You've seen these fabulous, oversized tissue paper poms if you read or watch anything by Martha Stewart. Martha even has kits for these at your local Michael's, if you're willing to pay her price. :) Indeed, the poms are beautiful hanging from trees at a wedding or over tables during a bridal shower. Now, you can forgo buying Martha's kit and you can forgo trying to make a bunch of these on your own...
You've heard us say it before: linens can be expensive to buy and rentals often are limited in selection, eliciting yawns from the hostess herself as she tries to be creative with table decor. The best way to do table linens is to find a fun fabric in a wide width and at a good price and make your table linens. Enter Tonic Living, a website devoted to stylish fabric so anyone interested in design, decor, and any d.i.y. project can have access to really great stuff! Tonic Living also does custom sewing, so you can have your table linens hemmed for you or nifty pillow covers sewn for you! We just really, really, really think Tonic Living has great fabric. And, if you are throwing a shower or party this spring and are completely stumped as to how to even start the decor process, go to Tonic Living, choose a fabric you like, and you have an instant color palette for your party! It really is that easy!
Hello, all. Kari here. 
These paper bag ideas are posted on Martha Stewart's website. Quite a cute idea...we like it because it's easy on the pocketbook and because it's just plain easy. If you have children, you might use this idea so that your kids can take over the centerpiece portion of Easter this year. Then, when the celebration is over, you can have your kids dole these paper bag centerpieces up among grandparents or favorite aunts---won't they be thrilled to go home with a little something special?
We think these Bird Napkin Rings from Z Gallerie are fun...they could really add a little something to your Easter table, especially if you wanted to do something a little different. "Birds" in general seem to be very popular lately for shower themes, too, so if you are planning an upcoming event and are using birds in your decor, you'll be happy to know that these napkin rings are on sale for $2.99 right now!
We love, love, love Donna Hay. If you've not heard of the gal, she's basically Australia's version of Martha Stewart. Only we think we'd probably have more in common with Ms. Hay than with Ms. Stewart. :) For years, Kari has been stalking the Barnes & Noble magazine rack for the latest editions of Donna Hay's eponymous magazine. Both Jill & Kari have enjoyed Donna Hay's published cookbooks, which are always beautifully done. Only lately have we really begun to enjoy the Donna Hay website which is, we must say, lovely. Not only will you find simple, elegant, tasty recipes, but you can also check out little ideas for table centerpieces, styling a party, and beautiful details. We think the photo above shows great promise for a lovely Easter centerpiece idea! Gather some feathers and twiggy branches (from your local craft store if you are a city dweller or from your yard if you're lucky enough to live on a farm or have a beautiful bit of land around your house), wrap them around the inside of a glass vessel, add a candle, and PRESTO! Instant Easter grandeur. We think several of these in a variety of glass vessels would be charming lined up the middle of your table. Or, if you're extra ambitious, add bits of moss and some tiny blown-out eggs to the nests. If you try this, we want to see pictures! :)
Something about this simple, paper wreath makes us smile. It's very spring-ish and happy. You can see more at Haru's Etsy shop. One of the best things about a paper wreath for your front door is that it's NOT awful silk flowers (anyone been in their local Michael's lately? There are some terrible silk flower wreaths for sale. Bad, bad, bad. Consider a paper wreath instead!)
Martha Stewart has some beautiful Easter egg ideas. The photo above is gorgeous, and if your up to it, we'd love to see somebody attempt this! What really makes a beautiful Easter, though, is not the eggs or the bunnies, but the meaning behind Easter. Easter is coming up very soon...we hope you are thinking now about who you will celebrate with. Maybe this is the year that you offer to open your home up for Easter, inviting family, friends, and acquaintances who might not otherwise have a place to celebrate.
You've heard us talk about carnations before....how we have had to slowly change our opinion about this flower. Once considered lowly and cheap, we are now seeing how carnations can be lovely and chic. InStyle Weddings has these three photos on their site, and we think the very inexpensive carnation is continuing to earn new respect. Grouped en masse, aren't they lovely? The top picture especially is a great example of a party centerpiece...we can imagine an entire theme inspired by the elegant simplicity of those white vessels with the plum-colored carnations. Check out InStyle for more inspiration.
Um, okay...this is genius! The Rachel Ray website invites various designers to come up with a monthly centerpiece idea. This month, Orla Kiely was invited to come up with a centerpiece idea. (You may remember our recent post on Orla Kiely's new line at Target). So, Orla Kiely, being the genius that she is, came up with this idea, shown above. She took fun, colorful socks, stretched them over flower pots, snipped off the bottoms of the socks so the pots sit flat on the table and...ta da! Cheery cuteness abounds. We think this is quite clever, and can come in quite useful for baby showers or a child's birthday party. For the whole how-to, and some other clever centerpiece ideas, check out Rachel Ray's "Centerpiece of the Month."
...a new, snazzy tablecloth to bring in spring? If you are looking for an easy, inexpensive way to give your home the feel of spring, there's nothing better than a fresh print used as a tablecloth. We recommend the fabulous Amy Butler fabric line (just a few of her prints are shown above). Measure your table and figure out how many yards you'd need to cover it. Order your fabric, hem it, and throw it on the table for an instant chic update. This is, of course, also an excellent idea for when you are throwing a party (say, a spring shower? Excuse the pun...) and you need an inexpensive way to cover tables. Renting linens can be limiting because there seems to be a lack of fun fabrics at rental places. Purchasing actual linens can break the bank! Consider finding a fun fabric---online or at your favorite fabric store---and putting it to use as a tablecloth or table runner. If you don't sew, it wouldn't cost much to have your drycleaner hem these (yes, did you know that most drycleaners do small sewing jobs?) because the hems are straight and it's the most basic, quick sewing job out there. Happy spring!
