Happy Easter . . . and no, I'm not a week late

Marrying into a Greek family means marrying into the Orthodox Church and traditions, the biggest of which is Orthodox Easter. The Orthodox Easter & Western Easter can fall on the same day, but they can also be as much as five weeks apart - this year we are only a week behind.

Some years we have celebrated Easter with a big lamb roast - not just a leg of lamb, but a WHOLE lamb turning on a spit in the backyard. You know if you are doing the whole lamb you will fill the house with friends and family and throw in a little souvlaki, tzatziki, pita, spanakopita, tiropita, feta, Greek potatoes, Greek salad, etc., for good measure.

This year dear husband is off on a business trip that will put him close to extended family and a traditional dinner, leaving the kids and I to fend for ourselves. Because I wasn't planning a big Easter dinner, I almost forgot to put together Easter baskets for the kids (and I still remember the year my mom didn't make up baskets because she thought we were too old - we set her straight).

One advantage of having teens in the house is I have plenty of time in the early morning to put the finishing touches on their baskets and make a couple of cards.

I've been itching to use the Papertrey Ink Zipper Dies and had a couple of gift cards in the baskets so that was my starting point for the cards.

Once you see this die in action, I think you will be hooked too!

To keep things fast & simple, both cards are made with the MME Miss Caroline Dolled Up 6x6 designer paper pad. I selected cardstock and cut the die pieces first, and then stamped the Papertrey Ink Mega Mixed Messages Easter sentiment on the front.

I used a small piece of removable tape to hold the gift card in place - I didn't want it shifting when I flipped the diecut piece over and onto the card base. As you can see I ran 1/8" Scor-Tape around the perimeter of the diecut piece.

Dear daughter gets an iTunes gift card - it is a little easier to see in this photo how I ran the Scor-Tape.

 To make sure you have a good seal, burnish the edges with a bone folder.

A couple of punched butterflies completed the inside of this card. Dear son's I left clean and simple.

Oops, I almost forgot to show off the fronts of the cards.

One for dear daughter:

One for dear son:

 I am loving the fishtail banner look right now & just freeformed these using both sides of the designer paper I already had cut.

The "celebrate" stamp is from the Technique Tuesday Ali Edwards Kids Are Cool stamp set.

Still not sure how the die works? This is what it looks like after the gift card is removed. Dear daughter pulled on the "zipper" to reveal her gift card!

My kids may be teens, but they still love a wind-up bubble gum pooping chicken - I mean, really, who doesn't?

Hope you are having a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by,

Jacquie