If you tried to register for Alt Summit NYC, then you know the agony that I went through on Friday at 12pm EST. Servers crashing…error messages…it was nasty. And sadly, I didn’t get a spot.

But, by the grace of the design-blogger gods, I got an email yesterday that, in fact, I’m in! I just had to finish my registration and click submit. Best submit button ever.

This photo illustrates my extreme elation that I get to rub elbows with the craftiest ladies of the interweb!

{Precious bird and bunny garland from Parents.com.}

So, I didn’t grow up celebrating Easter, and every year that I worked at Parents magazine, I needed a refresher as to how Easter worked. What happens with the eggs? Do you hide the ones you decorate? Do you hard-boil them and eat them? And the bunny…what’s his role again? I swear, I have the whole Christmas-Santa-Mistletoe thing down, but Easter confounds me every year.

But, this confusion in no way reflects upon my awe of the Easter Egg. This will be the first of a few Easter craft posts, I imagine…so I’ll start with what is its own miraculous transformation—the plastic Easter egg. Scroll down and you’ll see ways to use it that have nothing to do with Easter!

These play teacups are made from half of a plastic Easter egg and a button glued to the bottom to make it stable. By Creativity in Progress.

I’m obsessed with these plastic egg maracas made by MADE.

Put an educational spin on your plastic eggs with this letter matching game from Playing House.

I believe these are a product, but how cute would this chicken egg be as a craft? Note to self. Found on Lulusoso.

{image via pinterest}

I’m not sure that there has been an invention of a craft material in my lifetime as monumental as washi tape. I can’t get enough of the stuff. I’m hard-pressed to find a tacky washi-tape project. If I see it in a store, I can’t not touch it. Should I see a doctor? Maybe. There are a gazillion awesome uses for the stuff; here are totally clever (and simple) ways to use washi tape on your walls.

Image via.

Image via Plenty of Colour.

Image via Objects & Use.

Image via Design*Sponge.

Image via.

Image via At Home In Love.

Image via Stylizimo.

Image via Studio Tout Petit.

Buy washi tape to your heart’s content here at happytape.com. And find the new giant washi tape here! I need some!

I thought I’d just finish out this week of family/photo love with a little post about creative ways to preserve keepsakes. Right now, I have 2 boxes, one for each kid, where I toss all of the little meaningful objects from their short lives…their hospital bracelets, their Welcome to the World cards, their sonogram photos. At some point I’m going to need a new solution. Here are a few thoughts…

I’m so crazy about the lovely shadow boxes pictured above. They are just the right amount of delicate, with their soft colors and simple white edging. For the life of me, I can’t figure out where they are from (if you know, leave a comment!), but I think they are pretty DIYable. Image via Pinterest.

Have you ever seen Darcy Miller‘s (from Martha Stewart Weddings) scrapbook shadow boxes? They’re amazing.

I love the idea of this sweet book keepsake box for love letters, gift tags, or photographs. Image via One Sunny Afternoon.

And for the most nostalgic (read: sappy), I can’t get enough of these clean and modern, enamel lockets. I’d love to wear a few together. (Husband, if you’re reading, bookmark this.)

I guess I’m continuing the preservation-of-memories theme of the week with this post about cool ways to display photographs on fabric. I think choosing black and white photographs is a good idea because it will make a less chaotic statement in the midst of the other décor items in your home.

This stitched embroidery hoop project that I found on Pinterest inspired me to find more lovely examples. Image above via the German website, Brigitte.de.

Marie Claire Idées is by far the best craft magazine ever. They take every theme, idea or motif to new levels. How cute would it be to make chair-back covers with your family’s black-and-white faces on them to label the chairs around your dinner table?

Pillows are a classic vehicle for the black-and-white photo transfer. I love how Martha Stewart mixed these vintage photos with lovely bright pillows.

Allergic to cats, but craving a curled-up fur ball at the foot of your bed? Snurk invented the best solution—no Zyrtec required.