Easter On Lockdown 2020

How was everyone's Easter? Did you do anything to celebrate it this year despite being on lockdown? I hope it was a lovely one.

We decided to try to keep Easter as normal as possible to reclaim a little normality back in our lives, and have something lovely to look forward to amidst the craziness. We totally nailed it, as well! Apart from a couple of minute differences, it wasn't any different to any other Easter we've had. It ended up being a lovely weekend, and it was great to have the distraction from reality.

On Good Friday, I put up Easter decorations in my bedroom so I could feel festive while resting in bed. I never actually managed to take any photos of my room decorated for Easter this year because I was in too much pain to move around, but it looked very similar to last year's efforts, so I've included a photo from last Easter instead. 

I spent the Saturday afternoon making homemade Easter crackers and table favours ready for our family meal on Easter Sunday. As I still had supplies left over from last year and didn't want to put anyone in danger packing and delivering a new online craft order, I just ended up making the same pastel pom pom crackers as last year- with contrasting pastel satin ribbons and pom pom buttons. I filled them with mini chocolate bunnies from Hotel Chocolat, which I snagged online from John Lewis with 30% off before Easter. The solid caramel chocolate bunnies were sooo good. 

For the table favours, I filled pastel-striped cone bags from Hobbycraft with mini Lindt, M&Ms, Smarties, and Cadbury eggs, which was all we could scavenge this Easter. I usually add in more variety and fancier brands, but for obvious reasons, I couldn't be fussy this year, and was grateful I was able to find anything to give at all.

I had a lazy Easter Sunday morning watching Steel Magnolias (my favourite Easter film that I have to watch every Easter without fail) for the millionth time, and enjoying the Easter themed Bunny Day event on Animal Crossing New Horizons. (Who else is playing ACNH? I'm addicted!) It put me in such a chilled mood for the rest of the day.

I then exchanged Easter eggs with my family. I managed to pick some up from Cadbury's Gifts Direct online a few weeks before Easter, which was a relief as our supermarkets ran out as soon as lockdown began, If I'd waited any longer, I would have missed out as they had such high demand they had to keep pausing new orders.

This was my Easter loot. My parents gave me a chocolate orange Easter egg, and the egg tasted just like a chocolate orange. OMG it was amazing! My sister got me a Galaxy egg, and I treated myself to a Cadbury one, because why not?

Around lunch time, I somehow found the courage to brave the Everest that is The Stairs so I could set the table for Easter lunch. I hadn't been downstairs since early February because my arthritis and fibromyalgia have both been so bad this year, and I've been struggling to bare weight on my knees and feet because the arthritis has been so painful. I've barely even strayed from my bed since Boxing Day. I had the worst aching, radiating pain in my leg on Easter Sunday, so getting out of bed and hobbling down the stairs wasn't the easiest or most sensible thing I've done. I was in agony, but I'm stubborn AF, and wanted to enjoy Easter lunch with my family, and make the table look pretty for it, so I powered through, with a little help from my Mum who did most of the leg work to and from the kitchen.

I made our Easter table super colourful using my favourite Easter table linens and pastel crockery. (You know you're getting old when you have favourite tableware, and look forward to using them)! I bought the table linens from John Lewis a couple of years ago, and started collecting the Port Meirion x Sophie Conran Colour Pop china around the same time. I still bloody love them; the colours are such a mood-lifter.

I added in my handmade Easter crackers, and pastel-striped bags of mini Easter eggs to every plate, plus a couple of egg-shaped bowls full of chocolate eggs to the table, which we were munching on as we got ready for lunch. The only thing that was missing was some fresh spring flowers. I think the table looked really cheerful, and the parents seemed to like it, too. Apparently I'm a creature of habit, though; the first photo is this year's table, and the second was what I came up with last year. Well, if it ain't broke...

We sat down for our meal around half two, and had a turkey roast with all the trimmings, Christmas-style. My Mum actually managed to find us a turkey crown from the local butchers (we'd normally get a whole frozen turkey but couldn't get one anywhere), and all the ingredients to make my homemade trifle. We just swapped the usual raspberries and blackberries from a local farm shop for a bag of mixed frozen berries from the supermarket, and it was almost as good as usual. The food was all delicious, and the only real difference to the meal this year was having regular roast potatoes instead of delicious goose fat ones, which was regretable but not the end of the world. My sister and brother-in-law were also missing from the meal- but they weren't going to be able to get the time off work to visit this Easter, anyway, virus or no virus.

The sun was shining and we had the patio doors open while we ate, with The Beatles playing cheerful tunes of days gone by in the background. It was a lovely meal, and just what we needed during these not-so-lovely times.

After lunch, I crawled back up to bed, and continued to play Animal Crossing while watching some TV. I was going to watch another Easter film, but I think I ended up binge-watching The Big Bang Theory again. I read for a while, and had turkey sandwiches and leftover trifle for tea later in the evening. It was a good day.

Easter Monday was spent watching The Sound of Music (another Easter ritual I observe almost every year), and playing more Animal Crossing while munching on some Easter chocolate, and eating more leftover trifle.

It was just the kind of Easter I was hoping for, and even though we were on lockdown, it really wasn't that different than it would normally be. We always celebrate Easter at home and never go anywhere on Easter Sunday or Monday, so I'm pleased lockdown didn't ruin our Easter. It was just a shame my sister and brother-in-law couldn't make it, and that my Dad was unable to go to church over Easter, which is important to him, but considering we were on lockdown during a global pandemic, I think it was a success, and far better than any of us expected it to be.

Hopefully next year we'll all be able to enjoy Easter out of lockdown with out families and friends, and all the little things we usually enjoy but couldn't do this year.

Did you celebrate Easter this year? How did you make the best of it on lockdown?

DIY Pastel Pom Pom Easter Crackers

Last Easter, I made some pastel-coloured Easter crackers to make our family Easter meal that little bit lovelier. I never did find the time to blog about them last year, but I saved the photos and thought I'd show you them today in case you fancy making some of your own this Easter weekend. (Of course, it's a little too late to purchase cracker kits in time for Easter now, but you could download a cracker template from the Internet and print your own on some colourful card).

My family and I always have an Easter roast on Easter Sunday and I like to make our table look as colourful as possible, so I decided to make crackers in a variety of pastel colours to compliment our colourful, mismatched Easter table linens and crockery.

I bought a selection of single cracker kits in lavender, pastel yellow, pale blue, and flamingo pink from the craft and party supply website, Little Crafty Bugs, who stock a wide variety of inexpensive cracker kits in different colours and sizes for every event imaginable. Their cracker kits are so good I've repurchased several times over the last few years whenever I've made crackers for Easter or Christmas, and even put in another order last week to make another batch for tomorrow's Easter meal, which I'm hoping to make later today. I then picked up some small pom poms from Hobbycraft, and chose satin ribbons in contrasting pastel colours from my stash to decorate them with. For the filling, I decided to treat everyone to some caramel chocolate bunnies from Hotel Chocolat (which are just amazing), and also bought a scratch card to pop in each one. (Sadly nobody won the gold). Then I got to work.

The crackers were so easy to make, and as I kept the designs simple, they didn't take long to make at all. I think I made all six in under half an hour. The process is really simple, and here's how to make them if you'd like to give cracker making a try. 

How To Make These Crackers

What You'll Need

♥ 1 cracker kit per person.

♥ 2 lengths of ribbon per cracker. (I used satin ribbons from Hobbycraft).

♥ 2 pom poms per cracker.

♥ Scissors.

♥ Hot glue gun and glue.

♥ Mini chocolate Easter bunnies, eggs, or whatever contents you desire. (I used caramel chocolate bunnies from Hotel Chocolat).

♥ Confetti (optional).

What To Do

1. First, take your flat-packed cracker, and stick a cracker snap in place with Selotape length-ways down the centre of the cracker.

2. Push out all of the diamond card pieces from the diamond cut-outs.

3. Roll the card in to a cylinder shape, and slot the three tabs in to the three slots.

4. Take a length of ribbon, and positioning it under the diamond cut outs, cinch it in and tightly tie it in place. This will pull in the end of the cracker and create the traditional cracker shape. Cut the ends of the ribbon diagonally to prevent them from fraying.

5. Place a paper crown and a joke in to the cracker, and drop in your confetti and contents. I popped caramel chocolate bunnies from Hotel Chocolat and a scratch card in mine, but you could add in whatever small treats you like.

6. Tie up the other end of the cracker by repeating step 3.

7. Heat up your glue gun, and glue a couple of pom poms along the centre of the cracker. Leave to dry for a couple of minutes. And voila, you're done!

Simple as that.

As well, as making pastel Easter crackers for our meal, I also made a couple more in rose pink and yellow, which I sent to my sister and brother-in-law in their Easter parcel last Easter.

The crackers seemed to go down really well with my family, and they were just so fun to make. I think they added a little something extra to our Easter dinner table, and definitely brightened up the table. And let's face it, who doesn't love snapping open a cracker full of chocolate?

I liked these pastel pom pom crackers so much, I think I'm going to do something similar with this year's Easter crackers. I obviously couldn't get scratch cards to put in them this year, but I have managed to pick up some more Hotel Chocolat Easter chocolates online to give my family a treat. I'll be sure to post a photo of them on my Instagram, so keep an eye on my grid and stories this weekend if you'd like to see what I come up with.

Have you ever made Easter crackers for an Easter meal or party?

You Might Also Like

Colourful Easter Crackers

Erstwilder Exuberant Easter Parade Part One

With everything that's going on in the world right now, I've been trying to contemplate whether it's right for me to be blogging about frivolous things like fashion at the moment. It feels so trivial and unimportant when people are dying, we're struggling just to get hold off basic supplies, people have lost their jobs, and virtually the entire world has come to a standstill.

Another part of me reasons that blogging about frivolous topics might be what some of us need right now, to offer some escapism from our frightening reality, and help keep a little normality. Sharing my thoughts on something I love is definitely a welcome distraction from anxiously worrying about everything that's happening around the globe for me, too, so perhaps there's little harm in the odd review of products I've bought myself? It's a difficult call to make. What are you thoughts on this? Are you happy to see frivolous fashion and beauty reviews right now?

I'm going to review some brooches I bought with my own money today, but please know I'm just showing you some pretty things I bought, and am not trying to encourage you to go off and buy them. I know money is tight for many of us right now and shopping for fashion is the last thing on our minds. (Although, if you feel the urge to buy, you would be supporting a small business, and perhaps also a small stockist, too, which I'm sure need our support more than ever during these difficult times).

Just before the shit hit the fan in the UK, Erstwilder released their very first Easter jewellery collection called Exuberant Easter Parade. Easter is my favourite time of year after Christmas, and I've been hoping and wishing that Erstwilder would do an Easter collection for years. Their Christmas and Halloween ranges are always amazing, and I could only imagine how fantastic their take on Easter would be, too. Last month, my dreams finally became reality when they released a nineteen piece collection, and it didn't disappoint. I couldn't help myself and bought six of the brooches the morning they went on sale- although, three were put on lay-buy for a month, which I won't get for at least another ten days. By the time the first three arrived, the virus was getting real and everyone was going in to isolation and having difficulty finding food, so I felt guilty and frivolous for buying myself brooches... although, they did bring a smile to my face amidst the chaos of the first week of lockdown and I'm grateful for that. Someone told me I shouldn't feel guilty for buying them as you need to do what you need to do to find some happiness right now, and y'know what, they were right. We need to hold on to what makes us happy, whether that's collecting brooches, binge-watching a box set with a tub of ice cream, or dancing around the living room to cheesy music. If it can give us some comfort during times like these, we should hold on to it and enjoy it as much as possible.

So, I'm going to show you the first three brooches from my haul today, and review the other three (less Easter-y ones) at a later date once I've received them. I've also got a couple of pairs of bunny earrings to show you from an earlier collection which I know you're gonna love.

One of the first pieces I was drawn to in this collection was the cutest nesting bluebirds brooch called True Love, and I was powerless to resist adding one to my collection. True Love features two loved up bluebirds made from the most amazing ocean blue marbled resin that looks like turquoise seas, proudly guarding a giant peach coloured egg in a caramel coloured nest. It's easily one of the cutest brooch designs I've ever seen, and the resins used to make the brooch are stunning. The retro bluebirds remind me of the bluebirds in old Disney movies, which I think was part of its appeal for me, and I have a feeling I'm going to be wearing it to death this spring. I've already worn it several times since it arrived.

Easter wouldn't be Easter without a wicker basket overflowing with brightly coloured eggs- even if there has never been one present in my own Easters- so I was instantly drawn to the Egg Hunter's Hamper brooch. Even so, I almost overlooked it in favour of another animal brooch, thinking perhaps it wasn't as impressive as some of the other designs. I'm glad I went with my gut feeling, and bought it, because it's turned out to be my favourite of the three I have so far! The hamper is a beautiful caramel colour with an impressive woven textured resin, decorated with a pearlescent white daisy and a glossy crimson bow. It's filled with three large marbled Easter eggs in mint green, dusky pink, and baby blue, and it couldn't be more festive if it tried. It's the perfect brooch for accessorising Easter outfits, and I'm planning to wear it on Easter Sunday while watching Steel Magnolias, my favourite Easter film, for the millionth time.

When I think of Easter and springtime, I often picture cute baby farm animals like fluffy white lambs, and fuzzy yellow chicks, so I had to have Happy Hatchling, a newly hatched chick brooch, in my collection. Happy Hatchling is a vibrant yellow chick (not a murky yellow as my photo appears) happily greeting the world after hatching out of a marbled duck-egg-blue and pearlescent-white egg decorated with daisies, and he's utterly adorable. He's the perfect Easter brooch, and as he's quite a large brooch, he makes a great statement piece, too. He's definitely going to take pride of place on more than one of my outfits this Easter weekend.

At the beginning of March, Erstwilder rereleased their Peter Rabbit collection, and alongside it, they launched a range of bunny shaped Essentials earrings to compliment the Beatrix Potter designs. I couldn't quite afford anything from the Peter Rabbit range, but I did treat myself to a couple of pairs of the bunny studs. I had to. I've always loved bunnies, and used to have two of my own called Tigerlily and Honey, until they died of old age at the grand ages of ten and eleven in my late twenties. They were awesome bunnies and I still miss them. They're the reason I love anything bunny-themed, so I couldn't resist picking up a couple of pairs of bunny studs to remind me of my years as a bunny Mum. I chose the pastel pink bubble resin studs and white textured resin studs, as I thought the delicate colours would be perfect for wearing over Easter. I normally avoid wearing these colours as they get lost in my super pale complexion, but they were too lovely to resist, and are so pretty in real life. The resins are gorgeous, and I love the bunny designs. They were such a bargain at just £5.50 each. Unfortunately, both of these colours appear to be sold out everywhere now, but they do come in a variety of other colours and resins, and some are still available from Erstwilder and their stockists.

Most of The Exuberant Easter Parade collection is also still available, which you can shop with Erstwilder here, and via their stockists around the world here.

I'm really impressed with Erstwilder's first Easter collection, and can't wait to see what Easter designs they bring out in the future. I'm also looking forward to receiving the other half of my order in a couple of weeks, which includes two of my favourite designs from this year's collection- a mother hen and a chipmunk brooch! I can't wait to review them for you.

Look out for part two of my Erstwilder Easter haul coming to the blog in a few weeks.

Did you buy anything from the Exuberant Easter range? Which pieces are your favourites?

You Might Also Like

Erstwilder x Pete Cromer Brooches

Erstwilder With Love Valentine's Day Brooches

Erstwilder All Wrapped Up Christmas Brooches

Erstwilder Halloween Jewellery 2019

Erstwilder Endangered Animal Brooches

Erstwilder Brooch Haul May 2019

Erstwilder Kitschy Christmas Brooches

Erstwilder Festive Splendour Brooches

Erstwilder Out of Africa Brooches

Erstwilder Brooch Haul

Erstwilder South American Socialites Brooches

Erstwilder Australiana Brooches

35 Things I Am Grateful For Right Now

I don't know about you, but the Corona Virus crisis has given me a whole new outlook on life these past few weeks, and reminded me what's really important in life.

I've got a newfound appreciation for the little things in life- even more so than before this pandemic when concentrating on enjoying the little things was how I made the best of being housebound with chronic illness. I feel extra grateful for what I still have in life, and am trying to be appreciative of all of those small joys and acts of kindness that are making these frightening times a little brighter and easier to bare.

I know it's not easy to stay positive at the moment, when the lives most of us knew (yours more than mine) have changed beyond recognition, and the world has become such a scary place to live in, but I'm trying to focus on the positives as much as possible. It's how I've coped with the changes to my life from chronic illness, and the only way I can think to get through this virus without being an anxious wreck every minute of the day. I look for the positives and try to make the best out of whatever life throws at me. It helps me keep going.

So, today I thought I'd share a list of some of the things I am grateful for right now, to have something positive to look back on from this nightmare when it's all over.

I am grateful for...

♥ My family all being safe and well.

♥ My sister and brother-in-law being in a country with a handle on the virus and the lowest Corona Virus mortality rate in the world. (Germany). I don't like them being so far away from home right now, but at least their government is taking better precautions than ours.

♥ Friends for keeping me sane.

♥ My dog for making me smile every day.

♥ Having been isolating for 8.5 years already, so I'm not finding the isolation part of this nightmare  too difficult at all.

♥ Animal Crossing New Horizons for keeping me occupied, and offering hours of escapism every day. It's the perfect Corona Virus distraction, and is really helping me cope right now.

♥ Books for allowing me to escape to another world for a while. I'm loving the Caraval series at the moment.

♥ My favourite TV programmes for letting me do the same. Even if most are now shutting down production as they go in to isolation. Thank God for reruns and Netflix boxsets!

♥ Fall Out Boy tunes for lightening the mood. Their music always puts me in a good mood, so I've been listening to their old albums a lot lately to keep things cheerful.

♥ Living in the digital age so that we have the Internet, social media, Netflix, movie and music streaming sites, Kindle books and computer games to keep us entertained and connected. Can you imagine going through isolation during the plague days when you didn't have all these forms of entertainment or even a phone to keep in touch with your family and friends?? 

♥ Having enough food in the house to live comfortably on without doing any panic-buying.

♥ There being enough toilet paper in the house because the parents bought some in bulk from Costco before the virus.

♥ Having a little supply of hand sanitiser from before the virus to tide me over for a while.

♥ Managing to find some Paracetamol in the supermarket before my prescription supply ran out. #Winning.

♥ Prescriptions still being filled- albeit even slower than usual- so I don't have to go through withdrawal and extra pain again- at least this month. Being unable to access my prescription medication and going in to withdrawal is one of my biggest fears in all this... y'know, besides people I love getting the virus and dying.

♥ The NHS, doctors, nurses, paramedics, therapists, porters, hospital cleaners, scientists, and all the other medical professionals and hospital workers who are working so hard to fight for people's lives in unimaginable conditions.

♥ Supermarket staff and delivery drivers for working hard to ensure we can access food and other essentials.

♥ Amazon for still operating efficiently and allowing me access to heat patches, some groceries, Animal Crossing, pet supplies, and books in a time when supermarket delivery slots are like gold dust.

♥ People who are staying on lockdown and aren't risking everyone's lives.

♥ The three people who've knocked on the door and offered their help with anything to my Dad since social isolation began. He doesn't need any help (he's 73 but not frail, and has us), but it's lovely that our neighbours are being so kind and thoughtful.

♥ All those sunny days we had last week for brightening the mood.

♥ Lighter evenings / longer hours of daylight now that the clocks have changed. Somehow I think this nightmare would be harder during the dead of winter with less daylight, and SAD to contend with.

♥ Chocolate for bringing little moments of happiness to dull days.

♥ Managing to find Easter eggs online last week so I can still do something nice for my family for Easter.

♥ Terry's Chocolate Orange Mini Eggs for being so delicious.
♥ My Mum finding rhubarb in the freezer last week (from the garden last year), and making homemade rhubarb cakes. They were amazing.

♥ My sister for sending over a parcel of Body Shop goodies for me and our other sister. It was a lovely surprise getting some banana shampoo and conditioner, mango body yogurt, and hemp hand cream in the post this morning.Thanks sis!

♥ Erstwilder Easter brooches for adding a little happiness during these worrying times.

♥ Living on the edge of the countryside and not in a city where everyone is in close quarters.

♥ Having a large garden where we can go to safely enjoy the fresh air and exercise the dog, etc. (Not that I've made it downstairs in months, but at least it's there for everyone else).

♥ Being able to see nature and the occasional creature (squirrels, red kites, other birds) from my bedroom window. It makes me feel less trapped and more relaxed.

♥ Seeing blossom beginning to bloom on the trees from my bedroom window. I love blossom.

♥ Knowing a variety of ways to keep myself entertained at home because I've had years of practice at this, so I'm not dying of boredom right now.

♥ Hot showers because they always make me feel better.

♥ And naps because naps make any situation better. (Am I the only one feeling fatigued AF at the moment?)

And those are some of the things I have been grateful for during lockdown so far.

I want you to know that it's okay if you're not feeling remotely positive right now. It's okay if you're grieving your normal life, feeling angry, scared and anxious, and can't see anything positive in all this bleakness. It's a perfectly normal reaction to your life being turned upside down, and you're allowed to feel how you feel. It's a frightening and awful time for all of us, and nothing is okay about this situation. We can't just pretend everything okay, and it's not realistic to be positive all the time, so be kind to yourself, and take it one day at a time. Just because I'm looking for the positives, it doesn't mean you have to. How ever you're getting through the days, you're surviving the best way you know how, and you're doing great.

Stay safe, everyone.

 What are you grateful for  right now?

You Might Also Like
101 Things To Do In Social Isolation