A decorating DIY of sorts.

 for            E A S T E R

~We made this Easter tree first. {Apparently this is a German tradition, though I was unaware.} My mom had mailed me these random little ornaments and we decided this is what we'd do. My mother-in-law gets me flowers... she's so sweet :) And I hate to admit that I killed my valentine's rose plant... that were in that pink little flower pot. So we re-vamped it into Easter decor by filling it with sand, picking a twig, and using our little ornaments. It's sitting on a piece of china from one of Kyle's Grandma's many tea cup sets. I scavenge around in my cupboards before each holiday and realize I have pieces I've never thought to use for this or that.












~ That story book is one Hayley got for Christmas and our plan was to read up to the Easter story by easter day... well, one story a day just wasn't enough and we've completed the book. So we're using it as a little reminder and we get it down here and there and reread some stories. Kids books always = interesting, fun decorations.

~We bought those plastic easter eggs last year and I just stored them. We have already had a zillion easter egg hunts {just for empty ones right now & the occasional left-over-valentine's chocolates!}... I figure why not practice? I like to have consistent things we always bring out... that was special for me as a kid.

~The eggs & cross hanging from our stocking hooks were what inspired this post. I love them and its nothing you can get in a store. We cut up old calendar pages and scrap book pages & glued them on an old cardboard box... then cut out our shapes, hole punched them & stuck some leftover ribbon in.

~And my fun little spring bouquet is also from my lovely mother-in-law. A little spring gift to let me know I'm thought of. {Thank-you! You made my day AND our decor! You know how much I love that.} I like to split up my bouquets around the house to spread out the prettiness!

~{We might attempt a wreath this week with some dollar store flowers stuck into the wreath I had dollar store leaves stuck in for fall. Or something else fun along those lines.} SCRATCH that. I am now editing this post because the pictures didn't originally work... and we have MADE our wreath!
Hayley did some finger-painting earlier this week and I decided to cut up some of the paper smothered in paint & make wreath decorations. Again... trying to decorate completely from scratch. It's fun! So here it is: crosses, eggs and some hearts plus some leftover dollar store "flowers" from fall. I just punched holes in them & attached them with fishing wire... literally fishing wire, from Kyle's tackle box.


I like to decorate slowly with our home made items... we've still got some time before easter... but I loved how things were decorated the whole month of the holiday in my house growing up. It's magical when you're little... and maybe big too :)

Here are some of Hayley's other spring crafts & projects: In music class we made the melted snowman & the ecstatic-looking chick. They're super simple.

Melted snowman: Paper plate upside down + syrofoam ball cut in half + cotton balls for the snow + a few old buttons, some pipe cleaners for nose, arms and mouth + googly eyes. *My baby was the only one in music class who wanted to make a scarf and bow for her "snowgirl" to accessorize! {She knows what's important, ha.}

Ecstatic yellow Chick: Orange + Yellow construction paper  {a lot of cutting practice for mommy} + Yellow fingerpainting on white paper + Googly eyes.

You will also notice her egg chalk in this picture. $3.00 @ Wal-Mart or for my international readers check out this sidewalk chalk recipe I saw on Pinterest:
http://media-cache-ec6.pinterest.com/originals/02/08/43/020843ccf7276e3bce2a664c26181489.jpg

I'm sure it would be more pleasant if it didn't look like this outside today!! {all of that HAD melted}

Here she was last week using it :) {Yes, I said last week.}