I'm not much of a homemaker. Just ask my daughter. I have a history of cardboard tasting Christmas cookies, burnt buns and the like, but every now and then, I try, hoping beyond hope, to gain a bit of homemaker recognition to redeem myself. After all, I'm a Mom and a Nana. I should be able to do it if other women do it. For goodness sake, it can't be more difficult than a departmental IT budget.

Well, it is and it isn't as I learned preparing for this weekend to celebrate Easter, or from my perspective, the beginning of spring a time of rebirth and renewal, telling of the cycles of the seasons, emerging out of pagan goddess rituals (read more...roots of Christian Easter). John's family, including our 4 1/2 year old granddaughter, Miss Bridget, came our city apartment for a pre-Easter dinner the past Saturday afternoon.

Now, John and I are very experienced at entertaining; in fact, we have a decent reputation for hosting (how can anyone forget the Food Truck party, the first Boat Christening Party complete with leis and water guns, or the Welcome to Autumn celebration). However, the goal this time is to thrill Miss Bridget, not adults, so I was faced with a creativity challenge. I wanted to go beyond the cellophane and ribbon wrapped Easter basket with its yellow marshmallow peeps, Jelly-Belly jelly beans, cards and plastic eggs filled with presents and money.

I took a deep Internet dive into "Martha Stewart" land and emerged with my dignity intact and several Objet D'arts that would capture Miss Bridget's interest. The first was not as easy I thought -- turning hard boiled eggs into cute peeps. Although mine looked related to the one in the picture, several looked more drunken than deviled since their eyeballs were large, not small capers, and the egg yolk filling was a bit loose. (Think Mafia hoods with yellow faces). However, they were declared a success as Miss Bridget immediately ate one upon arrival. How long did it take to create a dozen? You don't want to know. I'm just glad I'm retired.

The second Objet D'art had to be a no-mess construction because Miss Bridget was going to be a major participant while wearing her brand new fancy Easter dress. Pop-Pop (John) donated the required silk ties. I delivered 14 hard boiled eggs, basic white cotton cloth, twist ties and an enameled pot of almost boiling water laced with white vinegar. We took pieces of silk from the ties, wrapped right side into the egg, surrounded the silk with a cloth square, secured it all with a twist tie and then let them simmer in the water for 20 minutes. We let them cool during dinner and then unwrapped them before dessert to a dinner table full of ooo's and aaaaww's. The silk patterns had soaked onto the eggs creating intricate designs. Miss Bridget marched around the table with each egg so each of us could see the handiwork close-up. She took them home to hide so Mom would have eggs to find on Sunday morning.

The last idea was my own, not particularly creative, but very functional. If you remember back to an early post, I had used large Post-Its to structure our preparation planning. I took unused paper, posted it around the dining room and gave Miss Bridget my favorite "Mr. Sketch" water based markers and free reign to draw all she wanted. And draw she did. All of the adults helped out during the day as well (who doesn't like to mark up a wall or door?). She took home a grand scheme full of colorful drawings.

Unlike many of my girl friends who have a knack for creative domesticity; I was not born with that gene. But I stepped out of my analytical box, had some fun doing new things, and earned my Martha Stewart badge!

My Martha Stewart Moment

5K Fridays

Second opinion...and delays