Easter At Home

Easter is probably the prettiest holiday there is. I adore soft pastel colours and they are just so typical of Easter. In my family we usually decorate our homes with hints of Easter just as we do with Christmas. You don't have to spend a fortune - just look around in a few craft stores or even your own garden to gather a few Easter items and to get the spirit of Easter going in your own home. 

Here are just a few cute and easy images I found online. They are all easy to do yourself and will cost you next to nothing. 

Grass Nests and Felt Eggs

These small nests are available at any large florist or crafts outlet. They are so versatile and you can use them from underplates (as I've done in many of my events) or just as decor to add to a theme. Felt material is also available in various colours at most fabric stores. These tiny eggs aren't difficult to make. Just add a bit of moss or even a few leaves or twigs with a small name tag and you have created a place name tag for your Easter table or just a tiny piece of Easter decor. 

Easter Egg Trees

I absolutely love Easter Trees and you will not find my home without at least one during April! They are so easy to make. Scout around in your garden (especially now) for dried or dead branches. Place it in a ceramic pot or a pot of your choice and display on a table or server in one of your rooms. You can add various Easter decor items to the tree. I usually use Easter eggs that I've collected over the years, but you can even make your own Easter egg cut outs on beautiful scrapbook paper or even ask your children to paint a few hollowed eggs and use them on your tree. 

Hand Stitched Easter Eggs

These hand stitched eggs are just adorable and if you are skilled with a needle and thread, I'm sure this will be a piece of cake! They key is to use different materials and textures. As illustrated in the image, they've used lace, felt and other cotton materials. This creates a layered and interesting effect. You can buy polystyrene at most crafts outlets - they make the perfect inner to cover with your material with. 

Egg Stand Flowers

If you have a few egg stands and haven't used them in quite some time, now is the time to dust them off and put them to new use. These easy to make yourself flower arrangements will add just the right ambience to your home to welcome the Easter! You can either use coloured eggs to add to the height and colour as they've done in the image, or use them as they are and place a few freshly picked garden flowers in your egg stand. Group them together in uneven numbers and use them either on a side table in your living room or as small flower arrangements on your Easter table. 

Personalized Buckets and Baskets

We have an Easter egg hunt every year on Easter Sunday, no matter how old you are. It's so much fun and is just another family activity everyone can enjoy. These personalized buckets are such a cute way of adding to the Easter holiday spirit. You can either hand paint these or if this is too much trouble, why don't you add a large name tag to each basket? Add a few colourful ribbons too. These buckets are versatile and can be used after wards as ice buckets, knife and fork holders at a party or anything else you can think of! 

Grass Holders

Grass is so fitting to Easter and nowadays you don't only see them oustide your home anymore! People have used these as decor items inside for quite some time, and so can you! If you start growing your grass arrangements now, they will be ready just in time for Easter. They are easy to grow yourself and the seeds are available at any local nursery. If you don't have time to go to the extreme of nurturing a few grass arrangements, buy grass plants and plant them in the containers of your choice and use them as is. Add a few quirky Easter decor items or even a few chocolate Easter eggs will do just the trick!

Easter Goody Bags

These little goody bags are easy to make if you can gather a good dose of patience. They are pretty easy to make, but time consuming. All you will need for the project will be white paper bags, cellophane to cover the inside of the cut out area, a stencil, colourful ribbon and tasty goodies for your goody bag. Have a look online for cut outs or stencils. You can even look in some children's books - you might find beautiful images of rabbits or chicks to trace. 

Pastel Coloured Cookies

Try and add a bit of colour to your kitchen creations too this Easter and make colourful biscuits, cookies and cakes. A little bit of food colouring can add just the right touch to your favourite recipe. Place them on a tray or even in a little wicker basket and add to your Easter decor. If you aren't a big cook, look out for some crafty and colourful biscuits and confectionaries in your local deli or supermarket. 

Colourful Wreaths

Wreaths add such a warm feeling to any home. You can use them inside or outside your home, but the prefect spot would probably be right at your front door. Although the colourful wreath in the image is for the more skilled crafter, you can easily purchase wreath rings at large florist. Decorate them with a few hollow eggs, feathers or anything you might think will work. I've seen quite a few wreaths covered in only ribbon. Purchase satin (these will be the most pocket friendly) in 3 or 4 soft pastels colours and wrap them around the wreath until you have covered the entire wreath in ribbon. You can change and add your wreath each year for Christmas and Easter to match the season!

3 Clever Storage Ideas

Consol Jars

Iron Tins

Bonne Maman Jam Jars 

I've been looking around for some clever ideas to rearrange a work desk in my office. I work with quite a  few small craft items and need to store them in small containers to create an organized work space. I found these images online as inspiration and thought I'll share them with you. 

All three ideas are so easy to do yourself. I love the coloured Consol bottles in the first image. I particularly like the way they stored the ribbon - such a practical way of keeping your ribbon neat and organized. I adore the iron tins and the rustic set up in the second image. These tins aren't always easy to find, but I recently saw a few shapes and sizes at various Crazy Stores.  On the third image I love the red and white Bonne Maman jam jars. The Bonne Maman brand is easy to find in almost any supermarket. Their jams are yummy too! Once empty, you can attach and secure the top part of the jam jar to a wooden shelf. Only screw the glass off if you need an item. Clever, quick and easy!  

Earn Your Stripes

                                     

If you are tired of an old boring plain coloured wall, try painting a few stripes on to spice up your entire room. Stripes add a fun and modern element to any room and you can mix almost any colour to create an interesting focus wall.  From the images you will see that you can use narrow or wide stripes or a combination of the two. You can paint vertical stripes to add volume to your room or horizontal stripes to add length. Although the images only show two colours, you can use various colours to make a bold statement.

Stripes are pretty simple to paint and are much less work than you might think. The best is to start off and cover the entire wall with one colour. Decide on the width of your stripes and make small markings on the entire wall. Tape your masking tape to the wall and ensure with a spirit level that all your stripes are straight. You've now covered most of the hard work. Start painting the contrasting colour or colours within the marked area and wait until the paint is completely dry before removing the tape. Removing the tape can be quite tricky and you need to exercise quite a bit of patience as a small tug can peel off the paint. Starting from the one end slowly pull the tape off and work your way to the other end. You have now successfully earned your stripes!

I've included a quick video as an illustration!

Do It Yourself Headboard

You can easily make this 'shabby chic' headboard yourself. 

To create this look, take a few pieces of old wood and nail them together. If you have to buy new wood, sand your wood roughly to even the surface. This will prevent your clothes and other material from tearing when leaning against the board. 

Paint the wood with a few brushes of paint here and there to give it some character and to give it that 'shabby' look. Bare in mind that the more distressed, the better for a look like this. Once you have your panel of wooden slats, paint your message of choice on and set it against your bed.  

Sleep tight!

A Subtle Message

I love these wooden word blocks! They are so much fun and make a perfect and unusual gift for anyone. You can use them in the kitchen, study, bedroom or even on the Christmas, Valentine's, Easter or Halloween table as part of the decoration. What's even better is that they are proudly South African. 

These are just a few of the hundreds of phrases available:

EK ♥ LABRADORS, MAN OF THE HOUSE, LOVE ME TENDER, SPEK & EIERS ASB, KISS, LAUGH, LET THEM EAT CAKE!, HOME SWEET HOME, LOVE, BON VOYAGE, TIME FLIES, SMELL THE RAIN, PARTY TIME, STOUTE KABOUTER, PEEK A BOO!, EMPTY NEST BLISS, ELLE MAGAZINE, GARDEN & HOME, VIVA SUID-AFRIKA

I have a few of these in stock. Let me know if you would like to place an order. 

Artwork Without the Artwork

As trends and styles change, so do our walls. It's time to dust off those old frames and put them to new use. 

I've illustrated above how you can re-use your empty frames and frankly, it won't cost you a thing. I  especially like these rustic wooden frames. You can find them literally anywhere, but I suggest you have a look at Bellbottoms in Villieria, Pierneef Street. They recycle old wooden skirtings, so I suppose there's a bit of vintage in these frames. 

Some creative ideas include displaying your empty frames on a shelve, table or chest of drawers. Spread them out and put one in front of the other to create a bit of depth. It's an artwork without the artwork. Another idea is to paint the backboard of the frame with black chalk paint. These come in a 1 litre tin and you should be able to find them at your local hardware store. Another great idea is to cover the backboard with very thin foam and a small piece of material. Use this as a pinboard for your photo's, memo's or any memorabilia. And lastly, tie wire at each opposite end of your frame and use a peg to display your birthday cards or even your favourite photos.

There's Light At The End Of The Teapot

How fun are these teapot chandeliers? These must look absolutely stunning over a kitchen island or your breakfast table!

I am sure you can do the same with a teacup and saucer - three or four grouped together will have just as much impact as these teapots!

Vintage Tolix Paris Chairs - Ooh La La!

I absolutely love these Tolix chairs. They've been on the scene for quite some time, but recently became very popular in South Africa and you can find them in a quite a few places these days. I have never seen them in the Pretoria area, but I recently spotted a few at the Hatfield Travel and Decor Centre in Glenvillage, Faerie Glen. 


I love the pairing of the rustic white wood table with the industrial-looking chairs from the above shot. You can pair these with literally anything - they even look good stacked! 

From Granny to Fancy!

In December my husband and I decided to convert our garage into an office space for me to start my new business from. What seemed like a small quick one week project turned into a massive one month operation! None the less, the hard work and effort paid off and I now have a beautiful airy office to work from.

During the same time our renovations went on, my grandparents had to clear out their old home as they moved into an old age home two months prior. I took this lovely chest of drawers that stood in their bathroom. I've loved it since I can remember, so naturally I was ecstatic to have it in my home.

It used to be painted with a high gloss white paint and I wanted to paint it stripes. I had to use paint stripper to get rid of the old paint and as it started peeling off, I decided that I would use it just like that and use the stripes on the wall instead!

It is now in my office and I can appreciate it every day with a bit of my childhood memories linked to it!