DIY Easter Twigs

Easter twigs are an essential part of traditional Easter decor. Here in Finland it is still winter on Easter. Easter twigs have been used to count how many days it is till leaves arrive to the trees. If I remember correct the number of days it takes for twigs to get leaves when brought in is the number of weeks it takes for the spring to be here. Because Easter twigs have been used to wish good luck for friends, relatives and neighbors I came up with the idea to decorate twigs with cute little gift tags. To the tags I wrote words that come to my mind when I think about Easter and Spring. You could also write short poems or wish good luck for the one you give an Easter twig. On an Easter table setting these simple and beautiful words work well and bring positive associations.

This is a fun and relaxing one evening craft. The materials are easy to get from store and you don't need to go to a specialized craft store if you don't have time. At least here in Finland bigger grocery stores sell cardboard paper and Easter craft supplies like feathers.

You will need:

Cardboard in subtle pink or white

Feathers in white, natural white and brown

Cotton yarn

Twigs

Black marker

Pencil

Ruler

Scissors

Needle

Step 1. Make a model for the gift tag. Draw 4 cm high and 2 cm wide tag and cut 0.5 cm from the corners. Then draw gift tags to the cardboard paper with the model. Write something to the gift tags with black marker.

Step 2. Cut out the tags and use a needle to add a hanging yarn. Hang gift tags and attach the feathers to the twigs. Choose a vase that goes with the natural hues of the paper, twigs and feathers.

Happy New Week to You All!

Sannu

Comb Ceramic Inspired Easter Eggs

Easter is not so far away and I think it is time for a small Easter DIY project. I am not taking huge pressure about Easter decorations. Although I have to tell you about a nightmare I had in January. I saw a dream that Easter had gone and I hadn't decorated any Easter twigs and in that dream I was very sad about that and thought that now I have to wait another year to make things correct. It is a bit funny actually that after that dream I knew it was a nightmare but now that I think about it it would't be that tragic if I don't have any Easter twigs, laugh. But because of that dream and the feeling of disappointment I had in that dream I have already bought feathers to make Easter twigs. Also this Easter my friend from the other side of Finland is coming to spend the holidays with me so I want my home to look festive. Some decorative eggs, Easter twigs with feathers, Easter grass and a bunch of chocolate treats will do the thing. I have a storage full of decorations I have made during the years so I might bring some of my favorites to display. 

My recipe for a relaxed celebration is to spend some time with a simple craft that goes with the theme. Every now and then I like to put hands in clay so to speak and mold and ponder what shape the it will take. When I concentrate on some simple project it allows me to focus that moment and forget all the busy thoughts that sometimes occupy the mind. The best thing about this Easter Egg DIY is that the technique is easy and materials needed are minimal. In this DIY project you get to examine nature's own patterns, plan what kind of pictures to draw and feel the material taking shape. I got the inspiration for this project from the current terracotta trend and old comb ceramic objects that have the most interesting patterns. 

You will need:

Plastic Eggs

DAS Modelling Material in Terracotta Color

Water

Tools to make patterns:

Get creative and look what you have in your cupboards. 

Look for example shells, wooden sticks, forks, knives, buttons, pearls, yarn..

Step 1. Cover the egg with modelling material. Put some water to your hands to make the material work better. Use knife if needed to make the surface about even.

Step 2. If you need guide lines to make the decorating easier, yarn is a great help.

Step 3. Decorate the egg with some pattern tool or draw triangles and lines with a toothpick. Here you can see some examples of tools that make interesting patterns. Shells are wonderful and create beautiful organic shapes. With a chopstick it was easy to make a fun dotted egg. Herringbone and triangles I have drawn with a toothpick. 

Step 4. Let the eggs dry about 24 hours or more. Turn the eggs to make them dry from all sides. Now you have trendy terracotta colored Easter eggs that go to different styles from minimalist to bohemian.

Inspiring new week to you all!

Sannu

Delicious Food for the Easter Menu

Happy Easter week! It is time for some food inspiration. What I love about Easter is that stores begin to offer spring and summer flavors like new potatoes, asparagus and courgette. Yet the weather is a bit chilly which gives a nice excuse to serve dishes with warm spices and lot of taste. This Easter I come with three new (lacto-)vegetarian recipes to include to the Easter menu: Spicy Amaranth Chickpea Patties, Festive Asparagus Potato Salad and Courgette Tomato Focaccia.

Spicy Amaranth Chickpea Patties work in the Easter buffet as a vegetarian option but are also a great evening snack when reading a book or watching telly. Amaranth was a new thing for me before I came across with a package at the local grocery store last week. Of course I had to try it, just google it and you will learn how great it´s nutritional values are. If something has nourished us for 8000 years it must be working! If you taste bare cooked amaranth the first time you might find out that the taste is quite strong. The taste reminded me from beetroot and spinach. When combined with chickpeas you will get a great texture. Sweet sun dried tomatoes, garlic and basil make these patties so tasty they will vanish from your plate before you get an Instagram picture (at least I had major problems not to eat all before getting pictures :P).

Asparagus is one of the signs of spring. When piles of asparagus arrive to the stores I pick a package and eat it cooked with melted butter. In this festive salad I combined the asparagus with new potatoes, parsley, salad cheese and olives. This salad is also a beautiful dish to put on your Easter menu, just place the asparagus buds as a final touch to the surface to make it look even more luxurious.

I still remember the first time I tasted focaccia. It was 2009 and my first trip to London. It tasted so delicious with tomatoes, garlic and red onion as a topping. Same time it was savory and sweet. It would be so wonderful to have this courgette focaccia, dark coffee and orange juice as a breakfast on Easter morning. It would taste equally as good in an Easter menu with great salad. It is you to choose if you can save it for dinner!

Spicy Amaranth Chickpea Patties

1 1/2 dl dried chickpeas

3/4 dl amarantha

1 large onion

vegetarian oil

3 garlic cloves

1 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp talkkuna flour (I think chickpea flour would also do)

1/2 fresh basil

1/2 dl sun dried tomatoes in oil

olive oil

breadcrumbs

spices: 

1/4 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cardamom

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

NB! You can put less or more spice according to taste!

1. Let the chickpeas be over night in cold water and then cook with little bit of salt. Let cool down.

2. Cook amaranth according to the package. Let cool down.

3. Mince the onion and sweat with vegetarian oil. Add spices to the mix and heat for while. Take off from the heat.

4. Mince the sun dried tomatoes, garlic and basil.

5. Put ingredients together and squash with hand blender. Add talkkuna flour and lemon juice. Mix properly.

6. Put breadcrumbs to a bowl. Using two spoons lift a small amount off pastry to the bowl and cover with bread crumbs. Take the soft pastry lump from the breadcrumbs and form it to a patty and lift to the baking paper. Make about 16 patties. 

7. Brush some olive oil to the patties and bake 25 minutes in 200 Celsius degrees.

8. Serve with a dip sauce.

***

Festive Asparagus Potato Salad

asparagus

small new potatoes

cherry tomatoes

sweet red paprika

1/2 onion

parsley

black olives

salad cheese in oil & herbs

lemon juice

1. Cook asparagus and potatoes separately. Rinse cooked asparagus in cold water. Chop both asparagus and potatoes to large bites.

2. Split cherry tomatoes and olives. Chop the red paprika. Rinse 1/2 dl parsley. Mince the onion.

3. Mix all ingredients together. Add salad cheese. Add lemon juice according to taste.

***

Courgette Tomato Focaccia

1/2 courgette

3 garlic cloves

olive oil

cherry tomatoes

black olives

salt

rosemary

7 g dry yeast

6-7 dl wheat flour

1/2 dl graham flour

3 dl warm water

1/2 dl (garlic) olive oil

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp salt

1. Mix together dry yeast and 1 dl flour. Add 3 dl warm water and mix. Add 1/2 dl olive oil, sugar and salt. Mix properly. Mix in graham flour. Add flour little by little kneading properly. Stop adding more flour when the dough is firm and starts to leave from fingers. Let the dough raise for 30 minutes.

2. Put a baking paper to a baking tray. Lift the dough to the tray. Using your hands spread the dough evenly to the tray. Using your fingers make little holes to the surface. Pour some olive oil to the surface. Massage finely minced garlic and salt to the surface. Press courgette slices, chopped olives and tomatoes to the dough. Sprinkle little bit oil to the veggies plus the rosemary to the top. 

 3. Bake 15-20 minutes in 225 Celsius degrees. 

***

Have you already planned your Easter menu? Do you favor vegetarian or meat dishes? What is your must have to the Easter table?

I wish you all a wonderful Easter week!

Sannu

Easter DIY Week Part 3: Decorative Bird Nest

Can you believe that it is already Friday? Where has this fun and inspiring week gone? I have to say that I really enjoyed making this 3 part Easter DIY series. It was nice to plan the ideas, style and take photos. I had problems waiting for the Easter DIY days, as I wanted to show you my projects right away! Making a small series gave me needed routine and schedule with planning, making, writing and editing, something I have been trying to find since I started blogging. Maybe I will do something like this in the future with different theme.

This week included also time for reflective work as I went through my DIY and furniture makeover archives. I truly recommend for you to do the same thing because you might find out how much work and projects you have done. It is good to sometimes start from an empty desk: look back to thighs you have finished, be proud and then begin to plan new projects. In a constant producing mood it is difficult to understand the whole picture of your work and to where you are aiming at.

Now to the last part of this Easter DIY series. Because last year I decorated so many beautiful eggs I decided that this year I won´t make any new ones. Instead I thought it might be fun to make a decorative, go with the style, bowl for the eggs. I have seen many beautiful egg decorating ideas on blogs, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter so I know there are plenty of excellent projects to try! It seems that decorating eggs is a key part of Easter decor in all over the world. Not to forget the chocolate eggs :P In the Christian tradition eggs symbolize the resurrection. Here in Finland eggs and dishes with eggs play one of the main parts on Easter table. Even though you would not fast before Easter (leaving meat, eggs and dairy) it has become a tradition to include eggs to the Easter menu as a mark for the end of the fast. 

To celebrate the beautifully decorated eggs I made these rustic paper mache bowls with golden inside. The bowls look like bird nests when you put in some paper confetti made of old book pages and a few eggs or other Easter decorations like birds or bunnies. Because it is Easter and everything is a bit upside down it is only natural to put bunny or even a rooster next to the eggs. It is quite common to hear that Easter bunny shares the eggs but have you heard about Easter rooster that lays the eggs? Decorative bird nests would look beautiful as a headpiece on a table setting with lots of eggs and flowers. One idea would be to make smaller bowls and place one on every eater´s plate with a wrapped chocolate egg in it. I styled the bowls and eggs to a cabinet with old books and bunnies to make a romantic arrangement. Now I will show you the basic technique, which is super easy, so you can make these bowls on any size you need!

***

You will need

-White paper mache (sold in bigger stores and craft shops)

-Plastic knife

-Cling film

-A pot or bowl that is the size you want the paper mache bowl to become

-Water

-Golden acrylic paint

-A brush

-Old book pages or decorative tissue paper

Step 1. Put the bowl upside down and wrap in the cling film.

Step 2. Start taking lumps of paper mache and covering the bowl. If the paper mache is a bit dry wet your hands. It is also easier to mold the paper mache with wet hands. Start using the knife to spread the paper mache evenly to the bowl surface.

Step 3. Decorate the paper mache bowl by making patterns with the knife. Let the work dry properly.

Step 4. Remove gently the bowl from the bowl that worked as a mold. Don´t be afraid of little cracks, you can mend them!

 Step 5. Mend the little cracks with paper mache. This one has been mended and after it has dried it has no marks of mending.

 Step 6. When the bowls have completely dried paint the inside with golden acrylic paint. Use two layers if needed.

Step 7. Fill with paper confetti and decorative eggs.

***

I really love the organic shape of the bowls. You could style these extra modern or romantic as the style goes for both. These are quick and easy to make in any size. Making process is quick and it takes about 24h the bowls to dry so this is a perfect project to do at Easter week some days before the celebration.

This style is perfect for a book worm like me. I think books are always a good choice to decorate and create a cozy atmosphere for home. If you wonder how the eggs have been decorated check my 10 Ways to Decorate Easter Eggs and learn more.

Hope you have fun time crafting Easter decorations or what ever projects you are up to this weekend! If you liked my Easter DIY projects please share on social media <3

Happy Friday Everyone!

Sannu

Easter DIY Week Part 2: Nordic Style Easter Grass Planters

Today it has been Easter weather: snow is melting rapidly, there are already small spots of bare ground in the middle of snowy forest, sun is shining and birds have begun to sing louder that some weeks ago. Of course it also means muddy streets with big water ponds but after all this all means that spring is coming on a fast speed. Now it is possible to think that there will be green grass, hot summer days and sunny nightless nights. Easter is a gate for coming spring and summer. I saw people spreading last piles of snow to make it melt faster. Stores are selling narcissus and lilies. It is said that on Easter morning sun rises dancing, which is easy to believe while looking the current weather and people´s moods. Everything is so alive! Have you counted from your Easter twigs how many days it took to get green leaves? In the old times people told from the amount of days to how many weeks it was for trees to get their small leaves.

One part of Easter is the celebration of new life and coming spring and to that green grass is an essential decoration. How many of you have grown grass in used butter box or milk can as a child? Easter grass is like a small piece of summer on a plate. Especially in these levels when there is still snow on the ground, in Easter grass one can smell the soil and growth. Usually little yellow chicks, bunnies or colorful eggs decorate the grass. Today as it is time for the second part of Easter DIY Week I am making a modern Nordic style inspired version of Easter grass planter. You can make this small and relatively easy project just in time to grow grass for Easter. In the honor of the tradition to use milk cans as a growing pot I am making my planter from an old food tin. Although you won´t be able to notice that after it has been decorated! These stylish planters would look perfect in modern Easter table setting and they fit perfectly even for a narrow window sill. You can use what ever suitable wooden material you find from your cup boards or local thrift shops. I happened to find a package of unused coffee stirrers from a thrift shop but you can use for example ice cream sticks. I also noticed that crafts shops sell same kind of wooden sticks.

***

For one planter you will need 
-properly washed food tin
-wooden coffee stirrers or for example ice cream sticks
-thin plywood
-wooden buttons
-short wooden candle stick or other similar lathed wood object
-strong glue
-Japanese saw
-sandpaper
-pen

Materials. I made two planters. One with candle stick and another with old door knob as a leg. I had to saw off that extra piece from door knob before I could use it in this project. All materials are thrifted except the plywood and used tin.

1. Using tin as a model draw a circle to the plywood and saw it off. Sand the edges. It does not have to be perfectly round as you decorate it with wooden buttons.
2. Glue coffee stirrers to the tin can and put two rubber bands around the tin so that the stirrers won´t bend. Let dry properly.

3. Glue the wooden candle stick to the middle of the plywood circle and decorate the rest of the circle  (+ candle stick) with wooden beads. Now you have the leg for your planter. Let dry properly.
4. Glue the decorated tin to the candle stick and let dry properly.
5. Planter is ready to use! Put some small stones to the bottom and fill with soil. Spread the seeds and water.

***

These planters get their finishing touch from the green grass that is allowed to be in the main role against the modest planter. It almost looks like the wooden parts are the roots for the green sprouts. In a table setting you could also use tall white table candles in some of the planters, just remember to be careful with fire and don´t let the candle burn too low. Also remember to attach the wooden leg properly to the tin.

The last 3rd part of the Easter DIY Week comes on Friday! I can reveal that you will see organic shapes and golden shine :) While waiting for Friday check my DIY page for more DIY ideas and inspiration!

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Sannu