Blast From the Past: Easter and Spring Projects

Hello everyone!

First of all, I want to apologize for not posting lately. I can't believe it's been 1 1/2 months since my last post! Unfortunately, it will probably go on like this for a while still. I just don't have the time or the energy to think much blogging right now. I'm concentrating my efforts more towards finishing my master's, exercising and losing weight and feeling better and more motivated all around, and general housekeeping duties. I hope you will understand, and really I'm sure you will, we all go through this, right?

That being said, I'm not officially going on hiatus or anything. I might still post from time to time when things slow down and/or I get better at managing my time, and feel more motivated to do so. I could seriously write a 2000+ word post about what is going on with me right now, but I'm not gonna do that at this time; I'm still a little too much hesitant about who may in the future read these types of post (read: future employers). I have written many a post like that in the last 6 months but never was quite able to push the publish button. So maybe short and sweet will have to do.

I am still on Facebook and posting updates there more frequently (make sure you interact with me occasionally to keep seeing me in your newsfeed!! Just a simple Like once in a while will do :) ). I'm also, slowly but surely, working on a new blog design, that I'm making from scratch. I just kinda really love that stuff!

I did want to drop by your newsfeed or email inbox today to share with you some fun Easter and Spring crafts I made last year.

(Click on the links to see the full tutorials. I'd also appreciate it if you pinned directly from the tutorials, for others to find them more easily, thanks!)

First there's my Bunny Family Portrait. I made it so last minute last year, but still got quite a bit of positive feedback for it. So I hope more people will enjoy it this year. It was probably the most out-of-my-own-head craft I've ever done, so I'm particularly proud of it, and even still!



These little Flower Balls were quite popular last year!


And this was my spring "mantle" (which is really just the top of the low bookshelf) last year. I'm not sure what's gonna happen this year because I'm thinking of changing my living room around in the coming weeks. But I will have to find some place for all these lovelies, I so need some spring cheer right now!!!


Until next time!



ETA: Just writing this one post gives me a bit of an itch to share something new! So maybe it won't be so long until next time ;)

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Spring Mantle

Before I get on with showing you my spring mantle, I want to let you know that I'm gonna be trying something on my Facebook page for the next few weeks. There will be an album to share my week/weekend going-ons, just little sneak peak of what I'm working on, some updates, and behind the scenes. I know I don't post often, so maybe this way I'll have more to share. It won't be as "official" as my blog, though, but more casual.

You can check out the first weekend here. (You don't need a Facebook account to view by the way!) I have updates on my mini rosebush I bought for Valentine's Day, and I show you how my tulips are growing (I'm so excited about that! but it's slow...). PLEASE let me know what you think about this idea of mine (like, dislike, don't care, whatever)!

Alright, so on with the subject of today: my spring mantle!



I already showed you a sneak peek of my mantle (or as I called it bantle because it's actually on top of a small bookshelf...) last week when I showed my Bunny Family Portrait, but I promised I would give you more and better pictures. So here they are!



What a difference sunlight makes, right?! Sadly, I can only take these kinds of pictures between 10 and noon when it's sunny. That's the only time I get direct sunlight into my living room because of the tall buildings surrounding us, and because we are on the first floor. And when it's not sunny, well you get pictures like the ones from last post.

If you didn't check out my tutorial for my Bunny Family Portrait, then you can do so here.



This portrait is not going anywhere yet! I love it too much, and haven't had it up very long at all, I still want to enjoy it.



The yellow vase I made the same way as I did my turquoise vase for my bedroom, and my Valentine's vase. That is I poured craft paint and swished it around, drained the excess and let dry.



This is the last time I do this technique! I've tried so many times to get it right, and now I'm just realizing that it's not meant to be. I had a lot of paint at the bottom after the first day with this vase, so I thought I'd just spread it out on the sides once again to thin it out so it dries quicker. Only thing is that made the paint bubble... and it wasn't really pretty.

So I started over again with less paint, and draining it a lot of excess paint. Then when I put the branches in, it scratched the bottom, as you can see bellow. Just keeping it real. Doesn't show that much, but it's a bummer none the less. If I were to try it again I'd go with enamel paint.



When I saw these grass tiles at the Dollarama, I thought they'd be perfect to add a bit of green to my mantle! Only problem is that the vase and the tulips were not really stable on it and kept toppling over. So I had to put that coaster under the vase.

The branches that are in the vase are also from Dollarama (ok pretty much everything I use here is from there- I'm cheap and on a student budget, what can I do?!).



I couldn't resist getting all 5 colors (there was also green, but I didn't like it); each branch has its own egg color, but the buds are multicolored.





I'll share with you how I made/painted the wooden tulips later in the week, so check back soon!



I also painted a paint stir stick to rest the tulips on so they wouldn't topple over.



The cute little bunnies I got in 2 packs at the Dollarama. Aren't they cute?



A couple of them let me take a little photoshoot of them hehe.

This little guy was very eager to please.





This little gal on the other hand was a little camera shy.





And lastly, I made these flower balls to finish the look.





To be honest, they are a little bit of a pain in the butt to make. I'll share with you the full tutorial soon too, once I actually finish all the balls I wanted to make. I've got 5 I wanted to make, but all that punching has made me get a blister on my finger, so I'm giving it a rest. Only 1 more to go, though! Maybe I'll just use my left hand to finish the last one... This project has taken a LONG time!

Can you tell I love color?! Everything about my mantle is colorful :D



So there you have, my spring mantle. Let me know what you think in the comments :D



I party at these parties. If you would like to invite me to your linky party, please do so on my linkies page, thank you!

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