She can laugh at the days to come.

Top: Leah, Myself, Claire Bottom: Molly & Ryan

Where do I even begin? I’m laughing too hard, at my Easter portrait, to even write.

The hair, the eyes, the body positions, the missing husband, oh. my. word. Please laugh with me, not at me! Ah, the “perfect” family photo – so far from my grasp! You know you try to snap “the one for the wall” on Easter too, right? 

I just can’t help but laugh at my feeble attempt to capture the perfect moment.

When, really, I’d like to remember the simple little imperfect moments that happened on Easter.

• My resurrection rolls that popped open in the oven. I had to scoop out the marshmallows with a spoon while the kids weren’t looking, as to not confuse them by having “Jesus” still in the tomb.
• We ate jelly beans with breakfast.
• Witnessing several Baptisms at the Easter service – gives me joy every time I see one!
• Ryan ran around the farm (Pete’s Uncle’s house) in play clothes chasing chickens, getting dirty and hunting for garter snakes.
• Claire and Leah stayed in their Easter dresses all day without spit-up! My dress on the other hand…
• Molly loved to smack her lips with her new lip gloss from her Easter basket because it made her feel, “Fancy, Fancy!”

Laughing Daily,

Jess

Join Emily at Chatting at the Sky for Tuesdays Unwrapped

2. Becca from Blue Cricket Design shows us how to make tissue paper eggs. I’d love to have some eggs that were savable from year to year, wouldn’t you?

3. Darling alert! The Creative Maven entered this darling egg topiary into Living with Lindsay’s $5 Challenge.  Isn’t it darling? The lettering could easily be switched to spell RISEN!

4. You all know, I’m a huge sucker for felted crafts. Look at these felted egg place holders! Ack, I’m in love! Pamela from the blog, Pamela Susan, gives us a tutorial and lovely photographs!

5. Resurrection rolls from Smashed Peas and Carrots. She includes step by step instructions on how to make them. Yum! What a fun way to teaches the little ones about Jesus at Easter.

Be sure to stop over to all the Blink Links above and give them some comment love!

Have a very good Good Friday and Blessed Easter Sunday!

Love,

Jess

1. Gather two goofy kids on the back patio

2. Collect rocks in an Easter Basket (lighter colored rocks work the best) and refer to the rocks as eggs.

3. Paint the “eggs” with watercolor paint

4. Let dry. Line up the eggs for a pretty display that won’t crack under pressure!

Happy egg painting!

Love,

Jess

Lindsay, from Living with Lindsay, is hosting the 2nd Annual Five Dollar Challenge. Armed with a $5 bill, I gathered some supplies from my local Dollar Tree.

My challenge? Create a new Spring Decor item according to Lindsay’s guidelines and make a tutorial for the project. Hence, the super long line of photos below.

*Dear Voters: JJ, Emily and Gina* Thanks for stopping by Just a Blink and checking out my $5 challenge entry! It was a total blast to push my creativity to meet this budget.

Supply List

• Green floral wreath – $1
• White streamers -$1
• Faux baby’s breath flowers – $1
• Package of mossy stones – $1
• Bird knick-knack – $1
• On hand tools- thread, pins, sewing machine, marker, paper, glue, scissor, wire cutters

Center Piece

1. Sew two streamers together on the sewing machine. Push the streamers as you feed them to create a ruffle. You’ll need as many lengths as it takes to wrap your wreath.

2. Wrap the ruffled streamer around a wreath pinning each section as you go, making sure the pins are in the back. Fluff up the streamer on each side of the stitch line for a softer looking ruffle.

3. Cut the baby’s breath into small portions. You may need a wire cutter if the stems are really thick.

4. Stuff the stems into the open edges of the streamer ruffle. Add mossy stones to the center circle of the wreath.

Finished center piece (Base plate not included in challenge)

Name Card Place Holders

1. Sew a length of streamer ruffle about 6-9 inches in length to act as a pillow for a name place card. Yank on one of the threads to make a tighter ruffle and tie it off to the thread on the opposite end, creating a circle. Fluff up the paper.

2. Tape or glue a small name card to a single piece of baby’s breath.

3. Cut out a scalloped circle out of card stock to act as a plate decoration.

4. Set the small ruffle circle, from step 5, on top of the scalloped circle. Add a  name place card and cover it with a mossy stone. (plate – not included as part of the challenge)

Finished place card holder for Easter brunch!

Napkin Ring

1. Cut a long section of stem, from the baby’s breath bouquet, using a wire cutter.

2. Twist the stem wire into a circle

3. Cover the wire circle with a thin strip of fabric. I used gray felt. Add a dab of hot glue to hold the fabric down. Insert the napkin into the ring. (I used a paper towel to meet the standards of the challenge, it’s paper, right?)

Chair Detail

1. Loop-tie streamer to the top of a chair. Use double the measurement from the top of the chair to the ground for your streamer length.

2. Tie a piece of coordinating fabric around the top of the looped streamer.

3. Tuck in a bit of baby’s breath and faux leaves from the stems.

Complete Dollar Store Table Setting

The photo below is my official entry for Lindsay’s Challenge.  Wow! My Spring/Easter table setting was put together for just $5 (plus a tiny bit of paper and fabric that I had on hand)!

But why stop here? This table needs to be gussied up a bit, no?

1. A few extra touches: table cloth; cake-stand for the centerpiece; jelly bean favors; egg decor butter spreaders; white plates and glass cups

Now, I have a lovely spring table setting for two!

Love,

Jess

P.S. I’m so glad I didn’t give up on this project! I thought, at first, it was going to look like I was decorating with toilet paper. Well, whatever the source, I think it turned out kinda nice.