I love Easter!  Springtime, flowers, cute bunnies and chicks…what is not to love?

Of course, for me, Easter means it is time to craft.  If you haven’t already undertaken an Easter project, it is not too late.  There are tons of cute ideas out there that you can make your own.  I spent 10 minutes on Pinterest and found way more Easter sewing and crafting projects than I would ever get to use in my lifetime.

For me, I always think toward the table:  decorated foods and how to decorate my tablescape.  So many ideas can be used as a table decoration or as a treat for an Easter basket.

Here are few projects I have made through the years, as well as a few that are on my radar:

1.  Easter baskets – for adults make mini baskets, for new babies make a special heirloom basket they can keep forever.  Crochet, knit, painted wood, fabric lined raffia, quilted, felt, and sewn are some of the means by which you can get creative.

2.  Coconut bird nests.  I made these a few years ago and they were easy to make.  Cover coconut in melted chocolate.  Press the mixture over the back of a small bowl (sprayed lightly with cooking spray) to dry.  Tint a bit more coconut with green food coloring (put three or four drops in a glass jar with the coconut, attach the lid and shake)  for the grass.  To assemble, I put a salad plate on top of the dinner plate at each place setting.  On the salad plate, I put a bird’s nest, a sprinkle of grass, and then a few brightly colored malted Easter eggs.  They were darling and easy.

3.  Felt chicks.  On Pinterest you see tons of ideas for stuffies or softies, which are small felt animals decorated with embroidery.  I made yellow chicks using an egg-shaped cookie cutter.  I sewed black eyes on the face, before sewing two egg cutouts together (stuffing lightly with batting).  I used pinking shears to trim around my stitch line (giving it a feathery edge).  I glued yellow felt wings on the sides and an orange beak on the face, and I had a cute chick.  I have used these in an egg carton on the center of the table, as place card holders at individual place settings, and on a sideboard interspersed between food items.

4.  Fabric bunnies.  This year, I made bunnies from a pattern I found on Pinterest (click here for the directions).  I plan to use them as place card holders at everyone’s place setting.  I made a couple extra to send to my mother-in-law and father-in-law. These little bunnies are a great way to use up scrap fabrics.  I used leftover white cotton from making a gown and then purchased some colorful cottons from the sale table at the local Walmart.  The embroidery thread was left from other projects as well.  The bunny tails were made from leftover crochet string.  All total, I spent a little over $6 and not much time.

5.  Fabric carrots.  Similarly, there are some cute carrots that you can make from orange and green felt and/or fabric.  On Pinterest there are several ideas for making them, or go pattern free and do your own thing.

6.  Bunny, chicken and/or egg napkins.  I love to make cloth napkins from bar towels (click here for an earlier post).  These can be made with scrap fabric or made to match your tablecloth or the fabric bunnies discussed above.  They do double duty as place cards, just by embroidering the guests’ names on the napkins.  These also make cute liners for an Easter basket.  Just let the appliqué and embroidery hang over the edge.

What crafts are you working on for Easter?  Do you decorate your table the same way each year (your traditional table)?  Or do you change it up from year to year (a surprise each and every year)?