylic paint. Spray painting them would also work quite well and in hindsight, would be a great time saver! I then painted an old egg carton in colours complementing the theme and placed the egg shells inside. Fill with a little water, pop in a bloom from your garden, and there you have it! A simple, pretty, cheap and egg-ceptional centrepiece!




The most commonly used centrepiece on a table is often a vase of flowers, so this Easter I decided to mix it up a little and have vases of...you guessed it...eggs! I purchased these styrofoam eggs from spotlight, painted in different tones matching the colour theme and pierced with a skewer. A 5 minute way to create a different and effective decorative piece for your Easter lunch table or your kitchen bench.

*Handy Hint* - You don't need to have an extensive collection of vases to create a pretty display. Simply wrap a doily or piece of fabric around a suitable sized glass or plastic cup!



I can't wait to create another Easter display next year, I think I am even anticipating it more than the chocolate! How did you decorate this Easter? Did you craft a lot or a little?
Plenty of love,

Easter crafts; Part 1

Easter decorating doesn't have to be all about pastels, fluff and brights. You can create a beautiful table display for Easter lunch, handmade gifts for family or props for children without even picking up a pink marker.

This Easter I chose a colour palette of chocolate, latte and cream to adorn our house with, and I thought I'd share with you all over the next few days the little DIY projects I nesting-ly lost myself in.

Firstly, Sugar Cookie Wands!

I used this easy recipe for Kiss Biscuits and inserted a bamboo skewer before baking for 10-15 minutes. Once cooled, I piped on frosting and refrigerated to set. I have found the best recipe for frosting to be a combination of a few floating around the Internet and my fail-proof method (after plenty of practice) is:

Soften 250 grams of butter, Sift in 3 cups of icing sugar and beat on high with an electric mixer for 2 minutes. Add 1/4 a cup of milk, and beat for a further minute.




Once the icing has set, you can either display the cookie wands in jars on your Easter lunch table or hand them out to the kiddies for a chocolate alternative gift. Perhaps even tie together the 'wands' with a ribbon or some twine and pop into a small vase for gift giving; an Easter cookie bouquet!

Sugar cookie wands can be adapted for any celebration really, just add colour suiting your theme or even get creative with frosting and pipe some bunny ears, Christmas trees or birthday numbers. You certainly don't have to be a baker to make a pretty yet easy treat!






Stay tuned for more Easter decorating DIY projects over the next few days! I can't wait to show you more goodies!
Plenty of love,