Six Simple + Pretty Easter Egg Decorating Ideas

I don't know about y'all, but my craft-loving side comes out in full force when it comes to Easter eggs. I can't wait to dye eggs when we have our own kids one day. For the time being though, I rounded up some of my favorite simple and pretty egg-decorating ideas from around the web to share with y'all. In need of inspiration for next weekend? You've come to the right place. I also have an Easter Pinterest board if you need more ideas!

*Please remember to pin from the original source!

1 | Crafberry Bush | Golden Speckled Eggs

2 | Joy Ever After | White Painted Natural Brown Eggs

3 | Country Living | Ombre Easter Eggs

4 | Kaley Ann | Natural Brown Easter Eggs

5 | Oh Joy | Neon Dip-Dyed Eggs

6 | Paper & Stitch | Sharpie Easter Eggs

Hope y'all let your craft sides out this Easter! I can't wait to use some of these ideas myself.

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Projects and Tutorials Page Updated!

In this week's edition of behind the scenes blog updates...

The Projects and Tutorials page has been updated! If you saw last week's post, you may remember that the Home Tour page page got updated to show our current home and I've been hard at work getting the projects and tutorials page up to date as well. It's got a brand new, streamlined look, so even if you've been over there before, I hope you'll stop by and see it. I added lots of new ones to the list since I realized that many of my favorites from the past year weren't there (boo!). It's always fun to comb through the archives, and now that I've been at this blogging thing for about 2.5 years, there's a lot to see!

In other news, I also added a new category in the navigation bar called Freebies. If you click on that, you can find all the free downloads I've posted over the years including the newest March wallpapers.

We're headed out on vacation this week, so I'll be popping in every now and again, but I'll mostly be unplugged. :) Enjoy the archives and I'll be back next week!

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Himmeli Hearts: A Valentine's Day Craft {Blog Hop!}

Hello, friends! Today I'm joining five of my blogging buddies for a fun post on Valentine's craft ideas. We're just under a month away from this holiday of love, so we thought it would be fun to share a few of our ideas with y'all. Thanks to Linda (from It All Started with Paint) for organizing this!

As you can tell from the title and the opening photo of the post, I made a couple of Himmeli hearts for my craft. Are y'all familiar with Himmeli-style art? I'm kind of obsessed with it right now, and this was my first time making something in that style. It's a type of geometric art made of straws that originated in Finland, and is typically used to make simple Christmas ornaments. People have started becoming more and more creative with their Himmeli crafts and I've definitely noticed it's trending in the design world! The possibilities are endless. I'm not big on seasonal decorating for the little holidays like Valentine's day, but this modern take on the quintessential VDay symbol? Yes please.

Here's what you need to make these hearts:

• Straws (I picked these cute striped ones from the dollar section at Target)
• Thin wire (all I could find was the green floral wire below. I removed the green plastic to expose the wire. It was a pain - so if you can find thin wire, use that!)
• Scissors
• Ruler

Once you get the hang of how to do this, they're really easy to make. I followed this amazing tutorial from Oleander and Palm that was posted on Vintage Revivals, and I'm not going to reinvent the wheel today and rewrite my own. She does a much better job than I could do, and so if you like what you see today, head on over to Vintage Revivals and get the full details. Consider this post a birds-eye-view summary of how to make these Himmeli hearts :).

It's handy to get your straws in order before you starts so they're ready to go. You'll need 12 straws cut in half (so that's 24 total after cutting them), six full-length ones, one 2 inch straw and one straw with about an inch cut off the end.

As you start to put the heart together (following the directions above), it will start to take shape:

And eventually, it will look something like this!

Halfway through my first attempt at one of these, I was getting really concerned that it was going to look all janky and weird, but in the end, it all worked out. Phew! I was so proud of my handiwork that I made one more big one (like the one above) in black and another tiny one in red. 

I think they look mighty cute together, don't you?

Now I want to Himmeli all the things! Perhaps a wreath? Or a light fixture? It would be fun to make something that can hang around all year round!

Be sure to check out the other projects from these lovely ladies below!

Recycled Beaded Hearts by Remodelando la Casa

Paper Flower Bouquet by The Happier Homemaker

Valentine's Day Painted Mason Jar Lanterns by Mom 4 Real

Mr & Mrs. Stamped Forks by It All Started With Paint

Himmeli Hearts: A Valentine's Day Craft by May Richer Fuller Be

Easy Non-Candy Valentine by Serendipity Refined

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Silver Ornament Advent Calendar {Christmas Traditions Blog Hop}

Happy Thursday y'all! Today I'm participating in a Christmas Traditions blog hop hosted by Rachel from Like a Saturday. If you're hopping over from House by Hoff, welcome!

Christmas is definitely a holiday that lends itself to lots of traditions - and we certainly have a few! One of my favorites is an Advent calendar. When I was a kid, we used to buy those cardboard ones that had a toy or a piece of chocolate behind a numbered door, and I loved it. There was always great excitement about what would be inside those little doors. 

As I've gotten older, Advent has come to mean so much more than counting down to Christmas day via chocolates and toys. It's a season of anticipation of Jesus's birth and Christians all over the world participate in this time of waiting for the four weeks leading up to Christmas. I love having a time that's set-apart each year to step back and remember the significance of why we celebrate his birth. If you're curious about this idea or want more information, I encourage you to check out this little booklet that a pastor, John Piper, has put together. This year, I'm using the SheReadsTruth Advent series as a guide as well.

Now back to the tradition of the Advent calendar! This year, I decided to make my own that can be pulled out year after year (new tradition!) using my collection of silver ornaments. My parents gave me a silver ornament each year for Christmas and I thought it would be fun to number them for each day of Advent and then put them up one at a time on our tree.

To make the calendar, I used:

• 2'x3' rug
• Piece of scrap moulding
• Ribbon
• Embroidery floss (and needle)
• Small white paper bags
• Large kraft paper tags
• Pinking shears
• Number stamps
• Gold ink

I picked up this cute cable knit rug from West Elm a few years back and it never found a good place in our home so I decided to use it for this project.

I secured a piece of scrap moulding along what would become the top using a few stitches. They're hard to see here since I used white embroidery floss, but I just alternated long straight stitches with stitches over the top. Using a piece of moulding allows this calendar to hang like a tapestry on the wall. You'll see how in a minute :).

Then I made my "ornament holders" using a kraft paper tag and a small white paper bag.

First I cut down the height of the bags using pinking shears so that the kraft tags would stick up out of the top of them.

Then I tied the ornament to the hole in the kraft tag. Makes for quite a cute little package, huh?

Then it was time to number the bags 1-25 for the calendar.

Once I finished numbering them, I sewed them onto the rug by hand using embroidery floss. To hang the calendar, I attached a big green grosgrain ribbon to the edges of the moulding and hung on a big Command hook I had attached to the wall.

Now for some beauty shots of the finished calendar!

I really love how it turned out! Now all my pretty silver ornaments are out on display until they are removed one-by-one, day-by-day.

You can see where it's hanging in our living room on my Christmas home tour from Monday.

Thanks for hopping over to hear about one of my favorite Christmas traditions today! Now it's time to hop on over to Run to Radiance and hear about hers!

Simple Red Bead Ornament

We did it! We've reached the end! Today is Day 12 of 12 Days of Handmade Ornaments. Phew! I've had a blast doing this series (even if it has pushed me to my creative limits...), and I hope y'all have enjoyed it and are leaving with lots of inspiration for handmade ornaments. There are 144 in all, which is absolutely nuts.  I'm excited to see your handmade ornaments too. Link party is at the bottom of this post!

You only need a few supplies for today's red bead ornament:

• Styrofoam ball*
• Hot glue
• Red beads
• Ornament topper (not pictured - you can see it in later photos!)

I picked up these red bead strands at Lowe's (I think?) a few years ago, and they've made appearances in various Christmas decor and projects. They're one of the few RED Christmas items I have, which is kind of hilarious since red is one of the traditional colors. My decor skews toward green, metallics and glass. You'll see that in my Christmas home tour post, which will be up the Monday after Thanksgiving!

Anyway, onto the ornament...it's really very simple to make. Wrap the beads around the styrofoam ball, hot gluing small sections as you move around. I started in the middle and then did one side at a time.

Here's the first half done:

And then the whole thing. I snagged an extra ornament topper I had and stuck it into the styrofoam so I would have a way to hang this little guy. Doesn't it look like it was made for it?

All done! See how easy that was?

Check out the other ornaments from these lovely bloggers and then link up your own at the bottom of the post (link party will open up at 8am EST)!

Simple Red Bead Ornament | May Richer Fuller Be

Christmas Music Wreath Ornament | Lovely Etc.

Nautical Jute and Rope Ornaments | Thrifty and Chic

Star Pine Cone Ornament | Cherished Bliss

Clay State Ornaments | Whats Ur Home Story

Rudolph Ornament | Mom 4 Real

Fabric Heart Ornaments | Remodelando la Casa

Easy Burlap Ornament | Bigger Than The Three of Us

Kid's Fingerprint Christmas Light Ornament | The Happier Homemaker

Mini Tinsel Wreath from Canning Lid | It All Started With Paint

Snowy Forest Glitter Ball Ornament | Serendipity Refined

Faux Mercury Glass Ornaments | All Things G&D

An InLinkz Link-up

*Disclosure: Some of the products used in this post were purchased with a gift card which I received from Michaels. Thank you, Michaels, for supporting my craftiness!

Felt Flower Ornament

Day 11 of 12 Handmade Ornaments is here, which means it's the penultimate day of this series! It's so rare that I post on the weekends, but since this series is running for 12 days in a row, that necessitates weekend posting. Needless to say, I'm planning on taking it nice and easy next week - probably just one post. It's Thanksgiving week anyway, which is a good one for taking a break!

Also, before I get to the tutorial for today's ornament, I just want to remind y'all that tomorrow (Sunday), a LINK PARTY will be going on when the last ornament posts go up. Now it's your turn to link up your own handmade ornaments! Show off your creative skills :). Since we know not everyone has started their Christmas decorating yet, we're keeping the party open for a couple of weeks to make sure you have a chance to add yours. Many of us will be showing off our favorites in the coming weeks, so don't miss this parTAY!

Monogrammed Wood Slice Ornaments

For Day 9 of the 12 Days of Handmade Ornaments series I decided to dig deep into my southern roots and make a monogrammed ornament to share with y'all! A gold and white monogrammed wood slice ornament to be precise. I actually made these last year for several friends and family members and they were a big hit. Everyone loves something with their own initials on it.

Here's how I did it:

Gold and White Banner Ornament

Nine ladies dancing...oh wait, that's the wrong 12 Days of Christmas. It's the ninth day of the 12 Days of Handmade Christmas Ornaments. Silly me. The finish line is in sight, y'all! Today's ornament is shimmery, shiny gold and white! I clearly have a thing for gold, white and clear ornaments. If you want to see the whole lineup, including plenty of gold and white, head back to Day 1.

Glitter Polka Dot Glass Ball Ornament

Today is Day 8 of 12 Days of Handmade Christmas Ornaments. That means we only have five days left (including today) of this crazy ornament party! I've got another simple one for you today: a gold polka dot glass ball ornament. I love the simplicity of today's ornament. It's festive without screaming I'M GLITTERY!! Look how shiny I am! if you know what I mean. It only took about 10 minutes to make too, which is a bonus if you're in the market for an easy handmade ornament.

Yarn Snowball Ornaments

Annnnd...welcome to Day 7 of 12 Days of Handmade Ornaments! We're more than halfway through this craziness and I must say it's been quite the ride.

 

Today we're making yarn snowball ornaments! If you've ever make yarn pom poms, guess what? These are the same thing. When they're made with fluffy white yarn however...they're like snowballs! Ta da!