Did someone say Easter eggs?

Colton was probably trying to see around Mommy while she was taking this picture at their house, but he did enjoy the barely hidden eggs here at Grandma's. Figuring he had lots of candy from E. Bunny at home this morning and another good share at his other grandparents at brunch (yes, he actually does have other grandparents. Quite noble of me to share him, don't you think?), I was practical (not easy to do!) and only put one small candy in each of six plastic eggs.

He hadn't reached this one yet when he spotted the next one. Next year is really going to be fun for me for him!

The Easter Bunny had been in touch with me two weeks ago and asked if I could help out with a trip to Target. Happy to oblige, I picked out monkey themed rubber boots, a matching hat, and a watering can.

(Don't worry, my son's face doesn't always look like it does in this picture)

Here we have Junior Mr GQ meets Junior Backyard Gardener.

After he changed from his business suit to business casual look, Grandpa took him outside to test the boots.

 This is how you water flowers that haven't sprouted yet.

Hey Grandpa! Wait up!

Last year I attempted dyeing eggs with Kool Aid. Click here for those results. This year I used gel food coloring (cake and candy decorator's supplies) and really liked the shades. 

I saw so many cute dessert ideas this year but decided not to bake anything because of having candy in the house and knowing that none of us were going to want dessert after a big meal. I did make these, mainly because I had everything in the house to make them and thought they were cute.

The pretzel creations directions are here and are from The Sugar Buzz Pantry.

The bunny pops directions were found here at The Decorated Cookie.

I hope your Easter (if you celebrate) was as sweet as mine. After seeing the first pictures, you know I'm not talking about chocolate.

Click here for a card from me to all of you:  Happy Easter!

Have you done anything unusual in food prep this weekend? I did. I used Kool Aid to dye hard boiled eggs. Just last week I discovered some packets of Kool Aid that I bought so long ago, I don't remember buying them. While wondering if Kool Aid goes bad, I left them alone and by pure chance, found a blog about dyeing eggs with Kool Aid here.

The blog author was correct in stating that lemonade alone didn't color the eggs at all. I didn't doubt her, I just decided to use up all the flavors I had in the house. The egg marked TP was dyed in Tropical Punch which didn't look much different than strawberry (S). Strawberry-Kiwi (SK) was pretty, but pale in comparison as was Green Apple (GA). Berry Blue (BB) was my favorite and the differences in intensity relate to how long I left the egg in the cup. The egg labeled "Yuck!" was an experiment of all the colors I had on hand. The one to the left of it didn't fare much better.

Will I do this again? Probably not, but the fact that it didn't require boiling water or vinegar would make it a kid friendly project. The downside would be the Kool-Aid color staining little hands, clothing and the inevitable spills in the kitchen.

Some day I will tell Colton that mommies and grandmas long ago used beets and onion skins to color hard boiled eggs because that is what they had available before Paas made colored tablets and sold them every spring. Then I will show him this picture, explain I used what I had on hand, and then we'll go to the store to pick up a package of Paas.

               

An Easter card

Bill would probably call this the $200 Easter card, but he isn't here to call it anything. And it's my blog, so there!

Over the years I've acquired a lot of scrapbooking/cardmaking tools and supplies. It never fails that if I go into a scrapbooking store I find something that I really, really need. Fortunately he understands this. He isn't a gadget person, but as a mechanic by training, he understands the value of a well made and helpful tool. The only difference is that his tools have been used to make money over the years while mine have...er.....nevermind....this is getting too lengthy.

On a recent trip to Archiver's,  I bought honeycomb paper and stamps from Inky Antics.

After cutting cardstock and scoring it on my Martha Stewart scoring device so that there was a bit of spine to accommodate the bulk of the honeycomb carrot, I tested placement of the stamped rabbit image and carrot, and added them.

The carrot top was to have been stamped on green honeycomb paper, but the store was out of green the day that I shopped so I ad libbed.

I stamped a greeting and used Spellbinders Nestabilities to cut the scalloped oval. The edges were tinged with an orange stamp pad.

The edging of the green paper was cut with a Martha Stewart punch, the bunny is mounted a foam squares for a little dimension and the paper flowers are adhered with glue dots and have a dot of orange Stickles in their centers.

Now that I have one done, the next three or four that I make will go more quickly. Or at least that is the theory.

Calorie free chocolate Easter bunny

Since Colton is only one, he doesn't need a candy chocolate bunny from Grandpa and me. Whether he gets one, or part of one, is up to Mommy and Daddy.

Notice I said candy chocolate bunny? I wasn't being redundant. He IS getting a chocolate bunny from me, but it is made of chocolate brown fabric.

The fabric is Minkee, an oh-so-soft embossed knit with a nap. Hey, sounds like me almost...a knitter who naps! But I digress which is much less offensive than being redundant.

This bunny is only 8 inches from feet to head before ears. Turning the arms and stuffing the small body made of this fabric can be a bit challenging. I know this from bears that I've made and they had larger appendages. If I were to make this for an adult or an older child, I would make it in a shape that looks more like a traditional edible chocolate bunny.

Colton won't care though. He will either chew on it or ignore it completely, but that is ok because as you know....a grandchild can do anything he wants according to his grandparents. 

Welcome to Bunnyville

The pictures in yesterday's blog entry were the tip of the bunny iceberg in my house. Here is a tour of most of the Easter decor with brief descriptions. Click on any image for an enlarged view.

On my hutch sits a covered casserole that reads "Spring brings joy to every heart and home" and a pink bunny plate. Part of the plate from yesterday's post is visible in the first photo.

My table top bunny is made of artificial flowers.

A resin pair and a ceramic bunny flank a small accent lamp in the living room.

This basket of hatching chicks are on a table in the living room. The chicks used to chirp when squeezed, but they all seem to have laryngitis this year.

This piece of furniture came from my parent's home. It has always been known as "the room divider". Items on the shelves get changed with the season or whenever I get an urge. The background in this photo is distracting, but it was worse taken from the other direction.

The next shelf features these pieces that were from Avon quite a few years ago.

The next shelf has chipboard baskets that I painted and papered a few years ago. The blue one was featured yesterday. The white bunnies are quite small.

On the curio cabinet near the stairs is this basket of eggs painted by Pablo Bunny. He is a sloppier painter than I am with those paint drips all over his body, but he did a nice job on the dotted egg. Most of the eggs in the basket are inexpensive eggs covered in fine glitter. The white egg was smocked and beaded a long time ago.

Next to the Pablo Bunny is this little fairy girl painting a half dozen eggs.

More bunnies are on top of the entertainment center. The chocolate bunny looks good enough to eat and my son thought the foil wrapped bunny really was chocolate until I stopped him from trying to unwrap it! The basket and bunny on the left are Jim Shore designs. The small white one is a Snow Wonder snowman for April, dressed as an Easter bunny. The candles are battery operated candles by Candle Impressions. They have a timer and go on the same time daily. I was never impressed by fake candles until I tried this brand.

The teddy bear isn't in a rabbit costume, but he is wearing a new sweater as his Easter finery. It is intended to be a baby sweater, but the color is so springlike, I let him borrow it.

Between the living room and kitchen hangs this rabbit wall quilt.

We have two bay windows in our family room. One has bunnies (and an Easter egg print beanie baby), the other has ducks and swans. I made the bunny in the dress years ago from a pattern in a magazine. Her three babies are in her apron pockets. Her dress and apron are faded and need replacing. I'll put that on my to-do list. The duck on the left is wearing a rain hat. Her baby is attached by retractable cord. Don't we all wish we could have reeled in our kids that easily? The swan and her baby were a prize at a baby shower I attended. The duck on the right is holding an umbrella. When you squeeze her wing, she shimmies from side to side and sings "It ain't gonna rain no more"

Last but not least, this dish of unglazed pottery has three bunnies trying to climb instead. The carrots are made of clay. The dish sits on our bathroom sink. My husband looked at it and said "Please don't tell me those carrots are soap!"

The Easter Bunny is always welcome at my house. There are no little ones here now, so I'll understand if he doesn't stop by with a basket, but if you see him and he has an extra Cadbury egg, please mention my name.

Blue Bunny Monday

For this week's Blue Monday post, I thought I would feature some of my Easter decor that feature blue. For more information on Blue Monday, including how to join in or to find other Blue Monday posts, please click on the blue jay. It will take you to our host's blog, Smiling Sally.


Peter Rabbit is a ceramic music box that plays It's a Small World. Peter sat in the nursery for my sons as babies, then later moved to a living room shelf, and now spends a good part of the year in his retirement home, a.k.a. a storage cabinet.

This is my smallest rabbit. It used to reside in a wall hung curio cabinet for miniatures. Now she moves from niche to niche, probably chasing dust bunnies for sport!

These two have lived here for a long time, purchased at a gift shop no longer in business. They look ceramic because of their shiny appearance, but they are very lightweight.

One of the vendors at a craft mall does an amazing job painting wooden holiday pieces. Subtle additions like shading or the sparkle in the eyes of her critters make her work very popular.

This is a chipboard basket that I painted, papered and embellished in a class a few years ago. This is the small basket, there are two slightly larger basket behind it on this shelf in peach and purple.

There was another gift shop that I loved, especially for post-season clearance sales. This plate was reduced by 75% when I bought it years ago.

This "chocolate" bunny is on the inside of my front door. He is relatively cute as is, but it is the wording beneath him that clenched the sale at a craft show: Chocolate Bunny Escaping Easter. He always goes on the door so that he can make a quick get-away.