Bunnies, eggs adorn Easter Sunday table

Woven straw baskets, chicks and pastel candies set the scene for a springy Easter Sunday table. Here are a few last-minute creative twists and flourishes your kids can do to add even more spark to the celebration. Hop to it!

Adorable bunny napkins

Follow these folding directions carefully, and you’ll have bunnies multiplying in minutes. Make one for each place setting, or let them hippity-hop around the table.

1. Open a large, square cloth napkin or a piece of sturdy soft fabric (approximately 19-inches by 19-inches). Lay it out in front of you, wrong side up. Make a 3-inch triangular fold on each of two opposite corners.

2. Continue folding evenly on each side three to four times toward the middle of the cloth. Finally, fold one side over the other.

3. Lift it up and make a loose knot about one third down the length of the narrow folded cloth. The first long “ear” of the bunny will poke out when the knot is in place.

4. Bring the bottom of the length up toward you, and tuck in and through the knot to reveal a second ear. Adjust the ears and tighten the knot to form the bunny’s head. Loosen the lower portion a bit for the body. Set your bunny at the Easter table and add a place card. (For step-by-step photos and directions, see the “Bunny Photos” photo album in the “Photos” section of the Donna’s Day Facebook fan page.)

Easter egg place mats

Paint oval-shaped vinyl place mats to resemble decorated Easter eggs. Use permanent nontoxic paint pens in spring colors. If place mats aren’t available, find an oval-shaped roaster-pan lid for a perfect pattern for drawing oval shapes on large sheets of poster board or art paper. Cut out enough for all the place settings at the table. Decorate with Easter-themed stickers or glue on rickrack, ribbons and other odds and ends.

Easter egg place cards

For a place-card pattern, squeeze the rim of an empty tin soup can (with no sharp edges) into an oval shape. Place it rim side down on cardstock or construction paper, trace around it, and cut out the shape. Make one for each person at the table and write a name on each. Decorate with markers or watercolors and set at each place.

Donna Erickson’s award-winning series “Donna’s Day” is airing on public television nationwide. To find more of her creative family recipes and activities, visit donnasday.com and link to the new Donna’s Day Facebook fan page. Her latest book is “Donna Erickson’s Fabulous Funstuff for Families.” © 2014 Donna Erickson