hip2thrift: mantle

I love the Easter season, because of what this holiday means, and what it does in terms of bringing families together.

So for this Easter we were able to spend it with close friends and family. I am grateful to have a wonderful family and especially for the amazing sacrifice of the Son of God and the Atonement he performer for us

As far Easter decor for this year, I went with a simple spring mantle and just a few words on a chalkboard.

I love to keep it simple, but this year it was mostly because I couldn't find my Easter Decor box anywhere in storage, and didn't want to spend any money to decorate. It was enough to spend on the candy for treats and eggs. Speaking of treats, my daughter wanted to give some to her friends for Easter, so she participated in filling these up.

I got the little baskets in the dollar section at Target; they came in a pack of six, and with two packs, we were all set. We added a bit of paper grass and topped it with candy. My daughter absolutely loved making these and stayed focus on filling the baskets and not eating the candy in the process.

Although easter egg hunts and bunnies are not a tradition I grew up with, I am happy to report that it was a lot of fun to watch my little girl enjoy these activities.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and lots of hugs,

The air is cold, the leaves are turning, the pumpkins are asking to be picked, warm soup...

Um...no....it's still in the upper 80s outside. I know a lot of you are switching to fall decor now, and Pinterest has been invaded by pumpkins, so I too am adding little touches of fall decor here and there, but have not yet taken my fall decor box out of storage (and by storage I mean the box is stuffed in our little storage room on our porch still from when we moved here a few months ago, and I am afraid to admit that it is at the bottom with all the other boxes on top).

I have shared this project last year, but that was back when only me and my hubby (under much pressure) read this blog. So I decided to share these cute little fall pumpkins. They look great on my mantle and are just the perfect minimalist Fall decor.

How cute are they for gifts?! If there is any interest, I can share the crochet pattern with you guys. It is very easy and fast to make. Let me know in the comment section.

I think Pinterest deserves more pumpkin projects, especially reusable and eco-friendly ones like mine, so please don't hesitate to Pin and Share (pretty please:))

Are you ready to put away your flip-flops?

A little UPDATE - it is now raining here, which means it's FALL!!! ...and it means I have an excited daughter that is begging me to on her rain coat and boots to go play in the rain.

Have an awesome Wednesday, and as usual sending lots of hugs your way!

A little more UPDATE - on popular request here is the Mini Crochet Pumpkins Pattern

Materials:

Worsted Weight Yarn in orange for the Pumpkin body
Worsted Weight Yarn in green or brown for the Stem
Crochet hook in size G
Upholstery Needle

Rnd 1: Make a magic loop and single crochet 6 times into ring.(6 sts). Draw loop tight. Do not join
rounds. Place st marker in last stitch to mark end of round.
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each stitch (12 sts)
Rnd 3: (SC in next stitch, 2 SC in next st around0 (18sts)
Rnd 4: (SC in next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st) around (24sts)
Rnd 5: (SC in next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st) around (30 sts)
Rnds 6-10: SC in each st around (30 sts)
Optional: Depending on the size of the pumpkin, you can repeat rnds 6-10 again for a taller pumpkin.
Rnd 11: (SC in next 3 sts, dec 1 st in next 2sts) around (24 sts)
Rnd 12: (SC in next 2 sts, dec 1 st in next 2sts) around (18 sts)

I like to add the stuffing now as there is still room to do so.

Rnd 13: (SC in next st, dec 1 in next 2sts) around (12 sts)
Rnd 14: (dec in next 2 sts) around (6 sts)

This forms the bottom of the pumpkin. Fasten off and leave a long tail. Use the upholstery needle and make some stitches to draw hole closed.

Then stitch through the hole in the center of the pumpkin and out the hole. Bring it around the outside of the pumpkin and take another stitch through the center. Continue until you have created 5-6 “ribs.” You can make it as tight or loose as you like,

Fasten off. Trim end.

Stem:

Leaving about an 8 inch tail, Ch 7
SC in each st
Fasten off leaving about an 8 inch tail

Using your needle, stitch each tail through the center, and tie them together at the bottom. Trim
end.
Iuliana