Last Minute Easter Gifts

I sometimes get discouraged or insecure about my crafting ability when I look through all the amazing craft blogs out there. There are some really, really, really talented people out there. I've come to realize that I need to not compare myself to anyone and accept that I have a FULL schedule and being an awesome crafter sadly falls towards the bottom of my list. I love making things and with my schedule I know I have to keep it simple. Which I hope makes my crafts appealing to those with awesome crafting abilities and those without ;)

With that being said, here are a few simple projects. For this craft I used a clay flower pot, like I did with my Halloween Candy Corn cups.
A few tips for painting clay pots - you will need 4 coats of acrylic paint to get a nice even coating. I'd recommend that you use a foam brush. First paint horizontally - working quickly with plenty of paint on your brush since the paint will dry fairly fast, let dry, then paint vertically, let dry, then repeat, for a total of 4 coats. This is the easiest way to get a nice even coat.

I used the end of a hot glue gun stick, dipped in white paint to get the polka dots. You can use what ever you have on hand, like the end of a pencil eraser.
The grass I used is a paper grass which is soooo much easier to work with than the plastic stuff. You can mold and smoosh it and it will stay put and look a lot nicer. The cardstock flower is glued onto a craft stick I painted green. The little chick came in a pack of 6 for under $2. All supplies for this project can be found very inexpensively at any craft store.

This next idea requires a little less work, though it's still cute. I've mentioned before with my Valentine's Day gifts that Micheals has this great section that always has cute seasonal items (which is where I got those Valentine's cups). It is usually by the Wilton and baking aisle and has an assortment of seasonal baking/gift giving items. I found these bunny dishes (which I didn't get a picture of BEFORE filling and wrapping them. oops).
They're pink with a little bunny face on the bottom. I put these together to give to my little niece and Grandma Lottie. I'm sending these in the mail so I wrapped them in a clear gift bag and tied them with ribbon so they would stay nice while shipping. If you were just going to drop them off at a friends then you could lose the bag. Simple.

I hope everyone has a very happy Easter!

Valentine's Day Gifts

I don't think anyone (in their right mind) would turn down some chocolate. Especially some chocolate in a pretty package. With Christmas, birthdays, Mother's and Father's days around for lavish gift giving, I say keep Valentine's Day simple. And sweet.
I found these cute little decorative cups and bowls at Micheals for just $1.00 (although, I went to a different Michaels to get more and they were $1.29. What a rip off). Buy yourself a few bags of chocolate and you've got yourself a quick, cute, and inexpensive gift perfect for neighbors, girlfriends, sisters, moms, or your kids' school teachers (way better than just that "teacher" valentine card they put in the box sets). Or, if you happen to be mormon, it's perfect for your visiting teaching gals, just drop if off and call that month good ;).
I printed a little message, then glued them onto some Valentine-themed paper, and then onto craft sticks. Actually, my boys did that for me, they're such good little helpers, especially when there are piles of candy involved.
I think I would be quite happy to find this on my doorstep. Now all I need to do is keep everyone's little fingers out of these until I can get them delivered.

FYI, my next post features a giveaway.