Easter Basket Centerpieces

Hello! Today I am showing you something other than a card. I know, SHOCKER! When I first started my blog 2 years, I use to have a lot of variety in my posts, but now that I work full-time I don't have as much time as I'd like to be creative. Anyway, in addition to doing the card ministry at my church, I am also the church's official decorator. I was asked to make 10 centerpieces for the Easter Morning Pancake Breakfast. I wanted to come up with something really quick, easy, and cost-effective, but in the end, I don't think I accomplished any of those goals. Well, maybe the cost-effective one. They took a lot longer to put together than I thought they would.

I found these adorable baskets at the Dollar Store. I thought they were perfect not only for Easter, but I could re-use them again and again. I decided to go with Annual Bedding Plants because I know this time of year everyone wants to see 'REAL FLOWERS' and not artificial ones, but I also wanted something I could 're-use' and wouldn't be thrown away a few days later. I figured, I could use the Bedding Plants for the breakfast, and a few weeks later just plant in them in my own garden or the church's flower beds, when the weather warms up. Hence the cost effectiveness! Here's a side view of the basket. Next, because the centerpieces were for a church on Easter Sunday, I wanted a religious aspect to them, so I made these crosses. They are two pieces of pre-cut foam that I found in the Kid's Crafts Section of JoAnn's Fabrics and Crafts. I glued them together with a Popsicle stick in between. I then traced the cross onto designer paper, glued it the foam cross, sanded the edges, and sponged the edges with ink. The sentiment is a freebie from McMahon Five Designs The shape behind the sentiment is a half rosette which was cut with a die from MFT. The butterflies were made with a Martha Stewart punch, and they have a crystal on each head. Each cross I made was different. They all had different Easter Colors and papers, but the same sentiment, rosette, and butterflies. I am only showing one of the ten crosses.

Here is a close up of the cross. Part of the sentiment is covered up by the foliage in this picture, but you could see the whole thing very well in real life. I also tied a big bow on the side of each basket handle. The colors of the bows were all Easter colors: yellow, light blue, lavender, pink, etc. and the color of the bow matched the color of the cross in the basket.

The baskets were a huge hit! Everyone loved them and I got a lot of compliments, which made it all worthwhile since I knew they brightened every one's day.

Have a great day! Amy