Easter Dinner Prep

With the end of March only 2 days away we are in deep Easter Dinner Prep here.  The Ham and Turkey (we have a lot of guests coming so we are going with variety) are both defrosting, all the yummy food is just waiting to be cooked and as of today the table setting are all set to go as well.

Pastel yellow, pink, blue and purple is what will be on the tables for Easter Dinner.  Oh and flowers they are a must!

While Easter is officially in April, Easter Dinner prep is ending out what was already a very busy month of March for the Bull Family.   Thankfully all the stuff that involved us running nonstop happened earlier in March so we could be home working on last minute stuff these last two weeks.  You can read about our early March Madness in my March 19, 2018 review post but if you are here to read about all the fun stuff we did for Easter Dinner keep on scrolling below.

Our Easter Bunny 

We actually decorated for Easter the day after St. Patrick's Day but we had yet to put out our Easter Bunny so that had to be first on the list of Easter Prep.  This bunny has been a decoration here since we lived her and a must for Easter and the Bull Family.  I know he is starting to look "ratty" but to us he is perfect.  Be sure to click on the picture and see why he is so special to us.

New napkins for Easter Dinner.

Cloth napkins are the way to go for the Bull Family and we have been using them for around 6years now.  With at least 20 guest coming to dinner we definitely did not have enough napkins for Easter dinner so when I set out to make a new spring table cloth to welcome in the first day of spring I just made up a bunch of napkins too.  Wondering why the switch to cloth napkins? You can read why we made the switch at Napkins Save Money.  Yes, it was definitely worth the switch and not just to save money but we have also saved a ton of waste as well in these 6yrs.

Bunny Napkins

We may now have enough napkins for all our dinner guest but they sure as heck didn't match.  Some ended up a bit small due to fabric size and there were a variety of colors so to help keep them all "matching" the Oldest Daughter came up with making Bunny Napkins.  So cute and so easy, they are just going to look great on the tables, adding fun and color too.

Quick Easy Place Mats

And since I had already sewed a bunch of stuff to help make Easter Dinner more fun I figured might as well keep going with some Quick Easy Place Mats.  These place mats are just as they are described, quick and easy.  Anyone could make them and they are going to just make the table setting so nice for Easter Dinner.  Even better there will be no more guessing whose spoon is this game now.

And we close out the table prep with today's pastel yellow table cloth and flower purchase.  I'm sure you are all seeing that centerpiece and nice table cloth in the picture that is behind the flowers and table cloth and your probably wondering why the need for the new ones?  Simple the centerpiece is made from antique/vintage decorations and I would prefer they not get broken.  They will be put up before dinner.  The fake flowers in the very old vase are just too tall for diner conversation.  We would practically have to stand up or lean over to not feel like we are talking to them.  The tulips I purchased were intentionally short to keep them below face level.  Besides I just think every Easter Dinner should have real flowers on the table, the pretty smell makes all the delicious food taste that much better.
As for the table cloth, I chose the yellow table cloth to help pull the colors out of the other napkins and all the blues of the place mats should work nicely with it as well and its plastic because I do not have a yellow cloth one.  Also the pretty white table cloth in all the photos, that belonged to my Grandma and as much as I would love to have it out for Easter Dinner and enjoy all the Easter Memories of her I would be crushed if something was to happen to it so that too will be replaced with plastic for dinner.  Guess sewing table clothes will have to be on next years Easter Prep.
All that is left now is to just wait on the Easter Bunny and for it to be time to cook all the delicious food.  Myself, I'm looking forward to the dessert tray and all the springtime treats.

Quick Easy Place Mats

With yesterday being a go nowhere, do nothing and enjoy the first day of Spring Break day I decided to enjoy the afternoon at the sewing machine.  Why because I enjoy sewing and we needed about 20ish place mats for Easter dinner.  Well really we did not "need" them but to make it all look nice we wanted them.  With all the extra dinner prep I have done this last 2weeks like making all new napkins for everyone, coming up with the Bunny Napkins, decorating for Easter and I even purchased all new matching plates for everyone I really did not need to make place mats too but I wanted to sew and figured they would just help pull it all together.

The "need" part of them is that while we have a dining room large enough to fit two large tables and all 20 of us in here we are limited to movement once we are set for dinner.  The food is done buffet style in the kitchen and not placed on the tables as its easier than trying to pass dishes between 20guests (some that are children) and between tables.  Because of this the plates also need to be in the buffet area (kitchen).  The Oldest Daughter is determined to have each place setting (minus the plate) set at the table so what a better way to set up then on a place mat.  This will also help avoid the confusion of whose spoon is whose.

To make the process quick I chose to do just a single layer place mat and not doubled or lined.  To make them functional and durable mats I did use heavier canvas fabric and not thinner cotton material.  Since I only had to sew straight lines its also a very easy sew project that even beginners could do. Literally from start to finish and making 24 mats I was less then 2hrs.  That included some ironing at the end and the breaks needed to help the kids with stuff too.  It literally is the "quick and easy" project its described as.

Want to make some for yourself?  Here is what you need.
Canvas fabric, sewing machine, thread, measure tape or template and scissors.

You can measure out your mats to any size that works for you.  Myself I just placed an existing mat on the fabric and cut it a bit bigger (I did not measure) all the way around.

Once you have them all cut you can start sewing the seams on them.  Because I used canvas material and it tends to unravel I did a double folded seam on edges to help prevent this.  I did not iron my folds but rather just ran my fingers down the folds.  If it helps you to iron the seams please feel free to do so.  Also I did not pin the fabric prior to sewing the seams, again if this helps you please do so.

Once I completed all 24 mats I did go though and iron each one to take out any wrinkles and to press the seams down.  I do have to say I love how they turned out.  With all the fun projects I have done for Easter dinner this year I just can not wait for the day to get here so we can all enjoy them.

Our Easter Bunny

The story of Our Easter Bunny and his tradition here.

Wile the snow and yuckieness of a slow snow melt are not doing much to enhance the beauty of his surroundings I'm happy to say that our Easter Bunny turned 12 this year.  Time did take a bit of a toll on him over the years but considering all the weather he has withstood and lack of real care put into storage of him in his off seasons I have to say he is doing pretty good. We have had to reattach his arm and the cheap acrylic paint I used all those years ago is fading now but back when I made him I never would have guessed that he would become such an important tradition here.

Its hard to believe we have had this guy as long as we have lived here.  I remember being pregnant with the Oldest Daughter (who was born in May) and putting out the few small decorations I had for Easter thinking we had such a big house and I was finally able to put stuff out in my own yard and now I had no real decorations for Easter.  I was determined to make something I had no idea what but something.  We had just moved here in February and we really did not have a lot of "supplies" to work with like we do now but I went to the basement and searched till I found a few small pine boards and a four foot section of 2x12 that was left by the previous owners.  I really had not idea at that time I was making our Easter Bunny but after staring at the few materials I had for a bit making an Easter Bunny was all I could come up with.

His size is that of the actual piece of board I found.  All I did was cut his head and ears to shape at the end of it.  His arms are from a small piece of board that I just cut in half and rounded the ends.  His bow tie, pocket and the grass were all just pieces of smaller boards.  The pink, blue and yellow paint was actually the same paint that was left over from when I painted the nursery making him even more special to me.  That same paint is also the reason he has never gotten a touch up painting, I just cant bare to paint over it.
Each year Easter comes and goes and the kids love to see him out there welcoming in Easter.  At first to them he was just a decoration we put out each year but now after all these years he is part of a special tradition to have out for them as well.  Until this year I don't think any of us realized just how old or important of a decoration he had become to us.  I'm sure that the previous owner never thought these pieces of left behind wood would have every become the next owners cherished memories but they have.  Honestly, on the day I made him I really had no idea how much he would mean to us as the years went by either.  I can tell you now though that it's just not Easter without our Bunny out there. 

Meat Birds

So do we have the time to raise them or not this year?  That is the question when it comes to meat birds.  We know we want to and we know what they will be once grown (dinner) but sometimes we just don't have the time to put into them they need and finding time to process them in the end.  But when we do its so worth it.

The first few years we went big and got 12 thinking we would have at least one big chicken dinner a month.  That didn't happen, by the time it was done we only had 6 birds left to process.  I'm not sure why.  I guess it could have been a bad year or it could have been bad a bad hatch who knows.  Oh and cooking a big chicken dinner in August's heat that is just not happening.  So we have scaled down to only six a year and last year we were so busy we did not even raise them.  We were sorry, really missed those delicious dinners so they were back on the "menu" this year.

This year we only went with 6 and we will see how it goes from there.  I would love to say we will end up with 6 wonderfully healthy dinners but one can only guess at the outcome when they are tiny chick.....Not like meat birds are ever tiny chicks but you get the idea.

So after my New addition for 2018 post I was asked by a reader if it is hard to eat something you have raised up for a chick?  For that I can only say, not for us as we know that is why we have them.  Is it hard to process them?  Not for the Hubby he knows what he is doing and has done it multiple times prior to us raising them on the farm he worked on years ago.  However, I will admit I don't help do that part and not so much because I would fell bad but because I really don't like the whole blood and feathers thing.  The kids on the other hand would sit right there and watch all day.  I guess we all know how well these animals were treated and what their purpose was from the beginning so it only make sense to us, if that makes sense.  I guess its pretty much the same as when we raise the pigs the same all applies again.

This is the other part of the cropped photo above.  I call it "eggs and bacon" and or "breakfast" even though we have never had a meat bird laying eggs it just seem like a good name for it.  The year of this photo was also the last year we raised meat birds and I happily welcome them back to the menu this year.  I would even be into roasting one up mid August if I had to :)

Bunny Napkins

So we have 20 or so guests coming to dinner for Easter and now they all have pretty new napkins for Easter dinner too.  That was the easy part I just got out the fabric and the sewing machine and presto everyone had a new napkin in about an hour and a half.  The problem we had is that we do not have enough matching napkins whether it be size or color they were all just a little different.   With the Oldest Daughters help we came up with an easy solution to make the mismatched become a matching set and it only took seconds and literally no supplies.

These bunny napkins are just prefect for Easter dinner.  They add fun to the table for both grownups and children.  They nicely pull all the mismatch colors together in a cheerful table display with the variety of colors of both with all the eggs and napkins.  Honestly it really makes it look like we planned it out that way but really we did not.
*disclosure- I did not iron my napkins for this project as honestly I'm not a big ironing kind of person.  I just used the folded lines to help me find the center of the napkin, if you would prefer to iron please feel free to do so.

Thinking about adding this fun touch to your table?  Here is all you need and some simple step by step instructions to help you out.

Step 1:  Get your supplies ready.
1 napkin (we prefer cloth but paper would work too I suppose).
1 clean plastic egg.
1 string or ribbon
1 permanent marker
1 clothespin (optional)

Step 2: Draw the bunny face on your plastic egg and allow to dry.  I recommend a permanent marker so it will not smudge on your napkin.  If you want to add a treat inside the egg for the dinner guest such as a candy or a trinket you should do it at this time too.

Step 3: Lay out your napkin flat with the wrong side facing up (see images below)

right side up incorrect 

wrong side up correct way

Step 3:  Fold opposite corner to meet in the center so the right side is now beginning to show.

Step 4: Continue folding same sides in to the center.  My napkin was folded towards the center 4 times but it may vary depending on the size napkin you are using.  You don't want it to be too skinny when done or it will not hold the egg well.

Step 5:  Fold both folds together.  This is where the clothespin comes in handy to hold it all together while you grab your egg.  If you wish to hold it by hand you can skip the clothespin its just easier for photos to have the clothespin as a 3rd hand.

Step 6:  Place the egg in the center and fold napkin around it to form the ears.  Be sure to have the opening show and point at the top.  The clothespin will help hold the egg and napkin in place so you can move on to the next step.

Step 7:  Using ribbon or sting tie a bow securely around the napkin to keep the ears in place.  We suggest that you do NOT use a "knot" in your bow as you will want your guests to have easy access to the napkin for dinner use.

And there you have it.  Easy Peasy, Easter Napkins that match using mismatched napkins. 

I think we will have some happy dinner guests and both of my girls loved helping with this project too so its a good way to get the kids involved in Easter Dinner as well.  They even got out the "fancy" stuff (as the Youngest Daughter called it) for this cute little photo display.   And they remembered the place setting they learned at the Legions Corned Beef Dinner too.  Who knew something as simple as a napkin would teach them so much.

Napkins for Easter Dinner

With a guest list of 20 or maybe more we really have no idea who is coming and who is not, Easter dinner is going to be packed at our house and we wouldn't want it any other way.  That also means we will need a ton of napkins too so why not sew enough for everyone then make them part of  the Easter Decorations for that day.

So that was not the intention I had when I started out yesterday.  My intention was a making a new bright and cherry table cloth to welcome in the first day of Spring.  Lets face it the foot plus of snow on the ground and  the 2 degrees we had for a temp was just not a good welcome to spring if you ask me.  While I couldn't fix the conditions outside I did want to spring it up inside.   I dug though the material stash I have until I found the perfect print of flowers, yellow, green blue and of course red as that is a must for my kitchen decor.   Then I set to sewing and then the table cloth was done in no time.  With the extra material I had I also whipped up 8 new napkins to go with it as we prefer cloth napkins in our house.  Its a long expensive story from over 5 years ago but you can read about why the Bull family made the change from paper to cloth napkins at Chicken Napkins Save Money.

Really it took no time at all as its just sewing straight lines and I was done before I even had to head out to work.  While I may have finished the napkins and tablecloth I didn't have time to clean up all the mess before work so all the other material choices I had out and the sewing machine were sitting right where I left them when I got home yesterday.  I really didn't feel like putting it all away at that point so I just decided with so many guests coming to Easter dinner why not make up enough napkins for everyone on the guest list.  It would be worth it in the long run as we wouldn't have to purchase paper napkins for Easter and we wouldn't have to wait till I had the time to make up more next time we need new ones.  I have to be in the mood to sew to actually get out the machine and sew so sometimes we go a while using rattly, torn up, thing napkins.

Unfortunately I did not have enough of each material to make all 20+ napkins match each other but the Oldest Daughter came up with a solution for that and even help them go a little better with our plates that they definitely didn't match too....Bunny Napkins for everyone!   Even if the napkins are all different colors we can still make them match by making a colorful bunny napkin for every setting.  She really had a great idea here and I'm pretty sure it will work out great given all the different colors of plastic eggs.  Making these guys is pretty simple too.  You can get step by step directions at Bunny Napkins or you can just roll 2 corners of the napkin to the center of the napkin and fold around an egg.  Tie it off with a bow and be done.  Plus it really does make a fun addition to the Easter decor at the table.

March 19, 2018

The end of the crazy month of February led right into the beginning of an even crazier month of March.  Following the old wise tales you could definitely say March came in like a LION!

While we were finishing up or visit with Traveling Tracy, enjoying the unseasonable warm temps and even daffodils poking out of the ground March quickly put an end to all that.  Week one started off with what would be the first of three Nor-Eaters (big snow storms) in just three weeks to hit our area leaving us buried in snow.  Really was not finding it any fun after we were bare in February and our hearts we all set on warm weather and the possibility of any early spring.

Traveling Tracy from Texas experiences a New York style Nor'easter 

The big snow not only meant shoveling but it also threw in a snow day for the kids that changed the plans for lots of things like the school's drama club production of Aladdin Jr.  It was tense wondering if the show would go on for both of the girls as they both had parts in the play, one preformed and one backstage.  Thankfully the show was only on hold for a day and they were able to get both performances in.  It was a great little musical and all the performers in front of and behind the scenes did an excellent job.  Of course I'm partial to the 2 beauties in the second picture and also very proud of them as well.

Also rescheduled or I guess it was just a time change as the day was the same was our 4-H meeting for the month.  Of course its march so we had to do something St. Patrick's Day themed that still kept with this years theme, Bugs.  Now, I'm patting myself on the back for this brilliance and I'm sure Pintrest deserves a little credit too but we ended up making Bug Houses and then used them to make Leprechaun Traps too.  And if all that wasn't fun we added leprechaun gardens which is like a fairy garden but we used gold and green stuff to help entice the mischievous little things into entering our traps.  It thought for sure we would catch one this year but guess our locks were not so great, maybe next year.

Week 2, with the musical and 4-H meeting over we went right into concert mode thanks to the school's Pop's Concert.  Both girls are in the 5th and 6th Grad Band (drums and flute) and one in 5th and 6th grade Chorus so we were running again and shoveling, don't forget about the 2nd snow storm.  Thankfully other then making trips for dresses and shoes we were able to be home more that week shoveling snow.
Want to talk about a shocker, the night of the concert at the dinner table the Youngest daughter says "I get to do a solo duet tonight."  I tell you it about blew me out of the water, she is a bit more out going then the Oldest daughter but still very shy.  Boy, I wish I had know earlier as I would have been bragging her up like crazy to everyone.  Congratulations to her and the other 3 who were chosen to do the same.   And while I'm bragging her up I should also mention that she was one of only a few 5th graders moved up to perform with the band in the concert that night which meant she is way ahead of many members in the 5th grade band.
And if that don't make a parent proud enough the Oldest Daughter who also happens to be 1st chair flute also performed on her own in band as well.  While it was not a "solo" in the sense of performing on her own with out anything else playing it was a part in the song that she was the only flute playing as the others had not learned enough yet to play that part.
Yes, that't right I'm bragging about my kids.  And they deserve the acknowledgement too as they do wonderful and try very hard in everything they do.  That is something lacking a lot in today's "oh well" youth.  So congrats to both the girls and thank you for being such inspirations.  We love you very much!!!

5th and 6th grade band.

Youngest Daughter's Solo Duet, Awe she just looked so tiny next to that much older boy,  Great job sweetie!

Oldest Daughter 1st Chair Flute, Very proud of your amazing job!   And front row makes it so much easier to get photos, 

And before the week ended we somehow managed to spare some energy for our 4-H Club's annual Basket Party and the Legions Corned Beef Dinner.  For the last 3 years we have combined our effort with the Local Legion, they allow us to sell tickets at their dinner and in return we help them set up, server and clean up at their dinner.  Its a win, win for both of our groups as we need a place to sell tickets and host our party and they need help with the dinner.  Plus the kids get to squeeze in some community service that they don't even realize they are doing.  This year as a special treat as a few of them learned place setting too as they were there to do the table setting as well.  I love it how life lessons are learned every day in 4-H and most of the time they are unaware they are learning them.

Week 3, Daylight Savings Time - which basically means it is going to take us all week to recover from the missed sleep after a busy dinner that night at the legion and a really busy last 2 weeks.  Week 3 also gave us a snow storm but this one was nice enough to string out over 3 days, that's right 3 day of shoveling lol, really its not funny now Mother Nature.  We had 2 hour delays from school which probably helped the kids as they were cranky from the time change too and unfortunately we used a snow day that we didn't have in the school calendar to spare (we will loose a spring vacation day to make it up) but the break from all the chaos outweighed the need for a vacation day so we were grateful to have the day off. 
The only real happenings other then snow for this week was that by the end of the week the sun finally started shining after what seemed like forever and it was St. Patrick's Day.  We usually don't go overboard here on this day as we put so much into it already with 4-H and the Legion but we still wanted to do something with "Green" to it so the girls and I grabby my sister and we were off to Simply Succulents, a work shop on growing and using succulent plants.  It was some much needed girl time and a great break from all the "winter" we have had lately to be playing with plants.

This is also the week we got this years new addition to the list of critters we have.  Babies, that always means we are that much closer to spring here, or at least that is what I tell myself.  We did not add a ton of new chickens this year as we really don't need them but we couldn't let chick days come and go with out getting any so we settled on Bantams as we only have a few and meat birds for the obvious reason.  I'm sure these wont be the last critters added this year but its a nice start with out my typical going overboard on chicks.

And with St. Patrick's Day over it was a quick take down of the decoration to get up Easter Decorations as fast as possible with it falling so early this year.  I even waded though the snow to get the driveway display done too.

So you see its been a crazy month and with a big family dinner here Easter Sunday (only2weeks away) it will probably not get any slower for us before it ends but the good news is the sun has been shining for almost 4 days now and the snow storm they were predicting for this week is not going to be the big snow they thought and in 2 days spring starts (according to the calendar).  We will just have to take the rest as it comes at us and do the best we can till the flowers do come up.

Easter Decorating

Doesn't it seem like we were just decorating for St. Patrick's Day?  Well, that is pretty much because we were.  Easter is earlier this year and that means we had to get all the green and gold down and all the pretty pastels and bright cheeriness of spring up in one afternoon.  It made for a busy day but its okay as we all enjoy decorating here.  Why the hurry?  Well I host the family Easter Dinner each year.  It started out as just my side of the family and has grown to include my sisters in-laws and now some of the Hubby's family comes too and with limited time this year decorating had to happen fast so we could do all the other things to fit us all in here that day.

DIY Egg, wreath alternative for the Bull family this year.

Our decorating workload was cut in half this year though thanks to some nasty little mice that some how got into the Easter decorations.  Anything that was foam filled or cloth was chewed and if they didn't chew it they used it as a toilet.  While it was nice to not have to put up as much is stunk that some of our favorites were ruined too.  It also left us needing a new wreath for the main entrance door.  I had though about making a pool noodle wreath like I did for St. Patrick's Day but then decided I wanted something different.  A quick search in the basement found me a piece of scrap plywood and that is how we ended up with an egg on our door.  I used every last bit of that piece of plywood as you will notice the top, bottom and part of the one side are a bit flat on the egg as those were the edges of the board but it turned out perfect for what we needed.  I love that it's personalized too.  Even better was the Hubby who usually don't notice small changes in decorations like a pastel wreath and not a green one could not miss the bright cheery egg when he got home.  BTW he like it too.

Vintage dish and chick making for a cute little Easter Fairy Garden.

Inside decorations were pretty basic given half of them were ruined but the table centerpiece got a taste of our recent Simply Succulent class thanks to the Oldest Daughter.  She even added a few of her fairy garden pieces to spruce it up.  Now we just need to get some Easter grass to add and it will be an Easter Fairy Garden.  Love the vintage glass dish and vintage s&p shaker chick she used too.

Driveway Display 2018

This year's big driveway display was not what I was thinking it would be when I planned it out last year.  I planted a nice row of daffodils and some pieces of Forsythia Bush and was going to put the garden bench behind it and make this adorable spring display.....See all that snow, yea it didn't happen.  What did happen is I went through the snow,  I used the Styrofoam eggs and peep the kids made about 4yrs ago and the same bows and garland I usually use on the fence that is out there and made this display.  While cute its still not what I wanted to do, sinking 3 snowstorms in 3 weeks nonsense.  Oh well, maybe next year.

Vintage Blowmond Eater Bunny

And the last bit of decorating we managed to get done that day was hooking up my blowmold bunny.  I will admit that I just love these vintage decoration whether for Easter or any holiday and I have quite a few of them but that's another days blog. I don't know how old this one is and I think it was part of a set back in its prime days but to me its one of my favorite Easter decorations.  I love this guy, the kids on the other hand think its creepy which I can see too but still the nostalgia of it makes it so hard not to love.  I do think he needs to be in a big ole basket but for now he is just going to have to sit there showing off his nightly glow on the porch.