DB DIGEST APRIL: HOW TO BRING EASTER JOY INTO YOUR HOME

By Deborah Brett

DB DIGEST APRIL: HOW TO BRING EASTER JOY INTO YOUR HOME
I use a Japanese Niwaki flower frog base used in Ikibana floral arranging. Its a small spiked surface that helps keep them upright and in place. I placed my branches on the Niwaki base and placed inside my pitcher and filled with water to make the vase more stable.
Then the decorating can begin. We used iced biscuits that the girls and I decorated with royal icing and sugared baubles and hung with coloured ribbons, as well as these beautifully painted glass eggs from John Lewis. Although some years we add hand painted eggs or paper eggs that we colour in ourselves.
 
We love using our tree as a centre piece on our kitchen table but it looks fantastic on a kitchen island or in the hallway. Somewhere it can have space and make an impact.



We added different coloured ribbon to reflect the icing colours we chose. I split some wider ribbon by cutting in half and quite like the frayed worn edges it gave.



Easter is a time when my children and I love to get creative. There's so much scope for decorating your home with colour and joy. From egg painting to biscuit decorating to filling your home with spring flowers and bulbs



Making an Easter Tree
One of our favourite things to make is an Easter tree. Its super simple and can take so many forms. I love to buy spring branches from Covent Garden flower market but if you have any budding branches in your garden, cut a few choice ones off for decorating. This year we used quince and I love their bright cerise blossoms.
 


Lemon & Ginger Butter Biscuit Recipe
 
Makes around 24 biscuits
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
350g plain flour
100g self raising flour
125g sugar
125g salted butter
125g golden syrup
1 egg
zest of one lemon
juice of half a lemon
2 tsp ginger powder




How to - Using a mixer combine the sugar and butter. Add the egg and vanilla essence and beat until light and creamy. Then add the flour, lemon zest, juice and ginger. Followed by the golden syrup.

Form the mixture into a ball and roll out between two sheets of parchment or cling film and place into the fridge to cool. Then cut out the shapes, we chose egg shapes but there are so many different forms you can use. We used a chopstick to make the holes for the ribbon to thread through. Then place on a baking sheet and bake for 14-18 minutes at 170 C/350F until a pale golden colour. Leave to cool before icing.

Royal icing recipe

500g icing sugar

15g powdered egg white powder

90ml iced water

Add all the ingredients and mix on a medium speed for four minutes to create a glossy fluid icing. Then separate into different bowls and add different colouring gels.

Place into icing bags and snip the end to create a fine  opening. Once the outside of the biscuits have been iced place the icing sugar back into bowls, add more water - often just a teaspoon or two is enough to make it more fluid. We like to then place into icing bottles to then flood the inside of the biscuits. Add different sprinkles and decorations or drag a toothpick through bands of colour to create a feathering effect.

When dry, attach different coloured ribbons through the hole and hang from your blossom branches



Setting our Easter table is always a fun moment. We pile it high with bowls of sweets and decorations from Meri Meri. I'm in love with their carrot surprises and little paper bunnies.



Serviette Bunny Ears

 
Folding your serviettes into bunny ears and nestling a chocolate egg in the centre is a fun addition. Simply lay your serviette flat, fold in half to create a large triangle. Then take the tip of the triangle and fold across to meet the other side, then fold in half again so you have a long line. Fold this in half and thread through your napkin ring, nestle you egg just below.



Have a try...
Spring Bulb Centrepiece
 
And for an added spring touch to the table, I planted white and blue hyacinth bulbs in my medium flow bowls. Topped with moss and dotted with Meri Meri toadstool candles and floral cake toppers. It makes a perfect centre piece.





We are travelling through Japan over the Easter break. We were meant to originally visit in the summer Olympics of 2020 and have subsequently tried another two times to go. With Japan finally open we  have been immersing ourselves in Japanese culture. Wrong about Japan is In a memoir-cum-travelogue. Peter Carey charts this journey, inspired by his son Charley's passion for Japanese Manga and anime, and explores his own resulting re-evaluation of Japan.



Still on the theme of Japan, I've used my Niwaki kenzan flower frog for years. A gift given to me by my brother. So useful for making flower displays with a difference. Pierce different stems into the spikes and they're held perfectly in place.



I've been a fan of the French make up brand Violette_fr for some time but loved checking out their pop up at Bon Marché in Paris when I visited in March. One of my favourite products is their Baume Shine. A highlighter stick than gives skin a dewy rather than glittery complexion. Perfect for popping on cheekbones, the brow bone or the bridge of the nose. Just blend with your fingertips.



Verden's new Hortosa scent heralds spring and sunshine with the scent of Mimosa. And its worth noting Verden's free breath work app is the perfect way to unwind and re focus the mind



I've been wearing sleep glasses for a month now and can really attest to them helping me get a better night's sleep. Made to reduce blue light disturbance, you pop them on two hours before sleep and they help your body to tap into the parasympathetic nervous system, signalling its time to unwind and go to bed.



x DB

 

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