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?

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Colourful Easter Crackers

Colourful Easter Crackers

I've been having another crafting binge over the last few weeks. I've made some polka dot hoop art, been working on some spring wreaths, made some bandannas for my dog, and a couple of days ago, I put together some Easter crackers for our Easter meal on Sunday. I'm really pleased with how they turned out, so I'm here to give you a peek at them today.

My family and I always sit down to an Easter meal together on Easter Sunday, and this year I decided I wanted to make some Easter crackers for us to enjoy during our meal for the very first time to make Easter lunch that little bit lovelier. It's something I've wanted to do for years, so I knew I had to finally give it a go.

When I began thinking about making Easter crackers, I originally thought about making Easter crackers entirely from scratch, but knowing that would probably end in disaster, I began looking in to Easter cracker kits online instead. I soon discovered an online shop called Little Crafty Bugs, who stock a wide variety of craft supplies and an extensive selection of cracker kits for every occasion imaginable, and found exactly what I was looking for. 

While they do offer a range of Easter cracker kits, I actually found myself drawn to their plain coloured crackers, and decided to buy six of their single standard-sized crackers in six different colours- rose pink, sea blue, yellow, emerald green, lime green, and pastel yellow- to make our Easter table as colourful as possible. Well, you guys know how much I love colour!

My order arrived within a week, and I'm pleased to say, I wasn't disappointed. They were perfect for what I had in mind.

As I discovered, the crackers are all made from reasonably thick, good-quality card, and the colours are lovely and vibrant. Like traditional Christmas crackers, each cracker kit comes with a paper crown and a joke, as well as a cracker snap to give each cracker that satisfying pop when you pull them over the dinner table. I was surprised to find that they didn't come with ribbon or string to tie the ends of the crackers with, but as I was already planning to use colourful ribbons from my stash, it wasn't a problem for me. Just be aware that you'll need to source your own ribbon, twine, or raffia in order to make these crackers.

I was finally able to make my crackers this week, and it really couldn't have been easier. I had all six crackers made within fifteen minutes. I had originally hoped to blog a tutorial in advance with step-by-step photos, but I've been so under-the-weather lately, it's been left to the last minute again, and a tutorial won't be much use to you now. I only managed to snap photos of before and after, because my pain levels were too high, and I had to rush through it to get back to bed, but they were super easy to make, and I'll try to talk you through the process instead. Of course, it's probably too late to order these cracker kits in time for Easter now, but you could still make your own crackers from scratch by downloading a cracker template from the net and using some colourful card.

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).

Scissors.

Mini Easter eggs, or whatever contents you desire. (I used a selection of mini Lindt eggs).

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 it from fraying.

5. Place a paper crown and a joke in to the cracker, and drop in your confetti and contents. I used a selection of mini Lindt eggs for mine, but you could add in whatever small treats you like.

6. Tie up the other end of the cracker by repeating step 3, and voila, you're done!

You could also decorate your crackers any way you desire. I was originally intending to embellish mine with some Easter fabric, pom poms, ribbons, and silk flowers, but once I made them, I decided I liked the bold colours with the contrasting coloured ribbons I used as they were, and chose to keep them simple. I think the colours make a great statement on their own, and they'll go perfectly with our colourful new Easter placemats and napkins we recently picked up from John Lewis. (I'm still hoping to source the matching table runner, but it's currently out of stock online).

If you like the look of these crackers but not the colours I chose, don't worry; the Little Crafty Bugs crackers come in lots of other colours and sizes, too, and you can also buy them in multi-packs of up to 1000! With so many different options, you should have no problem finding exactly what you need to match your table decor, and cater to your guests / family no matter the occasion. You can find Little Crafty Bugs' selection of cracker kits here.

I couldn't recommend them more. I love how great my crackers turned out, and I'm looking forward to surprising my family with them on Sunday. Here's hoping they go down well with everyone.

Will you be making your own crackers for your Easter meal or party this Easter?

P.S. Apologies for how atrocious today's photos are. I took them in low light, and just cannot make them look good. I'm hoping I'll be able to replace them with better ones over the weekend.