Home Decor: Layered Bunny and Egg

 

Mr. Chocolate now gets why I stop at different Dollar Tree locations. (And yes, I saw where they're closing stores!). We were out and about the other day and there was one next to a place we were going so of course I had to stop and I found some things I hadn't seen at other stores like these thicker "wood" eggs and Buffalo check bunnies! This idea instantly popped into my head. 

Supplies 

• Dollar Tree Wood Egg
• Dollar Tree Buffalo Check Bunny Garland
• Dollar Tree Mini Wood Blocks
• Hot Glue Gun and Glue
• Ribbon
• Acrylic Craft Paint
• Coordinating Ribbon

The bunny garland would be cute as a garland but I already had this idea in my head. I painted the top of the eggs and left the sides bare. 

It only took one coat but I let it dry overnight. I took two of the bunnies off of the twine and replaced it with coordinated ribbon. 

I pulled the ribbon through the holes from the back, tied a square knot, then trimmed the ends as shown. I had some mini-wood blocks in my stash that I used to create depth to glue the bunnies to the eggs.

After I glued the block to the back of the bunny, I used more hot glue to attach the bunnies to the eggs.

Easy Peasy Dollar Treesy! But what to do with the remaining bunny garland? I decided that the remaining four would make two cute 3-D bunnies. 

I had these mini pom poms in my stash and went with the light turquoise ones to cover the holes from the twine. Then I glued two more of the wood blocks to the back and attached another bunny to the blocks. 

Be careful to make sure the bottoms are even so they'll stand up. 

They go with some eggs I did years ago!

And of course, now, I wish I'd bought another garland! 

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Sundays on Silverado

BFF Open House: Keeping It Real Edition

 

Happy Friday Eve Creative Peeps...this time from home vs this time last week in the hospital. Thank you for your kind words of support. Got sprung last Friday and on my journey of recovery. Normally I keep the intro to my party related to creative things or seasonal discussions but this one I'm going to "keep real" so if you want to skip straight to the party, scroll on down. 

What landed me in the ER last Monday was having dealt with of all things, constipation, for the two weeks prior. After my Mom's fall and her own hospitalization in March, recovery and follow up tests and appointments plus dealing with insurance stuff in April, making the decision in May to move closer to her, and then prepping to move, it wasn't that surprising since I had been doing a lot of on the go eating etc. 

Welp! That wasn't the culprit. But I'm glad I listened to my body and part of the reason I'm sharing this is to encourage everyone to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! After blood tests and a CT scan in the ER, turned out I had a Tubal Ovarian Abscess as well as Colitis. The question became a chicken and egg one of which came first. Especially since I'd had a hysterectomy at 35 and there was no logical pathway to the Fallopian Tube and/or Ovary. The conclusion by the time I was discharged was, "doesn't matter". The treatment would have been the same. I had a white blood count double the top of the normal range which was "no bueno". Really really bad. So days of IV fluids and antibiotics ensued, including being discharged on the maximum dose of antibiotics for two more weeks. I also came home with a friend called a Pigtail Drain which is a tube that had to be put in my abdomen by a specialist called an Interventional Radiologist. Are we having fun yet? Nope! We are not. 

Most ( not all ) of my readers are women so I'm directing this to you. We tend to put ourselves last. As mothers, daughters, wives, sisters...we're the caregivers. PLEASE friends...listen to your bodies. Know when not to ignore that something's off. Don't feel like you have to power through everything. I'm a good one to talk because that's what I've done my entire life. My dad, may he RIP, set the minimum expectation at 110%. That was baseline. And I internalized it my whole life and as such, have sometimes ignored things I shouldn't. Likewise, we're bombarded with messages to push ourselves and accept no limits. Appropriate when contextualized perhaps, but it can be equally dangerous. So I implore all of you, don't think you have to be Wonder Woman. I love her but ... she's a fictional character. 

A big shoutout to Mr. Chocolate who has been there for me 100% and the burden of this move has fallen on his strong shoulders but he too is only human as I keep reminding him. Thankful that PhD Man is coming to help us finish up. 

Alright let's take a look at some of the creative ideas shared at last week's party. It's going to be a minute before I get back to creating. Have some follow-up appointments next week and a surgery in my future to remove these lady parts that tried to kill me. Also...moving. Never let it be said that I do things halfway!

Howling Liz shared some adorable and fun Summer Necklaces. 

LOVE these bright and fun Owl and Bird Painted Rocks from Simple Joys! There was a trend a couple of years ago of leaving painted rocks in random places. How fun would it be to randomly find ones this cute? I still have one I found at our Community Garden. 

This rescued makeover from French Creek Farmhouse is not only a beautifully refinished piece, but Kristi gives you some FABULOUS tips of things to look for in rescued / thrifted pieces and how to rehab them. Beautiful piece! 

Finally,  you know things must have been serious with me because I haven't even thought about chocolate for a couple of weeks. Seriously. I can't believe it either. This Chocolate Poke Cake from The Lou Lou Girls is definitely being saved for when that time comes!

OK let's see what you've all been up to this week and I would be remiss in not giving a HUGE shoutout to NURSES! I know I do not nor did I ever have it in me to answer this vocational calling. I truly believe it is a calling and the Nurses who cared for me were my angels. 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

Layered Butterfly Mother's Day Cards With Cricut

 

Things settled down enough on my end to be able to work on some Mother's Day cards for family and friends. I'd had fun with my Layered Easter Egg cards so I decided to keep it simple and use the same approach to these, creating three layers in Cricut Design Space and then attach them using foam squares. 

Supplies: 

• Recollections 110lb Cardstock ( Michaels ) 
• Coordinating Paper ( Michaels ) 
• Foam Dots / Squares
• Self Adhesive Rhinestones 

Since Michaels enables me with their regular sales of their Hot Buy paper pads ( seriously, they could make me their ambassador for just these!) I gathered up some coordinating stacks. I decided on two color palettes. One pinks and lavenders and the other turquoise and white. 

I cut my own cards because I like them heavier than most of the pre-cut card packs since I tend towards heavier cards. This is why the Recollections 110lb Cardstock is my go to. Cuts clean and stands up to the weight of my cards. 

Using the Cricut Design Space software, I chose a plain Butterfly image then created two additional layers, adding ovals and circles. 

I cut each layer with the top layer being cut from the glitter cardstock. 

For the cards, I cut the cardstock 7x10 then scored, cut the panels and assembled the butterflies using foam squares. 

I kept these simple because the papers are pretty enough to speak for themselves. To finish, I cut a bunch of small flowers from white shimmer paper and layered with a foam square and curled up the top layer's edges. 

To finish, I added self adhesive rhinestones in the layered openings. Et, voila! 

Sharing At: 

Our Hopeful Home

Papercrafting: Mod Podge Keepsake Eggs

 

I had a couple of large plastic eggs in my stash so I decided to add to my Keepsake Egg collection that I didn't even know was a collection until I realized how many I've made! All you need are some plastic eggs, pretty paper, Mod Podge, and some embellishments. 

Supplies: 

• Large Plastic Eggs (Michaels)
• Decorative Paper ( Paper Source)
• Mod Podge (Michaels)
• Ribbon and Charms (Stash)

Matte Mod Podge is my go to for almost everything although I have and love the other formulas. It works really well with handmade papers. They absorb it and dry really nicely. 

I just drew an oval bigger than the egg on the back side of the paper, cut, then cut around the edges to make it easier for the paper to lay down. 

Flipped the paper over, coated the back with Mod Podge, then wrapped the egg. I covered most of the eggs this way, then just tore pieces to cover the remaining exposed spots. 

With a heavily patterned paper like this I wasn't too worried about any crinkles most of which you can smooth with your finger but even those that remain just kind of blend in. If you're using a less patterned paper where wrinkles may show more, you can be more precise about applying the paper. 

Once the eggs were covered, I coated with more Mod Podge and let dry.  One reason I love Mod Podge is it stays wet enough to get your paper where you want it yet dries fast so a project doesn't take forever. 

After that, it's up to your imagination! I grabbed some gold satin ribbon and some tissue paper like yarn I had in my stash, along with some Fleur de Lis Charms that worked with the colors and style of the paper.  Cut a length of the satin ribbon large enough to fit around the egg and make a bow, anchor on the bottom of the egg with a dot of hot glue, then wrap and tie a bow. Cut a length of the ribbon yarn, slide under the bow, knot,  then cut some more strands and lay atop the knot and use the ends to tie on the charms. 

I like that these aren't explicitly Easter and can be left out for Spring since eggs are a symbol of renewal. 

I've heard people say they're intimidated by decoupage but don't be! Start with a project like this where it's not about precision. Once you make one thing, you'll be hooked! 

Papercrafting: Layered Egg Easter Cards

 

I will singlehandedly keep the Post Office in business because as much as I love and use technology, I will always make and send handmade cards. And since no matter how hard I try, I can't make cards that only require basic stamps, I'm their best customer!  

I had fun with my newfound knowledge of creating layered files in Cricut Design Space and did a series of layered Easter Eggs in a pastel palette. 

Supplies: 

• Let's Wander Paper Stack ( Michaels ) 
• Ethereal Gradients Stack (Michaels) 
• Pastel Glitter Stack ( Michaels ) 
• White Cardstock (Michaels)
• Foam Tape
• Tape Runner

I will also singlehandedly acquire every Michaels Hot Buy Paper Stack which, did I mention...are buy one get two free this week? 

Since all of the papers complemented each other, it was easy to play with different combinations. I ended up doing some in blues/turquoise, pinks and lavenders, and yellows/oranges/green. 

I cut the top layers of each using the glitter paper, layering using foam tape on either one or two layers of coordinating plain paper. 

For this one I used two layers of glitter paper. 

I had some paper butterflies in my embellishments stash but I didn't have enough so I made some more by cutting them on my Explore Air 2 and adding self adhesive pearls to match the original!

The Post Office employees hide when they see me coming! WHAT is she mailing now?! 

Sharing At:

Our Hopeful Home

Plastic Eggs Aren't Just For Hiding. Creative Ways To Use Them

 

Over the years I've had fun with decorating plastic eggs...creating home decor projects etc. So I thought I'd round them up since we're in peak plastic egg season!  The links are in bold text. 

Tissue Paper, Twine, and Paint 

Use large plastic eggs, cover with plain white tissue paper, then paint and/or wrap with twine. Details at link. 

Vintage Chocolate Egg

Using the tissue paper technique, again cover plastic egg, then paint with a few coats of glitter paint, embellish with a vintage looking paper border and paper roses. Details at link. 

Faux Chocolate Egg

I love Old World European Chocolate eggs so I emulated one using a foam egg, some paint, a French Chocolate label and embellishments! Details at link.

Plastic Egg Floral Wreath

Choose some complementary plastic eggs, add felt leaves and paper flowers and make a Spring Wreath. Details at link. 

Acorns and Pinecones

Stock up on those plastic eggs now for Fall. Paint,scrapbook paper, twine and sequins are all you need. Details at link. 

I hope you've found some inspiration! What are some creative ways you've used plastic eggs?