With (a) spring in my step...

It has been a while. 

A rather long while. 

Blog intentions were present and willing. 

Life threw me other things to do first. 

And then one day I caved in to friends' insistence that I ought to try Instagram.

So I have been instagramming a bit. (You can find me at @helenabernald on Instagram.) 

After months of hibernation, when I have occasionally placed a paw outside, in the vain (= desperate) hope for some spring vibes, it was not until today that I felt the air filled with hope and signs that spring is on its way.

So I have (a) spring in my step today.

And decided to welcome spring with some recycled, upcycled "Easter craft on a shoestring"  (inspired by the very creative and crafty Helena at http://helenalyth.se/). Photos taken with my phone, so the quality is not brilliant, but you get the idea... :-) 

I used egg shells from previous lunches, some leftover wall paint, the tiny satin ribbons you sometimes get in new T-shirts (the ones used to keep the T-shirt on its hanger), some small branches from a pile of cut down bushes nearby, and voilà, mini vases with a spring-y, Easter-y feel! 

Wishing you all a lovely week!

Helena

Can't keep your fingers off your eggs...?

Well, it seems, neither can I! 

Having gone just a little bit bananas with the lilac craft paper I used for my moustache-adorned egg heads last week, a few more mini craft projects took form in my spring-desperate head. So, what to do with some miniature bunting...?

Well, it quite obviously needs a sponge cake, some chocolate/coffee frosting, 

a few chocolate fingers and some mini eggs. 

In short: the bunting needs an Easter cake to go with it!

 And who am I to argue with that?

Whether you celebrate Easter or not, 

I hope your weekend is a lovely and relaxing one, 

and - dare I say it? - a warm and spring-like one too!

Helena

Egg Heads...

No, of course I did not mean you, dear readers! 

The egg head heading refers to these three gentlemen that were the result of last night's itchy craft fingers having been allowed to play. Inspired by a photo I had seen on Pinterest (unfortunately I cannot remember where, so I apologise that there is no source stated), I dug out some old craft paper, three mini jam jars (those you often get with hotel breakfasts and which, I found out when I asked in a B&B last summer, are often thrown away and not recycled... which now makes me ask if I can take them home instead!), a black  pen and the three remaining eggs I could find in our fridge. And ta-daa, instant Easter fun! 

***

... and on the subject of itchy craft fingers... I thought I might continue the theme of 'show and tell' by showing you some wands I made for a certain young gentleman's Harry Potter birthday party a few days ago.. Welcome to Hogwarts!

I found some very easy step-by-step instructions here on how to make a Harry Potter wand that lived up to my health and safety conscious, do-not-like-any-children-to-get-their-eyes-poked-out-at-the-party philosophy. It was my first encounter with a glue gun ("What?" I hear you say, "a crafty girl without a glue gun???") and after an initial farcical few minutes that would give Mr Bean a run for his money, we bonded quite well (pardon the pun), the glue gun and I. 

I made a few changes to the original instructions and used two sheets of paper, one rolled inside the other, for stability, and I did not use any primer or paint several coats - instead I used a couple of tester pots in black and two different shades of brown and slabbed on the paint a little haphazardly, trying to achieve that distressed look. The wands were surprisingly easy to make,   and even if they will not last a lifetime, at least they are safe and proved very useful for the spells and potion making the little wizards undertook at the party...

Happy Sunday, everyone, and may it be a magical one!

Helena

Having the Easter blues...

Fewer and fewer are the new decorating details that come over my threshold these days... I like to try to either recycle/upcycle  - such as this former sweet corn tin, now with a new coat of a magnolia paper napkin glued on with découpage glue - or find second hand treasures to play with...

... or simply find pretties in Mother Nature's own treasure chest to decorate with...

However, I must confess to having a certain weakness for pretty tea towels, and when I stumbled upon this blue hen towel, my heart started beating fast enough for my wallet to jump out of my bag and land on the shop counter, just next to the money-hungry till...

After a quick deliberation, the banana bread jury also gave the thumbs up to this new member of the Swenglish tea towel family, and as you can see, this particular banana cake seems to enjoy being snuggled up in the cosy, clucking embrace of its new blue coat.

(For those of you wondering just for how long this banana cake was allowed to stay wrapped up like this before passing through the greedy jaws of yours truly and her offspring... well, I could not possibly reveal that without tainting my reputation...)

Having seen many different and creative "eggventions" in magazines and blogs lately, I thought I might have a go at a particularly cuddly, fluffy one (inspired by Hanna at Sjarmerende GJENBRUK, made from catkins), but I think my patience was not doing me any favours that day, and the result was not nearly as fluffy and fine as Hanna's. Next year I think I might try her pretty "popcorn eggs" instead. At least I can then eat any "failed attempts"...

The same napkins (as above on the tin) were used two years ago, 

also then involving Easter decorations...

And with these photos from our little town...

(Click on the images if you want to see them larger and sharper.)

... and a particularly pretty blue beauty...

I wish you a peaceful and lovely Easter weekend!

Helena

Happy Easter...

... to all you happy bunnies out there!

Inspired by the beautiful blog Helt Enkelt, http://heltenkelthosmig.blogspot.com/, and by other bloggers who this year have gone to town with letters in their decorations, these eggs were born in the Swenglish Home last night.

Will they hatch into little alphabet chicks charging around the kitchen tomorrow? I promise I will let you know...

Don't put all your eggs in one basket...

Perhaps save some for a "cagey egg house"..?


Pussy willow with furry catkins - spring vibes!

Easter Hat parade at school yesterday, 'Eggventions' competition today - phew, with those crafty parental assistance demands, there is not much time left to eggify neither blog nor house ...

Will the Easter Bunny still find its way to the Swenglish Home, I wonder?

Spot the chick...

Last year our kitchen was green and the eggs spotty. This year, gone the green and I doubt even the most observant among you would be able to spot any polka-dotted pleasure in the Swenglish Home.

No, this year we have a different plan.

Hm.

Not entirely sure what that plan is yet, but it will come to me.

Soon.

Help?!