Easter 2017

Sorry it's been so quiet around these parts again lately. I've been feeling really under the weather lately, with my heart currently racing a mile a minute, and the pain kicking my arse from all directions, so I've basically fallen in to hibernation... but without the wonderful relief of sleep. I have absolutely no idea what's going on with this body of mine any more. It's about time I signed myself up for a full body transplant, and be done with it. Haha!

Anyway, I'm still feeling rough as hell, but I wanted to share a few snippets from my Easter weekend with you guys now I've finally finished editing my photos. I didn't get up to anything special, but I had a lovely lazy Easter at home with the family, watching Easter movies, eating delicious food and crafting, and to be honest, I couldn't think of a better way to spend it!

Two bobble-hatted bunnies to wish you a happy belated Easter.

The adorable pastel Easter plaque I recently bought from Sass and Belle, hanging up on my bedroom wall.

A couple of days before Good Friday, I popped out to Sainsbury's for the last of the Easter chocolate I needed to give to my family and friends as presents. I don't think I bought enough...

After popping over to Hobbycraft on Good Friday for more craft supplies with Marie and Steve, I spent much of Good Friday, and Saturday evening making Easter hoop art. They were super easy and quick to make; all I did was frame Easter fabrics in embroidery hoops of various sizes, and finished the backs with some felt using a blanket stitch. I still want to add some ribbons to hang them with, but I'm really pleased with how well they turned out. 

The fabric came from a set of Hobbycraft Easter fat quarters, which included three designs in two colours each. As you can see, I used all but one of the fabrics, leaving out the dusky pink floral fabric because it didn't go so well with the other colours. The fat quarters are still available to buy here, and they're currently on sale, too! I'll probably blog about the hoop art in more detail another day, if anybody wants to see and hear more about them.

I spent Easter Saturday afternoon hanging out with Rosie on the sofa, mostly watching TV. She's so much happier now she's out of her Cone-of-Shame, and it's fair to say, she's back to her old self again. Look how cute the side of her shaved spotty belly looks from her op! 

I did manage to get off my backside long enough to make some Mini Eggs cornflake bird nests. I like to make some every Easter. They're the easiest, simplest treat to make ever, but you have to admit, they're always so darn tasty! I couldn't find the cake cases, so I ended up having to use muffin cases and make them larger, but I didn't hear any complaints from anyone about that! They were soon demolished by the family.

My Mum also made some butterfly cakes in the Easter daisy cake cases I bought, and used some yellow food dye in the buttercream. They might not look like anything special, but they were delicious.

On Easter Sunday, I spent the morning making up little goodie bags of Easter chocolate to surprise my family with during our Easter meal. I managed to find some foreign Easter chocolate through Amazon Pantry and a specialist sweet shop in Stroud, so it seemed like a great way to share them. I filled white and aqua chevron paper bags with Milka mini, milk chocolate, and biscuit eggs, mini Reester bunnies, Lindt, Cadbury and Malteaser bunnies, Lindt eggs, various Ferrero Rochers, and dark chocolate Segsations, and tied them with some purple curling ribbon. Everybody seemed to love them.

I also gave my Dad a bag of sugar free blackcurrant and liquorice boiled sweets, as he's a diabetic, and couldn't have much of the other stuff. I searched high and low for sugar free Easter chocolate for him, but apart from a cheap looking egg from Holland and Barrett, it doesn't seem to exist anywhere. I even struggled to find mini dark chocolate Easter treats without outrageous shipping fees, which he can eat in small doses, so there's a serious gap in the market for diabetic Easter chocolate. Somebody sort it out!

I also gathered together the Easter treats for my family, and made up an Easter hamper to send to my best friend and her family. I wrapped them up in colourful tissue paper, using Easter ribbons and washi tapes, and even made my own confetti to add to the box using tissue paper circles and a craft punch. I might be the Easter bunny in disguise.

Easter Sunday was spent watching Steel Magnolias (best Easter movie ever- fact!), The Vicar of Dibley's 'The Easter Bunny' episode, and Beauty and the Beast, and on Easter Monday, I curled up with The Sound of Music. Perfect Easter viewing.

This year's Easter loot from the family.

On Easter Sunday, my immediate family and I usually sit down for a big Easter roast dinner together, and this year was no exception. We had roast turkey with all the trimming Christmas-style, and it was absolutely delicious. We only share a meal like this about three times a year, so it's always special, and we always end up laughing until we cry.

Marie made her 'squidgy' chocolate roll- an old Delia recipe she's been making for about twenty years. It's basically the ultimate chocolate Swiss roll with cream and an amazing chocolate mousse running through it, and it's seriously delicious. 

I hung up honeycomb Easter decorations in my bedroom, and started out with the hoop art propped up on my bookshelves because I didn't have enough nails in the wall. (Our walls are ridiculously difficult to drill through, so I need to get a strong pair of hands to put some in for me). I'd ideally love to have a gallery wall above the shelves, full of pictures, cross stitches I've made, photos, and hoop art.

The Easter decorations I had beside the TV in my bedroom, along with a cheerful vase of yellow daffodils that really brightened up the room over Easter. The wooden plaques were both from Sass and Belle, and the polka dot Easter eggs are by Gisella Graham, which I picked up in a garden centre. I really want to find a pretty Easter tree to hang them from next year.

And I also hung a couple of decorations on my wardrobe doors (thanks to the lack of nails on the wall). The little metal heart was another decoration from Sass and Belle, and the giant wooden Easter egg was from Hobbycraft, and only cost me £1! I might paint it next Easter, but I actually think it's pretty cute the way it is.

How did you spend Easter this year?