Easter baskets

Our Easter tradition for many years now has been to visit Memphis during the Easter holidays and stay with Nichol's grandparents.  While there, we also get to see most of his extended family, as they get together on Easter Sunday.  The difficulty with traveling for Easter is that baskets just don't pack well.  I'm not about to pay the silly check-on bag fees just because I haven't found a basket with a collapsible weave.

I had been considering fabric baskets for some time, when Corynn told me she wanted one of the fabric Easter buckets from the Pottery Barn kids catalog.  They weren't particularly fancy, and cost about $27 (customized with names).  I debated just buying them, but decided it was time to test my sewing skills again.

I found this fabric basket tutorial: http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/2009/02/tutorial-toy-gathering-bucket/, hit Joann's for the materials, and got to work:

I used scraps from the assembly to make the matching flower pins.  I got a few compliments at a church Easter egg hunt...I love these baskets, and they'll fold flat in the luggage.  I call that success...

My Valentine's necklace

Those who know me are quite aware that I'm not a 'hearts' kind of girl.  I don't generally wear them, and I most certainly don't decorate with them (Valentine's being the exception).  However, I have had a gold-colored Venetian glass bead in my possession for more than a decade.  This bead was purchased for me by a friend when she visited Italy.  It is a gorgeous bead, and I decided it was high time it lived on display, rather than in storage.

Strangely enough, I find myself drawn to some of the steam punk-styled jewelry.  I like the vintage feel; the random layouts of it.  So, I gave it a whirl.  I'm not sure how steam punk some fans would consider this piece, but it certainly incorporates a variety of elements...

Fun with decoupage

For the longest time, I have owned a wooden box with a hinged lid with multiple compartments...and, for the longest time, I have used this box to hold tea bags.  The biggest downfall of this box is that the lid has roses on it, and the paint is looking a little worn.  Inspiration hit me at one point that I could use some of the lovely scrapbooking papers I have found to improve upon the outside of this box.  Here is what my first encounter doing decoupage turned into (you'll have to forgive me for not having a before picture):

 

The box now sits on my dresser, nicely organizing many of my earrings.