Secrets Of A Great Easter Table

What a treat for my crochet group to go to one of our member's

home for our regular meeting and to be greeted with such 

wonderful tables decorated beautifully for Easter. 

Lisa had two tables set for us full of Easter decorating ideas. 

Earlier in the week, she had sent us a very cute email about

the gathering.  Here it is printed out and displayed:

Since I was bringing the dinner, I arrived early to set up the

food and got to take some pictures of the tables before they

actually got put into use.  Here is the kitchen table:

Adorable, right?  Let's analyze how Lisa sets such a great table

that gives such a "Wow" factor when you see it so we can  

learn her secrets. 

See how she used three different chargers?  That layering gives

such an opulent look.  The colors are neutral enough that she uses

them several times during the year but adds the cute salad plate

to top everything off to tie it in the the current holiday/season.

She evens layers her napkins here:

She used these pretty coral napkins in the kitchen and in the

dining room.  Although they look handmade and even a little

vintage-ish she got these and several other items on the 

tables at World Market just this year.  We could copy that!

Her cute ceramic bunny is nested in raffia and faux gerber

daisies...a good way to add a base to an item for a centerpiece. 

The dining room table was set with some of the same items

as the kitchen table and had even more ideas/secrets for

setting an impressive holiday table.

She used glass goblets filled with green crinkle paper

to elevate and make a cute display for small Easter items.

We actually used other goblets for our sweet iced tea at dinner.

Again, Lisa used layers to add visual interest to the table.

Here she used a green leaf-shaped place mat under the 

iridescent charger (I think that is from Hobby Lobby).

This table also has the cute coral napkins.

Lisa said that she plans on using them for other occasions

like bridal luncheons, Mother's Day, etc. too.

The cute bunny napkin ring makes them seems like they are

special just for Easter...another tablesetting tip/secret.

These wonderful sisal bunnies are widely available this year

at places like Pier One, World Market, Hobby Lobby, etc.

I didn't want to be TOO nosy and asking Lisa where she

got every item on the table.  

She did tell me that the ribbon-looking shred was from World

 Market in a bag...no endless cutting of ribbon to copy this look.

Also in the dining room, this buffet table holds another

fun Easter display.

Lisa painted this thorny branch white to use for Easter.

The opposite end of the dining room leads through the pretty

living room to the foyer...

...and the cute burlap door hanging on the nearby front 

door that her daughter made for Easter. 

Another Easter vignette in Lisa's kitchen is a treasured 

family memory.  Lisa's pastor has a special sermon that he

speaks about at Easter that tells the the cross is Jesus' 

measure of love for us.  He uses a yard stick made into a

cross as a visual aid to emphasize this point.

Lisa mentioned to her husband that she would like a cross like

that.  Her husband mentioned it to the pastor and he gave them

the cross he used in the sermon along with a personal letter.

I think Lisa added the bow.

The birds look like they are going to start snacking on the

 caramelized onion spread appetizer that Peggy brought.

  Here is what else we had for dinner:  sliced ham, 

cold pea salad, carrot cassarole, and deviled eggs. 

I tried to make the bunny rolls that I saw on Pinterest.

Oh well, at least they tasted good.

Some ladies actually crocheted after dinner.  I had missed

several of the meetings recently so I mostly talked and

caught up with what was going on in my dear friends lives.

Well, I have to show you Lisa's guest powder room too...

it has nothing to do with Easter but it is just great.

She has framed special family momentos for this room.

Fun bathroom reading for sure.

The tallest frame you see holds some of the letters that 

her children (now grown)wrote to the Tooth Fairy.

In case you can't read it, it says

"Dear toothfairy, I hit my tooth when I was little.

Now it is dead but I do not have a cavity. So don't think that.

So you will still give me money."

Here is another one:

"Dear tooth Fary, Will you give me money.

But let me keep my tooth. logan

ps. Your the greatest

PSS. I lost two teeth today"

Fun family trip thank you letters from their children:

This is a poem that one of their girls wrote in elementary school.

It is a Thanksgiving poem.  The girl was trying to think of a word

that rhymed with "much" towards the end of the poem.

You can see where she tried several words but kept erasing

them.  Finally she put "and such and such".

 I have now decided to use the term "and such and such" 

 whenever I am having a "senior moment" and cannot think of 

the word or phrase that I am trying to come up with. 

The idea of framing and displaying letters from children,etc.

is a great idea for those of us who have those letters in storage

to get them out.  Also, for mothers who still have little ones

to save those precious notes to hold dear in your heart (and

on your walls) later. 

Thank you, Lisa, for taking all the time to decorate your 

pretty tables for our crochet group...it made the night

very special for us!

I don't have any affiliation with any sources mentioned...just passing along places

that you could use if you wanted these items also. 

I am sharing this post over at 

Easter Sunday Seasonal blog party @ The Tablescaper

Open House Party @ No Mininalist Here

Tutorials, Tips and Tidbits @ StoneGable blog

Live Laugh Linky @ Live Laugh Rowe

Transformation Thursday @ Shabby Creek Cottage

Thursdays Are Your Days @ 52 Mantles

The Scoop & Tabletop Tuesday @ A Stroll thru Life

Wow Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style

Blog Link Party @ Somewhat Simple

Commercial Break Thrusday @ Suzy Sitcom blog

Clothing Tips For St. Patrick's Day

Tip #1

Be sure to wear some green on St. Patrick's Day 

so that you will not get pinched.

Tip #2

Check the length of your kilt before 

leaving the house.

Update: Several folks have asked for a printable of
this quote. I do my printables so that they can look good
even if you do not have a color printer.  The color (if
you want some) is provided by you in the form of scrapbook
paper or even having your kids draw a border on white 
paper after it is printed out (well maybe not this quote).

Here is the kilt quote in a size that fits a 8" x 10" frame:

 To download for printing on your computer, hover your
computer's mouse over the quote and click on the "right"
sided button. A menu list will come up. A list of options
of how you want to download it to your computer should
come up. I download usually "Save As". This image was
made as a jpg. in Pic Monkey (as if it were a picture) so 
however you save pictures to your computer should work.

Here is the printable in a size that fits a 5" x 7" frame:

If you figure out how to run your paper back through the
printer (without copying over the original printing) you
can get two printables this size from one sheet of paper. 
(Don't leave the paper 12" long to run it through the copier like I did...it throws the second printing off).

You may already have some paper that you can use to print
the kilt saying on. I bought a couple of green sheets of 
scrapbook paper at Michael's (usually less than $1 each).

These actually were on sale for 25 cents each...much less than a color cartridge for my printer. 

Cut the paper to a 8.5" by 11" size to run through the printer.

What follows is how I print out downloads. Your screen/computer may be different.
Get your downloaded image up on your computer screen.
Click on the "file" tab. When the dropdown menu appears,
click on the "print" option (mine is the 7th one down the list).

If you are printing the largest version of the saying (8"x10")
choose to have the "full page photo" on the page.

If you are printing the smaller version (5"x7") you can choose
either the 5x7 or the 4x6 versions. I usually choose the 4x6 even
if I am putting the saying in a 5x7 frame because it gives more
of a border around the saying. The screen gives you a preview
of how the saying will print on the page. 

I am just now noticing that this has the option of more than one copy per page! Live and learn. 
I have been running the paper through the printer twice to get two copies per page (and not always correctly!).

Here is how the larger format saying looks as it comes off
of the printer. 

I keep the paper a 8.5"x11" size until it finishes printing so that
it will not slip around in the printer.  After it has printed, cut
the paper to fit inside of a frame if you want to. You can skip
this step if you want to just put the saying on the refrigerator
or up on a bulletin board at work. 

One way you can easily decide where to trim the 
printed scrapbook down to fit in your frame is to take the
original (happy family) photo that came with the frame, 
hold it and the printed saying up to a bright window and
trace around with a pencil where the best borders would
be to cut the paper in order to fit neatly in the frame.
 

Or you can take the glass out of the frame and draw a line
around the best placement for the wording to be in the frame.
Cut along a little inside the line for this method. 

Here are the framed kilt sayings...

Be planning for your St. Patrick's Day outfit now!