Wishing Everyone A Happy Passover!

John and I just celebrated another wonderful passover with much of his immediate and extended family. We whipped up these super simple decorations (originally found in Better Homes & Gardens) to bring some festivity to the table scape, and I thought I'd walk you through them so you can do them at home too.

(If you've been reading this blog for the past few years, first, let me say, Thank you! Then let me say that this project might feel familiar because I've blogged about it every passover. Sorry I haven't conjured up any original, new ideas, but I think they're so cute and SO EASY, they really do merit a re-blog.)



Materials Needed:

25- Little Terra Cotta Pots (ideally about 2.5" tall)
25- Little Parsley Plants (I actually bought 6 biggish plants of parsley and then split them up to keep the cost down, but either way would work)
25- Little Plastic Planter Tags or 25-popsicle sticks (which I am writing each guest's name onto...)
A surprisingly small amount of time... 
Colorful ribbon if you're feeling particularly Martha-Stewart-y

Serves 25 guests!

Instructions: 
This project is so straight forward, it almost doesn't require instructions, but just in case something isn't clear...

1.) Layout a layer of newspaper and then line up your little pots.
2.) Split the larger parsley plants into smaller portions. The idea is not to tear this plants to smithereens, but if you look at a larger plant, you can see how it is composed on smaller bunches. Break up according to the smaller bunches. Go gently. 
3.) Put individual bunches into individual pots. Press down the soil lightly around the bunch so the plant sits firmly and securely in the little pot. 
4.) If you're feeling really crafty, you could even wrap a little piece of ribbon around the top of each pot and curl the ends with a pair of scissors. Then you're really channeling Martha! 
5.) Write the names of each of your guests onto a popsicle stick and wedge it into the pot. When you're setting your table, place each little pot to the left of the water glass on your table, and you're ready to go!! 

While hunting around guiltily for new passover inspirations, I found some other terrific ideas that I want to tackle for next year's celebration... 

I totally love Martha Stewart's idea of writing each guest's name in chocolate on a piece of matzo! That's so much fun-- but let's be honest-- that's also pretty freakin' labor intensive so I think I'm going to have to save that project for a seder with fewer guests or more organization. The idea of sitting around writing 20 names in scrolly chocolate cursive while all of that cooking and craziness is whirling around me seems down-right loony. 

Leave it to Martha. She's probably got a staff of indentured servants writing festive sh-#$ in chocolate on any given day. 


No wonder she can bang out a fabulous Seder meal, do lots of chocolate writing, orchestrate glorious flower arrangements, and still have really tidy hair. 

Other new favorites include the parsley-bunch-name-tag, shown below, which looks wicked easy, bright and cheery. Consider me sold on that one. Kind of tempted to do this setting for any ol' dinner party, not gonna lie. 

And I'm liking the scallion-tied-to-a-napkin too. After a little research, I found out the origin of the scallion in the Passover tradition, and I'm diggin' the whole thing. Apparently, "During the seder song, "Deyanu," the scallions become symbols of the taskmasters' whips when we use them to lightly beat each other on the back and shoulders. Everyone collapses with laughter, but it is a potent reminder to appreciate our freedom. To incorporate this tradition into your table, tuck a trimmed scallion into each napkin and secure it with the ribbon." 

Beautiful and practical. Liking it.