Spring Pussy Willow Wreathe

I’ve got one more Spring decoration idea for you. When I bought pussy willows for my Easter Decorations, they were about four feet long, and I cut them down to fit into my small centerpieces. That left me with lots of extra branches. I took eight branches of about equal length and formed a rectangle by alternating which branch overlapped (like a lattice). Then I used wire to secure the joints. Finally, I added a ribbon and a length of artificial red dogwood flowers. Finally, I hung it on the door. Fortunately, Marc knocked into the wreathe and it slipped down to a corner. The diamond hanging configuration looked way better than the rectangle. Funny how that works sometimes. Below you can see a closeup of the corner when I fastened the ribbon and the flowers. Gorgeous and inexpensive. I think the whole wreathe was less than $8. … Continue reading

Easter Decorations

Believe it or not, here at the Dirty Laundry Kitchen we’re already thinking about Easter. I have lots of ideas for Easter decorations that will make your Easter table simple but gorgeous this year, in robin’s egg blues and and array of greens. I made little grass nests for beautiful blue eggs with wheatgrass and forsythia from the grocery store. Blown eggs from Araucana chickens were an important part of my Easter Decorations this year. It’s easy to do. Buy a dozen now, and prep them in the next couple of weeks while you’re doing your regular cooking. I use a pairing knife to notch a small hole into each end of the egg. The smaller it is, the cleaner the eggs look from the outside, but the harder they are to empty out. Once both holes are complete use your lungs to force the egg out of the shell. It’s surprisingly hard work, so you’ll be glad you planned ahead and don’t have to do them all at once. You can save some for dyeing, too. This way you have eggs that can be out on the table without risking disease and death! Sometimes I remember to plant some … Continue reading