Easter 'Crown of Thorns' Tutorial

The Theology behind Easter

Now I'm not religious, but Mr. Larkin and the children are practicing Catholics, so we all attend Mass as a family on a weekly basis.  I also have a degree in Theology and find it strange that so much is made of Christmas and yet Easter could easily pass with hardly a murmur.  Could the average person in the street even explain the meaning of the festival?

I think many people might guess the festival is something to do with bunnies and/or chocolate!

Easter bunnies are cute though!

Anyway, I am fully supportive of our children being bought up in a faith.  I know some people don't take their offspring to a place of worship because they feel 'religion should be a choice'.  However, I believe that in order to truly make that choice, they need to be exposed to faith in the first place, so that's it until they leave home!  I also desire for them to grow up tolerant and welcoming in a multi-faith society and having an understanding of their own culture and history helps them to develop a wider empathy towards all.  

So, back to the tutorial (eventually!) ... 

Each year after Easter Sunday Mass we have people back to the house to share in a celebratory lunch. We normally have about ten families (around 40-45 people) and the children have an Egg Hunt in the garden and we all enjoy a buffet.  This year we are going to do it a little differently with only 25-30 people but having a sit down lunch.  I am now in full flow working on this year's decorations.  The first thing I made is a crown of thorns to go atop an outdoor Easter tree, and I thought I would share a tutorial with you as it's so easy but very effective.

Crown of Thorns Tutorial

 It looks pretty realistic, don't you think?

Okay, so grab your supplies.....

25cm grapevine wreath, liquid shoe polish, pliers and wooden kebab skewers

And then, holding the wooden skewers at the blunt end so that your fingers stay clean, 'paint' the bottom couple of inches with the brown shoe polish.  I gave mine a second coat with some black as I felt they weren't dark enough.  This will all depend on the colour of your wreath, you want them to match fairly closely.

Once you are happy with the colour, you're ready to cut them down to size with the pliers

A second opinion was needed, but she agrees they're ready to be cut!

So cut them down to size and then take a break, have a cup of tea and pop the off-cuts into the wood burning stove!

Okay, next step.........just shove the 'thorns' into your wreath!

I like the effect of having used both black and brown polish as the wreath itself has a dappled appearance. The new 'thorns' blend in perfectly and look as though they have always been there.  

We are also going to use the Crown as an aide memoire during Lent and when the struggle of giving up chocolate, or in Mr. Larkin's case beer, becomes too much we can look at it and remember the supreme sacrifice that Jesus made.  Hopefully at that point our pitiful efforts will pale into insignificance and we will finish Lent joyfully!

I have also been doing a little sewing so that the Easter Bunny has some gifts to hand out from 'his' basket.  (Please, please Mr. Larkin do it, you will look lovely in the costume.....but shush don't tell anyone who it really is!)

And a close-up