Easter has always been a very special holiday for us and our families, Not only is it important to us because of our religious beliefs, but also because to us, it represents coming together with loved ones. Easters of our pasts have consisted of joining together with friends at a table, having delicious Easter brunch, and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. Easter (to me) not only represents new life in a religious sense, but also in a literal sense with the world waking back up after it’s long winter slumber. This year, that slumber seemed especially long and dreary, so gathering around a bright table in the fresh air and sunshine was just what the doctor ordered.
We wanted to keep it simple- nothing too fancy and we didn’t want to spend a lot of money, so we primarily used things we already had around. The only things we ended up buying or renting for this particular event were tables and linens (rented), some easter paper place mats from a local favorite, Hester and Cook, flowers that we ended up snagging from Trader Joe’s (and we cut some from the yard too), and craft supplies for the kiddos from Target.
This was a fun reminder that gatherings and celebrations don’t have to be super fancy to feel beautiful and fun.
We first assessed what we had around and what we could use to decorate we table. We had plates- clear ones that were gifted to me (people tend to give me lots of event related things they don’t want, so I have a “more than average” stock stored away of these sorts of things), and then we mixed in the clear with some of my great grandmothers floral china. We used silverware that we had - we didn’t get too concerned with it all being the same. We had copper flatware and silver flatware mixed together, and for this, it worked! The napkins were flour sack towels (another item I have a large stock of) that we dip dyed in Rit Dye (you can find this at Walmart or really any craft store). We used four different colors to make it bright and fun for the occasion. We ended up using purple, rose, coral, and yellow. To make these we filled buckets with each color, grabbed the napkins in the middle, letting the edges fall, and then literally just dipped the flour sack towels in the color, rinsed them, and dried them - voila! We bought some beautiful Easter placemats from Hester and Cook, and then used some we had left over from previous years as well ( the pink/white floral were the ones we bought a couple years ago - here are some that are brighter, but somewhat similar). We gathered chairs from our houses for a mix-matched look, and I loved the way it worked for this… not necessarily practical for a larger event, but for this, it was perfect. I arranged florals in vintage compotes my mom bought me from a garage sale, and the bud vases with snippets from the yard were ones I had in stock, all from CB2. Once the table was set, we sprinkled some moss down the middle and called it a day. It was simple to put together, planned in a matter of a few days, and worked great for us.
I wanted to have some fun activities for the kids, so I went to Target to check out the craft section. They had some paintable bunnies and eggs, which were super cute and I knew the kids would love. We made a little craft station by pulling the table out of our playroom and taking it outside, throwing some easter themed shredded paper in the middle of the table (also from Target), putting the eggs, bunnies, and paints on the table, and then letting the kids take it from there. They loved it and had an absolute blast! We also gathered some bunny ears from the Target dollar section just for fun, and the kids had a big time with those too.
For food, we ended up doing a potluck. Everyone brought their favorite Easter brunch food item, and this worked out great.. We had quite the feast!
Finally, what’s Easter for the kids without an Easter egg hunt?? We filled eggs and scattered them across the yard for the kids to hunt, and I think the adults had almost as much fun with this as the kids. I ended up finding some super cute baskets for the boys from Michael’s and I am looking forward to using them for years to come ( bunny basket , carrot basket )! They had so many cute options!
I hope this blog post helps you realize you can have beautiful gatherings with what you have around your house! You don’t need to buy a lot, or bring a lot of things in. Things that are semi “thrown together” can be just a beautiful as events that take months to plan. As we are emerging out of the covid fog we have been living in, I hope you all are able to gather safely with those you love in beautiful places making beautiful memories!
