EASY Easter Wreath and a few thoughts on Lent

I was thinking this morning about my blog . . .and about how I write about so many different things . . . and I realized that is one of the wonderful benefits of being a middle-aged mom. There are things that happened in the past that I might want to write about . . and there are things happening today that I might want to write about . . .and there are definitely things in the future that I might want to write about . . . and I don't have to write about just one thing. I can also use as many ". . .'s" as I want because no one is grading my blog (and if you are . . . . . . hee hee!) The most important thing is that it is my blog and I can write what I want. :-)  My friend, Marietta, wrote over on her blog that she didn't care who read her blog - she planned to write her true feelings.  I love her!!  I want to be like her when I grow up.  I try to write how I truly feel but I find myself "censoring" my own blog. 

Today I want to tell you how to make an easy Easter wreath.

Last year, I bought this cross for the front door and I LOVE it.  The problem is that I fully believe in the season of Lent and I don't want to hang my cross on the door until Easter Sunday.  Yes, I believe that Jesus has risen all year long but during the 40 days of Lent, I am focused more on the scriptures leading up to the death of Jesus.  During Lent, I am an introspective mood.  I am thinking more about the sacrifice made on my behalf.  I am placing myself at the foot of the cross.  I'm wondering . . .would I have been one of the crowd mocking Jesus?  As Christians, we want to say, "OH NO!  We would not.  We would be the ones waiting with Jesus."  Last  Sunday in Sunday School, one of my dear friends said, "I would have been trying to get him off the cross."  But his own disciples - his very best friends - the guys who hung out with Jesus day in and day out - weren't there at the foot of the cross.  Only John (the one whom Jesus loved - don't you love that expression?  I love how John always says that!  I want to be the "one whom Jesus loves . . and I AM!)  and his mother, Mary and the other ladies were there.  The ones in the crowd taunting Jesus were the "good church people."  They were the ones who went to church (synagogue) every week.  I'm afraid that we would have been in the crowd and it breaks my heart.  So during these 40 days of Lent, I spend time in self-examination.  I wait.  I prepare my heart.  I search the scriptures every day.  I pray.  I wait.  I know the resurrection is coming.  I anxiously await the glorious day of Easter BUT we must first go through the darkness of Good Friday before we can fully experience the resurrection.    I pray and I wait some more.  Sunday's comin'.  I know it is.  I just have to pray and wait a little longer.  Sunday's comin'!!  I know it is.  (check out this you tube video if you don't know what I'm talking about --

It's Friday... But Sunday's a Coming by Don Buck P. Creacy

Who knew that I would need to tell all that just to tell you about an easy Easter wreath?  I promise it is easy and the directions are coming.  There are a whole lot of days between St. Patrick's day and Easter Sunday for my front door to be plain so I decided to make something else and put the cross up on Easter morning. 

So these are the supplies and I purchased everything except my glue gun and my X-acto knife at the Dollar Tree.  You need a stiff piece of cardboard.  I bought a piece of foam board.  I first tried to use two different laundry baskets to trace my circles and they weren't quite the right size so then I looked around some more and found two giant serving bowls that worked perfectly.  You could also use the old pencil/pushpin and string method we learned back in elementary school to draw your circles.

You also need several packages - at least 48 big plastic Easter eggs and 2 or 3 packages of small Easter eggs.  I also used two bags of yellow Easter grass (I used yellow because it would show up against my dark green door).  I also purchased my ribbon at the dollar tree.  I had one spool left.  I think it took 3 or 4 spools to make a bow this large.  There were only 3 feet of ribbon on each spool.  A good bow always takes at least 3 yards.

I cut the outside of the circle away and the inside of the circle away with the X-acto knife.  I then started gluing the larger eggs "butt" side (wider end) together - basically two eggs per width of the wreath - one pointed toward the inside of the circle and one pointed to the outside - I should have taken a picture of that step -- so sorry!!!.  I glued a few at odd angles to fill in space and I glued a few of the smaller eggs on the bottom row to fill in space.  Then I pulled small tufts of grass from the bag and put a dollop of glue in the empty spots and crammed (what a lovely word - crammed - stuffed?)  the grass into the spots.  I started the top layer next.  I used mostly small eggs on the top layer.  I used every egg that I purchased.  Once again, I pulled small tufts of grass from the bag and put glue in the empty spots and stuffed the grass into the spaces.  I then made a large loopy bow and secured it with wire and wrapped the wire around the wreath to the back side and twisted it tight.

I think it turned out really cute and our house is up on a hill and the wreath really shows up well from the street!  Making the wreath was a fun Sunday afternoon project.  Warning - I was using a low temp glue gun but I still burned my "pointer" finger on my right hand from poking (is poking better than crammed/cramming??)  the grass down in the spots onto the hot glue.  I made the wreath two weeks ago and I still don't have all the feeling back in the tip of my finger!!!!!!

I purchased all the supplied for about $13 or $14 and I really enjoyed making the wreath.  It probably took me about an hour or an hour and a  half to make it (once I found something to use as my circle patterns!!)