Growing up, my favorite part of Easter was Pysanka eggs. From my birth until a few years ago, my grandmother painstakingly made all of her grandchildren a new design each year, and I loved (and still love) to look at the eggs each year when we take them out of their crates. They’re so delicate that it’s impossible to ship them and challenging to travel with them, so my whole collection is at home in Connecticut right now and unable to be shared with you all. Some day! Until then, I’m inspired by these five marvelous and modern techniques…

From top to bottom: watercolor Easter eggs by Spoon Fork Bacon; gilded Easter eggs via HGTV; neon dip-dyed Easter eggs by Merriment Events via Oh Joy (photo by Katie Stoops); golden marbled Easter eggs by SheKnows; speckled Easter eggs by Sandy Toes and Popsicles

Which one is your favorite?

Martha Stewart

My family (mom, dad, sisters, and brother in law) arrived last night, and we’ve already gotten together for a huge dinner with fifteen of our local cousins. This morning we’ll go to church, and then spend the afternoon wrapping (maybe using some of these ideas), playing games, and taking a walk. Later in the week we’ll travel around New England celebrating with my mom’s side of the family, my dad’s side of the family, and John’s family. (Whew – and yippee!)

I wish you all the most joyful holiday with those you love and lots of time for relaxation and regrouping. I will see you back here before you know it!

Thank you again for all of your help choosing our Christmas cards! As usual, y’all were divided on which design was best, but option no. 1 came out on top in the voting.

As much as I loved the sentiment of option one, I thought the type treatment competed with the image we had chosen. (The detail of the bouquet made the text a bit hard to read.) Same problem with number three. We decided to table those for another year, and instead went with a design with no danger of that problem!

Of course, I think any Minted design would have looked beautiful with Tanja’s gorgeous images! We feel so lucky to have worked with her.

And here’s our inaugural newsletter! I laid it out in Illustrator, had it printed at Fedex Kinko’s, and owe much inspiration to Amanda Jane Jones.

Finally, I addressed each envelope to our nearest and dearest…

…including one for y’all!

Have you sent out cards yet?

A blue and white Christmas inspiration board to start your week off on a peaceful note.

China hutch photo from Veranda by Max Kim-Bee; blue and white ornaments; window box + wreath from Martha Stewart; monogrammed napkin from Carolyne Roehm; ginger jar centerpiece; mini angel food cake from Martha Stewart Weddings; vintage napkin rings from Southern Living; blue and white present from Carolyne Roehm; blue and white china tablescape from Traditional Home

P.S. More Christmas boards: cherry + sky, icy blue + gold, and soft pastels

I adore Christmas music — both secular and religious — and have amassed quite the collection over the past few years. Of course, the advent of things like Spotify and Grooveshark has made discovering, curating, and sharing mixes much simpler, which I also love!

For your weekend enjoyment, I present to you my 2012 “jolly” mix – about three hours of music perfect for an upbeat afternoon of wrapping gifts or to accompany an evening open house. I hope you enjoy! Click here to listen. (Fingers crossed that link works — there are supposed to be 44 tracks on the playlist, but only 30 were showing up when I clicked on it… If not, try this one, and then scroll down to “A Jolly Christmas Playlist.”)

P.S. Here’s a link to my 2010 mix!

P.P.S. Why not pick an act of kindness to do this weekend? :)