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Written on April 1, 2012 by Kate

Spring Break has completely snuck up on me this year. I can’t believe Easter is only a week away. Our Spring Break doesn’t officially start until after Easter, but the boy and I have decided to start early. We picked my girlfriend, Deb and her girls up from the airport this weekend and are excited to have them back in Southern California (where they belong) for the next ten days.

I’m excited to have Deb’s three crafty girls here to dye eggs with this week. Every year we always end up making two kinds of Easter eggs. I have to buy the PAAS kit. It’s purely nostalgic and reminds me of decorating eggs every year with my sis. The boy and I also try to come up with a more creative way to decorate each year.

Here are a few creative decorating ideas from around the blogosphere…

I love how the simple touch of grass from Better Homes and Gardens makes these Easter egg pop… and the butterfly just adds to the cuteness factor.

Is it wrong to decorate eggs so that they coordinate with your decor? These lace eggs from Martha Stewart would color-coordinate perfectly in my kitchen!

A few years ago, we made these chalkboard eggs shown on style.com and set chalk out in little pails for the kids to decorate at our Easter gathering. You just spray them a few times with chalkboard paint and cover completely. Once they dry, they’re ready to go.

These ladybug eggs are another fun idea from Martha Stewart. I don’t think the boy will be all that excited for these, but the reality is he is going to be totally outnumbered by girls. These would be even more adorable dyed in pink!

Don’t you love how the blue egg above was made just for me? It’s featured on ReadersDigest.com . I’m a huge fan of monograms, and these monogrammed eggs would make great place settings on the Easter table.

I also love these speckled eggs from Southern Living this year. They look perfect in these decorative nests.

Tissue paper is another great medium for making eggs fancier. Martha shows the steps on how to make these tissue-paper adorned eggs.

This technique above is one that my mom and I tried a few years ago. My mom saw this on the Martha Stewart show, and we then proceeded to raid my dad’s ties and attempt these. Kelly shares a photo tutorial on how to make these on her blog Mommy Knows . This does involve boiling water, so it’s not as kid-friendly in terms of the process, but the kids can hang around the kitchen and be amazed when you unveil these eggs.

I was able to find time to make a bunch of Easter cookies last week. I’m hoping to snap photos and post them this week before they disappear!

Holidays, Other, Table Setting Ideas

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Written on November 18, 2011 by Kate

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If you read my post from yesterday, I have to tell you there are not enough rum soaked cherries in the world to ease a mom’s anxiety of the first playoff game. The game was intense. During the last inning, our team was up by one with the bases loaded, and our coach (the boy’s dad) brings in the boy to be the closing pitcher… no pressure. Last night the boy was the hero and struck the next two batters out to win the game. It really was a great moment for him. He was exhausted and so was I! I’m not sure whether to be thankful or not that this team is still in the playoffs and now scheduled for an entire weekend of baseball games. (Did I mention I’m out of rum soaked cherries? We’re taking the Bailey’s and hot chocolate for tonight’s game!)

Here is something to be thankful for… these free Thanksgiving printables from some of my favorite blogging designers. Enjoy!!

Don’t tell me you’ve already made your Thanskgiving grocery list, please lie to me. Your honesty will only make me feel bad about the current lack of organization in my life. When you finally do get around to making your list, this is a great way to map it all out. Love this Menu Planner made by Wendy at Weswen Design.

Amy always shares great printables with her readers. I love how simple these are to put together. You can print the Candy Bar Wrapper at her blog Living Locurto.

I love these festive patterns and colors Rebecca at Somewhat Simple used when she created these flags. It’s as simple as printing, cutting, gluing to a toothpick, and sticking in your Thanksgiving treats.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE sunflowers and thought this Sunflower printable pack was a great Thanksgiving motif created by the amazingly talented Kim of TheTomCatStudio

If you want simple and elegant these Place Cards by Kim of Today’s Creative Blog would look great at each place setting.

How clever are these? I’m not a left-over kind of girl, Thanksgiving is my only exception. These Leftovers Tags are perfect to have ready to go when sending guests home with food. These were made by Tricia at Worldlabel.com

This complete set is a freebie too created by Ashley of Cupcake Express posted at Catch my Party .

I am of the philosophy that kids should be kept busy during Thanksgiving dinner, so that parents can enjoy their wine and turkey dinner. These Placemats are perfect for the Kiddie Table (created by Kirsten at Embellish)

It’s Written on the Wall has posted this Thanksgiving Subway Art plus eleven more to choose from. You can print them on your home computer or have Costco print them in an hour.

Beth from It is What it is created these favor tags in four different color schemes. She posted several ideas on how to use them that you must check out. My favorite is the tag attached to the wine bottle…perfect to bring to the Thanksgiving hostess.

Wishing everyone a great pre-Thanksgiving weekend!

A Few of My Favorites..., Favorite Foodies, Favors, Holidays, Parties, Table Setting Ideas

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Written on November 11, 2011 by Kate

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Happy Friday everyone! I can’t believe how fast this month is flying by. Thanksgiving will be here before we know it, so it’s time to start thinking about turkey treats. My parents are heading out on their first road since becoming homeless, and they will be gone for Thanksgiving. I know what you’re thinking, how dare they leave me on a major holiday (okay, that’s what I was thinking). I might have been a little bitter, but my sister and her family are driving here from Texas to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. The boy and I are SO excited to have them with us. Usually, they stay at my mom’s and we have to share them, but now that my parents are drifters, we get them all to ourselves. My sister and I are excited to make Thanksgiving dinner together. We’re of course making the traditional Thanksgiving pie, but we also need something festive and sweet for the non-pie lovers. I went in search of some adorable turkey treats created by other food bloggers and here’s what I found. Now comes the tricky part… figuring out the cutest.

Two Oreos, a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup, and a Whopper disguised as a turkey? This is my kind of dessert posted at ourbestbites.com .

Martha Stewart has a turkey cupcake how-to posted on her site.

I love these M&M turkey favors posted at the Party Animal blog. Wouldn’t they look cute at each place setting at the kiddie table?

How simple and yummy does this turkey rice krispie treat look that Ali from Gimme Some Oven created.

This turkey cake pop posted by Maria on Martha Stewart’s Dreamers into Doers page is the cutest one I’ve seen for Thanksgiving.

Turn a chocolate cupcake on its side, get some Nutter Butters and a few other goodies and you can make these turkey cupcakes (created by Jeanne Benedict)

I love this turkey cupcake cake for a big group posted at Atomic Cupcakes.

Why did I just buy the giant turkey cookie cutter when this cookie made using a circle and heart cookie cutter looks so much cuter. Bee in our Bonnet posted a step-by-step photo tutorial on how to make these.

Happy Weekend Everyone!!

A Few of My Favorites..., Favorite Foodies, Favors, Holidays, Other, Parties, Table Setting Ideas

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Written on February 21, 2011 by Kate

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I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend. This coming Saturday will be my final testing day of the school year. I’ve been to about forty schools and tested over 1,000 kids over the past couple of months. Whose idea was that to send me to all of these schools? Oh, that was my brilliant plan. In addition, to the big Saturday testing events, this year I ventured out to the sites to work one-on-one with kids (self-inflicted craziness). I’m exhausted, yet invigorated. Being on school campuses, making connections with the kids is why I went into education.

The insane craziness is wrapping up, and life will soon go back to the level of craziness that I enjoy. I know, it’s taken me awhile to post these photos from my girlfriend, Tammy’s baby shower. Tammy is my friend that has a million or so friends on Facebook. She is fun and outgoing and a little bit wild. She is a great person, and I’m so happy for her that this new little one is coming into her life. I remembered reading about a “Born to be Wild” themed baby shower on Hostess With the Mostess and thought that was the perfect theme to celebrate her son’s arrival. (The picture on the right is of the two Tammy’s in our group of friends.)

Fifty of Tammy’s friends came over to my house for lunch. Thanks to my partner-in-crime, and best girlfriend, Jen, all went smoothly! Jen’s on the left serving lemonade & iced tea cocktails. She and I both are big fans of Happy Hour, any hour! The color scheme was turquoise, white, and black, with zebra prints mixed in. We had black, turquoise, and zebra printed balloons throughout, and I put together simple white floral arrangements with roses and daisies. Jen and I created an adorable “Born to be Wild” banner with her Cricut. I’m now pining for a Cricut. I love that little machine! After going through my pictures, I realized I never took one of the banner… so, so sad! You’ll just have to trust me, it was adorable and as soon as I get my Cricut, I’m going to be a banner queen.

Kristy, of Posh Pixels, is an amazing graphic designer. She’s been featured on Hostess With the Mostess, Amy Atlas’ blog, Living Locurto, and a bunch more of the best entertaining blogs out there. Check out her Etsy store and you’ll see what I mean! (Note: Etsy says her online store is closed for a short time, so make sure you check her website above if you click over to Etsy and it’s closed.) Kristy worked with me to customize the turquoise zebra and polka-dotted cupcake toppers. I love the personalization, “Tammy’s Shower”, “Due March 2011”, and “Oh Baby!”.

For dessert, I made chocolate cupcakes in zebra cupcake liners. I tinted the frosting with a little of Americolor’s, turquoise (didn’t want the frosting to come out too dark). I used Wilton’s 2D tip. I love the ruffle texture you can pipe with it.

I also made up a platter of chocolate-covered strawberries drizzled in dark chocolate. I usually buy Wilton’s candy melts from Michael’s. The white is not a true white, more of an off-white. I ordered Mercken’s Super White candy melts just to compare. They taste the same, so it’s really all about the color you’re going for. For a truly white color, opt for Mercken’s

The cookie favors turned out super cute. I have a polka-dot fetish and couldn’t resist mixing polka dots with the zebra design. Look, I even found coordinating ribbon at Michael’s. I love it when it when a theme comes together! Monogrammed cookies are one of my favorite designs. They add a personal touch for the ones you are celebrating. The J is for Jace, Tammy’s baby’s name. The J’s were made by melting black candy melts, and piping the J’s onto waxed paper, and sprinkling with black sanding sugar before the chocolate set.

Wishing you a wonderful week!

chocolate, cookies, Cupcakes, Desserts Galore, Favors, Parties, Table Setting Ideas

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Written on November 15, 2010 by Kate

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Hope everyone had a good weekend. My goal this week is to catch up on posting some of the sweet things I’ve been creating over the past several weeks. Thank you to those of you who stop by my blog regularly for understanding my lapse in posting.

Here’s one of my recent creations…

My girlfriend, Laura’s granddaughter, Eden is obsessed with Winnie the Pooh. Look at how absolutely adorable she is meeting her favorite character at Disneyland. Eden just turned three (such a fun age), and to celebrate her mom and grandma planned a Winnie the Pooh family birthday party. She plays her Winnie the Pooh DVD as often as her mom will let her, and her favorite scene is the celebration scene for Eeyore’s Tailaversary.

My friend Laura had the clever idea to surprise her granddaughter by recreating the scene from the movie, complete with a red checked tablecloth and balloons with silly faces. As you can tell, Eden was thrilled when she saw the set-up.

Laura asked me to make cupcakes, and we decided beehive cupcakes would be perfect for the honey lovin’ bear. I also had a little Winnie the Pooh honey pot for Eden, which Laura added to the scene.

To make the cupcakes, I made my favorite buttercream frosting, tinted with Wilton’s yellow gel. I tend to favor Americolor gels, but there are a few Wilton colors that I love. This yellow is one of them. The frosting was piped with a large open tip. I started piping from the outside, piping additional layers one on top of another. The little bees were made, in advance, by taking peanut m&m’s and piping black royal icing stripes. The only way I have discovered to achieve a truly black frosting is with Americolor’s Super Black. You don’t need a lot, and it won’t effect the taste of the icing. The eyes were made with royal icing, colored with Americolor’s sky blue gel (This is my favorite color that Americolor makes. It’s a happy color.). The wings were made by taking slivered almond pieces, breaking them in half and attaching them to the m&m’s with a dab of royal icing. These cupcakes came together quickly and were birthday girl approved!

Have a BEE-utiful week everyone!!

Cupcakes, Desserts Galore, Parties, Table Setting Ideas

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Written on March 24, 2010 by Kate

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Oh, you know how I love centerpiece ideas. Here are a few more easy ideas to decorate your table for Easter, all incorporate Easter eggs. The picture on the top left reminds me of the PAAS kits we buy every year. I love the pastel colors you can achieve without keeping the eggs in too long. To make this, insert a smaller container in the center of a vase and add flowers and water. Then fill the outer portion with kid-created eggs.

Sometimes the best materials are right under our sinks. I love the natural look of the nests filled with white eggs pictured on the right. I was surprised to discover they were made using paper bags from the grocery store.

Who else, but Martha, would use lace to decorate and dye eggs? Can’t wait to try this technique out this year. I love how they color coordinate with my blog? The picture in the bottom center is what happens when you put several totally different items inside a bell jar. The result… festive and fun. Finally, the picture on the bottom right is also a Martha idea. Those little chocolate bunnies love taking center stage, and the kids will enjoy eating them afterward. Love how they interspersed a few of the dyed eggs in the grass.

So many great ideas to try. It looks like I’m going to go on a hard-boiled egg diet immediately following Easter Sunday! Good thing the Naughty One loves eggs!

The links to the pictures in the collage are below (plus a ton more examples on these sites).

Better Homes and Garden Slideshow

DIY Nests

Martha’s Egg Slideshow

Centerpieces, Holidays, Parties, Table Setting Ideas

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Written on December 12, 2009 by Kate

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Just when I thought I was done… I swear, every December around this time when I think I’m done (or almost done) Christmas shopping, it seems I’m always adding more – the neighbors, co-workers, or my son’s classmates get added to my never-ending list. If you’re in need of some simple and inexpensive favor-type gifts, check out all of these adorable do-it-yourself ideas from a group of very talented bloggers!

Rudolf’s Spares, Reindeer Food & Reindeer Poop!

These three are cute and simple to put together. I’ve even seen these for sale at Hallmark for about five times the cost of what you could make them for. You just need red hots or Fireballs for Rudolf noses, oatmeal and glitter for reindeer food, and Whoppers or a chocolate-covered candy for Reindeer Poop (which, by the way is such an 8-year old boy thing to give out!). Each treat has a poem that goes with it and printables all over the web. I love the beautiful packaging by, Miriam, a Stampin’ Up consultant. She posted the three poems on her site.

A Little Snowman Inspiration

Snowman Soup (see collage below) is another popular favor to put together, and there are a ton of examples if you search the web. Quick and inexpensive to put together, you include a packet of hot chocolate, marshmallows, chocolate chips, and a candy cane. They sell these small tin buckets at Target in the dollar section, or you can put the contents in a cellophane bag. The top right corner of the collage is called “Snowman Kisses” (which are white Tic Tacs). Check out Kristen’s step-by-step tutorial on how to make these cute packages. The bottom right printable is from a talented blogger and graphic designer at Happy Bird’s Crafting Haven. I love graphic artists who are willing to share their work with those of us graphically challenged people! She made these printables to fit perfectly over the Ghiradelli Chocolate Squares. If you haven’t bought the limited edition peppermint bark by Ghiradelli, they are an amazing treat. Go through all of Happy Bird’s seasonal posts for more great ideas and printables that she generously shares with her readers!

Still want more ideas?

Betty Crocker shows you how to make a candy sleigh. Candy trains are also fun for kids to make for friends, or can be a great craft to keep them busy over winter break.

Finally two more great printables!

Caramel popcorn and chocolate-covered pretzels are two of my favorite recipes to make with my son. Neighbor kids always come over asking when we’re going to make more. Emeril’s caramel popcorn recipe is my go-to recipe for cooking with kids. It is all done in the microwave and tastes great! I love the popcorn bag printable pdf file by Monita at her Mushy blog. The lunch bag goes right into your printer. The Merry & Bright tags from Giver’s Log (one of my favorite blogs!) can be used for any ho;iday favor you come up with!

Hope you’re inspired! I know I am!

Candy, Gift Ideas, Holidays, Parties, Table Setting Ideas

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Written on November 20, 2009 by Kate

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A few simple Thanksgiving centerpieces… Hope they inspire!

(The first picture is a little hard to see. The vases are filled with water. Cranberries float on top and surround floating candles. I also love the candle placed in an artichoke, with other mixed vegetables, and flowers to create a unique centerpiece. The rest of the centerpieces are a cinch to make, fill vases with cranberries, acorns, or other fall favorites and add candles for warmth.)

Can you believe 45 million turkeys are cooked each Thanksgiving? I am very thankful that I’m not in charge of cooking any of them. My mom has been making Thanksgiving dinner since I was little. The preparation starts the day before and I think the woman literally works two days straight in the kitchen to prepare an amazing meal for the people she loves. This year my sister and her family are coming into town and I’m thrilled to spend time with them and have our kids play together. Deb, one of my best girlfriends, and her family are also joining us. We are their “California” family and I’m so excited that we get to be with them for another Thanksgiving!

My ex-husband, his girlfriend, and their little one will also be coming by for part of the afternoon. Continuing a friendship with Blake’s dad has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. We both have too much love in our hearts and no room for anymosity or hurt feelings, which has enabled us to come together and celebrate all of life’s important moments as a family. When we first divorced, there were definitely tough times, and if you’re going through it right now, know that time will heal. Looking back, what I’ve learned is that out of the challenges we face come blessings that we never imagined.

Need more centerpiece ideas? Check out these previous posts…

Pumpkin Centerpieces

More Pumpkin Centerpieces

Apple Centerpieces

More Simple Centerpieces

Centerpieces, Holidays, Parties, Table Setting Ideas

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Category Archives: Table Setting Ideas