When I think about the past Easter holidays, it has been filled with memories of the children's excited anticipation waiting for Easter Sunday and their chocolate covered faces as they unwrap each egg on their way to hunt for the next!
I think about what it means to get together with family and friends, what food I am going to cook, how the table will look, will there be flowers in the garden for me to pick and put in the guest room for a burst of colour as family arrive to stay for the weekend.
Fast forward to thoughts of this coming Easter and like everything over the last 12 months, it is going to be very simple, quiet and mellow, with no guest room full of flowers and large menu to organise. This Easter will be another occasion to add to the list of missed holidays, Birthday's, new baby arrivals and so many more happy days unmarked by celebration.
For many, this will be another occasion which highlights the huge gap that has appeared from loosing loved ones over the last 12 months and celebrating simply is not on their agenda this year. We are thinking of you.
However, we have done so remarkably well with the efforts everyone has gone to to keep our families, friends and community safe during the Pandemic, I feel actually why stop now when we are so close?!
The children will still have their excitement levels cranked up to ceiling height, there will still be a roast (barbequed of course by my BBQ-obsessed husband!) and I will still make the table look really pretty with fresh flowers. I might even still pick some flowers but just pop them in our bedroom instead!
We are used to 'distant get-together's' over Zoom, we are used to 'just us' around the table, but we can infact choose to celebrate Easter for it's symbol of renewing, restoring, resting, nuturing, nurishing and welcoming the new season with open arms.
We can celebrate being together over the garden wall with our neighbour (who let's face it, we know infinitely better now than we did before Covid), we can celebrate being together in our family unit we have never been stronger in, and we can of course always send a little something to the ones we miss and love, to share a moment together. Not ever forgetting, sparing a thought for those whom all of the above are simply not options they can facilitate and times are extremely tough right now, again our thoughts are with you.
Whatever your plans are this Easter, we hope you manage to celebrate or mark it in a way that fits with you and your current feelings. As the days get longer and lighter, we can at least say we are inching towards summer and better days are ahead for us all now.
We always like to include some of our favourite seasonal gifts, ideas and homeware inspirations in our studio notes so we thought we would include a few Spring-flavoured goodies here, for a little extra Easter inspiration this year.
Love Jo x
Issy Granger
Everything on Issy's website is on my gift wishlist, and these gorgeous yet delicate hand blown glasses and pom pom carafe would make any table on any occasion sing with happiness
Petra Palumbo
Carrying on with my obsession for pretty glassware, this would make the most gorgeous guest room carafe and glass for any welcome family or friend when we can finally have people to stay. I love making the guest room as homely and welcoming as possible, and a thoughtful touch like this really goes that extra mile to make people feel spoilt and treated when they come to see us.
Summerill and Bishop
It is impossible to pick out just one favourite thing from this incredible store, however for quite some time now, I have had my eye on this beauty! How stunning would this fresh mint green (a firm Jo D favourite colour!) linen table cloth look on the table for any occasion, even before you put flowers, chinaware or glassware down?
The Edition 94
Candle light at any time of the day or year can make such a big impact to a room, table and atmosphere. We absolutely love these stunningly bright Swirl candles from Edit 94, I cannot wait to get back into this shop asap!
Lakeland
For anyone with a crafty eye, why not have a go with some Easter baking in the holidays. I cannot wait to get into these super cute bunny biscuit cutters with the children when school breaks up. We love a bake sesh in this house and they look like a really fun way of injecting some extra Easter vibes into the sweet treats that will be filling our kitchen in a few weeks!
Paper Dreams
These stunning eco friendly paper decorations have just arrived this morning, ready to decorate our kitchen with this Easter. They are fully reusable, they look so fun and bright and can be recycled if you were ever crazy enough to throw them out! I absolutely love this company and althought their products are quite pricey, the fact they are reusable and can lend themselves to any occasion is so worth investing in to enjoy time and time again!
Cox and Cox
This hanging bell tent is the stuff of dreams. Homemade lemonade in hand, swinging in and out of the summer sun, what is not to love and dream over? SWOON!
