Can you believe Easter is this coming Sunday, the last day of March? After having two VERY busy weeks, I am now finally shifting my focus to my Easter/Spring decorations and the holiday meal. Will you be hosting friends and family for dinner? We are expecting about 10 for an Easter brunch after we attend sunrise services at church. Today’s post is inspiration for your Easter weekend~ from easy Easter DIYs to family traditions at the table. If your children are on spring break, some of these ideas would be fun to keep them busy and entertained.

Decoupage Easter Eggs

With a plethora of pretty seasonal paper napkins and hand towels, you can easily make these decoupage Easter eggs with your children or grandchildren. All you need are neutral colored eggs~either plastic, wooden or actual eggs, Mod Podge, paper napkins, and a paint brush. If you are using real eggs, you can find instructions on how to do this here.

What’s nice about these decoupage eggs, is that they keep from year to year and you can use them in a multitude of ways. This sweet lady bunny has a space for an egg on her yellow coat.

Or in a basket of straw as an Easter/Spring decoration or part of someone’s Easter basket.

Of course, you can use your decoupage eggs at your Easter dinner table too!

Think of all the possibilities depending on the color and style of your napkin! To see the complete post on How to Decoupage Easter eggs, click here.

Making Easter Nests~a fun DIY project

The joy of spring brings new nests all over our property. Instead of using real nests (not sure how sanitary that would be at the dinner table), I make faux nests. Back in 2020, I use Royal Worcester soup bowls at my Easter dinner table. However, the table is lacking something. So I whip up these cute nests using items I readily have on hand.

Since I have never made these before, it is fun to experiment and try something new. The supplies are simple~shredded paper (from our paper shredder but you can use whatever you have), Mod Podge, disposable styrofoam bowls, a few colors of spray paint, glue and moss.

Don’t they look so pretty on the Easter table?

To see the entire post on making DIY Easter nests, click here.

Easter Table Ideas

If you haven’t starting setting your table for Easter, here is a plethora of ideas from centerpieces to place cards. Today I will be going through the Easter boxes in the garage to come up with a theme for our table this Sunday. It’s a bit like Christmas because I seem to forget year to year what I have collected over time. We hope to set a table outdoors (weather providing) in the palm orchard, like we have the last few years.

Many of my Easter pieces come with wonderful memories. My dear friend, Gwen, gave me these porcelain lamb napkin rings over 30 years ago.

The Easter menu

Since we will be having a brunch, it will be easy to serve a homemade quiche, both green and fruit salad, hot cross buns and perhaps a smoked ham (husband is figuring that out).

The hot cross buns are so tasty, however, I am still struggling with getting the crosses correct. Here’s the recipe from Sally’s Baking Recipes, as I have good luck with her content. The crosses are made with a flour/water concoction and orange icing is added after baking.

The annual family dessert is a lamb cake. Easter lamb cake (known as agnuszek or baranek wielkanocny in Polish) is a traditional Eastern European dessert. As a child, I looked forward to my mother making this for Easter as it signaled the beginning of Spring.

To read more about this cake, check out the original post here.

Please share what you are doing for Easter and any family traditions you enjoy. Happy last week of March! I cannot wait to share pictures of our newest family member, a 9 week old Akbash puppy. More to come on that, but have a glorious week!

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Another rainy and chilly few days here in the Valley of the Sun. My garden is very happy about the additional moisture and of course, the cooler temperatures are always appreciated. Happy St. Patrick’s Day weekend! Tonight we are hosting a dinner party celebrating our daughter, Julianna’s 27th birthday. I will be serving my two favorite recipes which I did share with you this week. Welcome to another Saturday Meanderings, where we chat about all good things this week.

Hosting a Cocktail Mixer

As you may know, I sit on the board for our neighborhood association. This week we hosted a cocktail mixer to introduce people to the association and recruit new board members. With about 40 people attending, I am hoping a caterer will help out with hors d’oeuvres, however, my favorite person is not available.

Using the large round wooden board from Sur La Table, with the help of Costco and Safeway, I create a charcuterie board using cheeses, meats, fruits, nuts and crackers.

Nasturtiums are abundant in the garden right now, and it’s amazing how a pop of color can take your charcuterie board up a notch.

Store-bought French macarons from Costco and lemon yogurt covered pretzels from Safeway make for a colorful Spring dessert tray.

This is the first time buying the Green Chili Chicken Firecrackers from Costco. A quick bake in the oven, it’s always nice to serve a warm/hot appetizer. By cutting them in half, this became a one-bite finger food. I didn’t try them but the tray was nearly empty, so I’m guessing they tasted good.

No photographs but in addition, there is a vegetable tray with hummus dip, fresh shrimp on ice with cocktail sauce, small bowls of cashews, garlic herb almonds and salt and vinegar potato chips.

All in all a very productive and fun meeting.

Gardening Update

This week I plant 6 brand new San Marzano tomato plants. I love this variety of tomatoes as it makes the best sauce. Five out of the 6 plants are missing….just gone. What? For years now, I have grown tomato plants and the critters have never expressed any interest in them. Who/What is eating my tomato plants?

Scattering seeds this week in the garden. I love growing chamomile for its delicate flower and scent~wonderful to dry or make tea. Even though the growing season for chervil is short, it makes a tasty salad.

The castor bean seeds are a new experiment and not even sure it will grow here. Now in doing some research apparently the seed and leaves can be really toxic so I may pull the plants if they grow. Here I thought castor beans = castor oil, all good for you, right? Geez. Not the brightest thing I’ve done.

Do You Take Magnesium?

Gaia Herbs posts an informative article about magnesium. Do you take this mineral that supports muscles and bones, energy, brain function, and so much more? Here is the article and it appears I need to do further research about this.

Currently, I take Magnesium Lactate as this was recommended to me after having low magnesium via a hair mineral analysis years ago. Taking a bath and using Epsom salts is another way to absorb magnesium into your body. Will do a deeper dive and let you know what I discover.

From the Internet

With warmer weather prompting Spring growth, it is also weed season. Stacy from Bricks ‘n Blooms has a very informative post about Homemade Weed Killer and other natural ways to kill weeds.

If you are using weed killers with glyphosate, there is evidence of its connection with cancer. With so many chemicals in our gardening world, please find an organic way to control weeds.

This time of year I love to tackle small Spring cleaning projects. Barbara from Mantel and Table will get you motivated to clean out your linens drawer(s) with her post on Storing Napkins~How to Organize a Beautiful Linen Drawer.

Do you stop for roadside freebies? I am guilty of doing so with this set of Adirondack chairs. Check out how my friend, Rachel from the Ponds Farmhouse transforms these resin planters into DIY faux Concrete ones. It’s probably good that Rachel and I do not live near each other! Ha!

Since my goal is to always post beautiful things, I consider this next post valuable to keep all of us safe. Since I drive a very old car, I don’t have a wireless or remote starter to the ignition. But since many of you do, please read this very informative article for your own personal safety and to prevent your car being stolen while pumping gas.

Mary’s Must Haves

If you have the sourdough bread making bug, then this starter set is a must have for your baking. It is 27% off this week at $39.99. Not baking sourdough bread yet? This is also a great gift for someone who does.

Speaking of bread, my sweet friend and neighbor, Tevia, ordered some dehydrated sourdough starter from the internet and shared some with me this week. Yes, you can order starter from around the world and rehydrate it.

There is one that is several decades old from San Francisco, and with it I make this nice looking loaf of cheddar, rosemary and garlic bread. I will post this recipe shortly~it’s a family favorite. It is fun to experiment with different starters.

Cake Pans

After purchasing my favorite cake cookbook, Layered, I realize that I do not have good cake pans. Yesterday, in making the London Fog cake (a request from my daughter, Julianna, for her birthday), I want to share these cake pans that I love.

The cake recipe requires three 8″ round cake pans and these from Fat Daddies do not disappoint. It’s amazing that just having the right equipment makes such a difference in the success of the recipe.

I am in the process of trying to consolidate all my Mary’s Must Haves. There will be tab at the top of my home page where you will be able to find all the items and their associated links. Hope to have that complete in a week or two.

Tonight, for the birthday celebration for our daughter’s 27th birthday (which is actually on St. Patrick’s Day), I am busy in the kitchen making 2 Guinness beef pies, a Bailey’s Irish Creme cheese cake, my favorite arugula salad and of course, the London Fog birthday cake.

On Sunday, I am doing a 5k/10k with said daughter in order to work off some of the calories from the night before!

Next week, we are heading to Virginia to pick up our new puppy. I am not sure if I will have the opportunity to post, but I hope to share pictures of our journey (and our new little fella) along the way.

Until we chat again, have a wonderful weekend, a fun St. Patrick’s Day and we will connect soon!

Just a reminder that any words that are italicized bring you to the source. If it is a product on Amazon, please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you purchase something through my website, I receive a small (very small!) stipend, which doesn’t affect the price you pay at all. My goal is to make sourcing the items easy for you. Thank you for your continued support.

Even though we are not of Irish decent, we celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, because it is the birthday of my daughter, Julianna and my mother, Julia. That, in itself, is a good reason to set a St. Patrick’s Day Table. However, who is St. Patrick and why is this holiday celebrated around the world?

A Little History

St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated annually on March 17, the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish observe this day as a religious holiday and have so for over 1,000 years.

St. Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland and its national apostle. Born in Roman Britain, he was kidnapped from his home and brought to Ireland as a slave at the age of 16. He later escaped, but returned to Ireland and was credited with bringing Christianity to its people. 

Mixing Old and New

For this year’s St. Patrick’s Day table, I am using this fun piece of contemporary fabric from my friend, Anne. I couple it with my antique English china, Fondeville Ambassador Ware 6762. The rich shades of green, gold, pink, blue and yellow make these gold-rim plates one of my favorites.

To me, this is the essence of collected chic~mixing bold patterns with elegant tableware.

Stacking the antique china on the simple brushed gold chargers enhances the gold in the pattern. Adding the crackled gold rim clear salad plate from Leslie Roy does not diminish the platter floral design. Similar chargers can be found here. These chargers are so affordable and I use them frequently.

Of course, I love my Wallace silver/gold bee patterned flatware (see link here) which seems to go with just about any place setting I create. The combination of green and gold in this setting lends to the luck of the Irish!

Made in Waterford, Ireland, the Waterford crystal Marquis water goblets and Lismore wine glasses are in keeping with the Irish theme. Gold trim napkins softly fold and find a home inside the wine glass. See similar napkins here.

Making it Festive

With a fun and festive holiday like St. Patrick’s Day, it is easy for the table decor to become kitschy or juvenile. Trying to keep the table elegant, but fun, I add gold shamrocks to the tablecloth. Since I bought these several years ago, resource unknown, you can use gold coins instead.

Each place setting gets a light up shamrock necklace for added whimsy for our guests. See similar necklace here.

The Centerpiece

Brass candlesticks from West Elm brighten up the table. Set up in our family and surrounded by windows, the table changes color as the day progresses.

The centerpiece is a vintage Westmoreland oval footed milk glass bowl with hydrangeas, peonies and green glitter shamrocks. Again, the glittery shamrocks are fun but the centerpiece still looks elegant. The shape is the perfect size for this round table.

Will you be celebrating St. Patrick’s Day? My daughter will be 27 years old and my mother, if alive, would be celebrating her 99th. Time marches on, doesn’t it?

Wishing you all a happy Wednesday.

Just a reminder that any words that are italicized bring you to the source. If it is a product on Amazon, please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you purchase something through my website, I receive a small (very small!) stipend, which doesn’t affect the price you pay at all. My goal is to make sourcing the items easy for you. Thank you for your continued support.

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This post shared with Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday #650

With Valentine’s Day just a day away, will you be sharing the love? Is it a romantic dinner for two or a dinner party with friends? We are having a very low key evening at home this year but whether you enjoy Valentine’s Day quietly or pull out all the stops, here are some Valentine-inspired table ideas for you.

A Quiet Dinner for Two

I like to experiment with setting up a table in an atypical part of the house. It’s fun to get a different perspective and not always eat in the same spot. Our front entry hall is the perfect place for a small round table to seat two guests. If the weather is pleasant, then it’s even more inviting to sit by the open door.

Pink and white matte ornaments (used at Christmas) are hung with clear fishing line from the overhead light fixture for a bit of whimsy. The two upholstered chairs (see similar here)from Ballard Designs bring a sense of comfort and elegance to the table.

The antique Black Forest carved drop leaf table provides the perfect backdrop to the gold chargers and Juliette china from Royal Doulton Romance collection . Pink stemware, both vintage and new add to the pink theme. Vintage napkins are a thrift store find.

Since the table is small, a narrow row of fresh hydrangeas is just enough. Candlesticks by West Elm. The blush linen table runner is from Williams Sonoma but they no longer carry this color. Here is a very affordable one on Amazon.

Do you have a fun location where you can set up a small table for dinner? There is something refreshing about having a meal in a new place! You can see more details about this dinner set up here.

If You Prefer Red

As you know, I love all types of linens~antique, vintage or new. Typically before I set a table, I select the right linen and then go from there. Here’s a favorite one with deep red roses~another perfect Valentine basic and can often be found in thrift stores.

Finding a quiet corner in our living room by two bright and cheerful windows, makes the perfect place for a Valentine meal.

With silver chargers and beaded white dishes, the place setting compliments the grays and whites in the tablecloth. The heart-shaped glass ornament (I purchased and hand carried back from Paris) serves as a napkin ring.

Crystal glassware and candlesticks captures the light and ups the elegance factor. Again, the table is small so a gathering of deep red roses in a small crystal vase is perfect. To see more about this table, click here.

For a larger crowd

We love hosting an elegant Valentine dinner party for friends. It is not an annual occurrence anymore, but we still enjoy putting it on every other year or so. With a larger group, we tend to set up on the back terrace patio, where the dinner table easily seats 10-12.

There is a great deal of planning that goes into this event~from unique invitations to gifts at the dinner table. The outdoor heaters are set up just in case it gets too chilly as the evening progresses.

When it comes to flowers for this event, I tend to go all out. There is something so magical about a table lush with flowers and candlelight. There are so many details to this event, that I wrote two blog posts about it.

You can find Valentine Dinner Party ideas, Part 1 here and all the resources for the table and Valentine decorations here in Valentine Dinner Party ideas, part 2. If you are thinking about having a fun event, you will find lots of inspiration in these two blog posts, from the initial invitation to the actual event.

Here is another Valentine dinner party setting on the back porch table but without linens. The mahogany table really makes the flowers and dishes pop. Similar set up but isn’t it interesting how linens (or no linens) can completely change the look?

Here is an evening shot and isn’t the table just magical?

Experimenting with a New Tablecloth

I just recently received this lovely shade of pink tablecloth from my friend, Darviny. If you don’t follow Darviny on Instagram @dayswithdarving, she is the queen of Indian block print fabric. So I am playing a bit with different dishes and colors. My photos don’t really capture the warmth of this soft pink, but it is perfect for Valentine’s Day.

For this 60″ x 90″ Juliette tablecloth, I got it on sale (25% off)for $43.50. It looks just fabulous on my dining room table too!

The brushed gold chargers are a staple and I like how they pick up the gold in the Famille Rose salad plate by Williams Sonoma. You can find similar chargers here. And it appears that William Sonoma still has these plates available too. The Emma white dinner plates with the dotted edge are a regular item at Pottery Barn. Pale pink linen napkins can be found on Amazon here.

Well, I am hoping this post is inspiring you to think about Valentine’s Day and a very special table. Happy Tuesday to you! I love Valentine’s Day as it helps me stop and absorb all things of beauty.

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This post is shared with Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursday #697 and Peacock Ridge Farm Fabulous Friday Link Party 2.4.22.

For the last Saturday Meanderings of 2023, I am including two weeks of good things to chat about. With every intention to post last Saturday, well, you know how life goes the week before and after Christmas. Happily with a house full of family and guests, I never finished my post and here it is, a week later and there is more to add. So grab a cup of coffee or tea, and let’s chat about all good things over the last two weeks.

Before Christmas

What a week! On Saturday, December 16th we made the 6 hour drive to Newport Beach, California where we celebrated my husband’s birthday.

Newport Beach

With the average house price in Newport Beach being nearly $4mm, it is obviously a place we cannot buy, but we certainly love to visit. We always stay at Marriott Newport Coast Villas, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean and is situation right on the Pacific Coast Highway. This location is just perfect for our family and after coming here every summer when the children were younger, it feels a bit like a home away from home.

Four days of chock-a-block activities with the whole family (and significant others), from Disneyland to our favorite beach, the time is filled with lots of laughter and new memories. This Marriott property is so well maintained with beautiful landscaping too.

One of the highlights of blogging is meeting some truly wonderful people. During my September trip to Newport Beach, I learn that Wendy, from WM Design House lives in the area. So on this trip, we schedule time to meet for lunch and immediately, we become fast friends.

I love scheduling 4 to 5 days before Christmas to do something extra special with our family. Not only do we focus on my husband’s birthday (which can get lost in the holiday crunch), but hotel prices are still reasonable and accommodations available. Plus it’s a nice break from the holiday frenzy.

The Loofa (or luffa) is Ready!

This loofa plant has been the highlight of the garden this year. The vine is slowly dying off and I am picking dried loofa from the vine. If you recall, here is how it looks over the summer. At this point, this vegetable is very edible. Surprisingly, it did very well in our exceptionally hot summer.

As it matures, the fruit lightens in color and loses water weight. The shell hardens and starts to separate from interior fibers. Here is what the loofa looks like now.

The dried skin easily peels off and the seeds shake out from the inside. I find this plant so interesting! If you would like to grow this in your garden, here is a link to luffa seeds. I haven’t used it yet as a body scrubber but will keep you posted!

Annual Holiday Competition

My son, Benjamin has long-time friends (Emily, Max and Jeffrey) who gather each Christmas and compete in a food/drink cookoff. To date, the competition has included BLTs, stuffing, and hamburgers. This year they decide to do a cocktail one with categories of stirred, blended, shaken and shooters.

With a cleared kitchen island, each friend has a prep station. Official descriptions and judging sheets are provided to us and our friends, Rick and Janie. Not only are the drinks innovative and delicious, but it is so joyful to see the camaraderie between these incredible friends. Judging scores includes presentation, taste and innovation.

From tropical pinã coladas to snowball Negronis, this group did not disappoint. Operating as skilled mixologist, each and every drink is delicious.

Cocktails are rated with a numbering system and judged with a blind tasting. It’s always hard to pick one winner because such effort and attention is done by all three participants.

Christmas Day and After

Christmas morning is a very casual and relaxing affair here at Bella Terra. After the traditional breakfast of Eggs a la Goldenrod (see the recipe here), smoked salmon (made by my husband), bagels, and fresh squeezed orange juice for mimosas, we open our presents in the living room. It is possible there are more dog than people presents!

A late afternoon dinner is served in the dining room. What is fun about this year’s meal is that it was thrown together without a lot of forethought. The menu includes a smoked pork loin, a salad made from fresh garden greens and sweet potatoes, prepared in the most delicious way (recipe to come soon), cornbread muffins and a previously homemade (and frozen) pumpkin pie.

The table centerpiece is simply created with bottlebrush trees gathered from other parts of the house. Though our dining room is small and can only accommodate 10 people, it is very conducive to lively conversation and ambiance.

Celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas

I know many people are already dismantling their Christmas decorations, but not here at Bella Terra. This year, I decide to truly celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas (from Christmas Day to January 6, the Epiphany). My mother kept all decorations up until January 6th, a tradition we continue here.

What I love about this time between those two dates is the unique period of tranquility. I can fully enjoy the quiet beauty of the winter wonderland of our home without the stresses of the holiday bustle. In this sense of peace and stillness, I will slowly read and enjoy all the Christmas cards and letters we’ve received. Daily, I am watching a Christmas movie.

Even though Valentine’s Day merchandise is in the stores, I plan to be present and enjoy the peace and quiet of these 12 days. I invite you to join me in using this time for quiet reflection, to connect with nature’s stillness, spend quality time with loved ones, embrace deliberately slowing down, and savor your traditions and rituals.

When do you take down your decorations? Do you celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas?

As we say goodbye to 2023, I send you the biggest hugs and best wishes for a healthy, happy and exciting 2024. Keep those you love close to you and always extend a hand to those less fortunate. That’s what life is all about. See you in the New Year!