{Easter 2011} Prep

I'm finally getting around to recapping our Easter celebration with the whole Elser gang.  I took hundreds (literally hundreds) of pictures throughout the weekend.  It takes forever to load pictures so I'm going to save myself some time (and sanity) and spread this out into a couple of posts.

First up...preparing for company.

I didn't do a ton of decorating, but there were a few easy and inexpensive touches that I incorporated into the main areas of the house.

First, the front door was decorated with a "Happy Easter" banner.  Nothing more than some card stock, a scissors and some string required here.

A larger version hung above the buffet in the dining room.

I also filled some random apothecary jars, vases and bowls I had on hand with colorful Easter candy and framed a subway print I found online.  Piece of cake (or should I say, candy)!

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Interruption for a random Jack story. 
We hardly ever use our dining room.  Despite having a 2-year-old in the house, I wasn't all that concerned about setting candy out for a few days because Jack has no occasion to go in that room.  I was pretty sure he didn't even know it was there.  Until I saw him walking around one afternoon with chocolate dripping down his chin and a rolo wrapper in his hand.  I said, "Jackson, where did you get that candy?".  His reply, "It's in the dining room, Mom."  Yeah.  Duh, Mom.
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The next idea was 100% stolen borrowed so I get zero credit for creativity or originality here, but it is still cute, easy and FREE so I'm considering it a win!

All you need are some paint chips (mine were Behr from Home Depot), an egg-shaped template, scissors, hole-punch and some string/ribbon/thread - whatever you have on hand.

Voila!  Colorful, festive and (did I mention) FREE garland!

I kept things simple for the table settings as well.  The kiddos had their own table (which worked out really well!).  Nothing more than some scrapbook paper, paper plates and napkins and plastic eggs involved here.

I went with all white for the grown up table.  Probably not the most practical decision considering BBQ Ribs were on the menu, but that's nothing a little Clorox can't take care of! 

For the centerpiece I used a large glass hurricane I had on hand.  Inside was a drinking glass full of water and bright tulips (shout out to Costco for the killer deal on a massive bunch of tulips).  I then filled in the space between the glass of flowers and the hurricane with white plastic eggs.

Chocolate bunnies served as props to hold the place cards.  They also offered a nice contrast to the sea of white.

A menu card was tucked into each napkin.

I was pleased with how it turned out.  Festive yet classy. 

Again, I was able to use mostly things I had on hand so the whole tablescape cost nothing more than the tulips, chocolate bunnies and a few sheets of card stock.

Of course, coloring eggs was part of the prepping as well.  I had quite a helper.

Who was very proud of his accomplishment!

And that's how things looked prior to our guests arriving. 

Stay tuned for a recap of Jack's first encounter with the Easter Bunny and lots more fun with family!