Searching for "easter"

Decorating an Easter Mantle

Spring is here and Easter is one of my favorite holidays.  
Ok, I say that about all the holidays.
But seriously, Easter is my favorite.
I love that it represents the risen Jesus and the hope of new life.
To decorate our mantle, I took inspiration from Pinterest and used lots of items found around our house.  The cute sign I bought on sale last summer at my favorite shop in Little Rock, The Full Moon.  They have an assortment of fabulous things that is ever changing, and they have really great sales a couple of times each year.  I even registered there for my wedding.    

The bunnies were inspired by a few Pinterest finds like this one, but I couldn’t find a pattern that was the right size.  I sketched one out and used it to cut the design out from several different colors of cardstock.  Then I glued little puff ball tails onto my bunnies and glued the bunnies onto a brown ribbon measured to hang across the mantle.

Super cute little baby bunny.  

I brought in 2 giant flowers that we’ve had since our wedding.  They decorated the gift table at our rustic barn reception.  I filled 2 of my Meme’s old blue mason jars with plastic eggs, inspired by this Pinterest find.  I added artificial flowers leftover from last year, and a sweet flocked bunny I won from a blog giveaway at Goodbye House, Hello Home a few years ago.

I love the color the eggs and bunnies and flowers bring into the room.  It feels like spring.

Our wedding and engagement pictures have been on our mantle for a while now, and I’m feeling it is time for a change.  I’ve searched for ideas and landed on a few that I’m working on.

If you are looking for more Easter ideas, here is my Pinterest inspired Easter wreath.  
How do you celebrate Easter? 
Check out the fun craft parties I link to on my right sidebar.  

Let’s Make an Easter Wreath

Easter is my favorite holiday.
Spring is my favorite season.
I really love the joy of Jesus risen and all of the bloom of new life.
I searched Pinterest for spring and Easter decorating inspiration and found this and this and decided to combine them using my interchangeable burlap wreath that I made here.
Here’s how it came about:
I stripped the Valentine’s Day stuff off the burlap wreath and wrapped the bottom of it in haute fur yarn, pinning the ends of it into the wreath with straight pins. Then I cut individual daisies off the daisy chain ribbon and pinned them into the “grass” using coordinating straight pins.  I arranged a few plastic Easter eggs in the grass using the straight pins and moved them until I was happy with their placement.
I created the words using dollar store pipe cleaners and ribbon leftover from the nursery decorating.
You can find the pipecleaner letter directions found here.
I couldn’t decide where to put my lil birdie.  I moved him around and took him off and put him back on.  He sticks in with yet another straight pin, so it was super easy to move him.  What do you think- bird or no bird?
He ended up here.
 I’m super happy with the way it turned out.
 The letters were WAY more difficult than I thought they would be.
Pipecleaner molding is not my best skill, apparently.
I also had a bit of a fiasco with the ribbon.  I ran out on the happy and had to go back and make it super tight so it would cover the whole thing.  In between I went to Hobby Lobby to find another spool of ribbon.  They were out.  They had just received a huge shipment of literally every other type of ribbon except the one I needed.  A craftastrophe! Oh well.  It all worked out in the end.
 Does the Easter Bunny visit your house?

Happy Easter!

Here we are, giant belly and uncooperative wiener dog included.  We hope that you and yours had a wonderful day celebrating our risen Lord.  

Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.  
-Hebrews 7:25

Teaching Kids to Give

Giving our money, time, and love to others is an outpouring of God’s love for us. Teaching our kids to have giving hearts is important to us, because it will enrich their lives and help them to be people of gratitude rather than entitlement. Teaching kids to give can be a challenge, but it is worth it. We talk about giving, model service in front of them, give them opportunities to serve with us and each other, and try to lead by example. This week I got the kids involved in a giving project for my very favorite non-profit outreach ministry (YoungLives – a Christian outreach to teen moms & their babies), and tied it in to a story from The Jesus Storybook Bible.

A Lesson on Giving with Easter Eggs

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DIY Resurrection Eggs for Toddlers and Preschool Kids

DIY Resurrection Eggs for Teaching Toddlers and Preschoolers about Easter - Made to Go with the Jesus Storybook BibleEaster is one of my favorite holidays, bringing a joyful celebration of faith to our family every year. Though the holiday itself is filled with joy, the season of Lent reminds us of the suffering of Christ and is difficult to teach to young children. While teaching about Christmas is easy, because babies are fun and easy to celebrate, the Cross and Easter are a bit of a challenge. I created a set of DIY Resurrection Eggs for toddlers and preschoolers and paired them with stories from The Jesus Storybook Bible to help us teach our kids about the real meaning of the holiday. We still celebrate with bunnies and chocolate and cute Easter outfits, but this activity is simple to create and really explains it in a way kids can understand. Be sure to check out our other fun ideas for Easter here.

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Dreaming of a Vacation in Puerto Rico

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Puerto Rico, The All-Star Island. All opinions are 100% mine.

dreaming of Puerto Rico

We love to travel with our family, and when winter weather hits my travel dreams turn to warm water and sandy beaches. I’ve long dreamed of a vacation in Puerto Rico and we’re hoping to make it happen soon. Why is Puerto Rico so high on my travel life list? It is easily accessible from the U.S., family friendly, and has something for everyone. Read on to find out why I’m dreaming of the crystal waters and sand in my toes right now. Live your own 5-star vacation story in Puerto Rico.

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Simple Fall Leaf Wreath Tutorial with Felt and Burlap

Simple Fall Felt Leaf Wreath Tutorial with felt and burlap

My old faithful burlap interchangeable wreath is back in business for the fall. I created a strand of colorful fall leaves from felt scraps and added a wool letter to make a simple fall leaf wreath for our front door. Who knew a pool noodle covered in burlap could be so useful? Here is the super cute Easter version of my burlap interchangeable wreath, a summer version with pinwheels, and a 4th of July version with fun tulle fireworks. If you love to change out decorations every season, a burlap wreath is the way to go. As you’ll see below, it is super easy to change it up often.

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Frugal Family Travel Tips: How to Take a BIG Trip on a Little Budget

bigtriplittlebudgetfamilytravel

We recently returned from a 26 day road trip through the southeastern United States. We visited 11 states, drove over 3000 miles, and had an amazing time. We live on a tight budget on my husband’s teacher salary (plus the part time income from this blog and my part time job with Young Life). We live debt free and don’t use credit cards at all (thanks to Dave Ramsey‘s Total Money Makeover). So, how did we take such a big trip on a little budget? We got creative, kept it simple, and made a plan we could stick to. Read on to find out tips for taking big trips when your income is small.

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Festive Fourth of July Wreath ~ Burlap + Tulle + Chevron

festive4thofjulywreath

Summer is in full swing and Independence Day is right around the corner for those of us in the United States. I created this simple and festive Fourth of July wreath for the holiday using my interchangeable burlap wreath form, ribbon, and tulle. My design could easily be shifted for other holidays or national colors. It was so easy and only took about half an hour from start to finish, since I already had the burlap wreath form created. Read on to find out how to make one for yourself.

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