Happy Easter!

I've been wanting to enhance our Easter celebrations for a while. As our family grew, we made a conscious decision not to pass on the myth of the Easter bunny. From what I understand, that tradition comes from a melding of pagan and Christian traditions and well, we just want to stick with Christian where possible. From the get-go, we let them know those baskets were from us and were just a part of the celebration. 

One of my favorite blogs is 71Toes and I really loved how her house was all done up for Easter and apparently another reader did as well because Shawni passed along the Etsy shop where she purchased everything. I decided this was the year I was going to dedicate to making some new Easter traditions. Turns out there weren't just pretty printables, there was a whole 10 day advent with a spiritual message as well as activity for the family. I dropped a small fortune on craft supplies, printing and laminating but I was so, so, SO happy with the result! It finally felt like we had the right focus for Easter.

Among the supplies I purchased were these replica biblical oil lamps for a discussion of the 10 virgins. Even I was blown away at how much brighter the lamp with plenty of oil was compared to the one that didn't have as much.  

On one night, the advent called for us to turn off all the lights and refrain from using electronics. This mimics the period following Christ's crucifixion when there was darkness. We let the girls carry their own lamp to bed where we carefully extinguished them.

Well, all but Sydney who was terrified of the open flame. Probably a good thing.

I lost large chunks of my fingerprints super gluing those letters onto the palm leaves. The Etsy kit comes with paper palms you can cut out but I wanted slightly more realistic looking ones. I stabbed myself pretty hard sewing those onto the silky ribbon banner but I'm so very happy with the result! Throughout the week, we added artwork with different phrases onto the mantle. Purchasing a variety of coordinating frames was another hefty expense but I really loved how they all looked together.

When I was a student at BYU, I attended a Seder hosted by one of my religion professors. When the girls are old enough, I'd love to do something similar. For this advent, we had a sample plate of different items that are used in a Seder and I have to say Brent did an AMAZING job on the lamb. All of the other items aren't really things little kids would appreciate (bitter herbs weren't a big hit, for example) but then again, that's kind of the point. The Passover was to remind Jews of the suffering of their ancestors. Even though it wasn't the most popular, I want to continue to work it in over the years so the girls will appreciate the symbolism.

By the time Easter rolled around, I really felt like we were more spiritually prepared than in years past. Even though Brent was a little annoyed with the money I was spending in preparation, he really enjoyed it as well and we are looking forward to continuing these new traditions.

When all is said and done, Easter is about the miracle of Christ's resurrection, plain and simple.

Easter Chicks Quilt

I had no intention of taking on a quilt. Not only is it expensive, quilt projects typically have to be left out for days on end and well, kids, ya know? But on this last trip to Utah, Katrina gifted me a few unfinished quilts and this one seemed mostly done. It was also girlish and young- perfect for little kids. It's not one I wanted to stuff away and forget about until they are teenagers. 

There's a huge quilt store in Le Claire, Iowa right next to the Mississippi River. Le Claire is also the home of American Pickers and it's a fun riverfront town. I found some white fabric with a pattern that reminded me of feathers so I grabbed that. I've never done any machine applique before and my old Kenmore really isn't suitable for the task so I enlisted help from my dear friend and master quilter, Diana Jenks. The first step was to iron the bodies on each of the squares and add some feet.

Then I stitched down the bodies with this T-stitch that made them look really quaint. Having a similar thread also helped to give a little cohesiveness to those blocks with colors just a little off. 

Next was sewing down all those beaks. Diana was actually preparing to move and there were a few of us frantically finishing up projects. I raced through those beaks as fast as I could and was so relieved to get them done and get out of Diana's hair.

I'm really going to miss her. She's one of the sweetest ladies I know.

The next part took ridiculously long- deciding where to place which chick. The pattern came with a chart showing where dark, medium and light chicks should be placed, but that didn't always work out with the colors. The chicks alternate which way they face row by row, and I even had to make a few extra blocks from scraps because I just wasn't happy with how it was turning out with the ready-made options. I sent many pictures to Katrina and since she happened to be at a quilt retreat, there was a lot of feedback from her quilting friends. After staring at it for days, I decided on this as the layout. There is one rebel chick that faces the wrong direction and I rather like that one. My absolute favorite is the yellow chick in the bottom right corner. The checked fabric just makes me happy and of course, I love the deep yellow color. It's so cheerful! Each of my sisters have since claimed a favorite as their own.

I was so happy to find this fabric for the backing. The colors were exactly what was in the quilt and the fact they are eggs was just so perfect. I didn't intend to make this an Easter quilt, but it turns out that's the kind of quilt these chicks wanted to be. It was kismet.

I received some reprieve when I mailed everything off to Sarah, a friend of mine in Iowa City, to be quilted. I was really, really, really ready to slap the binding on it and just be done. Around this time, Katrina suggested doing a double binding and I looked long and hard at some fabric she had included that I hadn't used. It was so perfect, the birds on a wire were exactly the same shape as the chicks in the quilt. The color was the same color as the beaks. It just needed to happen. However, I have never done a double binding and figuring it out and sewing it on took me a solid day. The light was growing dim and the girls were begging for dinner when I finally hand-stitched the last details of the last corner.

Sarah clearly enjoyed working on this quilt. She gave the chicks a variety of backgrounds and varied the stitching on their wings, which I love. She struggled a bit with the button eyes- but those had to be sewn on before it was quilted or the stitching would show through the back. The buttons I used for eyes were another debacle of epic proportions. I made returns to the quilt store twice and the woman made no bones about her irritation at me for doing so. The original ones I purchased were just way too big and I was about to settle for ones that didn't match when I discovered some that were perfectly-sized and uniform.

I'm so very happy with this quilt even though it ended up being a much bigger project that I anticipated! I'm glad I was able to finish it in time for Easter and I was practically giddy as I put the sewing machine away.

More importantly, the girls love it too and this will be yet another heirloom that can be passed down for generations to come.

Kitchen Pantry Makeover

Ever since we moved into this house the pantry has bugged me. I'm not sure what the former owners put in there, but it was full of marks and scratches. There was hideously ugly shelf paper that had been taped to the shelves and then fallen off that just made it look old and sad. It was dark and it was a depressing place to put food. We kind of had things organized but it wasn't uncommon for things to fall down or to spend time shifting items around to get to what we needed. I was fed up and decided to clean it out and start fresh.

It wasn't until I removed all the food items and the shelving that I could really get a good look at the walls and how beat up they were.

Here's a closer look. Again, I'm not sure what would make marks like that on the wall.

I discovered this inside the door and got all excited that I might be able to install a light. Upon further inspection, it turned out to just be an access point that had been left uncovered.

After a couple coats of pain, a lovely cover made it look more whole and less raw. I know it's in a corner that no one would ever see it, but it gives me peace of mind nonetheless to see it buttoned up.

We make good use of our pantry and with only two brackets holding up the shelves, they were starting to bow in the middle. I added a 3rd bracket to ensure they are nice and firm.

I flipped for some nice baskets for chips and crackers and tossed the big, bulky Costco boxes Brent had in there. I also found some really pretty labels for the staples so they are easy to identify. This is my favorite part of the pantry now!

 As we put the food items back, we rearranged things in a way that makes more sense for our family. Liquids are now in crates on wheels at the very bottom. I had dreams of upcycling some wooden wine crates but after several visits to the local liquor store it was clear those go quickly so I just bought some regular crates at Home Depot and added the wheels. One crate also contains paper plates and plastic utensils and cups, which, we use more when guests are in town. Instead of digging into the corners to find say, paper plates and forks when we order Lou Malnati's, now we can just pull out the crate that has everything nestled in one place. I can also pull out all the crates and easily sweep the floor as crumbs collect.

The girls use cereal far and away more than Brent and I do, so those go on the lowest shelf along with the Capri Suns the girls need for their lunches. On the next shelf are more lunch supplies with the chips, crackers, applesauce and pudding. The next shelf is where you can find all the staples and now when we cook it's as if the pantry says, "Hi there! How can I help you? Need some flour? It's right here? How about brown sugar? Here ya go!" It's really dreamy. Finally, the top shelf is where any extra food items go- mostly things Brent buys in bulk or on sale that we rotate through.

I replaced the old shelf paper with a combination of some puffy liner and then a plastic one on top of that. Containers easily slide in and out but the shelf paper stays put thanks to the stickiness of the puffy liner underneath. I also installed a motion detector light so when you open the door it's nice and bright in there. We used our pantry a lot before but it is so much more efficient now! Not to mention much, much prettier.