A Buttercup Easter

Hope you all had a nice Easter! Or Passover, if you happen to roll like Piper's paternal family.

Since I'm off, we decided to hit spring cleaning hard. We cleaned out and donated Pi's outgrown clothes and toys. Her playroom is so sparkly clean, I'm tempted to ban her from ever playing in there again to keep it that way. That one room took HOURS. It was painful.

I cleaned out my closets and hubby worked magic in the kitchen and bathroom. The only room we still need to finish is Pi's bedroom, but that shouldn't take very long since the majority of her toys are in her playroom.

We took a break to dye Easter eggs. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a pic of them all together before they were dropped, cracked, and/or eaten.



Pi taught me a neat trick that I'd never learned. If you write on a clean egg with crayon and then dip it in dye, the design stays on the egg because the wax from the crayon prevents the dye from sticking to that spot.


She wasn't really this surly.

The Easter Bunny paid a visit and left a giant chocolate bunny that I'm sure my little sweet Pi will share with her mother.



We dressed up for early afternoon Mass.



Then, after a huge Easter dinner, hubby distracted Pi by playing the Wii with her, so I could get some crafting time in. I tried the Buttercup Bag, which has been all the rage over at Craftster.

Not too shabby for my first try. Its got a ton of mistakes, but I was able to follow the pattern and actually understand it. I used a fat quarter I'd bought over a year ago, thinking it would be a good lining for a crochet purse.



I learned some new skills, like working with fusible interfacing (don't tell hubby about the glue on the iron, oops), sewing in magnetic snaps, and pleats. This bag is on the small side...just the right size for keys, a cell phone, and a wallet. I'm a big purse kinda girl, so I'm going to increase the size to 125% as suggested on Craftster and try again.

Pi fell in love with this one and begged for it. Since its small and so is she, I let her have it. :)



Last week, after biggest loser was over, Kristina asked for a before and after picture. I wouldn't exactly call this an after picture. Its more of an in=progress picture. On the left is a picture from last spring and I weighed about 205 pounds. The picture on the right is from this morning, weighing 184 pounds. The biggest difference is in my face, I think. I still have a lot to go, but I feel better overall.



After last night's dinner, I'm headed back to the left picture. But it was SO worth it.

Happy Monday peeps!