Love is in the Details: Preparing for an Easter Feast

I hope you haven’t given up on Lent. 

The holiest week of the year is nearly upon us and even if these (almost) 40 days haven’t been what you hoped, there’s still time to jump on the train.

If Gary Chapman’s book, The 5 Love Languages, had one more language I’m really hoping it would be “Finding Love in the Details.” That’s always been my happy place, discovering the small things and making them matter.

As we prepare our home for Easter, I got a most unexpected text. Jennifer Fulwiler, a Catholic blogger, author and radio host on Sirius XM, asked if I would be on her show. Um, I almost texted her back and said, “You sure you don’t have the wrong Kathryn?” But alas, here we are and I go live with her in just a few hours. While getting ready for the show, she asked if I could share something “hands on” while on the air.

Aaaand, here we are.

Y’all know how I love to party. Like, I’m serious about entertaining. Not because I stalk Pinterest or have a hot glue gun addiction. No, it’s much, much simpler than that.

I love the details. In fact, it’s how I show people I adore them.

It’s also possible I have a slightly unhealthy co-dependency issue with mason jars. Maybe.

At any rate, I find great joy in preparing our home to welcome guests, no matter the occasion. Easter is headed our way and I wanted to share a few details from our table, why they matter and how I did it.

Flowers
You introduce me to a gal who doesn’t love flowers and I’ll call you a liar. Who doesn’t adore them? My husband picked these up at the grocery store. I divided them in half, plopped each in a fabulous mason jar and placed both jars in my daughter’s Easter basket for the anchor to our table centerpiece. You could go even more economical and raid your neighbor’s flower bed. Depends on how much your neighbor loves you.

For the life of me I couldn’t find our Easter table runner, so I stole the blanket from the couch instead. Hey, it works in a pinch. I think.

Kid & Adult Craft
I’m not a huge fan of messes. I know, I have six kids, but it’s true. If a craft can look awesome, be assembled pretty easily and causes little cleanup, I’m all in. I pray this one delivers. The supply list is simple and hopefully things you already have on hand: mason jars; sticks (from your backyard); two sizes of glasses; construction paper; scissors; map pencils/crayons; tape or glue; glue gun; dry beans, lentils, rice or split peas (just raid your pantry!); and ribbon or twine (optional). The best part? It’s something that can be done by little hands while you prepare Easter dinner.

What started as this…

Became this…

And aside from hot gluing the sticks to the paper, the kids did ALL the rest.

The easy peasy instructions go something like this. Find scrapbook/construction paper you love, have your kids trace a larger and smaller circle using the glasses, and then cut them out. We chose a lighter paper for the middle, but you can do whatever you want. They cut out the circles, they added the letters, they lined up the jars and added the split peas and they tied on the twine. {Pro tip: give them a liquid measuring cup for the beans and then have them pour into the jar. Be prepared to find stray beans in weird places.} I hot glued the sticks to the paper and put them in the jars, but only because I did not have time for an ER visit.

Clare: “Mom, if you touch the glue gun will it hurt?”
Me: “Yes. Big owie.”
Clare: “But if I touch it, it won’t hurt!”
Me: “Um, yeah no. Don’t do that.”

This is why my kids are personal friends with our local ER.

The Table
My girls helped fold the napkins and add the mini-egg cups with wooden eggs. In an ideal world, those eggs would be beautifully painted with each child’s name. Maybe next Easter.

And, here she is. All ready for the feast.

We have a few little touches I’ll add as the date gets closer. I promise to share the table in its full glory come Easter Sunday. Until then, go find your details and pour in the love. Thanks to Jen for having me on the air. What a blast!

For your listening pleasure, the podcast!