. -->

4.14.2014

Even MORE Easter Eggs on Parade!

OK, this really is the last of it!
I just keep finding more and more great ideas to share with you...
 Surround a pillar candle in a glass vase or trifle dish with plastic eggs.

 Gather up your real or plastic eggs and display them by COLOR!
Use all one color containers - white or clear glass, for example - 
or use containers in colors that coordinate with the eggs, as shown above.

*** One of the BEST Easter Egg Hunt ideas I have seen recently is along these lines:
Assign each child one color - They can only collect eggs of that color.
This enables you to hide eggs by age/ accessibility, 
and make sure even the youngest children find eggs!
I think it's BRILLIANT!
***

 Coordinate your eggs with a vignette of special items...
this simple display focuses on warm colors that coordinate with a vintage container.

My Mom found this little manzanita branch mounted in a box at the craft store,
and she decorates it for every season using purchased mini-ornaments...

You can hang regular-size eggs from a branch gathered from your yard or roadside,
using thread or ribbon:
image from thedomesticcurator.com

One Last Idea for you:
When my daughters were young, they would clip plastic eggs into their long hair!
(no image, sorry - the girls would kill me!)

shared online:

Cupcakes & Crinoline | Project Inspire{d}


Common Ground | Be Inspired


4.11.2014

The Grass Is Greener When It's Not Plastic!

I have a deep-seated dislike of plastic Easter grass.
With four children, the mess was just more than I could handle!
(and I can't even begin to tell you how many vacuum cleaners that stuff destroyed!!)

So years ago, I started finding alternatives....
the easiest one is just cutting up paper into small strips and crumbling it a bit.
Vintage sheet music, construction paper, wrapping paper - anything works better than plastic!

Another is shown above: fuzzy green 'eyelash' yarn, piled luxuriously in a basket or bowl.

My favorite solution for an abundant bed of 'grass' for a large Easter basket?
It's a BLANKET!
Made from soft, fuzzy green yarn, it's always reminded me of grass...
 I used it to cover a footstool in my home one Spring years ago:


A fuzzy green (or pink, or yellow!) SWEATER would work as a basket liner, too!

One final option is HAY. Yes, REAL hay!  
OK, maybe I mean STRAW.
Grab a mini-bale at the craft store, break the strings that hold it together, 
and fluff it up by shaking it around in a paper grocery bag.

Then fill baskets, galvanized pails, etc. with it to nest your eggs in!

Neutral Easter Eggs on Parade

Perhaps the brightly-colored Easter eggs in my last post aren't really your style...
Here are versions of my photos and ideas in a more elegant neutral palette!

This just goes to show how everyday items can be used as details in your decor,
no matter WHAT your style is!


I also gathered up some of my props and created this soft, neutral display
as a centerpiece for a Spring tablescape:
This centerpiece started with a thrifted ceramic pedestal bowl, 
which I covered with a ceramic platter, then accented with a white lace doily.

A nest made from dried daffodil foliage has been lined with shredded vintage sheet music,
and my wooden eggs nestle in along with a spray of vintage white faux narcissus.

My wire birdcagelet covers it all, 
and a 'Spring' scrapbook charm adds a final detail.

If you can't locate wood eggs at your craft supply store,
the neutral style shown here can easily be replicated
by using natural brown eggs, which have been blown out and rinsed!

More ideas in my next post? EGGzactly! 


4.10.2014

It's a Small, Small World!

 Guess where I am this morning???
 I'm at the 'It's A Small World' attraction at Disneyland!
( 3:30 AM PDT report time! )

Disney Cast Members, characters, and special guests 
are gathering at Disney Parks around the world 
to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the 'It's A Small World' attraction 
with a live sing-a-long of the sweet theme song on a live Good Morning America broadcast.

Edited to add:
 

I was on the train that pulled into the It's A Small World attraction facade 
during the GMA segment - 
back row, second car, and you couldn't see any of our faces on television!

But that's okay, because the point is that I was THERE to participate,
and I loved every moment of it! What a dream!!!!

 
I became an official Disney Cast Member just over a month ago, 
after waiting all of my life to do so....
The timing couldn't be more perfect!

My grandfather was an electrician who helped to install the Small World attraction at Disneyland, 
and I could not be happier to be able to participate in honoring him 
and his part in the history of this attraction today.

Thank you, Grandpa Ward, for this gift 
that has touched every generation of our family...

"It's a world of laughter, a world of tears.
It's a world of hopes and a world of fears.
There's so much that we share,
That it's time we're aware
It's a small world after all.

It's a small world after all.
It's a small world after all.
It's a small world after all.
It's a small, small world.

There is just one moon and one golden sun.
And a smile means friendship to everyone.
Though the mountains divide,
And the oceans are wide
It's a small world after all.

It's a small world after all.
It's a small world after all.
It's a small world after all.
It's a small, small world!" 

.