Uncommon Easter Tablescape

This is an Easter tablescape which is a whimsical welcome to spring. It would be great for a kid's party, or perhaps for a ladies' lunch.

I found these cute buckets last year (Target $1 each), and used them for fresh flowers, but this year I used them for something else. I decided that they would be perfect to accommodate some freshly baked cookies. (For directions on how to make these cookies go to my post, Cookies on a Stick).
I used some oasis that I already had and pieced it inside the buckets. I like oasis because it is easy to slice with a knife, but you can use whatever foam you might have on hand. You will be covering it, so you don't have to have brand new foam.

I covered the foam with foil:

Then I filled the buckets the rest of the way with Easter M &M's:

After I filled the buckets with the candy, I gently placed each of my cookies on a stick into the foam:

For my tablecloth, I used a white matelesse bedspread as the base and placed a small square Battenburg lace tablecloth on top of that. The crispness of the white is really a fun canvas to use as a base for the pastel colors. I placed the cookies in the center. The tiny chicks came from Pier One. I think they are adorable with their fly-away feathers. Then I chose some pastel plates from my Fiesta Ware.

The M & M's are also cute in candle holders. If you would like to use a different Easter candy, jelly beans work well for this, too. (I got this candle holder at Michael's for $1.99). Of course if it is a day party, you won't need candles, but they are still fun.

I found this colorful cording at Hancock a few years ago. I taped the ends to keep them from raveling. You can also use a product called Fray-Check, which is available at Hancock. I used this cording to tie my napkins and it added an additional touch of color.

This is the finished table:

The cookies would be great to take home as favors.