Top Three DIY Easter Crafts

We are just few weeks away from Easter and I thought this would be the perfect time to review my Easter tutorials and DIY projects.

Today I will provide links to my top three tutorials from previous years and talk about two alternative ways to decorate Easter eggs (with links included).

My sister and I are going to dye Easter eggs again this year and I thought it would be fun to try two new ways to decorate our eggs (highlighted below). After trying these I will be writing a blog evaluating each process. My goal is to help direct you to the process that will work best for you and your family.

In March of 2017, I wrote three blogs on Easter gift ideas and DIY decorations.

Mason Jar Easter Gifts

The Mason jar Easter gifts gave you new and creative ways to package your Easter gifts. Also included was a free download (which is still available).  This tutorial can be found here along with the free download.

DIY: Rustic Easter Carrots

That same month I wrote another tutorial on making rustic twine carrots which can be used in Easter/Spring decorating around your home. I enjoy decorating for a variety of holidays and hope some new ideas will encourage you.  Find the Rustic Carrot tutorial here.

DIY: Easter Garland

Then we also enjoyed a tutorial on how to make your own watercolor “Easter Egg” garland, which is a perfect project to do with your children or in a classroom. In this tutorial we painted traced “egg” shapes with watercolors, cut them out and punched holes in them. Then we attached ribbon to make a garland. This idea would also work well for Easter gift tags or greeting cards. You can find this tutorial here.

Alternative Egg Decorating Ideas

There are two alternative egg decorating ideas that I am going to explore this year. One involves bleeding tissue paper and the other shaving cream! Both of these directions give you multi-colored Easter eggs and they look like they might be easier for young children and less messy than traditional methods (no cups of dye to knock over or splash on your neighbor, counter or kitchen table).

The first tutorial uses shaving cream and food coloring. All the steps are outlined here on www.athriftymom.com.

Next up is dying Easter eggs with tissue paper. The key to this one is buying “bleeding” tissue paper - the only type of tissue paper that will leave colors behind on your eggs. You can find the complete step by step process here on www.thecraftyblogstalker.com.

I will post my evaluations and pictures of the new processes soon, so look for that coming up. Until then enjoy the Easter season and find joy in the fact that spring is upon us!

Valentine's Day Feature on WeddingLovely Blog

My line of DIY Valentine's Day printables is featured on WeddingLovely's blog today and I wanted to make sure I shared that post with all of my loyal readers!

It is very exciting to have my items in front of so many possible customers and right before Valentine's day no less!

It would be awesome if a few of my loyal readers could stop by the WeddingLovely blog and leave a comment or two about the feature!

My inspiration behind these Valentine’s Day DIY greeting cards, gift tags and mason jar wraps sold on Etsy is to provide my customers with an affordable and simple way to celebrate Valentine’s day with their loved ones. Be it your spouse, your children, a sister or a friend, these DIY downloads allow for anyone to create an affordable Valentine’s day gift for someone they care about.

These affordable gifts range from mason jars filled with Red Hots and labeled with our Happy Valentine’s Day wrap and “I have the hots for you” gift tag to our “I love you to the moon and back” celestial Valentines Day greeting card, all do it yourself projects that are affordable and simple to complete.

Click on the image to visit my Etsy store and shop today!

For more DIY tutorials, wedding inspiration and inspirational musings visit www.bethericksondeisgns.com/allthingscreative.

DIY Event Table Numbers

When planning a wedding or special event; you want everything to be perfect. You probably feel like you will spend any amount of money it takes to have the perfect day, but you will soon realize that your budget can’t afford that expense. So why not recruit some help from family or friends and spend some time making a few of the items for your wedding or special event? You will have fun and save money at the same time.

One project that can be simple to complete is table numbers that hang from a bottle of wine or sparkling cider. These table numbers are constructed from Mason jar bands and lids, paper, a printer, watercolor paints or scrapbook paper. In this tutorial I will go over a few different ways to complete these fun table numbers. You may also choose to purchase my affordable pre-formatted table numbers as an instant downloads on Etsy (here).

If your not using wedding table numbers you can also use this same idea to provide information to your guests. For example: “We can’t wait to hear your glasses clink, please wait for the toasts to enjoy this drink!” or “Please wait for the wedding toast.”

Some of these options are also available for purchase on Etsy (here).

Here’s the supply list and step-by-step instructions and photos (You can find most of these supplies at Amazon or the Dollar Tree):

Step One: If painting on watercolor paper, trace the size of lid you’re using on the watercolor paper, paint with watercolors, let dry and then either brush on your text or table number or write with a sharpie. If using a printed background, print it on your paper. Trace circles of the correct size onto the paper, hand letter your number or text. If using scrapbook paper, trace your circles and write message or table number where desired. If using the instant download, purchase here, download, and print on the paper of you choice.

Step two: Trim circles to correct size.

Step three: Coat lid and backside of circle with Mod Podge and adhere to the Mason jar lid. Then coat the top of the print with Mod Podge and allow it to dry.

Step Four: Tie your twine or ribbon around the Mason jar band as shown.

Step Five: Once dry, heat up your hot glue gun and run a line of hot glue around the inside of the Mason jar band as shown above. Then quickly place your Mason jar lid into the ring picture side down and press until hot glue cools

Step Six: Make hot glue “tab” on the backside of the band and lid as shown here to make sure your lid stays in place. Let hot glue cool. Remove glue strands, if any hanging from the finished piece.

Step Seven:  Hang your creation from wine or sparkling beverage bottles as shown. You’re done!

Wow! Wasn’t that simple. It didn’t take much time, you saved money and it added a personal handmade touch to your wedding! I would love to see photos of how you used this project at your event or wedding!

For more tutorials and inspirational thoughts visit www.bethericksondesigns.com.

Sign up for our product updates and special offers at our Etsy Shop here.

Affordable DIY Watercolor Valentines

I don’t know about you, but I find Valentine’s Day to be a fairly expensive holiday.   A card for your hubby or significant other, a package of Valentine’s for your child’s classmates, Valentine’s Day gifts and cards for your children, friends and family and you could end up spending more than you ever wanted to. So, lets make Valentine’s Day affordable, fun and show a lot more love to those special people in your life by making our own Watercolor Valentines!

I know what your thinking! “I could never paint a watercolor Valentine! It won’t turn out and I will just end up throwing it away!” Not true! Anyone can do this project, even your children! You don’t have to have any fancy supplies. All you need is a set of children’s watercolor paints and paper you have around your house!

So, lets dive in and give this a try. Will you join me? Our first step is to hunt around the house or at the Dollar Tree  (I love the Dollar Tree especially is you are making these with your children or Elementary School class) and find the supplies listed below, then we will get into the heart of making these fun, original Valentines.

Supplies:

Optional Supplies:

Step One: Trace your heart shaped cookie cutter onto the cardstock.

Step Two: Mix the color you want to paint and some water together on your pallet. Adding more water to your color will make it lighter and more of the paper will show through.  Continue adding layers of color until you like what you have. You can try a pattern like polka-a-dots or stripes.

Step Three: Let your paint dry thoroughly

Step Four: Cut out your heart shape

Step Five: Embellish your Valentine by adding glitter, stickers, and your message with a permanent pen. Mount it on another piece of card stock or a folded piece of card stock. Find envelopes to fit and your ready to go!

And there you have it! A very simple and affordable way to make a special Valentine for someone important in your life! Thanks for joining me! I would love to see your handmade valentines!

For more tutorials and inspirational encouragement visit www.bethericksondesigns.com.

DIY: Homemade Photo Christmas Ornaments

I know it’s a bit late in the Christmas season for this post but hopefully some of you will have some time to give this idea a try!  This project is super simple and takes less than an hour. It’s perfect for children with just a little help.

The other wonderful thing about this project is that it will create memories and bring back old memories as you make the ornaments and as you put them on the tree each year.

I also think that most of us have the supplies needed for this project sitting around our homes, just waiting to be used and if you don’t they are not expensive or hard to find.

In this post I will go over two different ornament ideas and give you step-by-step instructions for both.

Supplies:

Optional Supplies:

PHOTO ORNAMENT

Step One: Trace a circle the size of the flat area of the Mason jar insert. You don’t want your photo to all the way to the edge of the insert as the will make it harder to glue in place.

Step Two: Make sure your photo fits in the Mason jar ring and that everything shows that you want to see.

Step Three: Embellish with Christmas Stickers or a white gel pen or chalk pen if you wish.

Step Four: Glue your photo to the Mason jar lid insert using Mod Podge as your glue. Spread it evenly over the insert and them place your photo image side up on the insert. You can then coat over your photo with Mod Podge if you wish.

Step Five: Tie a ribbon around your Mason jar ring. (This will be your ornament hanger) Add any Christmas charms to the ornament hanger at this time.

Step Six: Gluing the insert inside of the ring. (Now is also a good time to write with a sharpie on the back of your ornament if you wish.) Run hot glue along the inside rim of the mason jar ring and quickly place your lid insert with the photo facing down into the ring and press down to glue in place. Then, to make sure it stays place hot glue in several places along the “crack” between the ring and the insert to form a hot glue “tab” to hold the insert in place.

Chalkboard Ornament:

Step one: Paint your Mason jar insert with chalkboard paint or another solid color (ex: red or green) let it dry. (Coat the lid with your chosen color several times.)

Step two: With the white chalk marker decorate your painted Mason jar insert with Christmas images or seasonal sayings. (When making my own chalkboard ornament I found that a gel pen scratches off the chalkboard paint, so its better to use a chalk marker.)

Then complete steps five and six above to finish your ornament.

Optional decorating ideas

After you have completed the steps above you can wrap the outside edge of your Mason jar ring with ribbon or paint the edges if you wish!

Optional Ornament Ideas:

This is also a fun way to preserve images from Christmas cards, gift tags or wrapping paper if you don’t want to use family photos. You could also cover the backside of the ornament with holiday paper to give the back a more finished look.

Now that was simple! I hope you enjoy your keepsake ornaments and place them on your tree each year. These ornaments would also make wonderful gifts for grandma and grandpa.

If you don't have these supplies and would like custom made ornaments, please feel free to contact me.

Please feel free to leave any comments, or photos of your completed projects below.

Source: www.bethericksondesigns.com

Father’s Day Gifts Simplified

Wow, I don’t know how many months it has been since I have sat down to write, but I think it has been at least three or four. I am not sure where time went, except that we moved to a new home that is a little farther from everything and so the routines of daily life just eat up a little more time than they used to. Its also gardening, lawn mowing and sitting on the patio season, which of course all take up time that was used for other things during the winter months. I have to say though I am so happy to see the sun more often these days! 

All this talk about time leads me to my topic for today, simple Father’s day gifts. You don’t have to spend a lot of money or time to make the dad’s in your life feel special and appreciated. So I have come up with a few gift ideas that are easy to accomplish. Two of them you can make yourself, the other’s you can purchase from this great website Zazzle, that allows you to personalize almost anything you can imagine.

We will start with Zazzle and then move on to the super simple DIY Father’s day appreciation gift that is sure to bring a smile to any dad’s face.

Zazzle is a website that allows you to personalize a very large variety of things. They have mugs, aprons, poker chips, USB drive, golf balls, baseballs and much more! 

Here are a few of my favorites for Dad! (Clink the photo for more information or to order)

For the cook:

For the hat lover:

For the Musician:

For the coffee lover:

For the technology lover:

There are a lot more ideas on Zazzle, but I don’t have the room to list them all. You should go check them out for yourself and find the perfect gift for your dad or make one of our super simple DIY gifts below.

Our DIY gift only requires you to purchase candy and a jar of some sort unless you have one sitting around the house and an instant download from Etsy, to print at home and decorate your jar.

Jar #1: We love you to pieces or I love you to pieces (Purchase)

Supplies needed:

Jar #2: You're a peach!  (***Please note the typo on the tag for "You're a peach" has been fixed in the downloads 6/16/17)

Supplies needed:

NEW!!! Jar #3: You're a Barrel of fun (Purchase)

Supplies needed:

The steps to complete this project don’t take much time at all.

Step One: Print your instant download and trim to size

Step Two: Fill your jar with the appropriate candy and close with lid

Step Three: Tape or glue your jar wrap around your jar

(***Please note the typo on the tag for "You're a peach" has been fixed in the downloads 6/16/17)

Step Four: Punch a hole in your gift tag and attach it to the top of your jar with string or twine

And you’re done! Your Father’s Day gift is ready to go, with little money, time and stress spent on the project! Also check out our other Father’s Day labels on Etsy. (Click the pictures below for more details.)

 

Enjoy the holiday and celebrate your dad!

Mason Jar Easter Gifts (Free Download)

The first day of spring has come, daffodils are blooming andtulips are beginning; all of this means Easter is drawing near! So…. Easter egg hunts, baskets, gifts and celebrations are just around the corner!

I love going to the craft store and buying new craft supplies, but I also find joy in using supplies I have around the house to make something special for that special someone. This blog is dedicated mostly to things I already have on hand and stars another one of my favorite things, mason jars! I am not sure where my love of mason jars came from, but they really are very useful around the house. I use them in the kitchen, for decorations, in my craft room and for gift ideas all the time!

This project falls right in line with a blog I wrote last year about mason jar gift baskets and all the different things you could fit in mason jars to make a unique gift, tailored to the person you were giving it too.

Easter can get really expensive with Easter eggs to fill, Easter baskets to give, eggs to dye, candy to buy, special desserts to make and so much more. So lets cut some of the cost by using some things we already have on hand.

Supplies needed:

This project really is very simple if you follow these steps.

Step one: Trim your parchment or tissue into a square. You can use any size square that will hang down over the sides of your jar. The size depends on how much you want your paper to hang over the edges.

Step two: Fill your Mason jar with your gifts.

Step three: Separate the Mason jar ring and the Mason jar lid.

Step four: Place your paper square on top of the ring and, press the lid into place allowing the paper to gather at the edges. Screw lid on the Mason jar. Optional version: Print out the mason jar label, trim to fit your mason jar lid, place square sheet of paper on ring, line up your label and lid and place on top of paper. Then, continue as above.

Step Five: Tie ribbon around the Mason jar ring.  Attach a gift tag if needed.

Enjoy your Easter season!

DIY: Watercolor Easter Egg Garland

Easter is just around the corner and with it comes Spring! I can’t tell you how ready I am for this rain to go away and the sun to start shining! I am ready for Capri pants, tank tops, light sweaters and flip-flops! So, lets get ready for spring with this easy watercolor Easter egg garland and bring a little sunshine to your home with its fun pastel colors and patterns!

It doesn’t take much to complete this project and it’s perfect for all ages and skill levels. You don’t have to be an expert at watercolor to make this watercolor Easter egg garland! It’s a fun family project for a rainy Saturday before Easter. Think about having each family member make two or three eggs, string them all together and you have your garland! You could also include other shapes such as tulips or Easter bunnies.

Most of all just have fun creating your garland with these easy steps!

Supplies:

9 Easy Steps:

Step one: Download and print egg template included in this post. (on cardstock if you have it)

Step two: Cut out the egg template of your choice.

Step three: Trace the egg shape onto your watercolor paper, fitting as many per sheet as you can.

Step four: Paint your eggs with watercolors as desired.

Step five: Let them dry thoroughly.

Step six: Cut out your watercolor eggs.

Step seven: Punch two holes in the top of each egg as seen here.

Step eight: Attach ribbon through holes as shown.

Step nine: Hang your completed garland!

Another idea for your watercolor painted shapes is to use them to make Easter cards for family and friends by gluing them to the front of a blank card. If you don't have time to make your own garland but would like some to decorate your home, visit my Etsy store to purchase yours today! Also visit our store to purchase this instant download to use to decorate your home this Easter.

More Easter fun coming soon!

DIY: Rustic Easter Carrots

Easter is just around the corner and it means spring is coming soon! I love spring, the pastel colors, the sunshine and the warming weather. I also enjoy decorating my little home with Easter/spring decorations. Especially if I can make them economically myself! My goal this year is to have my crafts be mostly made out of supplies I already have lying around the house. Using what I already have is always better.

The rustic carrots in today’s tutorial are popular in almost every store I have visited this March. These carrots are made out of twine, burlap, or bakers string. They come in a variety of sizes, usually three to a package, because we all know that you decorate in odd numbers, right? Each time I have see a package of these fun rustic carrots in all different shades of orange I have thought to myself . . . I can make that!

This post will chronicle my attempts at recreating these carrots, what worked and what did not. Yes, even I make attempts at craft projects that fail, but those failures just give me a chance to re-think and improve my process. That way when I bring it to you, I can show you what really works.

The first attempt was a carrot made out of a newspaper base, wrapped with orange and white bakers twine, glued together with hot glue. This gave the carrot a much more free-form look as we all know carrots are not ever perfectly shaped. At the beginning it looked like my carrot was shaping up very nicely and I was thinking to myself, “Wow this is simple and going so well.” But as I advanced to the end of the carrot where the green leaves are attached, I found that creating this carrot was not going to be as easy as it looked. Getting the twine to correctly wrap around that end of the newspaper proved to be harder than it looked and I was not satisfied with my attempts or my final product. (As pictured above.)

So, the next morning as I was driving to get my step-son & take him to his bus, my brain was swirling with thoughts of these rustic carrots. How can I improve this project? What base would work better than newspaper for wrapping the twine around?  And it came to me! My next attempt will utilize an old pencil, a bamboo skewer or a piece of dowel. Whichever I can find at home. This will give for me a sturdier base and I believe it will allow me to wrap the twine more to my liking! Layering the twine or chosen material up and down the base until I like the shape of your carrot. So let’s get to the supplies you will need and the steps its takes!

Supplies

Step by step instructions:

Step one: To dye your twine orange if desired, mix orange food coloring, vinegar and warm water together until you have your desired color of orange. I used about 2 tablespoons vinegar, one cup of warm water and a few squeezes of orange food coloring. (This is not an exact science) Then I soaked my twine for about 4 hours. Remove from solution and layout on paper towels and paper bags to dry. (about 24 hours).

Step two: Cut your carrots base (pencil, dowel or bamboo skewer) to your desired length, mine were between 2 and 4 inches.

Step three: Cut a rectangle of green construction paper to desired length of greenery for the end of your carrot; cut little strips making sure to leave them attached at the bottom of your rectangle.

Step four: Hot glue your base to the greenery as shown. Roll the greenery around the base until its all wrapped around the base and glue the loose end as shown.

Step five: Tie a knot in the end of your twine, hot glue the knot to the opposite end of the base, let the glue set. When tying the knot in the bakers twine I tied three to four knots on top of one another to make sure I had a knot larger enough to cover the end of the skewer.

Step Six: Wrap the twine around the base holding any tail of twine against the base and wrapping the twine over the top of it to hold it in place. Wrap your twine the whole length of the base and up and over the bottom of your greenery.

Step seven: Wrap the whole length again from top to bottom, then continue wrapping up and down the length of the carrot layering more twine at the top and down the center until you have a carrot shape that you are pleased with.

Step eight: Hot glue the end of your twine in place and you are done.

Now you have a beautiful rustic twine carrot that you can use around your house or on a wreath to decorate for spring or Easter! You can make these fun carrots in any color that you wish!

Visit my Etsy store, www.bethannerickson.etsy.com if you would rather purchase this set of three rustic carrots.

Coming soon, Mason Jar Easter Baskets and watercolor Easter egg garland

DIY: Cookie Cutter Gift Tags

Christmas can be a very expensive time of year. There are so many things to purchase: gifts, wrapping paper, gift tags, tape, tissue paper and many other things. These thoughts take me back to my childhood and memories of how my Mom did such a great job of keeping to her budget. How did she do it? One idea stands out from the others. Its something we did all through my childhood, we made our gift tags from construction paper, a cookies cutter and a pair of scissors. I am not sure why I stopped this tradition, maybe it was time or the store bought tags just look so cute on shelf I couldn’t resist buying them.

Making your own gift tags not only saves you money, but it also adds a special touch to your Christmas gifts. It shows you took time to wrap and label your gifts for all your family and friends, and that it’s important to you to give them something special on Christmas.

The wonderful thing about cookie cutter gift tags is that most of you will already have all the supplies you need right at home. So take a look around and see if you can find what you need without spending a single dime.

Supplies:

Step One: Choose your paper and your cookie cutter

Step Two: Trace the cookie cutter shape on the paper, going around the outside of the cookie cutter. (I would do this on the backside of your paper so your pencil marks don’t show on the front. I forgot to do this when creating my sample)

Step Three: Cut out your shape

Step Four:  Write To: and From: where ever you desire on your gift tag. It can be on the front or back. Leave blank to fill in later when you are wrapping your presents or for your family to use when they wrap their presents.

Step Five: (Optional) Punch a hole in the center at the top, add twine or ribbon

See, how simple that is, really easy and they turn out beautiful. So additional ideas would be to decorate your tags even further with Christmas stickers, crayons, felt pens, glitter or ribbon. You can make this project as creative or simple as you like.

If you are not one to make your gift tags you can visit Etsy or Zazzle to purchase gift tags already made for you. You can download gift tags like these to print at home on Etsy.

I really hope you enjoy your holiday season. I will see you after Christmas!

Top