Let me just say, you really lucked out today…you get three posts in one! I was going to title this Three Posts in One – Easy Cloth Napkins, Easter Eggs, Vintage China and my Children’s Shenanigans with the Garden Hose, but, um that was too long. So without further ado, here are three posts (+my childrens’ shenanigans with the garden hose) in one.
First of all – easy cloth napkins. These are…well…easy! I used a thrifted vintage pillowcase, which made four napkins. They turned out just a tad smaller than a regular napkins, so for Easter dinner, I will be giving these to the delicate ladies in my family, such as the lovely Auntie, and Cousin Anna Margaret. Uncle Bob and (ahem) my dad will be getting a roll of paper towels. Just kidding. That’s only when we are eating ribs. And ham. And burgers. And macaroni and cheese. But I digress.
It has been so beautiful here, so I decided to set my little workstation up outside. This was convenient, because it was close to the large patch of dirt in my back yard which can be easily turned into mud. Nothing entertains my beautiful little girls quite as well or as long as a good patch ‘o mud. More on that later. I used my rotary cutter to cut the hem off the pillowcase, then folded it in half, finger pressed it in the middle (this is the technical term for “push really hard with your finger to make a mark where you want to cut”) and then cut it in half.
Then I trimmed all the edges to make 4 rectangles. Really easy! Hem up the edges and you’re done. I used a 1/4 inch narrow hem. To get a narrow hem, use your seam gauge to measure a 1/2 inch hem, press/iron, then go back and fold the raw edge to the fold, and press again. Stitch as close to the folded or inner edge as you can. If you want that nice mitered corner, fold the point down into a triangle before making the final press.
These are so darn easy! Last time I made cloth napkins it was NOT a good experience, but these were so simple. Who is getting cloth napkins for Christmas? EV.RY.ONE.
Now on to Easter eggs! If you have read any of my kid posts, you know that I like to keep art projects fairly open ended – translate that Mommy doesn’t like to do all the work while the kiddos watch – and I felt like the Bees are still too little for “traditional” egg dying. I figured out a system that worked beautifully for us this year. We blew the eggs out of the shell, then put a chopstick through the holes and stuck the chopstick into a shoebox to paint. I could not believe how much time the Baby Bee spent painting these! She was concentrating so hard, her lil’ tongue was sticking out!
I was pleasantly surprised at how cute these turned out!
And last but not least, the vintage goodies! I host Easter at my house most years, and it’s so beautiful out this time of year that I usually set everything up outside. This year, I even talked my mom into loaning me her Grandmother’s china to serve dinner on!
Um, did anyone see that episode of friends where Chandler smashed all of Monica’s wedding china after he spent the whole day convincing her that it was okay to take it out of the box? Yeah, that was playing in my head all day long.
Anyway, I set it all up yesterday to see how it looked, and I took a few shots to show off how pretty it all looked together. I used the Resurrection Garden as a centerpiece, and the eggs the girls painted on the place settings, and I love how it all turned out! Of course, on Easter afternoon, it will be jammed with food, but I can still enjoy how pretty it all looks now.
My mom let me use her silver flatware too. When I opened the box, I got a sweet sentimental surprise – the little Christmas tag my Grandpa wrote to his parents was still in it. I feel so lucky to have this in my family!
All right, since I know you want it, here are the previously mentioned shenanigans. Since my kiddos got pretty dirty playing in the mud while I worked on the napkins, I let them turn the hose on – on each other apparently. Here is what happens when you spray a hose through a flyswatter at your little sister…
But then Mama gets these sweet snuggles…
I hope you all have a wonderful Easter, spending time celebrating the ultimate sacrifice the Christ made for us!
HE IS RISEN, INDEED!
Monique
