Motivate ME Monday!~ 7 Things to Enjoy about the Easter Holiday

*Please note that this post contains affiliated links.*

When it comes to the Easter Holiday I always seem to be running late. My holiday projects never seem to get done and I seem to always be out shopping for basket treats or my brunch menu at the last minute. This year I said it was going to be different! I was going to be prepared and able to relax and enjoy the holiday! With Easter a week away, I am totally unprepared! No basket treats! Still have unfinished craft projects and I haven't even thought of what to have on my Easter brunch menu. 
 Even though I am always racing to finish up my Easter planning, I always have an enjoyable day.  As I was attempting to get on track with Easter, I came up with: 7 Thing to Enjoy about the Easter Holiday! This roundup will show you some traditional Easter favorites and some of my family's traditional Easter favorites! Enjoy!

1. Easter pictures~ Okay, this one is just a personal favorite of mine. It might be a little weird, but I love those roundups of funny pictures of kids with the Easter bunny. It always makes me laugh when I see the older pictures of kids in the 80's!  Buzzfeed has a ton of funny roundups! The roundup, "31 Kids who had their lives ruined by the Easter bunny" has everything I like about these photos. If I need a laugh I am sure to find it in one of Buzzfeed's holiday and kids roundups! 

2. Dying Easter Eggs~ Growing up dying Easter eggs was not a big deal in my house. Now that I have my own baby girl, I am super excited to make dying Easter eggs a yearly tradition. There are so many awesome ways to dye eggs! These 3 are my top favorite that I want to try!

A. Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs from Your Homebased Mom

B. Silk Dyed Eggs from Foxflat's Blog

C. How to Dye Easter Eggs with Shaving Cream from A Thrifty Mom

I've pinned these all to my Holiday Pinterest Board!Come take a look at them and all the other fun holiday projects that I can't wait to do. 

3. Cherry Blossom Season~ I went to college in Philadelphia and every year the start of Easter would mean the start of cherry blossom season. Cherry blossoms smell so sweet and they are very pretty.  There is always a cherry blossom festival. During the festival there would be awesome demonstrations like origami, tea ceremonies, and calligraphy. If you never been to a cherry blossom festival you should look one up! They are are always around Easter so start checking to see if there is one in your area!

4. Projects~ This year I wanted to try so many different projects! I really wanted to try to deco-podge eggs. I have bought the paper mache eggs and even have some inspiration pinned to my Holiday Pinterest board, but yeah like I said way behind. I did finish one project! My Spring Basket Wreath! I love making wreaths, they always seem to be the project that I complete first! (You can also check out the wreath I made last year, a DIY Felt Easter Wreath)

5. New Swim Suits~ This was one of my family's tradition growing up! Right before Easter we would all go out shopping for new swim suits! Then our new swim suits would be in our Easter baskets. ( they were from the "Easter Bunny" lol) I love the beach and was always excited (and still am) when I get to go swim suit shopping! 

Swim suits can be very expensive! But this year I have a secret weapon; Zulily! I just signed up to be a member. It does not cost anything to be a member and you get great deals on anything from clothes for your whole family to household decor! And the prices are unbeatable! The designers are no joke, too! I found a very cute Kenneth Cole skirted bikini bottom for only $9.99!!!! You have to go over and sign up! 

6. Basket hiding instead of hiding eggs~ So my family didn't do the whole Easter egg hunt thing. We might of done it a few times as kids at church, but my parent's did not hide eggs! Instead they hid our Easter baskets! It was always fun trying to find our baskets. If you found one of your siblings you were allowed to re-hide it. Sometimes they were hidden inside and out. And just because my sister's was inside the house did not mean my parents hid all of ours inside. I plan on keeping this tradition with my baby girl, but adding a twist! A twist like you have to find a few eggs first to get clues to  where your basket is at! (oh I need to remember that twist lol)

7. Big Dinner~ We always had dinner at my Grammy's on Easter! She always said that Easter was a good enough reason to buy the good stuff and cook a big dinner! Last year for Easter I did a brunch for me and the hubby. oh and I did go out and buy the good stuff!  One of my favorite parts about all holidays is that I get to cook BIG! I was hopping that this year my menu would of been done already so I could do a post about Easter menu planning. Last year I remember being at Whole Food on the Saturday night before Easter. (It was crazy in there) That will be me again this year! LOL!

For me these are the most 7 enjoyable things about Easter! What do YOU enjoy most about the Easter holiday?

Motivate ME Monday!~Spring Basket Wreath

For us the first day of spring was a bust! The weather was cold and rainy :( I was really hoping that the first day of spring would bring warm weather and a sunny day! So what better to do on a crappy day....Craft!

I made a felt Easter wreath last year. Don't worry if you missed that post just, click here! So this year I wanted something totally different. During Easter I always have a few decorated, filled baskets as decor. While shopping for something different to put in my baskets this year I envisioned this Spring Basket hanging on my door!

I bought a cheap basket from the dollar store and the embellishments at Micheal's. I put a little hot glue on the inside around the handle and the seam right before where I cut it. I also hot glued a little piece of cardboard to the back to keep the grass contained. The only downside is that the handle is not straight. But I still love it! It came out super cute! It also only took me about an hour from start to finish( I did have a bit of help from the Hubby, lol). This Spring Basket is just what my front door needed!

Do you have a BIG spring projects planned? What's your favorite spring crafting trend?

DIY Felt Easter Wreath

YAY! Spring has arrived! 

I don't know about you, but I am so thrilled that winter is over. We had a long snowy winter here in VA Beach and spring could not get here fast enough for me. Spring colors are my favorite and the colors in my Easter wreath scream SPRING! I have become addicted to making wreaths, so I had to create one for Easter. And I am so pleased with how it turned out.

To create this Easter wreath you will need:

1. Straw wreath (still wrap in it's plastic)
2. 4 different colors of felt
3. Scissors
4. Crafting pins or sewing pins
5. Hot glue
6. Any embellishments that you love

I started out by cutting my felt into strips. Cutting the strips took me the longest. Once that was done I started wrapping my wreath. I started with my favorite color and criss crossed each color around my wreath. I secured the strips with my crafting pins. Wrapping it took no time at all, until I got back to where I started. I wanted it to look perfect, but could not get the criss cross pattern once I got back to beginning. That is where my cute embellishments came in. Embellishments are perfect for hiding spots that you don't like. I used my hot glue to add the letters, flowers and Easter eggs. 

Before you run off and make your own wreath tell me...What other creative fun crafts are you making for spring?

This post has been featured on:

   

Valentine's Day DIY Felt Wreath

Valentine's day has always been just another swamped work day for me. Try asking your chef if you can have off on Valentine's day to go out to eat with your hubby! In the restaurant business this is a huge, long weekend!

Now that I am a stay-at-home mom, I don't have to worry about a working a busy night at some restaurant. I never worked at a restaurant that really decorated for the holiday, but I get the image in my head of that scene in Sex in the City movie, where Carrie and Miranda are sitting in that crowed restaurant decorated for Valentine's day with all the balloons and streamers. 

I love decorating, but that was too much. I decided that I would add a V-day touch to my house. Anything that I can make myself is even better! I like to have a wreath at my door, but I hated all the pre-made ones at the stores. That was OK though, it gave me a reason to be crafty!

For this wreath I used felt. Felt is so easy to use! I cut the felt into scallop pattern shapes. It took 18 of each color for this wreath. Once you have your scallop patterns cut, wrap your wreath. I used little push pins to keep the felt in place. I used hot glue to hold the letters on. Once you have your patterns cut, it takes no time to finish this wreath!

What you will need:

1. 1 straw 18" wreath
2. 1 box of Push Pins
3. Scalloped-edge pattern
4. 3 different colors of felt ( I got my felt at Micheal's, so I used the sheets of felt. I used 6 of those sheets for one color)
5. Scissors
6. Hot glue
7. Some type of fun Valentine's Day lettering.

This wreath is just the start of my DIY Valentine's crafts. I am going to make a banner for across my fire place, something heartfelt for my holiday tree, and maybe even a special Valentine's card for the Hubby.

What fun projects are you creating for Valentine's Day?

PS. Please don't forget to like Always Savory on Facebook!

Burlap Christmas Wreath

I do have a crafty side!

My neighbors and I love to craft together! We always have fun Saturday night Pinterest parties!  We create a Pinterest party board that we all pin our ideas on. We each pin a project and something yummy to eat to bring to our party. There is always a delicious cocktail or two pinned on the board too! Crafting, food, and drinks. What better way to spend a Saturday night!

We seriously have our Pinterest parties once or twice a month! We have a secret weapon at our Pinterest parties and her name is Crafty Kara. She always helps inspire us to make awesome, creative crafts, and helps us to get going again when we have a brain freeze! ( you should check out her blog! Happy Go Lucky! She has some amazing crafts on there) I have made glitter pumpkins, wine cork magnets, a Halloween wreath, etc... but my Christmas wreath turned out the best by far. 

I am so proud of my wreath! It was so easy to create. Everything on this wreath is attached with crafting pins. The straw wreath I used made it so simple to pin. I was able to pin something and then readjust it to my liking. The wreath took two rolls of burlap. One roll to wrap the wreath and another to make the poofs. When I saw the deer burlap I knew that I had to use it. It was the whole inspiration behind my wreath. The second I saw the deer burlap I was brought back to the rustic style of my dad's house at Christmas. The bow was hand-made too! I had to watch a video on YouTube to figure it out and have another one of my awesome neighbors help, but after watching the video a few times we got it! What I enjoy about making this wreath was the trial and error process. I was constantly repining until it was perfect. The only downside to this wreath is waiting until after Thanksgiving to hang it!

Oh wait! Before you go. Tell me what awesome project or yummy treat would you bring to the Pinterest party!