Embellish Eggs for Easter

I am loving my Easter table decorations this year. I always have something spring-like and Easter-y out on the table or island in the weeks leading up to Easter. It looks beautiful and it makes me happy. 

And it doesn't mean that this is what my Easter table is going to look like. This is like an advertising campaign leading up the the glorious season. I am in a taupe, pink, wood, gray, aqua faze and these Easter eggs are everything I want to look at right now. Truly a dose of Visual Vitamins.©  

Most of the wooden eggs are from Target and the speckled brown eggs with feathers are from the grocery store (!). Always keep your eye out for beautiful touches, you never know where you'll find something great. I bought small paper flowers and hot glued them to some eggs. I added 3D adhesive embellishments to others.

As far as the tablescape, this winter, I ordered round woven place mats from H & M Home in powder pink and they are beautiful. The plates are a faux bois melamine collection from Target (years ago) and the flatware is faux bamboo. The platter is an antique from my maternal grandmother's cottage. It looks so pretty together and believe me, it makes a weeknight meal taste that much better.

#easterdecorating #easter #eastertable #eastereggs #decoratingeastereggs #makersgonnamake #seattleblogger #springtouches  

I Love Daffodils and Easter is Coming

And since you know me, you realize that these declarations will change week by week as the weather warms up. I love flowers sums things up better, but it is not how I feel today.

My head and heart need bright yellow and the daffodil delivers. I took this photo at Pike Place market on April 6, 2014. The grocery stores have already started selling bunches of daffodils and I am working on a triumphant centerpiece for my kitchen island for Easter week. 

So far I have some tulips and narcissus, but I'm planning on 2 crates (from #Michaels!) with lots of bulbs blooming through the moss. I love this time of year! 

*Note: See March 16 post for final product!

#easter #floweringbulbs #finddelight #makingahome #easterflowers #decorating

Easter Cake: Ombre Effect

It was our first Easter in the house and I wanted to celebrate! I had saved a beautiful image of an ombre cake that I wanted to make. It had 5 layers in varying shades of pink and peach. I used white cake mix and dyed each layer with gel food coloring. I made homemade buttercream and sprinkled pastel jelly beans on top. The effect was dramatic and beautiful. The only problem? A cake this huge requires a really big plate! I had to pull out dinner plates to hold each giant slice.  

#easterdessert #ombre #baking

Pysanka Easter Eggs

What a gift! Do you love these as much as I do? A friend sent me a set of Ukrainian Easter egg sleeves in the style called Pysanka. 

The egg sleeves are incredibly easy to use and since I had some faux Easter eggs (made of plastic, but textured to feel more like a real egg) I will be able to keep these treasures forever.

The instructions were to slide an egg sleeve onto an egg, rest the covered egg in a large spoon and quickly dunk the egg in a pot of boiling water. "Sloop!" the sleeve shrinks in seconds to fit the egg perfectly. I realize now that this technology has probably been around for a while and used for children's egg kits featuring superheros etc., but this is my first experience with it. 

If you are celebrating Easter, I hope that you have a glorious and meaningful holiday weekend. 

Paas Botanical Easter Egg transfers

I made my first little instruction video. This is a 2 minute video on how to apply the new Paas Botanical transfers to faux Easter eggs. They are so beautiful and I can keep them for years.

Some Bunny

When my Dad goes out for Easter candy, he doesn't kid around!  This magnificent chocolate bunny graced our Easter table last year and I'm just getting the chance to show it to you now!   

Can you see the yardstick we propped up next to him?  25 inches of pure delight!  Buying a giant chocolate rabbit is something of a tradition in my family and every few years my Dad gives in and gets one.  It is a limited edition milk chocolate rabbit made at Morley Candy in Clinton Township. 

The rabbit came in a nest of Easter grass (sprinkled with chocolates) and was wrapped in clear cellophane with a large yellow bow.  Whenever there is a giant rabbit in the house, my parents keep him on the front table. In the days leading up to Easter, my Dad will cut a hole in the cellophane so that you can lean in and smell the chocolate.

Then last Easter, my parents brought "dessert."  Can't you just see my Dad coming up the front steps carrying him?!  What a treat and so welcome at our Easter table.  We definitely had fun nibbling at his ears.  In the following week we did our best to eat him, and then we packed up the extra to enjoy in chocolate chip cookies, brownies and fondue.  All I can say is, that was SOME bunny!      

Sugar Bowl Planter

What could be prettier on the front table?  Since I am hosting Easter dinner this year, my mind has been thinking a lot about dishes.  I will be setting two tables of eight (in kitchen and dining room) and I want the color scheme of each table to compliment one another.

As a result, I have been pulling out my collection of dishes and trying to come up with the best combination for each table.  I love this pattern (it was my grandmother's) but in my mind it is not sturdy enough for a big meal in a busy kitchen.  I just can't let a piece chip or break.  So...I came up with this way to showcase it.  A double stem miniature orchid that I "planted" in the sugar bowl!  It looks so sweet on the front table and because of the soft colors, has a decidedly Easter feel.  Love it!

Easter Decorations

I have given in to "cute." It started when I found the porcelain Mother and Father Bunny shown on the far the right (you can read the story of where I got them here) and I add a little something wonderful each year.

Pink paper grass, egg-shaped candles, fuzzy chicks and a pink glass bunny dish full of Jordan almonds. This year I found some paper eggs covered with vintage images. When people enter my kitchen this time of year, the response is always the same..."Ohhhh."

Easter Bunnies

I can't resist having an Easter basket in the kitchen - a pretty little display for guests to nibble from. Can you see my porcelain bunnies? Put an apron on a mother bunny and I am a goner. I found them years ago (for $1 each!) at Cost Plus World Market. I was hosting the family for Easter that year and I put a mother or father bunny at every place setting. It looked so cute and was a wonderful "party favor." Considering the number of people in each family, each household got at least 4 bunnies to take home. I like knowing that they would bring Easter cheer for years to come.