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Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Easter Playgroup

Happy Easter is right!  We had a very successful Easter party today! I had asked everyone to bring a side dish for lunch as well as their child's Easter basket.

When guest first arrived, I had chalked out a path for them to follow to the backyard gate...since this was an outdoor event.


So they followed a trail of differently decorate Easter eggs that I quickly chalked out this morning!

Everyone brought some amazing foods!  I just have to highlights some here....

I made ham biscuits with a honey mustard/cream cheese sauce.


Deviled eggs that were DELICIOUS!


Carrots and hummus to appease the Easter Bunny and the healthy!


Also appeasing the healthy was fresh fruit!  Juicy!


Now for us unhealthy types, jelly bean cookies...how cute?!


These are Oreo cheesecake balls...OMG!  Addicting!


I made carrot cupcakes with green cream cheese icing and threw on a peep!



They were very cute!


I also made a signature drink...it's my thing!  We had Easter Extract Punch, which is basically ginger ale, Hawaiian Punch and raspberry and orange sherbert.  Then we had Hoppin' H20 which was water and sliced oranges.


So the spread was a hit!


For outside decor I bought some great fabric and cut to size for each table.  I also hung an array of butterflies and glittered eggs around the deck.


I already owned these greenhouses, so I filled them with Spanish Moss and birds nest, then sat them on artificial grass and added some speckled eggs.


The kids area was a slew of activities.  Chalk to color with, coloring books to pass time and fun Bunny masks to make!


Oh, and I also had these great egg lanterns but nothing to hang them from, so they fit perfectly in my kids Easter Tins...so voila!


So I wrote the agenda on a chalkboard just to keep myself on track!


We started with making these bunny masks so the kids could do the Easter Egg Hunt wearing them.  I got them from Orientaltradding.com and all the pieces are self-adhesive so we didn't have to worry with glue and they could be used immediately.


There were boy and girl masks so no one felt left out.


We did the hunt on two sides of the yard.  One side was for 1 and 2 year olds and the other side was for 3 and 4 year olds.  This way the older kids didn't monopolize all the eggs.


Lastly we ended with an egg relay race.  It was so much fun watching the kids try to keep that egg on their spoon!

It was a great party....but it's always the people that make parties great, no matter how much decorating you do!  So thanks to my peeps...and I don't mean the marshmallow ones!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

April Fools Day

So April Fools is Thursday....we should start planning now how we are going to prank our kids!  Last year I did this and it was a big success.  We called it "goofy" day and I tricked them with lots of crazy foods and a card that they couldn't open.  So here are some ideas for your "goofy" day.
So last year I dyed oranges with red food coloring, used green chips and dyed ranch dressing blue.  I also printed the Goofy cards which the kids loved.  Then, I put blush on each of our noses and the kids and I pretended that we all had the flu when guests came over...they were scared to stay, until we said "April Fools"!  That was fun!

Pranking with food is probably the most popular thing to do with young kids.  There are a lot of great ideas out there....especially from Family Fun.

Check this out....
Dye your child's milk a crazy color!  They will be shocked!


These are cookies, taffy made to look like peas and jelly.

Shocking, I know....but it's Shepherd's Pie...meatloaf on bottom and dyed mashed potatoes on top!


This looks like the real thing for sure!  It's pound cake with dyed buttercream icing!  Yum!


Again, they used pound cake, icing, jelly and malt balls.  How fun!


These are sugar cookies and jelly!


This one is a bit more complicated.  White chocolate and melted yellow m&m's.  The bacon is carmels and tootsie rolls.

Pranks!  There are too many to mention here, but plenty on the web!  Here are my favorites:
I love Goofy's printable trick card to give to kids.  They love it too!

Here are some more pranks that I got from Parenting Humor.
  • Have your kids wear their clothes backwards on this day.
  • Surprise your kids with "silly string" when they come around the corner.
  • Fill the sugar bowl with salt. Wait until your son eats his cereal!
  • Put a fake mouse on the floor.
  • Put a fake ice cube with a fake fly in it in your friend's drink.
  • Wet your hand with water, pretend to sneeze, and sprinkle the water on someone.
  • Take the ball out of the computer mouse. Wait till someone tries to use the computer!
  • On Saturday, wake up your kids and say, "Oh no, you are late for school!"
  • Pour the shampoo out of the bottle and replace it with honey!
  • Put fake bugs in your kids bed.
April Fools.com also has a lot of other ideas....especially for adults.


Fun Much Pranks had this great list of pranks for adults.  Try some out this week!

  • Get up really early and sneak into your victims bathroom and fill their hair-dryer with baby powder. And when they turn it on, their head will be pure white just like an old person!

  • Before one of your family members takes shower, remove the shower head and place a life-saver candy in it, replace the shower head with the candy now trapped in it. When the person takes a shower he or she will not notice, until they get out and start to dry off the towel will stick to them they will get back in the shower to rinse off... works like a charm.

  • Find a box about the size of a cake. Then cover it with frosting, making it look like a cake. Then put it out in the office kitchen, or wherever people leave free food. Sit back as one of your co-workers tries to cut a slice.

  • Take an empty coffee mix can and replace it with a can with coffee mix in it. Make sure coffee cans are the same brand, or it will not work. At the bottom of the can put a piece of paper that says April Fools. Make sure you help the person with making their coffee to see their reaction. 

  • This ones for all you pet owners! First, put a walky talky some wear near the area of where your pet is laying. Go into another room with the other walky talky. Then, when your brother/sister goes to pet your furry friend, say something like..."Hey Pal! Get your grimy hands off me!" They'll get a kick outta this one!!!

  • Get a small alarm clock and set it for 3:00 a.m. Sneak under the victim's bed. Once it goes off, he/she won't be able to find it will drive them nuts. 

  • Switch the "Pull" and "Push" signs on a set of doors. Watch as people get confused trying to open the doors. (Don't do this on fire escapes)

  • You will need a funnel, a coin, a couple of friends and, of course, a victim! Start playing the 'funnel game' infront of your victim. A game of skill that involves putting the funnel down the front of your pants and balancing the coin on your nose with your head tilted back. Tip your head forward to let the coin drop into the funnel. When you have the victim begging to do this put the funnel in his pants and get him to put his head back so you can balance the coin on his nose. As this is happening pour a large drink into the funnel! 

  • Stick a post-it note under your friend's mouse so that the paper leaf covers the mouse ball - the mouse will no longer work! Align so that the sticky part of the note doesn't touch the ball. Costs next to nothing to do, and doesn't cause any damage.

  • Grab a bottle of liquid soap and head toward the "victims" bedroom. Squirt some of the soap onto your hand and rub all over the doorknob of his/her room. Run away before he or she sees you in the process of doing this prank. 

  • Glue eggs to the carton and beg for eggs in the morning. When the victim gets them the eggs break! 

  • When your victims asleep sneak into their room and draw eyebrows and a moustache on their face, make sure to be their when they look in the mirror. 

  • Put some water in a cereal bowl, and place it in the freezer so that the water freezes. Offer to make your sister/brother cereal in the morning. Make sure you use that same bowl. Put their favorite cereal over the top of the ice, and serve. 

  • Take a rubber band and slip it over the lever on the spray handle so that when someone turns the sink on, it will spray him or her in the face. This is an easy way to pull a great prank! 

  • Tell your kids that you just got the test scores from the proficiency tests and then go down stairs and say to your kids your going to go and make copies and then come running / walking and make your face look like you just saw a ghost and say to your kids that whatever your principals name is just spilled coffee on the proficiency tests and the will have to take it again.

Well, I hope you are inspired to make this a very fun day for your family.  Even if you use just one idea, it will make memories that they will talk about forever!  Happy April Fool's Day!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Kid Friendly Easter Crafts

Are you looking for some fun Easter crafts to do with your kids?  If so, here are a few websites that describe a lot of different options:
This topiary is so fun and creative!  Check out more crafts from:
Anything quick and easy with bunny ears is always a plus! Check out more crafts from:

Love this hand print Easter Basket idea. Check out more crafts from:


And, if that doesn't keep them busy, you can always try coloring pages or some fun kid-friendly Easter recipes!  Have fun with your kids!

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Easter Ideas

We've all probably struggled at times with celebrating Easter...do we stick to the Biblical stories only or do we also add in the Easter bunny?  Well, if you decide to go the bunny route, here are a few ideas that will help get your party "hoppin"! :)

First of all, decorations.  There are a few essential things I like to have in my decorating: a banner of some sort, a decorative buffet or table scape, music and themed food.  Initially you  need to choose your colors.  For Easter, you should either go with a light pastel pallet, bright pastels, or pick 3 colors to stick with.

So banners.  I love this cut out bunny banner which was also used as cupcake toppers....do you notice that they cut them out of the gift bags they used?!
I also really like this egg garland.  It's very festive!

Table scape.  The right table scape is about layers.  A cotton tablecloth can be used year after year and looks more expensive than it actually is.  Just buy some material at Walmart that you think looks "Eastery" and has your color choices.

I love the trees with hanging egg ornaments.  I think they are very festive and you can usually reuse the tree for other holidays by changing the ornaments.
Centerpieces.  You can go anywhere with this one.  With Easter, you're either doing one of these themes: Bunnies, Chickens, Eggs, Flowers, Candy or Spiritual.  You can mix them as long as you stick with the same color pallet.  I also love the idea of using fresh things.  For example, fresh flowers, fresh food or candies, fresh grass, ect.  If you just grab a few spring flowers and stick them in baskets or pails, that would be good enough.  But adding in some wood or ceramic painted eggs, a few ceramic bunnies or chicken and then scatter some jelly beans, that would make it more impactful.   I also think it's very cute to add a birds nest and fill it with colorful eggs.
Love that the centerpieces are multi-functional as snack containers!
Here they used a great color pallet and added jelly beans that match.
I also couldn't resist this paper lantern made into a bunny.  How adorable is that?!
Activities.  There are a lot of great ideas out there for kids.  An Easter Egg hunt is a must!  Hide plastic eggs (filled with toys or candy) around the house or yard.  You can even turn it into a scavenger hunt if you have the time.  
If you are decorating outside, go ahead and hang some from your trees.  You could also add some beautiful nylon butterflies or birds to your outdoor decor.
You can also do an Egg Relay race with hardboiled eggs.  But my favorite is to do a craft making Bunny Masks.  They look great doing the Easter Egg Hunt in these masks.
Dying and painting eggs is always a favorite, but with younger kids can get very messy.  I would suggest purchasing Styrofoam or wood eggs and have them either color them or stick on stickers/jewels.  www.orientaltrading.com has A LOT of craft ideas for Easter.
If you're feeling brave...dye away!


Food.  Hmmmm!  Traditional, lamb is served at Easter time because spring was the only time of the year that sheep were lambs.  However, in the USA with a shortage of lambs, ham became the staple.  If you're hosting a lunch, ham biscuits would be most convenient.  
Side dishes can be anything from macaroni and cheese, quiche, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, spring vegetables, a spring salad, hot cross buns and fruit salad.  Don't forget the deviled eggs!  You mostly want to think about what is in season and what represents "spring" for your area.  For dessert, however, carrot cake is the norm...or some variety of it in cupcakes, muffins, cheesecake, ect.  However, some beautiful cupcakes would work as well, strawberry shortcake or your favorite fruit pie.

Oh, and don't forget a fun drink!  Perhaps a fruit smoothie, a pina colata (for the adults) or a chocolate drink.

Easter baskets!  The fun part! Well, I am not a big fan of the baskets.  My kids usually like to carry them around the whole day and end up sitting on them and breaking them.  I like the tin buckets or felt baskets from potterybarnkids.com best. Traditionally, I do not put that much candy in my kid's baskets.  They get so much on the hunts and events we go to, so I like to stick to more spring clothes or toys that they will be using.  A spring outfit, flip flops, bubbles, sun glasses, jewelry, a sun hat, plush bunny, books, crayons, movies, ect. are all fun gifts.

And I can't leave out favors.  Of course you just sent the kids home with eggs filled with candy or toys, but this would also be a special gift.  Icing piping bags filled with orange jelly beans look gorgeous as carrots!
If you can, set up a photo shoot for the parents to take of their children.  Hang a sheet from the clothes line, add in a big bunny and some eggs...and viola!  Unless you can convince one of your friends to come dressed as the Easter bunny, this is a good alternative.

Whatever you choose to do, have fun with it.  Do not stress...use your strengths to make it the best party for your guest and your children.  Taking shortcuts is necessary and helps make the party run smoother...so take them!  Happy Easter!

*most photos taken from www.marthastewart.com.