Components of an Easter Basket!

For Easter this year I opted out of baskets, and chose to use pails instead. We are moving, so I wanted a new approach on storing toys in their toy room... Instead of buyng new baskets, I figured I'd buy pails in place of the baskets! Plus I think they are just as nice!

Here are the components of my daughter Chloe's, Easter Pail! It was so much fun to finally be able to use pink, girly things!!!

In her pail, I put a V-tech baby book and an Easter book, a rain coat, a dress, a chocolate bunny(Easter bunny thought of mommy!), a flower head band, and my favorite find... A cloth doll from Pottery Barn Kids named Chloe!!!

Here is the tag to her "Chloe" doll...

All put together...


Here are the components of the pail for my orange boy, Bryce...

  He really wanted spy gear amongst many other things! I also included a roller hockey ball, a reusable drink cup, an orange spray bottle, a spongebob toothebrush and toothepaste (for all that candy!), and a miniature bowling set!

All put together...



And last but not least, the components to my future artist, Christopher...

I found a Manga drawing kit for Chris(he really enjoys drawing those types of figures), a frisbee, a miniature golf kit, a reusuable drink cup, and a spongebob toothebrush and toothepaste!

All put together...

Here are the chocolate Easter Bunnies I forgot to add for the individual shots!

I also bought each of the boys an Easter book and a J-Crew tee that I forgot to add! What can I say, I have very little time to put these items together, can't remember it all!!!

Enjoy!

Sarah

Assembly of the Girls Easter Baskets!

The first step to putting together my 3 daughter's Easter baskets was finding the actual baskets I wanted to use. I chose to stick with the traditional wicker style baskets in 3 different sizes with handles....and add my own touch.

I added brightly colored basket liners to each one using the same color palette but different patterns.

Next I added colored Easter grass. I like to use the recycled or natural grass...this year I found some that was made from corn.

The big girls needed new sandwich containers....I found these at Old Navy of all places. Instead of filling plastic eggs with Jelly Belly jellybeans, I filled the sandwich holders for a fun surprise!

Lily's "Nature Girl" Basket!! (she'll be happy to get the Pillow Pet she's been begging me for the past few years)

Some details of her basket included bug gardening gloves and brightly colored rubber snakes...

A jump rope (in her fav color)....and some traditional candy!!

Mia's "Girly Girl" Basket!!

Details of her basket included a book of her newest interest and real nail polish strips (that just stick on! how easy!) adorned with pretty butterflies....

A girly pink jumprope....and of course, the traditional candy!!

Marli's "1st Easter" Basket!! As simple as a first basket should be....with an Easter bib, a new sippy cup, a soon-to-be 1st Birthday book, and a watering can. (I'm sure she'll attempt to dive into her big sister's baskets too)

Can't wait for them to see what the Good Ol' Easter Bunny brought to our house this year!!

May all your Easter mornings be filled with sweet smells and bright surprises....and of course a bit of creativity!

               Kirsten

Setting The Stage

It's always fun to go all out on the holidays. By "go all out" I mean, raise the bar, wear something fancy, drink champagne out of your crystal flukes, heck, even use your sterling silverware. For most of us, that means we actually have to find our silverware first and then get ready for some heavy duty polishing.

Nowadays, I don't think many brides register for good sterling silverware. Most of us inherit it from our grandmothers and mothers who received theirs on their wedding day and kept it locked in the dining room drawer for the past 50 years. We all have our own story. Mine is we happen to stumble upon our sterling accidentally...well, I should say, my husband did the stumbling...I did the "ohh'ing" and "ahh'ing". On one of our tag sal-ing trips, Chris opened an old trunk to find two incomplete, very tarnished sets of sterling silverware wrapped in flannel flatware rolls.

As fate would have it, our monogram "M" was engraved at the top on one set. At that moment, I literally
heard angels singing "Hallelujah!"

This baby spoon is my favorite piece. If you look closely, the birthdate Aug 6, 07 is engraved at the top. At the other end of the spoon, there are still baby teeth indentations from a teething baby!

 

Since I only break out the silverware for holidays and special occasions, I store the silverware in the original casing, within a wooden storage chest with protective lining (if you use your silverware regularly, store it in a clean drawer, free from moisture).

Easy and Natural Ways to Wash and Polish Your Sterling:

• Cover the bottom of a dish with aluminum foil (shiny side up). Put the tarnished silver in the bottom of the dish and add 1 big tablespoon of baking soda, and then slowly pour boiling water over it until it covers the piece. The foil will collect the tarnish and clean the sterling. Remove your silver, rinse thouroghly and polish.
• Another method is to make a paste of baking soda and water and apply it to your flatware using a damp cloth. Rub good until the tarnish disappears.
• You can also use toothpaste to clean off tarnish (although I don't like to). Coat the silverware with toothpaste, then rub it under warm water, and work it into a foam. Use a toothbrush for difficult tarnish. Rinse and dry off.

Displaying my silverware is one of my joys in life. Special occasions (like Easter) call for a more formal table rather than the traditional place setting. Here are some examples of different ways to create a well-set table.

Before the first course:

Soup:

Fish:

Main Course:

Salad:

Dessert:

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter!



Ashley



Easter Fun!



The best part of Easter, in my opinion, is making fun things with the kids! Whether its treats or crafts, I enjoy coming up with an idea, and seeing where they take it... and usually their input ends up being better than my own! This year I wanted to do a couple of things with them... decorating cupcakes, and making fun containers for eggs or candy!

Here is bunny helper #1, Chris, decorating his cupcake! (What a good sport!)

 Bunny helper #2, Bryce, really taking his time loading the top of the cupcake with yummy jellybeans!

 And our little flower, Chloe, observing her brothers in hopes of getting a taste of their yummy creations!

Here is a close up view...

Above is the boy's version of  jelly bean decorated cupcakes. To the left and right was my attempt at a flower, which I saw in a magazine... Maybe not magazine worthy, but I Thought they were pretty cute!

Next the boys and I thought up an idea to make a container to carry our eggs, but that were also cute!

We used a larger size tin can. We cut paper and glued it around the tin can. Then we decorated them to resemble an Easter Bunny, a chick, and a Robbin's egg!

Here is Chris proud of his Robbin's egg, with feet! ;)

Bryce concentrating on his detailed art...

Here are two more fun and yummy treats I made for the holiday!

Rice Krispie treats shaped into eggs!

And Banana Whoopie Pies...

Find the recipe at Marthastewart.com

If you would like to make this an even more memorable experience, play the song "Here comes Peter Cottontail" in the background! Every time I hear that song, it brings me back to my childhood... So make some memories with your kids, you both will forever cherish them!

Enjoy!

Sarah