Nothings is grander than Easter in the Gardens of the Kingdom.
Whats up Flock! This years Easter project is one of the most dear to my heart projects I have ever done. Here is a little backstory before we dig in to far.
Granny's Tree
Growing up in the small town of Osceola Arkansas everyone knew everyone and everyone was family, I'm sure some of y'all can relate. Two doors down from my childhood home lived one of the Greatest Women of all time, her name was Ann Stokes, but she was known around town as Granny Stokes. She took in all the kids and treated us like family, she was an ear to listen, a friend to talk to, a teacher of all games, she was a best friend. She had a way to teach you a life lesson even if all you were doing was making an ice cream sunday. Granny had this tree in her front yard that seemed to be 15ft tall when I was little, but it was probably more like 5ft. Every Spring Granny would pull out her brown paper shopping bags full of crocheted eggs that she had made and hang them on this tree, it was one of the most magical things to see. I sat with her on her swing several days and would watch her crochet around plastic eggs and add to her bags, There had to be 1000 or more eggs. So this tree and Granny Stokes were the inspiration for this years project. I decided I would set out to make my own eggs and mix them with flowers (because Granny loved to work on her flower beds). So that brings you up to speed on how, Easter in the Gardens came to be...
Egging A Tree.
I really wanted to conquer this crochet thing for these eggs but the more I tried the worse I seemed to get, lol, so after a little research I found out a thing called a loom where you can kinda get the same look. You can purchase a set of 4 looms from Hobby Lobby and they are super easy to use. I ended up making 70 eggs in different sizes and colors, I will probably make more for next year and use them for something every year from now on.
A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love.
-Max Muller
Another life lesson learned from Granny..
Granny loved her flowers more than most people loved people, lol. I figured why not make my own lil garden in the dinning room using all the fake flowers I had. I wanted something dramatic and as always over the top so I started out with the table center piece. Using flowers and urns from my wedding, because of course I kept that stuff because I figured I could use it again, I started to do a mock set up to see what else I would need. Once I sat things in place I thought ... OHHHH I NEED BIG EGGS! So big egg hunting I went, I was lucky to find large gold eggs at Party City ,and at a great price. After adding the eggs to my urns I decided that it was maybe a little to much and thought they would look better done like the crocheted eggs I did for the tree. The eggs are pretty large and I wasn't sure I could do them so I decided that maybe I would try and make some type of slip cover for them. Off to the thrift store I went to find a black and white sweater maybe. I did find a sweater and figured why not cut the sleeves off and sew up the end of the sleeve and push the egg in and then sew the other end up. It Worked! So here is a picture of the Egg Urns I made.
Flowers, Flowers, Flowers..
A ranunculus by any other name.
If you remember the post from my wedding then you will remember that I used Ranunculus flowers instead of traditional roses. I used those same flowers for this project and joined them with some others I had growing in my closet. I wanted to make a flower bed on my table so I started off by adding eggs in a swerve line from one urn to the next and then filling in between them with all of my flowers. By doing this I was able to create the look of a small flower bed growing up from my astro turff table runner DIY project from last week. Once I had the shape I wanted I added more eggs to fill in any empty areas.
Set a place for me..
Place settings for Brunch..
I always like a plate charger when setting the table, I think it gives a more "Regal" look to the table. I am using some great DIY Astro Turff placemats for on this table. Gold plate chargers on top with a simple white egg holder with a black egg and a DIY velvet mushroom (directions to come soon). I wanted to keep the place setting simple so it wouldn't take away from the centerpiece. You will notice I alternated between Blue and Pink for the mushrooms for a little more whimsy and color.
I'm Late, I'm Late For a very important date...
The white Rabbit is always late...
Any Easter function needs a rabbit. I pulled out my White Rabbit from last years Easter decorations and added him to my buffet table along with a rabbit lamp from Target and and gold manzanita tree that I added some flowers on to. I also had some extra Astro Turff so I made another runner for this table. This all makes for a simple but really cute buffet table. You can see the full table in the background of this picture and a close up of the Bunny and Tree in the next.
Decorate high, Decorate Low..
I like to decorate anything that stands still long enough, lol. I normally do a letter board on my Buffet with the theme of the event or project but this time I decided to do it on top of my china cabinet. I loved my Target Bunny Lamp so much that I got a second one. I added My lamp along with the message board, some flowers, oversize eggs and manzanita branches to the top of the china hutch and I kinda fell in love with it!
Ceramic Christmas trees!
Not just for Christmas...
I will find any excuse to pull out my ceramic trees. I know they were made to be a cute Christmas item but with just the change of some bulbs you can use them for any holiday.
I decided to use some vintage tin eggs, a ceramic bunny mixed with the white trees with pink, blue, and purple bulbs, doesn't it look great on top of the peach tv stand!
entering the gardens..
"A garden isn't meant to be useful. It's for joy." - Rumer Godden
The foyer of my home is the spot of welcoming friends and its the first look at the home so it brings me joy. I didn't want to do much for this room so I went with a tall glass vase filled with spanish moss and metallic eggs with bright yellow berry steams coming from the top. I also added some egg garland down each side of the mirror. The bright blue color of the wall and the whimsy of the white and gold animal heads make this lil room one of the happiest places in the house.
So this is my tribute to The great lady known to all of the lil kids of our small town as Granny Stokes. I would like to think she would have loved to come over and maybe have an ice cream sunday at Easter in the Gardens. I hope y'all get inspired to decorate your home for Easter and if you do please share it with me. I would love to see what you all come up with! Untill next time Flockers stay Crafty!!
Live Happily Evercrafter