A Child's Easter Table: Daisy Eggs & Jelly Beans

A Child's Easter Table: 

Daisy Eggs & Jelly Beans  

Crepe Paper + Easter egg + Jelly Beans = A Super Fun Place Setting

Creating Easter craft projects for kids has always been my favorite part
of the holiday. Making a special place at the Easter Table is top on my list
as a must do.  A little extra effort can make your holiday memorable for
everyone, so let's get started creating this fun Easter Place Setting!

Photo by Michael Partenio

Wait til you see how easy it is to make this Daisy Egg

What You'll Need:

1- Roll of White Crepe Paper (Available At The PartyStore)

2- Double Stick Tape

3- Scissors

4- Pencil

5- One Dyed Egg - Use Eggs Your Kids Dyed!

1. Cut crepe paper to 15" length and fold over to make 3 layers @ 5" wide

2. Using a pencil draw daisy petals across the crepe paper. 

Keep petals 1/4 " from bottom edge.

3.  Cut out our daisy pattern.

Add caption

4. Dye one hard boiled egg yellow for each egg daisy.

5. Wrap double sided tape around the middle of the egg.

Starting along the top edge of the double sided tape, wrap the crepe paper 
around the egg while adhering to the tape as you circle egg.
 

Pull out petals and then push the egg into a 3" painted pot, or a 

plain terracotta pot filled with Jelly Beans.

Place potted Daisy Egg onto each plate!

21 day countdown- Make a Christmas card vase

If you have saved some favorite cards from years past, purchased or received cards this season that deserve some extra attention, here is an fun way to turn them into an attention grabbing project.

Created by Karin Lidbeck Brent for Christmas Ideas Magazine 2011.  Photo by Michael Partenio

How to make this:

AMARYLLIS CARD VASE

Four Christmas Cards ( approx 5” x 7”) or cut to same size

 2 yds Red ribbon cording or 1/8 "ribbon 

Can or glass for Flowers (sits inside to hold flowers)

Hole Punch

Double sided tape

Regular scotch tape

3 amaryllis stems , red berry branches . holly

You will want to make sure that the four Christmas cards you choose are all approximately the same size and are all vertical.  Cut to same size if necessary. Place long pieces of double sided tape on the inside of card to keep the card closed.  Punch holes along the sides of the cards so  the holes are staggered. To do this:

On two of the cards (which will stand opposite of each other), starting ¼” from top, hole punch holes down the side l” apart from each other.  On the other two cards (which will also stand opposite from each other), start  l” from top with hole punch and continue punching holes l” apart from each other. 

Cut four  16” lengths of  ribbon cording,  (or each  approx.

double  the length of card you are using)  Tape the end of roping to inside of card near the top hole bringing roping from the inside to outside and begin weaving the seam.  Finish at the bottom by taping the end of roping to the inside of card.  Continue with all sides of cards. Find a container that will fit inside the square of the cards, fill with water and place arrangement in the container.

Make this: Dishtowel vase! Country Gardens Magazine

Hurray! Lillies of the Valley are blooming!  Gather a bunch to style this fun display. Its fragrance can’t be missed. 

 

You can make this charming  flower sack  that I created for Better Homes and Gardens Country Gardens magazine !

Grab a pretty dishtowel, a zip lock bag, clothesline, and clothespins to hang bundles of fragrant white Lillie's in your window. The dishtowel bag is lined with a zip lock bags that holds the water to keep the flowers fresh and alive.

Designed by Karin Lidbeck Brent, Photo by Jim Westphalen

To make the bag:

Use a small sandwich size zip lock bag.  Open dishtowel on table vertically in front of you. Fold in half.  Lay the zip lock bag on top of the dishtowel matching the bottom edges.  Cut the dishtowel 1/8 inch longer all around the bag. Use pinking sheers to cut edges.

Place the opened zip lock bag inside the cut dishtowel; Use a stapler to staple the dishtowel and the bag together.  Place  staples down the outside edges catching the bag inside the dishtowel. 

With bag open, staple across the front top edge and back top edge of bag and dishtowel together

Hang clothesline across your window. Use 1 clothes pin on each corner to hang bag from small clothesline.

Use a small spouted container like a measuring cup to add water to bag, fill just quarter to half of bag.

Add flowers.

Create Style - Make a paper vase!

One of my favorite DIY projects was designing this paper vase made with a medium weight textured watercolor paper .

It has a wonderful natural organic quality that looks beautiful with any garden flowers. The paper vase slide over any household glass that holds the water

Use a stiff medium weight water color paper ( 140 lb) that has texture and will stand up well. The paper vase will last for years and years.

Copyright  2011 Karin Lidbeck

Gather materials, paper, scissors, craft knife and pencil ruler ribbon.

To trace an arch at the bottom, use a dinner plate and outine1/4 of the circle. Measure up and across from that line 10" to get outer circumference.

Fold paper accodian style with 16 creases and cut wedges along the top. then use craft knife to cut slits between folds as shown. slits are wide enough to pull ribbon thru.

Cut slits between the folds as shown using a craft knife. Slits should be wide enough to pull ribbon thru.

Glue the back edge closed and slide ribbon thru.

There you have it! Your own paper vase!

Daffodils - The Wee Tree!

While daffodils are blooming,  you might consider making this.
I came up with this simple arrangement for a Good Housekeeping Spring Issue. With just a few materials in hand you can be put this together quickly.

1 dozen Daffodils  about 12" of a pretty ribbon ribbon,  a rubber band, floral foam and moss.

wee tree

Tightly gather a bunch of daffodils and secure with rubber bands. Cut floral foam to fit inside small container and soak in water; insert stems. Cover foam with moss and wrap with bright ribbon.

Daisy Eggs Centerpiece

This giant daisy egg was a design idea I created as a table centerpiece for Good Housekeeping magazine.  A fresh idea and so easy to make.  It will last longer than you think, many years actually,  since the daisies are artificial flowers from the crafts store!

Carve an 8 or 9" high egg shape from a floral foam block or purchase  a large styrofoam egg.

You will need approximately 50 artificial daisy heads ( many stems have multiple heads)

Cut the head with wire cutters approximately 1/2" below the flower head.

Push the stem into the styrofoam.

Repeat with each flower placing them closely together so the styrofoam is completely covered until the entire egg is covered in daisies.

Place the egg in a small white bowl as a base to hold your daisy egg upright.

Simple and Easy How tos on Decorating Eggs

For the past 15 years working as a contributing crafts editor to Good Housekeeping magazine, I have created dozens of DIY Easter projects.   The quest to find new ways to decorate eggs is always a fun challenge!

With Easter around just around the corner,  I'd love to share three of my favorite egg projects.

Simple dyed eggs: The fun is in the embellishments.

To create the eggs above:
Shop for pretty trims, and ribbons at your local fabric and craft store.  Some trims can be cut apart to make individual flower heads. Choose trims that are narrow and in scale with the eggs.

Dye a batch of hard-boiled eggs in your favorite color palette.  

Once the egg shells are thoroughly dry, glue pretty trims onto your eggs. One simple trim around the center of the egg is a simple and pretty embellishment.

Découpage Eggs

Working as a contributing crafts' editor for Woman's Day magazine in the 1980's,  I learned this trick: Découpage eggs with cocktail napkins!

An easy project. Here is the How-to in découpage eggs!

Hard boil white eggs. Peel the paper layers of cocktail napkin  apart. Use the thin printed outside layer.

Cut  the paper into small strips to cover the egg. Using white glue - slightly watered down, brush the  glue over a section of the egg, place the paper over the glued area. Brush more glue over the paper smoothing out wrinkles and adhering well. Add more glue and more paper to cover the egg. Do one side at a time, allowing to dry in between.
.

 

Paper Embellishments

Hardboil your eggs, Leave some eggs natural brown and white.  Dye some eggs in pale shades of pink and blue. Use of brown paper and twine inspired this Easter egg project. A simple how-to!

The  brown and white dots are made with a paper punch.   The flower petals and bunny figure are cut from brown paper using small nail scissors.  Apply paper shapes with a glue stick.

Add eggs wrapped with thin twine.

Speckled Eggs

Ahh,  then there is the speckled decorated egg! The look almost as true as eggs found in a bird's nest.

Easy DIY Easter egg decoration!

Dye the eggs using soft pastel colors - Just a few minutes in the bath. Allow to dry.

Be sure to cover yourself and working surface.

Using a watered down sepai brown acrylic paint, take an old toothbrush and run your finger along the brush to splatter the paint.

Place in a terra cotta dish with a ring of wheat grass around the edge of dish.

Love Jelly Beans!- Easy DIY Napkin Ring .

Easter Candy was my inspiration for creating this DIY project as part of an Easter feature I produced for Good Housekeeping magazine March 2009.

Your friends, your guests and you will love these homemade napkin rings. So easy and fun to make!

The candied coil!

Wash your hands well before, or use plastic gloves when making these.

Using bendable aluminum wire. ( Found at craft stores and florists)

Cut wire to desired length.

Push the wire through a Jelly Bean. Repeat until your wire has been filled leaving a small bit at each end to coil.

Wrap your Jelly Bean napkin ring around each napkin.

Thumbnail Flower Arrangments for Spring

Last spring James Bagget, Editor of Meredith's Country Gardens magazine, called me to design a spring floral project, "Thumbnail Arrangements." I could not wait to get right on it!
 

Spring arrives with the smallest of delights popping out of the ground from March thru May.

With a few snips from the garden, I created these tiny joyful arrangements using equally tiny containers for the current 2012 Spring Country Gardens Magazine.

Find fun containers. I am always combing thru boxes of old hardware at the flea market.  I was drawn to the porcelain and glass doorknobs, but it took me awhile to figure out a creative way to use them.

When the door knob sits upright on its head, the doorknob fixture becomes an upright funnel which will hold a small amount of water.  Some doorknobs have a hole for the screw in this part so make sure the screw is intact, or the water will flow out. 

The thick stem of the flower cut from the branch just fits in the hole. Refill with water daily.

Spring brings waves of the smallest flowers pushing up thru the ground cover revealing  dainty flower heads with stems as thin as a thread.  Scilla which comes in so many shades of blue is given the royal treatment as the star attraction in this salt shaker. 

All photos by Andre Baronowski 

Projects designed by Karin Lidbeck

DIY Easter Wreath - Made with Eggs! Yes, Eggs!

This EGG stravagant wreath was a creation of my brainstorming ideas for the 2008 Good Housekeeping magazine Easter feature.

I designed this wreath using  1/3 white, 1/3  brown and 1/3 white eggs sprayed a soft pink with Krylon spray paint.

All hollow eggs. Instead of blowing the eggs which is tedious work, break a small hole in the back of each egg and shake out the insides. The back of the eggs don't show.

Using a glue gun, glue 1/8" and 1/4" ribbons on some of the eggs. Glue all of the eggs to a straw wreath

The project takes some time to make.

Store the wreath in a plastic storage box and it will last for years to come.

You can use artificial eggs: Purchase here.

How to build a Terrarium with Expert Tovah Martin

Working as a stylist for magazines and catalogs, I get the most fantastic opportunities to work with many specialists in many fields.

Creating your very own terrarium

photo by Michael Partenio

In September 2011, I was hired to work with Garden writer, Tovah Martin, on a Better Homes and Gardens terrarium feature producing a How -to video and magazine feature. Tovah Martin is the author of The New Terrarium,  the focus of our project together.


 Creating the setting that is needed to produce a successful photo shoot contains many variables. My first task was to find the ideal location to produce the shoot and then gather all of the props that set the mood and backdrop.


I took an empty space and designed a small set to feel like a gardener's studio.  For the terrariums, Tovah and I worked closely gathering containers of all shapes and sizes. Together, and with Tovah's expert instruction, we planted miniature landscaped 'green worlds'. Two days of shooting resulted in a fun and instructional video on terrariums! 


Want to plant your own terrarium?. 

A Bit of Terrarium History 

The terrarium that we know and appreciate today was invented quite by accident in 1827 by Dr. Nathaniel Ward, a London physician. Dr. Ward had planted a fern rockery on his property, only to find his plantings weren't doing well. However, one fern that had been bottled was thriving. 


Dr. Ward concluded his Wardian case was protecting the delicate ferns from London's polluted air.

Indoor Wardian Case (from Ward's 1852)

By the 1860's, every Victorian home had a 'greenhouse' housing plants here in the United States. Today, the terrarium is still popular and in many homes today, including mine.

For more historical background, click here. 

How to make a Snowflake!

Designs by Karin Lidbeck, Christmas Ideas magazine 2010
Photo by Michael Partenio

The materials for making a large snowflake start with 6 paint sticks. For smaller snowflakes you use Popsicle sticks, along with a combination of assorted wood craft sticks, squares and shapes all found at craft stores in bags of multiple sizes and shapes.

Using a sheet of brown paper and a ruler, draw out a template to follow, like the one below.

Lay the sticks down over the template as shown. Doing this allows you to make sure your snowflake pattern is always symmetrical.

Use a permanent glue of your choice for adhering the pieces together. Lay your base first, adding the additional layers to create your final design.

The final step is to spray the snowflake well with a glossy white Krylon spray paint.

This project appeared in Christmas Ideas magazine 2010  

Designs by Karin Lidbeck

Photos by Michael Partenio

Dreaming of a White Christmas: Amazing DIY Snowflakes

Not long ago I was given the assignment to design and style a holiday feature with a snowflake theme for Christmas Ideas magazine.

Snowflakes arrive in many decorative shapes and styles during the holidays, which inspired me to create my own versions in wood.

One of the projects I came up with were these DIY snowflakes using paint sticks, old-fashioned popsicle sticks along with small wood shapes from the craft store.  I loved creating this wintry wall of snow behind the headboard and creating the lacy patterns on the staircase!

Instructions on how to make your own Snowflake coming tomorrow.

Photos by Michael Partenio

The Looking Glass Holiday Centerpiece

Art director Scott Johnson of Better Homes and Gardens magazine asked me to create a garden inspired holiday decorative centerpiece for their BHG 2011 December issue.  The looking glass globe of birds on snow is a favorite of mine!

Photograph by Michael Partenio 


The Looking Glass centerpiece vase is so easy to make yourself! Use a glass container, any glass container, even a round fish bowl! Place artificial snow ( or salt ) at bottom for the base. Add some greenery from the outdoors with the artificial birds and nest from a craft store or garden shop.

Place on plate, and you now have your very own Looking Glass centerpiece.

The Regal Amaryllis

Holidays are soon approaching, and so are the regal Amaryllis! 


Last year, Ann Blevins editor of Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas magazine asked me to design and style seven Amaryllis projects for the upcoming 2011 Christmas ideas magazine.


One traditional Victorian holiday decoration inspired me to replicate, only to find this DIY easy to do!

Sugared Amaryllis and fruit centerpiece

Lightly brush egg whites mix ever so gently upon fruit and flowers blooms. Sprinkle super-fine sugar partially on both fruit and flower. Place upon cake plate with some greens!  Flower is cut short and placed in silver votive. A centerpiece appreciated by many!

My holiday centerpiece favorite! 

Amaryllis Pineapple Centerpiece

I am often asked to design holiday tables. This centerpiece is a favorite. This will add a hit of elegance to your table with hardly any effort.  Slice off the top of the pineapple. Scoop out the delicious contents. Place amaryllis flowers in center.  Add eucalyptus, or any natural green around the amaryllis. Surround your centerpiece with cranberries, and you have a great holiday centerpiece! Don't forget to put water in this natural vase!


You can buy cut amaryllis at the florist or buy the flower bulb in the pot. 


PS. Cut stem of the amaryllis flower will last up to two weeks, maybe longer provided you keep cutting the cut stem back every few days. 
Look for more of my Amaryllis ideas in the current issue of Better Homes and Gardens Christmas Ideas magazine!



Photographs by Michael Partenio

My Thanksgiving Table DIY on Ct Fox 61

Tues  Nov 22 I was invited to share a Thanksgiving DIY project on the Ct morning show.

Here is the link, perhaps you'll find some inspiration for the upcoming holidays. Creating family memories and conversation around the table with family photos

WATCH MY DIY VIDEO 

VIDEOhttp://www.ctnow.com/videogallery/66235665/News/Family-Centered-Thanksgiving-Crafts-11-21

The Perfect Thanksgiving Wreath

Well. We still have a week to prepare for Thanksgiving.  Do you dare take on another project?. If you are thinking about a wreath for the door, this one is easy and fast for a DIY wreath,.....  once you have these three things:


1.   Corrugated cardoard: cut a wreath form from heavy corrugated
2.   7-8 bunches of smaller long Indian corn. Dismantle bunches so you have individual ears, splay
      out husks.

3.   Glue gun and lots of glue sticks


Glue the corn on the cardbaoaord to cover as shown. The corn will splay our more on outside leaving some gaps,  so glue some extra corn husks to fill in the gaps  in between.

Design Karin Lidbeck, Photo by Micahel Partenio
Created for Ct  Homes and Gardens Magazine