Colors of Springtime ~ DIY Farmers Market Baskets

Wouldn't it be nice if it were springtime already?  I'm craving the things that come along with spring.

  

Today we were blessed with some golden warm sunshine here.  It came close to 60 degrees!  Just a little tease for us Pacific NorthWesterners.  We're pretty much guaranteed a couple months of rain still.  

So a magical day like today is just what we needed to tide us over until those beautiful sunny months are finally upon us.  

A little "fix" of pure sunshine will get us through the gray, wet months still to come.

You know what else reminds me of springtime?

Fluffy Clouds and Rainbows

Tree Blossoms

The Smell of Fresh Mown Grass

Short Sleeves

Kids Voices and Laughter Carrying On the Breeze

Ladybugs and Butterflies

Evening Strolls and Bike Rides

Hammocks

Planting Gardens

and 

Farmers' Markets

Last summer I created a white Anthropologie Knockoff Farmers Market Basket (Below).  

Say that a few times quick!

I used one of the cardboard baskets that berries come in and coated it with some Gesso (used to prime and stiffen artists' canvases), white spray paint, and spray polyurethane.

You can read about it HERE.

I thought it would be fun to make more using some spring colors, so I got busy mixing my Gesso with acrylic craft paint until I had the pastel colors I desired. 

Once they were painted I got all glittery-eyed and decided they needed some glitter too.

The Gesso makes them really stiff and the polyurethane makes them water proof.  

The glitter just makes them cheerful!

Then I dressed them up with ribbons and filled them with a few little trinkets. 

These will make adorable mini Easter baskets or fun little gift baskets for friends.

In the first basket I put some raffia, a Sweet Little Bluebird, and a mini egg.

The next one got some pretty seashells and a silver starfish.  

Gifts from the Seashore.

This next one holds some fragrant lemon body treats.  I love lemon!  

I haven't decided what to do with this Tiffany Blue one yet.  Its my favorite, with the gleaming organza bow.  I might just have to keep it next to my bed for holding jewelry and other stray stuff.  :)

These were easy to make and didn't cost anything since I already had the cardboard baskets saved from last summer.  The Gesso, paint, glitter and polyurethane were already in my craft cabinet.  

My Inspiration:

Anthropologie's Farmers' Mkt Baskets

Here's to more sunny days and laughter being carried on the breeze!

Sherry

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"Egg-static" about Easter

Today, I ran the Shamrock 5k Run in downtown Portland, Oregon.  It was a cold, cold day.  The weather could only be described as fickle.  We saw some light rain, some hail, some slushy snow, and some blue skies sneaking through occasionally.  IT WAS AMAZING!  (Well, me running three miles, all at once, and by choice is amazing!)  But I was talking about the weather.  :)

This is the beautiful city of Portland,OR, where I ran the Shamrock Run this morning with my sister and over 30 thousand others!  What a glorious day.  Plus, we crossed the finish line together.  Yay for us!!!

When we got back home my mind turned to other things I'm looking forward to...
Like Easter!

Easter is, by far, my favorite holiday of all.

Number one, because it signifies the resurrection of Christ.

It has also become a symbol of leaving behind a long and dreary winter and looking forward to the fresh new life, which is Spring.

And there is pretty much guaranteed to be a chocolate bunny or two around. ;)

After I got home from running, and coffee, and sushi with my sister :)  :)  :)   ~ I chilled on the couch and perused Pinterest.  It's like creating your very own online magazine and filling the pages with things you adore.
Or want to try.
Or just what inspires you. 
It is by far my most favorite time waster! 

Once I'd satisfied my Pinterest Addiction, I grabbed the glue gun and some miscellaneous scraps and went to work trying to create some Easter decorations for our home. 

Hmmmm, what to do with all of these Styrofoam eggs that Mom (In-law) gave to me....

Well...

I hot glued some ivory twine around one of the smaller eggs.

Not bad???

Looks kinda cute all by itself.

Then I hot glued some strips of ivory burlap to one of the larger eggs...

We will dub this one "The Mummy".  No pun intended.

Next I covered one with moss (and hot glued a good portion of my fingertips in the process, yowsa!)

I really like how this one turned out.

And because I don't know when to quit, and to offset "The Mummy", I did another egg in chocolate brown burlap strips...

NOT AT ALL what I was hoping for.  That's okay...it can act as "filler" for the rest.
I'm hoping to find my roll of jute tomorrow, when I have renewed my energy, and create a couple more.  In the meantime, maybe I will be struck with inspiration as to what else I can use to cover them.  I've seen some cute mod podge eggs, done with pretty paper napkins, music sheets, and book pages too.  We'll just have to wait and see.  I've got quite a few Styrofoam eggs to play with.

I think I'll have the preschoolers mod podge some too.  That should be fun!

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