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When I first heard that Easter was on April 1st, I thought for sure someone was trying to pull an early April Fool’s joke. Turns out I was wrong and they were right – Easter is on April 1st this year!
As if to continue the odd joke, it is the middle of February and our weather currently feels like spring. Never before have I felt so far behind so early. Goodness Golly, it is the middle of February! While it is a warmer winter/spring than what is normal, and we may still get a freeze, it is a good reminder that Spring is on our doorstep.
I have been doing better at getting ahead of things this year. While the pre-planning for Valentines Day this year did not happen as I had hoped it would, I did hit the after-holiday sales and am set for next year’s gifts, treat bags, and cards all at 50-75% off!!!
To keep the ball rolling, I decided to tackle a few other ideas and get a step up on Easter decorating. We are not huge Easter Bunny fans, so no Easter Egg Trees like I had growing up. Instead our decorations will focus on the Christian aspect of the Easter celebration – Jesus’ crucifixion (Good Friday) and resurrection from the tomb (Easter).
The decorations this year will fulfill two roles – a garden craft and an update of a front door wreath that really should have been tackled a few years back. Looking to keep our budget small and incorporate several items we already had, I made my plans then loaded up the kids and headed to the local Dollar Tree.
The Front Door Wreath
When we were moving a year ago, there were items I had to decide whether to take or pass along. This wreath was one items that I hemmed and hawed about for a few minutes. It was an item I had picked up second hand years ago. By this point in its life, the accessories has seen better days – they were looking faded, dusty, and fairly droopy. However, the wreath itself was in good shape, a nice big twig wreath. So, it made the move with the intent to update it once we were here.
When I decided to add a seasonally themed wreath to the door, this sorely outdated wreath came to mind, “If I take off the current accessories and add new ones, the whole wreath will look brand new.” That is just what I did.
After a quick stop at the Dollar Tree, I found a sign to use. It was large enough not to get lost from a distance and simple enough to read as one goes my the house. I then chose flowers along a complimentary color scheme. Too many colors would have made it look busy and lacking.
Then the hard messy part began – clearing off all the old accessories (ivy, fake flowers, ribbons, etc.).
The ribbons were fairly easy to remove, as they were stuck in between the sticks of the wreath with short metal spikes. The greenery, however, was harder. The flowers were hot glued on and the ivy was tied on with small bits of wire. A little muscle and an old pair of scissors made short work of getting down to the base.
I could now see what I had to work with, thankful I did not throw this out last year.
To make the most of the two flower bunches I had, I removed each flower stem from the group. There is wire in the middle of each plastic stem, though not too thick so a pair of scissors and slow firm clips easily separated them. Now I could mix them up and weave them in place as I wished.
I tried a few ways of arranging the flowers before choosing one method. A ribbon was even added at one point, so see if something further was needed. By taking pictures, I was easily able to compare various looks and see the overall effect from further away. (These photos were taken with utility in mind, not aesthetics for posting online.)
After looking, and asking opinions, I decided to nix the ribbon and keep it simple. If the ribbon had been wire trimmed then perhaps it would have worked. As it was, this was a bit of very floppy ribbon from my craft supplies and was not laying right.
I think the over all reinvention of this wreath was a success. I love how it goes with the color of my door and has a fresh clean look to it. All for only $3! Easter At Dollar Tree – Everything Is Just $1
note: I am aware it is hanging crooked and it is driving me crazy. I tried to fix it at that time, but had to head inside to make supper. I did straighten it some this morning, but need to go back out and do a better job of getting it all hanging correctly. Right now I am happy to have it hanging and not still sitting in the attic and on my to-do list.
Resurrection Garden
While at the Dollar Tree getting supplies for the wreath above, I also picked up a few supplies I needed to finish making a resurrection garden. This is an idea I saw online and thought would be a great reminder to have at home, to bring our thinking back to what we are celebrating. Contrary to what the kids may think, the main focus of Easter (for us) is not eating chocolate Easter bunnies and finding brightly colored eggs around the yard. Sorry, kids.
I already had an extra pot, but needed to pick up: soil, a small clay pot, stones, and grass seed. 3 of those 4 things were to be found at the Dollar Tree. A few dollars more were spent on a small bag of seed from a big box store nearby.
The supplies for this project included:
- soil
- small clay pot
- larger pot or dish
- pebbles
- grass seed
- larger rock*
- small sticks*
*I have yet to acquire these items, but am on the look out for them.
The time to put this together was less than 5 minutes, though it will take several days for the grass to sprout and begin growing.
First, due to the depth of my pot, I added soil to the bottom. Not wanting to have to cut a pot in half, as I had seen other tutorials do, I turned the pot on its side and partially buried it in the soil.
I then covered the back of the clay pot and the back half of the larger pot with extra soil, making a mound.
The smaller clay pot is set off-center, allowing me to make a trail out of the pebbles leading up the mound. Once I find some small sticks I will add 3 crosses to the top of the ‘hill’.
Lastly, I sprinkled grass seed on the soil and moistened it with a spray bottle. Each day I will moisten it again and should see grass appearing in about a week’s time.
This will make a great visual aid in telling the Easter story, as well as a reminder of why we are celebrating the season.
There you have it, two fairly quick, budget-friendly Easter decorations for your garden. This last one would be especially great to bring some green to your home if you are in the midst of a dreary winter and are antsy for something to grow.
What are some of the ways you are decorating this year? Share in the comments below, I would love to hear about or see what you have been working on.
