I sure hope my friends that have experienced the coldest winter in recent memory, are finally catching a glimpse of spring.

I’m hosting Easter this year for our west coast family members and I thought I’d share some of the inspiration and ideas I’m using for our celebration.

I’m finalizing the menu (the ham has been a staple to the meal for some weeks, but I have flip flopped on the sides).  Here are a few of the items that I’ll fix.  Sweet Sarah will prefer the fingerling potatoes I’m preparing (much healthier), but I know a couple of family members that will enjoy scalloped potatoes.  My office gives Honey Baked gift cards to each of us at Christmas.  Honey Baked stores, which are plentiful in California, not so much elsewhere in the U.S., are known for their honey glazed hams.  It will make my day of food prep pretty easy to have the ham cooked and ready.  I think I’ll prepare some deviled eggs, a slaw salad that Sarah introduced me to, a few appetizers, cookies for dessert and that should be plenty.

Table setting is the icing on the cake for me.  I look for any excuse to create a pretty table.  Here are some ideas I’m contemplating compliments of the creative bloggers I visit regularly. {Thank you!}  I like the idea of potted bulbs (preferably in bloom) and nests with eggs.  Trader Joe’s has been carrying daffodils, hyacinths and tulips in little pots.  The place mats are really cool and I believe they’re paper.  I may not be able to find these but I have a collection of Royal Doulton Beatrix Potter rabbits that I can scatter among the nests and flower pots.

The happy faces on these pansies make simple eggs look festive.

If it’s a pretty day we’ll sit outside for appetizers so I’ll create an Easter basket similar to what I did last year.  I used an assortment of color-pack sized flowers and they lasted for most of the early part of summer before fading.

I’ve ordered these tags from Everyday Occasions and will bake Jenny Steffens Hobick’s cookies with buttery icing.  Recipe HERE.  I’ll plate some and send each person home with a cookie or two wrapped like this.  Jenny’s blog is filled with great recipes and ideas for setting the table.  She provides detailed instructions for each recipe, and the best part?  She has an online store filled with fun items for home and entertaining.

 I hope my cookies turn out as well as Jenny’s.  Aren’t the baby chicks cute?

So tell me, what are you doing this Easter?