Aloha!

​Just back from Kaua'i. It was a much needed dose of sunshine, relaxation, and good ol' family time. Swimming, sand cake making (no castles here!), surf watching, sun basking (with sun block, of course!), hula dancing, and sunset viewing were our daily activities. 

The little miss and I took two lei making classes. One where I learned how to make a braided tai leaf lei, which is pictured above where I'm holding it in between my toes. I was very excited to learn this new trick. The second, Clementine and I worked together. She strung the beautiful crown flower (all by herself!) and I added the orchids. It was definitely a proud mom moment for me. 

We did a little bit of exploring to see some of Kauai's beautiful sites, and we attended a luau per Clementine's desperate request.​ You know those times you can look at someone and witness true bliss? Well, I saw it in her sparkling, smiling eyes that night. From the plumeria lei that she was greeted with, the excitement of staying up late, watching those dancers and then joining them up on stage, being mystified by the man who danced with fire; she was so happy. It was palpable and contagious.

That's what we all need, right? A little bliss.​

Okay. Time to do ​laundry. 

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Our Easter Table

​What a weekend! It was filled with excitement, sunshine, sweets, friends, and love. 

The weather was sunny and 75 in Portland! I know, I can't believe it either. Our good friends shared their lovely yard with which was the ideal setting for our easter table! My vision this year was white with tiny pops (or sprinkles!) of pastel. The fact that we could make that vision come to life out on the grass with sunshine on our faces was just amazing.

Here are the details...

I made white paper nests for every place setting and put a nonpareil covered egg and some yellow, white, and pink cadbury mini eggs in each. The little miss got a special coordinating sugar cookie in the shape of a flower in her nest.  My vision for the nonpareils went beyond just the eggs: I covered some glass candles and a small vase as well! I used the same method of painting on the glue and then sprinkling on the nonpareils. So easy! AND it all washes off!

For flowers: a tiny white cup filled with slightly blushed creamy white tulips cut down very short, white ranunculus and white freesia in a tight bouquet placed in a vintage vase that sat high in the tablescape, and lastly a tiny POP of  yellow ranunculus placed in the small vase covered in nonpareils. Remember the eggs that I grew grass in last year? Well, this year the grass was replaced with a tiny succulent. 

There were also a few all white hard boiled eggs on there, some sitting upon a small pile of nonpareils. 

It was fresh and sweet and just perfect for our alfresco dining. It really couldn't have been a better way to end the weekend after all the excitement of the MSLiving contest.​

Oh, and did I mention the bunny cake?!​

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Oh my! I won!

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See the whole post here: http://livingblog.marthastewart.com/2013/03/inspiredeastercontest.html

Let's just start by saying I NEVER win anything! ​I put my picture of the nonpareil eggs up on instagram yesterday with the #msleaster just for fun. Imagine my sheer delight when I received a message this morning from Martha Stewart Living- They liked the eggs and chose my picture as the winner of their Inspired Easter Contest! 

Now I anxiously ​await my prize of a custom Easter basket! Me. I actually won. Wow. (I'll be sure to share a picture after it arrives.)

So exciting. Or shall I say EGGciting. Sorry, couldn't resist.​

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UPDATE: It arrived! It's not every day you get an overnight package from Martha Stewart Headquarters. Woo Hoo! 

Thanks, Kevin and Martha Stewart Living!​ 

I LOVE the sparkly purple mushrooms!​

sweet nonpareil covered eggs

As I held this beautiful pastel mixture of nonpareils in my hand I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them: cover eggs!​

I started with blown out white eggs that were rinsed and completely dried. Then with a paintbrush I applied a thin, even layer of strong hold white glue to the egg. I didn't dip it in the bowl of nonpareils because I knew they would clump up or possibly bleed colors. Instead, I used a spoon and gave the egg a shower of pastel sprinkles. Handling them very delicately, I set them upon small mouthed sake cups to dry overnight. Now I just have to figure out how I'll showcase them on our easter table. What did the little miss say when she saw them? "Mmmm, yummy!" 

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confetti eggs {with rainbow sprinkles}

​I love the idea of eggs filled with confetti with one exception: I don't want to clean them up.

Last year, I decided that all of those rainbow sprinkles I had could be put to good use; they became the confetti in our eggs! 

I made a rather large hole at the bottom of my egg so that the insides would fall out without actually having to blow them out. After rinsing completely, I dyed them different colors and let them dry. Using a small funnel, I filled the eggs about halfway with rainbow sprinkles. I put some glue around the hole and placed a piece of tissue paper over it to keep the sprinkles in. For a finishing touch, I glued a small piece of fringed tissue paper garland (that you can find in party stores or on etsy) on top of the piece of tissue paper covering the hole. Presto! 

The confetti egg had a similar weight to a real egg, so I decided not to tell the little miss that I did anything special and got some spoons out for a good, old fashioned egg race. She wasn't quite three yet and didn't really understand why we would ever ask her to run a race carrying a spoon with an egg on it. She was nervous about dropping it. Of course, it didn't take long to fall off the spoon. Her worried eyes opened wide...

SPLAT! SURPRISE! Rainbow Sprinkles! 

The best part, beyond the big smile on Clementine's face? The rain could clean them up for us!​

easter inspiration

{Click on the picture to learn more}​

Easter is a week a way and I'm starting to pull together everything I need to create this year's tablescape. 

Just in case you're looking for a little inspiration yourself, here are some easter ideas  from the past taken from our FAVORITES page. ​Click on a picture for more details.