easter

Happy Easter!!!  Our celebration started on Thursday and lasted all weekend!  On Thursday I sent a fun snack to school for my daughter.  It was an egg carton filled with white plastic Easter eggs.  Inside I put Annie's graham cracker bunnies, melon shaped bunnies, baby carrots, etc.  I wrapped it up with some scrapbook paper and ribbon and a bunny note with a cotton ball tail.  She loved it!

 We went on a few egg hunts and also got EGGed twice!  Does your neighborhood have this tradition?  Someone leaves a poem on your door and hides 12 eggs in your yard.  Then you have to pick someone and do the same.  The kids each picked one friend to egg.  It really was a lot of fun!

 I hosted a jewelry party and served some carrot shaped sugar cookies, carrot cupcakes with homemade cream cheese frosting and carrot cake martinis.  Yum!

On Friday night we watched HOP and colored easter eggs.  

On Saturday we had TWO birthday parties to attend.  I brought a cheese ball shaped like a carrot.  It was very easy to throw together and came out darling!  Recipe can be found here. 

After we got home the children planted magi seeds (aka jelly beans) in some Easter grass and when they woke up they discovered lollipops had grown!  I hadn't planned on doing this again this year, but my kids asked me yesterday if I had bought any magic seeds!  They remembered that we had done it last year.  They wanted to leave some carrots out for the Easter bunny, and insisted that I get the big kind, since the Easter bunny is BIG. 

And of course this morning the children were delighted to come down to find the carrots had been eaten and had left them Easter baskets.  It has been a busy and full weekend and today we are laying low since my daughter isn't feeling good.  She is disappointed to miss out on some of the fun today, but luckily we celebrated plenty over the weekend!  Hope you all have a wonderful day today too.

that's a wrap

It's always nice to give and receive Easter flowers.  This year we are giving the ceramic egg crate filled with white pansies to someone and we are keeping the egg cup with the single white pansy.  I picked up the ceramic egg crate at Marshall's for a few dollars, but you can pretty much find them all over the place.  I have seen lots of ideas where people plant flowers in egg shells, but I decided to just plant them straight into the egg crate.  The recipient can replant the flowers outside and then use the egg crate.  This would also be a fun to give as a hostess gift too!

melon bunny pop

For a healthy snack for my son's preschool Easter party, I made some melon bunny pops.  I used cantaloupe, but you could certainly use honey dew melon or even watermelon.  I added some green ribbon to the stick to make it seem even more whimsical.  It didn't take much effort to turn fruit into a special treat for a party.  And, you can use any cookie cutter to fit your theme!

easter treats

Easter has completely snuck up on me!  We have parent conferences this week and I offered to bring a dessert for the teachers.  I decided on sugar cookies because I can make them in steps which works for my busy schedule.  I made the dough one day, baked the cookies another, and iced them today!  I left them simple with just some pink icing and added a cute cotton candy tail.  I actually love icing cookies.  I find it very soothing!  I put the icing in a squeeze bottle and it just glides right on.
I got the idea for the doughnut bunnies from Pinterest.  I decided to keep the ears plain white since it was one less step.  I brought them to an egg hunt at a friends house this past weekend. I put them on a bed of Easter grass and they were a big hit with the kids. Either of these would be perfect as party favors or snacks for an Easter party.  Are you ready for Easter this weekend?

that's a wrap

One of my dear friends celebrated her birthday last week.  She loves ice cream so I wanted to give her an ice cream sundae bar to go, but she lives far away and I wasn't sure how hot fudge sauce would travel.  So, instead, I gathered up as many ice cream things that I could find and tucked them inside a pinata!  I included some bubbles, gummy candy, sprinkles, stickers, ice cream spoons and even a gift certificate for ice cream!  I saw on a blog that you can actually sent a pinata through the mail with just a label on it, but I wanted to make sure that it got to the birthday girl in one piece so I placed it in a box and mailed it of.  She has two boys so I knew they would have fun helping their mom open her gift.  I think this is a great gift idea for all ages and occasions. 

irish flowers

 

I love fresh flowers in the house and when I saw freesia at Trader Joes this morning I couldn't resist.  I also found the perfect vessel for them, an Irish Oatmeal tin!  I hope everyone has a fun, happy and mischeveous St. Patrick's Day on Sunday. 

live colorfully

Last year the kids gave their friends some rainbow lollipops for St. Patrick's Day.  This year I saw this idea on Pinterest and loved it.  Instead of giving paint I found these rainbow crayons on sale at Target for 80 cents each!  The free printable can be found here. It was easy to put these together and I think that they came out very cute.  These would be great for a favor if you are planning on having a St. Patrick's Day party too.

that's a wrap

This was a little gift we brought to a friend this past weekend.  I just used a plain green paper bag and attached a gold paper shamrock.  I used some of the extra scrapbook paper to make the clothespin.  They are so easy to customize to match any gift.  All you need is paper or fabric, a glue stick, and a clothespin! 

decorating for st. patrick's day

Since my husband is from Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is a big deal around here.  I love decorating for all of the holiday's, but for some reason I can never find simple, elegant ones for St. Patrick's Day.  So, this year, I decided to take things into my own hands and made my own.  I added some glittery gold shamrocks to moss wreaths.

I made a bunting with some green and gingham fabric, gold paper shamrocks, twine, and tiny clothespins. 

I also set up an area for family and friends who may stop by for a Guinness or an Irish coffee to grab some tattoos, necklaces, green fortune cookies and candy.  I made some gold shamrock confetti with paper and a craft punch.

that's a wrap

If you have been following my blog for a long time than you already know that one of my favorite gifts to give and receive is always a book.  My son is turning five this June and so obviously that means that lots of his friends are turning five too.  This is my favorite book for boys turning five; "It's Hard to Be Five".  If you would like to give a little something to go with it I have a few ideas.  For the gift pictured above we included some animal hand tattoos.  On the card I included a quote from the book that says "It's hard fun to be five, so strong and so loud.  Give me five 'cause I know it. I'm here and I'm proud."  Another option is to give some new clothes to go along with this quote: "It's hard to be five I've got to keep going. My clothes can't keep up 'cause my body is growing." One last idea is to give this book with some new pajamas with a quote from the end of the book about lying in bed.  Maybe it's the teacher in me, but I always find that books are one of the best inspirations for gifts!  And, who doesn't love a new book?

sunday supper

Do you have Sunday supper in your house?  I find something so soothing about preparing a delicious meal, setting a proper table, and ending the weekend with my family at the dinner table.  I find this especially true in the winter when the days are short and too cold to be anywhere else, but inside.  We tend to light candles, put on some background music, and pour a glass of wine and really enjoy our meal. Weeknight dinners can be so rushed with homework to do, extracurricular activities to attend, and work sometimes getting in the way.  There is just something so lovely about having the time to try a new recipe or make something that may take a little more effort than a weeknight meal.  I love making soups, or a roast, but my go to recipe is a roast lemon chicken with croutons.  It's easy, delicious and a real crowd pleaser even for the under six set.