Who doesn’t love the optimism of Spring? 🌷🌼The first sight of daffodils, longer evenings and Easter is on my mind. Growing up abroad, it was always a time of year when we would travel back to Scotland and reunite with family.

Every year we spent the Easter holidays at “The Log Cabins” beside a Scottish Loch with my maternal grandparents aunts, uncles and cousins (each part of the family with their own little cabin in the woods). I delighted in it all - popping into each others' cabins for evening board games, skimming stones, picnics but especially the fun activities that the grown ups would organise.

Our Uncles would hide eggs in the woods for us to hunt, we decorated eggs, had races and competitions. The cabins were eventually decommissioned but I’ve carried my love of Easter forever. Here are some of my favourite gifts, recipes, tablescapes, games and ideas for hosting a beautiful Easter weekend this year.

Skip ahead for Gifts & Sweet Treats, Hosting: Tablescapes & Decor, Cakes & Recipes, Activities & Things to Do.

Gifts & Sweet Treats

1. An Egg Made of Cheddar Cheese by Butlers

2. Hare Mail by The Grey Octopus Shop

3. Wee Eggs by Tonys Chocolonely

4. Easter Hampers and Flowers by Mud Urban

5. The Easter Collection by Chocolate Gift Co

6. Happy Easter Gift Box by Lush

7. Easter Marshmallow Toasting Kit by The Naked Marshmallow Co.

8. Easter Åggs by Gava Gifting (to fill with whatever you wish)

9. Espresso Martini Chicktail Kit by The Cocktail Man

10. Neon Dip Dye Easter Egg Candles

11. Retro Easter Bunny Personalised Milk Mug by Hendog Designs

12. Sunny Side Up Eggs by Hotel Chocolat

Hosting: Decor & Tablescapes

When creating an easter table, you can’t go wrong with natural textures, bright fresh flowers and mucho gingham! Here are some sweet finds from across the internet..

1. Meri Meri Cupcake Kit

2. Cabbage Serving Bowl by Marks & Spencer

3. Bunny Garland by Meri Meri

4. Flower Plate and Glass Eggs by Arket (or these v. similar ones by H&M)

5. The Easter Posies by Bloom and Wild (use my referral code for £10 off, I will also get £10 off my next bunch - thank you!)

6. Personalised Wooden Bunnies by Little Nest Creative

7. Garden Paper Plates by Meri Meri

8. Wild Daisy Garland by Meri Meri

9. Mini White Rabbit LED Lights by Lights4Fun

10. Bunnies Serving Plate

11. Easter Egg Bouquet Branches (or these by M&S)

12. Happy Easter Banner by Ginger Ray

13. Confetti Vase by Arket (and this matching glass tea light holder by Oliver Bonas)

14. Bunny Cake Stand

15. Paper Bunny Decorations by H&M (or these sweet paper eggs)

Top Tip: I’m guilty of festooning my home with garlands at every opportunity (Valentine’s Day ♥️-Shaped Bunting, check…dangling bats for Halloween…check) so I generally try to buy decorations out of season to avoid the inevitable ramping up of prices in the weeks leading up to any seasonal event. Think Christmas in July, Easter in October…

Cakes + Recipes

Over the past few years, Anthony and I have started our own family tradition of eating a delicious chicken Biryani on Easter Sunday! The Dishoom recipe is worth every minute it takes to prepare (good things take time), and the giant dish of soft, fluffy, flavoursome rice is the perfect meal for sharing.

I’ve always wanted to try the Meringue Girls Easter Pavlova Kit, which comes with everything you need to conquer an elusive meringue centrepiece with a wow-factor. Or if you’re intimidated by all that whipping, you could order a gigantic Blondie’s Kitchen Easter Cookie..

Easter Rocky Road

Like so many good things, this colourful Easter Rocky Road was inspired by Pinterest. 

I used a basic Rocky Road Recipe from BBC Good Food, but customised it by adding mini eggs (I always include glace cherries in mine too). The Dried Flower Petals came from Pollys Petals Co and for fresh flowers I always order from Maddocks Farm Organics. It also wouldn’t be Easter without a scattering of Chenille Chicks (including the inevitable demented looking one that comes in every packet).

Easter Rabbit Carrot Cake

Can you tell this bunny picnic cake was a Lockdown project? 🐰 I used this recipe for a deliciously moist (ew) cake and went to town with the back of a fork dipped in a ramekin of green food colouring for the “grass”.

For the decoration I just played with a block of fondant icing and food colouring pens like these! I based my bunnies on the shape of jellycat soft toys, but you could really make anything - just have fun!

Some more Easter Dessert Ideas from Pinterest..

Le Easter Egg Hunt

The highlight of any childhood Easter weekend, few things beat a hunt for chocolate treasure..

1. Easter Egg Hunt Kit by Meri Meri

2. Burlap Bunny bags

3. Bunny Basket by Meri Meri (So stylish there’s a very fine line between this being a kids basket or a playful adult handbag by Anya Hindmarsh)

4. Natural Wicker Basket

5. Glow in the Dark Eggs for a night time Easter Egg Hunt ( = mega excitement)

6. Hoppy Floppy’s Happy Hunt Game (for rainy days, journeys or if you don’t have a lot of space!)

Games & Activities:

Whether you have little ones of your own, are hosting friends and family with kids (or even an Easter Brunch for grown-ups), here are some activities that work for pretty much every age..

Decorating Eggs

We’ve always taken Easter egg decorating very seriously in my house! In my memories, tables were piled high with crafty accoutrements and the family (even the adults) would set about turning pipe cleaners into arms and crepe paper into ears or hair. With a prize for the best egg, it got very competitive. Then we would roll our eggs down a hill and the one with the least damage would win!

In 2020, we had a Pandemic Zoom Easter egg family competition, so Anthony and I recreated our wedding portraits (note his lovely string beard). Possibly our proudest creations to date.

I love this Egg Decorating Kit by Ginger Ray which comes with cress seeds for growing “hair”. Acrylic Pens are mega useful for precision egg-painting (lol) and these crayola eggs are perfect for tiny hands which might not be dextrous enough for delicate oeufs.

A rowdy potato sack race or classique egg and spoon race always go down well or for something a little calmer you could plan an Easter biscuit decorating competition.

If you aren’t hosting very young children, you could also use these cookie cutters to create beautiful needle felting designs (I learned how from a gorgeous workshop from Fluff Felts at Anthropologie in Edinburgh). You could also make your own bunny tail pom poms with a basic kit and white wool.

Whatever you do friends, don’t buy a vintage easter bunny costume on the internet..

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