You may know Kris Davies best from her brilliant skincare and face yoga classes at The Joy Club, but she is also an avid crafter. Today, she shares her instructions for creating a delightful Easter decoration or card to give. We hope this gives you some inspiration ahead of Easter weekend!
Giving chocolate eggs has become synonymous with Easter time, and in latter years, giving Easter cards is now becoming a tradition. Before we get stuck into the steps for my Easter crafting project, let’s first take a look at where this tradition comes from…
Why THE EGG?
This time of year has been celebrated for aeons in various religions and traditions. Christianity rejoices in the resurrection of Christ, yet long before that, it was celebrated as The Passover by the Jews, handed down by their Egyptian slave master’s traditions, that became the marking of their release from slavery. Pagan Ostara* festivities marked the rebirth of Spring and according to The English Heritage:
‘In the medieval period, eating eggs was forbidden during Lent (the 40 days before Easter) so on Easter Sunday, tucking into an egg was a real treat! This was especially true for poorer people who couldn’t afford to buy meat. Eggs were given to the church as Good Friday offerings, and villagers often gave eggs as gifts to the lord of the manor at Easter. Even royals got involved – in 1290, Edward I purchased 450 eggs, which were decorated with colours or gold leaf and given out to his household.’
The article also goes on to mention that if an egg was laid on Good Friday and was kept for 100 years, it would turn into a diamond! All I can say is that if that egg was passed down to the next generation and incubated for 100 years, they deserve a diamond – imagine the smell!
And apparently, if your egg had a double yolk, you would be rich.
I, for one, will definitely be having savoury eggs for breakfast on Good Friday, not chocolate ones!
REbirth, REsurrection and REnew
Now we have taken a look at why this time should be celebrated, hopefully we all agree that giving someone an egg at Easter time is a thoughtful and joyful thing to do!
It’s also a great time of year for sharing cards, which presents the perfect opportunity for a craft-lover like me to get to work. I’ve chosen an egg theme for the purpose of crafting, and the design can be used for a card, or a hanging ornament to decorate your home – maybe you can think of another use, please let me know. Hopefully this will bring you diamonds without the smell!
Let’s Craft!
You will need
- Piece of plain card
- Piece of patterned card
- Glue- gluestick/glue gun/adhesive
- Scissors
- Egg templates
- An envelope and card with a centrefold
- Plain card to write your message.
Optional extras:
- Ribbon
- Dimensionals
- Anything Easter-related
- Flower templates or flower punch
STEPS
1. Firstly, draw or create an egg outline on a template and cut it out. Repeat with a slightly smaller egg shape. (Repeat this for flowers if you wish to add flowers)
[N.B. the tools I use are from Stampin UP. You can find them here.]
2. Choose a piece of card (I chose plain but you can pick patterned if you wish), draw the larger egg template on it, and cut it out. Repeat using the smaller egg template on the patterned card (or paper).
3. Stick the smaller egg onto the larger egg. If making an Easter card, you can stick this directly to your card. If making the hanging ornament, you need to repeat steps 1-3, three times.
4. Card option: Decorate your egg with a ribbon bow, add some glitz with dimensionals and add your message. Let your imagination go wild!
5. Hanging ornament option: Place glue on the underside of the eggs, on each outer edge of the eggs to make a 3D sphere – #tip – coax the card gently by squeezing it to make a shape. Equally, you can make a fold at the centre of each egg and place the pieces together that way if it’s easier. (See pics).
6. Glue ribbon inside the sphere, long enough to hang.
7. Add flowers, dimensionals and your message. Decorate your home or give as a gift.
Et Voila!
I would love to see your creations so please do share them on the Club forum if you make something for Easter!
Have a great time celebrating, whatever your traditions.
Best wishes
Kris
*If you’re a fan of etymology, it might interest you to know that the word ‘Ostara’ comes from the Anglo-Saxon goddess name, Eostre. Eostre was representative of spring and new beginnings, and is where we get the word ‘Easter’ from.
Have you been inspired to give Kris’ Easter craft a go? You can share your questions or craft tips below. If you’ve been working on your own creative project and would like to share it with members, send it to us at submissions@thejoyclub.com.