Hosting the Craft Group Ladies . . . . . . . Easter Crafts

Greetings lovely friends & readers

It's been another busy week - Sid celebrated his 8th birthday last week!  Goodness me - where did those 8 years go to I wonder ??!!

He had a family tea at home on his birthday & then the next day a school friend's party in which he took 4 boys to see the latest Minecraft movie.

Granny was asked to make him a birthday cake - I was feeling really tired uninspired, so I just made up my chocolate cake recipe which fits in a large meat dish, iced it with chocolate frosting & then used m & m's to decorate.  The gold heart shaped candle in the foreground was a sparkler candle & I got a wonderful video of him lighting this but cannot get it to upload.  I generally think if you put some colorful sweets on a child's cake, they are more than happy. 

A few days later it was Sid's Mum Nicole's birthday.  Her favorite colours are pink & orange so I was lucky enough to be able to scratch around in my poor dry flower gardens & come up with some flowers in these colours - good old zinnias & dahlias.  I made her a banana bread & packaged up some nice treats for her.  

Prior to my trip south in my last post, these wooden rabbit figurines arrived from an online order.  I painted 2 of them in pale duck egg chalk paint, then decoupaged pretty paper serviettes onto them, added ribbon & lace ... & thought they turned out so sweet.  I took one of them down to my friend Claire as I knew she loved to decorate for Easter.  I thought they'd make a great project for our next craft group get-together, of which I was hostess.

The rabbits came in packs of 4, & 4 different shapes.  I painted them before the craft ladies came as they were raw wood & I wanted to seal them.  Also I felt this would save time on the day.

I'd asked the girls to bring their own serviettes & mod-podge if they had it.  Here is a photo of them all working on their rabbits.  We were down to 4 this day due to 2 ladies being unwell but I never mind the smaller group.  

I made a raspberry & white chocolate slice & served it with freshly whipped cream ... because I feel if you are going to eat something as decadent as that, then you may as well enjoy it with cream !! 😋 

We also had Louise cake & Coffee slice.  For lunch I made salmon rolls & Gail bought along freshly baked cheese scones & Plum Jam. I've said this before but we sure do get the food right (!!) 

Here are the 4 different bunnies once we'd finished them.  Mine is on the far right.  I love how everyone puts their own special take on these crafts.  The ladies very much enjoyed their day & the Easter project was a big hit.  

Prior to their arrival I did my usual scrubbing & cleaning. The Mr always tells me he knows when I'm hosting the craft girls as my enamel-ware gets washed (!!) 😐

I'd given my deck table a good scrub as it was looking dusty after our long dry summer.  I'd purchased this easter themed runner last year in a sale & thought I'd try & do an easter display out here.

The butterfly Impatiens that I'd planted back in February in this post were still looking vibrant & I didn't have the heart to change it so I used this in my easter display. I added bits & pieces that I already had in my stash & tried to create a bit of a rabbit theme.

Birds nests always fit in with Easter & I've always got plenty of those that fall out of the trees.  I decoupaged this tin heart with a serviette that Gail had given me & tied it to my cloche.  

And the moss covered bunny ears were made last year in * this post *.  The moss was originally green but has turned brown - I think I need to spray it with hairspray & try to shape it a bit better.

Not a cat in sight  .  .  .  .  .  Yet !! 😸

Although we're having lovely mild sunny days, our nights are chilly.  I dragged the heater in last week & it didn't take long for these 2 to find their places.  I'm trying to Not light the fire until after Easter.

Wishing you all a wonderful week ahead dear friends - remember to be kind to yourselves & to each other,

I hope to be back later this week with more Easter crafts & decorating.

Thank you as always, for your ever-welcome visits here today,

With much love & friendship to you all,