Easter Basket Centerpiece

This project was created for Mama on the Fly but her website was hacked and I'm not sure when she will get it posted but I wanted to share here so there is still time for you to get creating before Easter hops away!

Easter Basket Centerpiece

Here is what you need to get started:

Easter Basket - any size will work - mine is about 8-10" in diameter.

A block of styrofoam - I used a disk - see photo
Floral Tape
Floral Picks with wires
Bunches of greenery and flowers. Choose flowers and greens you like but keep in mind the size of your basket when picking. A larger basket can accommodate larger flowers, a smaller basket needs smaller pieces. I think the best choice includes greenery that is in 2 different sizes - a little larger leaf and a little smaller leaf, and the same thing with the flowers - grab some larger ones and a bunch of smaller ones.

Additional tip: I chose a pansy flower bunch, not only because I love them but also because they are a great flower to cluster together - they look natural when they are bunched together.

You may also need wire cutters.

Here are some photos of my supplies:

Start with your basket and styrofoam. I didn't want my styrofoam sinking to the bottom of the basket so I folded up a small old hand towel and put it in the basket first and then laid the stryfoam on top it.

I used the floral tape to secure the styrofoam so it stays in place and isn't wiggling around while I'm working.

Grab your larger greenery bunch and cut it into single strands. I like the look of something that is viney so that is what I started with. In this case, the branches were all wired so I could simple stick the cut end right into the stryofoam. Start adding greenery around the edges, going into the styrofoam at a horizontal angle and allow the greens to spill over the edge of the basket. Continue to fill in around the edges and then add shorter pieces to the center. This will look fairly messy and somewhat "bald" but that's ok!

Here is my basket with the main greenery added:

Yep, see all those empty spots? We'll get those filled in shortly.

I then cut apart my smaller bunch of greenery and because these were not wired, I added a floral pick to each stem as shown below.

This will give support to the branch and give you something firm to insert into the styrofoam. Add these pieces throughout the basket as well.

Now we get to the flowers. The pansies I used had very long stems, so I cut them down to a shorter length and then just started inserting each cluster into the stryfoam. If your flowers include leaves, keep the leaves on! This will help fill up those blank spaces.

It's starting to come together! Keep filling in with flowers and greenery until your basket is pretty full.

The last step is to add your second, tinier flower as a little filler. Cut apart and don't use bunches that are too big. This should just be a little extra pop of color and interest. Here is a close-up with my smaller flowers added in:

And you're done! If you want, you can add a bow to the handle but if you have colorful flowers, you may want to leave it as is - a bow may just overwhelm the entire piece.

And here is another look at the final arrangement:

The nice thing about this arrangement is that, after Easter, you can carefully untape the styrofoam from the basket, work the floral arrangement out of the basket and place it in a different container so you can display your arrangement all summer long!

All products purchased at Hobby Lobby. Total cost approximately $25.00. Your price may vary depending on items chosen and current sales.

A little home decor project

I've been doing a little updating/redecorating around the house the past few weeks and I picked up a little frame at Michael's that I thought would be perfect in my living room. But then I got it home and had no idea what to put in it. Not because I don't have photos - God knows I have plenty of those! - but I also have a number of photos already displayed in my house and did I really need another? Um, no.

So I turned the frame into the base for a simple craft project. First the results and then the details:

Not the greatest photo - I took this last night with a flash so it's not the most accurate. Here's another photo without the flash - also not the best photo but you get the idea:

So my little coppery colored frame had a 4x4 opening. I knew I wanted a little word art centered around "family" so I went online and googled Word Cloud and ended up at Word It Out. There I added all the words I wanted included and was even able to choose word colors, fonts, sizes, and a variety of layouts with my chosen words. Once I had an arragnement of words I liked, I simply right clicked on the image and printed on my home printer, using a heavier paper than basic printer paper. I cut my word cloud image down to make a nice sized "almost" square image and then mounted it on a very thin coppery colored paper and then onto a navy cardstock (some of my words are also navy). I removed the glass from the frame and slipped in the finished piece and then mounted a flower to the corner with foam tape. That's it. An easily altered piece of home decor.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back soon with some more artwork and a catch up on my crazy week...

Autumn Centerpiece with Mama on the Fly!

If you follow me on Facebook, then you have already heard this news. I am teaming up with local blogger Carolyn Savage at her Mama on the Fly blog to bring you some crafty goodness!

I have a photo to share with you of the fall centerpiece I created this time around but to get all the step-by-step photos and directions, I encourage you to visit Carolyn's blog. And while you're there, check out the rest of Carolyn's site. She has a lot to offer and you may find she is a familiar name. In the Toledo area, the Savage name is well-known, but across the country, Carolyn and husband Sean have been in the news regarding their heartbreaking story about an "botched" invitro process that left Carolyn pregnant with another couple's baby and how the Savages decided to continue the pregnancy and give the gift of life to another couple struggling with infertility. Her story is at her site and you can read further in her book, Inconceivable. I highly recommend it!

So on to the project! My "assignment" was to create a fall centerpiece. Well, if you've visited by blog for some time now, you know I am predominantly a paper crafter. But I have dabbled in all sorts of crafty endeavors so I was up to the challenge! Here is the final project:

I also created a couple of accessory pieces but you'll have to pop over to Mama on the Fly to see those. And if you're in the Toledo area (or have iHeart Radio), be sure to tune in tomorrow morning to 101.5 The River about 7:30-8 am when Carolyn is "on air" talking about this project. And maybe me. I hope she has good things to say!  :)

Have a great Wednesday!