Aren’t these bunny napkins the cutest?! I found inspiration for this easy craft while searching around for Easter table ideas on the blogosphere. I had never seen these before but obviously I’m out of the loop because once I started looking, I found them everywhere! Good Housekeeping added a button and whiskers to theirs and is my personal fav, but I also like the simplicity of Martha’s crisp white bunny.

There are lots of tutorials out there so here are a few I found to be helpful and comprehensive. Come & Peek shows that you don’t need fancy napkins to create beautiful bunnies, making them with paper napkins.

• Martha Stewart
• Delish (via Good Housekeeping)
• Come and Peek

I found some cute home-made napkin bunnies on Flickr too. I loved this one with polka dotted nakpins by Heidi Kennedy of  My Paper Crane.

I can’t wait to try to make these cuties for myself! And you can be sure I’ll post the results here when I do!

{Photos Courtesy of: MarthaStewart.com, My Paper Crane, and GoodHousekeeping.com}

Enjoy this guest post by my mom who has some great ideas for Easter decor and tablescaping!

Easter is a time for reflection, reawakening and renewal – a time to remember and celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Decorating for Easter is fun because it gives us a chance to infuse in our homes the bright colors of Spring and reflect on all the symbols of Easter and what they mean. So what do lilies, colored eggs and bunnies have to do with Jesus?

There are many traditions associated with these decorations. Many people think the Easter Lily, with its majestic white blooms, represents the purity of the risen Christ. I always include a cross or several crosses in my Easter decorating because of the subtle “reason for the season” reminder.

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Though I read tons of entertaining blogs, one of my favorite blogs is actually not about parties or decorating, but about blogging! ProBlogger.net has been a great resource in getting my blog up and going and helping me find ways to be a better writer, drive traffic to my site, and improve my blog in general.

Yesterday Darren of ProBlogger.com posted a “31 Days to Build a Better Blog” challenge. The challenge begins April 1 and will focus on helping bloggers improve their sites with simple lessons and “homework.”

I completely relate with Darren’s observation that “While we all want to have better blogs sometimes it becomes one of those things that we’re going to do…. one day.” Proof in point is my delayed branding switch and domain name roll out.

While I know many of my readers are not bloggers, I have found that most of the most active commenters actually have blogs themselves. I’d like to invite my online friends and fellow bloggers to join this challenge with me in an effort to improve our blogs and share experiences. I believe that having a group of people to keep me motivated and accountable for sticking with the challenge will make it ten times more productive.

Darren asks that those participating in the challenge sign up on his website in order to receive full benefit. If anyone is interested, please let me know in the comments below and hopefully we can find a forum in which to communicate our experiences with the challenge!

For those of you who aren’t bloggers, I can’t wait to get started with the challenge to hopefully give all my readers a better blog-reading experience! 

{Graphic courtesy of ProBlogger.net}

A few weeks ago I was blown away when I saw the rainbow cake posted on Hostess Blog. I knew right away that I had to try it for myself! I’ve been waiting for a good reason to bake a cake so when I found out it was a co-workers birthday, I decided to give it a go. The tutorial at Omnomicon was delightfully uncomplicated (and hilarious). The cake not only turned out great but it got rave reviews from all around City Hall and brought a big smile to a good friend and co-worker on her special day! Though Aleta’s tutorial is above adequate I still feel compelled to post my own version of the tutorial and answer some questions that I had as I was making this colorful confection.

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Until yesterday chile con queso was the only “dish” that had ever been cooked in my crock pot. My sister is a huge fan of crock pot meals and she and her college roommates are constantly coming up with great recipes. I wasn’t quite aware that you could cook anything but pot roast (which I don’t like) in a crock pot so when my mom emailed me this recipe I was excited to try it! See the recipe after the jump.

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Today’s feature is a Real Life Party by fellow blogger, “Inspired” Kara. Kara threw this bridal shower for her best friend, Aria, and based the theme on Aria’s love of music and all-things vintage. And did Aria get a great shower or what?! Kara’s color coordination and attention to detail made this one sweet shower! Be sure to see links at the bottom to Kara’s blog for more pictures of this adorable party!!

Using a white tablecloth and pink runner and lots of doilies Kara created a dainty tablescape. Since the shower was hosted around Valentines day she was able to take advantage of the availability of Conversation Hearts for her flower arrangement. She served up some tasty appetizers like chocolate covered raspberries, cupcakes, and bite-sized versions of Aria’s favorite sandwiches!

I am in love with this all-pink candy bar. It’s so well put together and goes along perfectly with the sweetheart theme.

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What is the one plastic card that is useful for party planning that doesn’t have the ability to hurt your credit score? Your library card! That’s right, my library card is one of my most valuable and inexpensive party planning resources. Read below to see how I discovered this precious resource and tips on how to easily find party books in your local library!

I’m a pretty avid reader and earlier in life I learned that having a passion for books could become a rather expensive hobby when you read as much as I do. I became a regular library patron in college when I learned that (for some reason) Ole Miss had an extensive John Grisham collection.

So when I moved to Dallas a priority was to find the closest public library. In a stroke of luck, I learned that the largest library in Dallas was just across the street from my office! About once a month I trek my way across City Hall’s concrete laden plaza, past the hobos and pigeons, over to the Dallas Public Library to browse for new books and enjoy a lunch out of the office.

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Hi Design by Kendall readers and Happy St. Patty’s Day! I wanted to take today to apologize for not posting any St. Patrick’s day ideas. All of my St. Patty’s day decor is sitting on my dining room table waiting to be put up but it doesn’t look like I’m going to get to it this year! I promise, no more holiday slacking for me! I didn’t have time for another big post today but I wanted to give a few shout outs to some great bloggers out there:

• There is a sale going on over at Hostess Jo (see the Let’s Entertain blog). Fifteen percent off all merchandise until March 31st. Just enter promo code MARCH at checkout!
• Thanks to Amy at Stem Parties for promoting my giveaway last week. I got a big surge in traffic/survey responses thanks to your post!
• Heather at Swanky Paper blog for saying that my blog is fabulous! You’re is too Heather, you rock!
• Yesterday was an exciting mail day….Martha Stewart Everyday Food, Real Simple, and a cookbook I won in a giveaway at the Mermaids of the Lake blog! Thank you Shelley for the amazing cookbook! I can’t wait to try the chocolate chip cookie recipe!
• Also to all my blogging friends who use Blogger…sorry if I’m not commenting as much but about every other day google gets mad at me and says when I post a comment that it looks like spam! I’m trying to get the issue resolved but I can’t seem to fix it. Anyone have any ideas?!

That’s it for me for today. I’m headed to play kickball then ask the bartender at Christies if they can make me one of these: Hostess Blog: Beer Floats! Happy St. Patrick’s Day.

Today’s guest post is from one of my super creative friends Alexis. Alexis and I met through Linda, a wonderful friend and the lucky recipient of this shower who suggested we chat when Alexis trying to coordinate the long distance party planning. Though we live in different cities (Dallas & DC), Alexis and I became fast friends over our love for decorating and party planning. We have only met three times (at the shower, bachelorette party and wedding) but I feel like we’ve known each other forever and now we talk on the phone regularly! Now to Alexis on her Blushing Bride Bridal Shower! Enjoy!

First, Kendall, thanks for inviting me to post on your wonderfully inspiring blog! I’ve enjoyed all of your creative ideas and am so honored to contribute!

This party, which we’ve titled “Blushing Bride Bridal Shower,” is one that I threw for my best friend and then bride-to-be Linda back in October. I hosted the party at the mother-of-the-groom’s home in Georgetown, TX. Because I live in Washington, DC, geography posed somewhat of a challenge, but I wanted to host the party in close proximity to Linda and all of her college friends that would be attending (from UT-Austin), and wanted to do it at someone’s home rather than a restaurant in order to give a more personal touch. To make it easy on myself I had the brunch catered and chose to put my creative focus on the décor.

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Today is a special post on Pottery Barn tying together the I’m Sold! and Surprising Sources series.

Though I can hardly afford to shop at Pottery Barn it is still one of my favorite places to “shop.” Instead of shopping for plates and napkins and silverware I shop for inspiration! I love getting the PB catalogue in the mail to see what the new trends in decor and entertaining are. And I’ve had a ton of success at recreating some of their tablescapes and decor ideas with much less expensive versions I find at TJ Maxx and Walmart.

The staff is super friendly and always willing to help you match your color palette or give great tips and tricks. The two PB staffers above, Roy and Darren taught the recent Spring Entertaining Class and were friendly and full of energy!

Another great reason to “shop” at Pottery Barn is to find out about all their fun FREE events. It is a fun way to meet other entertainers in your area and spend a morning sharing ideas! Here’s a recap of the class I attended and lots of spring & easter entertaining ideas!

On Sunday I woke up early (early for me on a weekend at least) and headed to Pottery Barn to try out their Spring Entertaining class! It was lots of fun and the instructors were full of great ideas! Enjoy the following pictures and spring entertaining tips from the notes I took at the class!

Easy Easter Brunch

The class started off with tips for throwing an Easter brunch celebration. The instructors explained that brunch could be early – before church – or in the early afternoon after church. They gave these great tips and insights into what is “hot” this season for Easter entertaining:

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