Easter is April 12, 2020!

This year Easter is April 12. As always,  I am trying to come up with some new non-candy ideas for the boys' baskets. It's a little harder to find cool non-food items right now with our Shelter-In-Place order from the Governor. We have several people in our family with health conditions that place them at higher risk for Corona/Covid-19. I have been trying to do mostly online shopping and avoiding the stores to limit exposure in our family. (If you are going to order online, I would suggest that you place your order early as there have been a lot of delays with supplies/shipping!)

There are a few things that they always get: a small pack of jelly beans, a couple of Reese's eggs, and a book or two. Luckily, I have been able to buy most of these online. In the past, they have received soccer gear (although not this year as the season has been postponed indefinitely), books, art supplies, etc., which can all be found online! I have some of the food/craft/Easter basket and egg hunt ideas from the past couple of years below.

I wish you and your families a safe, healthy, and enjoyable Easter (and Spring!) season. Hopefully some of these ideas will help you celebrate your Easter! 

 FOOD:

•  Bunnies, Chicks, and Sprinkles...Oh My! Easter themed cake pops.
• Last Minute Easter Ideas: cheese puff filled carrot shaped bags, jelly bean bracelets, lollipop Egg Basket.
• Veggie Trays. I have an example of an Easter veggie tray towards the bottom of the linked post.
• Rice Cereal Easter Treats: Egg and flower shaped rice cereal treats make the perfect snack or dessert for Easter!
• Bunny Bread/Veggie Tray
• Rice Cereal Treat Eggs
• Peeps S'mores
• Hidden Surprise Pound Cake: The link is for St. Patrick's Day, but if you change the shamrock to an egg or flower, it's perfect for Easter!
• BREAKFAST IDEAS:
• Egg Casserole
• Coffee Cakes
• Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
• Muffins:
• Apple Cinnamon
• Banana Chocolate Chip

 EGGS, EGG HUNTS, AND EASTER BASKETS:

• Egg dying and decorating: There are a lot of ways to decorate eggs, however we love to eat our eggs! So, I am only going to be doing ideas that leave the eggs edible.
• Eggstravaganza (dying with food coloring, natural dyes, impression eggs, tissue paper, crayons, rubber bands, stickers, Diva Eggs, and Lady Bug Eggs)
• Painted Eggs (fingerprint animals, bubble wrap, painted designs):
• Crackle Eggs 
• Space Invaders, Glitter, and Snorkle Eggs
• Drip Art Eggs: These look fun, but we haven't tried them yet. Stand a hard boiled egg upright over something that will not get ruined (like a plastic plate or bowl). Place a drop of food coloring on the top of the egg. Mist egg using a spray bottle. Add a drop of another color, mist again. Gently blow on the egg to make the colors move around.
• Monster Eggs (using glue dots, pipe cleaners, and stickers)
• Tattoo Eggs: Use temporary tattoos. Make sure egg is completely dry before following tattoo directions. 
• Ombre Eggs: Place a bottle cap (flat side down) on the bottom of a wide glass (8-10 oz.). Set egg on bottle cap. Mix the dye (1 teaspoon vinegar, 40 drops food coloring, 1/2 cup boiling water). Pour dye into glass until 1/4 of the egg is covered. Let sit 5 minutes. Add plain warm water to the cup until 1/2 the egg is covered. Let set 3 minutes. Add more water to the desired level. Wait 2 minutes. Repeat if want additional stripes. Carefully remove with tongs and let dry.

• Egg Hunts:
• Hunting for Easter Baskets. We do a scavenger hunt to find their baskets.
• Glow In The Dark Egg Hunt. 

• Basket Filler Ideas:
• New gear: soccer ball/cleats/shin guards/practice net, baseball cleats/balls/bats/bag/helmet/throw back, shoes: track/running, mouth guards, golf bag/balls/gloves/clubs, etc.
• Vouchers: Vouchers can be for anything! Examples: extra hour of TV/Game time, stay up late, get out of 1 chore, money to spend at a store/amusement park/zoo/aquarium, etc. 
• Star Wars Light Saber Popsicle Mold
• Slinky's
• Chocolate Maze
• Reese's Giant Peanut Butter Egg. Amazon sells these sometimes, but I have found them cheaper at the grocery store and Target. It was $5.49 at my local store.
• Large sized gummy treats. I found several at Target (gummy bunny 1.75 oz/$1.99), and Party City (Pizza, burger, sushi...$3.99).

• Lego's: Any fun looking set, mystery minifigure packs, Mixel's (Amazon, Lego). Lego usually has holiday themed sets as well. (2020 has an Easter Sheep.)
• New weapons/Lego figures/crates. We found BrickArms a couple of years ago and the boys love discovering new weapons and figures for their Lego collection. This year, we bought a few different packs and are mixing up the contents and putting them in several Easter Eggs.
• Jelly Beans
• Play-Doh Eggs (Amazon, grocery store)
• Art/Office Supplies: pencils, pencil sharpeners, markers, tape, etc.
• Fill eggs with coins.
• Movie tickets.
• DVD's. Half Price Books, Michael's Crafts, and Target often have cheaper movies.
• Book store gift cards.
• Hot Wheels. There are even some Hot Wheels that fit Lego figures!
• Mad Libs
• Mini nail polish, nail files, etc. 
• Books. Sometimes I use Easter themed books, sometimes just books in a series they love. My oldest is really into Uncle John's Bathroom Readers For Kids. It always surprises me when he says "Oh, I know this!", adds to our conversation, and says he learned it from his Bathroom Reader. They even have sets of paper placemats, if you are having an Easter party and need to keep the kids busy!
• Craft kits: build a robot (Higgins got the crab robot for Christmas and loved it), origami, jewelry (necklace/bracelet, grown own crystals and make jewelry...)
• Amazon gift cards. 
• Art supplies (pencils/markers/crayons, how to books [there are a lot of instruction/how to books for kids and adults from easier instruction books to how to books for older kids]).

CRAFTS: 

• Clay Pot Baskets. Super easy, cute, and works great as centerpieces.
• String Craft Easter Eggs  
• Snowflake Style Eggs
• Stained Glass Egg (directions are for a pumpkin shape, just change to an egg shape)
• Marble Egg. Lots of fun and looks neat when it's done. After paint dries, cut out an egg shape to have a cool Easter egg! You could even cut out multiple smaller eggs to form garlands, napkin rings, place settings, etc.
• Bunny basket. Easy to make bunny basket out of a paper bag.
• Egg Carton Flowers. Use the left over egg cartons and make some pretty decorations for Easter! 
• An Easter gingerbread house

ACTIVITIES:

• Word Find 
• Scavenger Hunt
• Coloring Page
• As I am writing this, many states are under a shelter in place/social distancing/physical distancing order. I do not know if communities will change how they do Easter egg hunts/events or if they will simply be cancelled. Please check with your local communities! In the past, Ikea has had a free Easter Egg hunt. Many local parks and libraries had free Easter Egg Hunts and events as well last year. (Some were even for adult egg hunts!)

Christmas Time Is Coming Soon!

Oh my gosh! Christmas is in a week and a half! It's been a little crazy around here with school and life in general.  Below are my Christmas ideas for food/drinks, crafts/activities, and gifts. The majority of this post will be from previous years, but if I get caught up and have more ideas, I will update the list.

I hope the Holiday season finds you all happy and well!

ACTIVITIES & FUN:

• Christmas BINGO
• Christmas Celebration Alternatives
• Christmas Gingerbread House
• Christmas Word Scramble
• Christmas Time Word Find
• Christmas Scavenger Hunt
• Christmas Time Fun Crossword Puzzle
• My Favorite Holiday Books
• Examining Snowflakes 
• Ice Bowling 
• Icicles 

CRAFTS: 

• Happy Holiday Cards
• Tree Card Holder
• Foam Gift Bags and Tags
• Easy Christmas Napkin Rings
• Easy Christmas Light Garland
• Easy Christmas Luminaries
• Hand Print Reindeer
• The New Advent Calendar
• Reindeer Food
• Paper Snowflakes
• Golf Ball Snowman 
• Cottonball Snowman 
• Potato Stamps 
• Toilet Paper Penguin  
• Snowman Coloring Page 

ELF: Here is the link to my elf post. I update it when I get new ideas.

GIFTS:

• Here is a link to my gift idea post.

FOOD:
    DRINKS:

• Peppermint Shake (Alcohol and non-alcohol version)
• Easy Fruit Flavored Water (It tastes great, looks pretty, and is super easy!)
• Warp Corp Breach (This may be more New Year's, but it's delicious and fun!)
• Frozen Bourbon Milk Punch. (I had this in New Orleans a couple of years ago, and it is delicious!)

    SNACKS & APPETIZERS:

• Edible Snowflakes (This is more of a fun snack to make with the kids.)
• Christmas Veggie Tray
• Hanky Pankies
• Soft Twist Pretzels (Goes great with Beer Cheese!)
• Popcorn Snowmen Cups (Or make candied popcorn with red and green candy melts or chocolate drizzled for dessert!)
• Snowman On A Stick
• Bear On A Sled (Could work for a kid dessert).

         MEAL ITEMS:

• Easy Christmas Themed Lunch for kids
• Checkered Potatoes (Sweet and regular in the same dish!)
• Fondue
• Broiled Parmesan Crusted Zucchini
• Grilled Brussels Sprouts
• Cooking A Turkey
• Popovers (Great alternative to traditional rolls.)

        BREAKFAST:

• Individual Crumb Cakes
• Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Cinnamon Roll Pancakes
• Apple Cinnamon Muffins

    DESSERTS:

• Cookie Time! (Sugar Cookie recipe)
• Christmas Swirl Cookies
• Stained Glass Cookies
• Rice Cereal Ornament Balls
• Personal Jello Fruit Cups
• Layered Jello
• Chocolate Chip Caramel Pretzel Cookies. Although not a standard Christmas cookie, these are always a big hit!
• Turtle Sugar Cookies
• Fortune Cookies
• Hidden Surprise Pound Cake. I made this for St. Patrick's Day, but substitute a tree or star and it would be great for Christmas!
• Ice Cream Sandwiches with red, white, and green sprinkles
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Cherrios Balls
• Snow Cream (More of an activity with the kids, than an actual Christmas dessert for a big group.)
• Pie Cookies (Using Christmas themed cookie cutters)
• Rainbow Cupcakes (with red, green, and white batter)
• Easy Caramels

Roasted Pumpkin (For The Dog!)

Each year at Halloween we carve our pumpkins, collect the seeds to roast, and throw out everything we have scraped and cut out of the pumpkin. I had been buying canned pumpkin to add to J's dog food (she LOVES pumpkin). After doing a little research and talking to other dog owners, I made our own pumpkin puree for her. Not only is it pretty easy to make, but she loves it and it is a healthy addition to her dog food.

It's really easy to do. Simply scrape out/trim the inside of your pumpkin. I removed the larger seeds since we roast them for us to eat. The stringy stuff and any of the meaty parts of the pumpkin are fair game. If there are a few of the small flimsy seeds, I left those in, but it's up to you. NOTE: I would only do this on a pumpkin that hasn't been carved yet and is in good shape. After it has carved, it can start to mold and could make your dog sick.

Line a large baking sheet or dish with parchment paper or aluminum foil. You want to use something that has sides since the pumpkin will release water as it bakes!

Place the pumpkin bits on the covered sheet and roast at 375 degrees F for about 30 minutes, until softened. Let cool. Place in a blender or food processor to puree. Make sure to get all the strings and any little seeds pureed.

After it is a nice mushy texture, I place it in ice cube trays and freeze. Once they are frozen, I pop them out of the trays and store in a gallon freezer bag. She gets 1 cube at dinner time. She loves them frozen in the summer, but I do sometimes heat them up in the winter.

If you are interested in reading more about the benefits of pumpkin for your dog, here are a few resources:

• AKC
• Pet MD
• Cesar's Way
• Of course, Google or your vet will be a great source of information as well!

Easy Dog Bed

We recently got a new bed and needed to get rid of both the old bed and the old foam memory topper. The 3" memory foam was still in good shape but didn't work for the kids' beds. I hated to throw it out, but couldn't think of what I could use it for. Until we had to go to the basement and our dog was not happy about it. We have an unfinished basement and sometimes need to go downstairs during tornado sirens. She used to hate going downstairs because there wasn't anywhere comfy to lay down on. I ended up using the memory foam to make at dog bed for the basement.

I had two 50x60 fleece blankets, which I had found at the store on sale for about $5. You could also simply buy pieces of fleece from a fabric store, I just had the blankets on hand. I measured a piece of the foam to fit inside the blankets, with a 3-4 inch gap all the way around. I then cut 1 inch wide, 4 inch deep slits along the edges of both blankets. I had laid the blankets on top of each other so the strips would line up together. Make sure the blankets are laying flat and smooth. Place the memory foam in the middle of the bottom blanket. Next, place and smooth the other blanket on top. Tie the tabs together all around the edges. Tada! You have a dog bed!

She is a big fan of her basement dog bed and now seems to enjoy when we hang out down there. The bed ended up pretty large. Which, of course, makes sense considering the size of the blanket but is something I might have trimmed down if I had thought it through. She loves it though.

I still had a decent sized piece left over, so I cut a piece to fit the inside of her crate. She already had a liner base and blankets, but I thought I would make a new pad for the inside of her crate with the left over foam. Once I cut a piece to fit, I wrapped it in an old twin bed sheet and put a few hand stitches in to make sure the foam would not be unwrapped and exposed. I piled her blankets back on and now she has a super comfy bed.

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Biscuits

About 7 months ago, we adopted a retired greyhound. She is an amazing dog. She fits in with our family so well. The boys love playing fetch with her and teaching her new tricks. She motivates me to take walks everyday.

I wanted to try my hand at making dog treats because, well...she's a little spoiled. I wanted to try making something fun for her and also so I control the ingredients of her treats. Some of the store bought treats had recalls, some had additives that weren't really good for her, and the grain free treats are more expensive.

Why grain free treats? Before we adopted her, I did some research on what the best diet/food was for a greyhound. While there were a lot of options, wheat/corn free seemed to be the main consensus (other than continue eating raw). Although diet restrictions aren't completely new to us (our bridge girl could only tolerate eating Iams or she had massive stomach issues), raw was not the way for us to go (for a lot of reasons). So, we decided to go with a mostly wheat/corn free diet. Although her food is grain free, she does occasionally gets treats that are made with flour.

After playing around with a few different recipes, I created a peanut butter and pumpkin dog biscuit. It is definitely one of her favorite treats. The recipe is made with brown rice flour, although I have made the recipe with half whole wheat flour and half brown rice flour. I think you could also use all whole wheat flour. They store really well in the freezer (I layer and cover in wax paper in a plastic container). As soon as she hears the freezer open, she now comes running!

Because she loved them so much, we made extra batches at Christmas and gave them out to our friends with dogs!
 

PEANUT BUTTER PUMPKIN DOG BISCUITS

www.DailyMesses.com

You will need:

• 2 1/2 cups brown rice flour
• 1 tablespoon flax seed
• 5 to 6 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (NO Xylitol, it's fatal to dogs!)
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree (not sweetened or seasoned). You can add another 1 teaspoon if the dough is too dry.

Directions:

1. Mix ingredients together. Start with 5 tablespoons water. It is a dry dough. However, if you can't get the dough to stick together, add either 1 tablespoon of water or another 1 teaspoon of pumpkin puree. I found the best way to work with the dough was to mix dry ingredients together with a fork, then add in the peanut butter, pumpkin and water. Mix with fork, then switch to mixing and pushing the dough together with your hands. It comes together better using your hands to mix/squish the dough together than just using a fork. (The top of the picture below shows what just mixing the dough with a fork looks like (crumbly), bottom of picture shows when mix/squish together with your hands.)
   
   
2. Roll out. I found it easiest to shape dough into a ball and then roll out on parchment paper.
3. Cut out shapes and place on a cookie sheet. I used all kinds of cookie cutters to make the shapes (rabbit, squirrel, dog bone, heart for Valentine's Day, pumpkin for Halloween/Thanksgiving, star and mini tree for Christmas, oval for Easter eggs, mini flowers for Spring or Easter).
4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Flip over. Bake another 5-10 minutes or until dry.
5. Cool completely. Store in an airtight container.  I like to keep a few out and then freeze the rest. She likes them frozen as well.

Optional:

• You can decorate these with carob (while it looks like chocolate, it is not toxic like chocolate is) or yogurt chips.
•  These make cute gifts! I stamped names into the treats before they baked. I also decorated a few with carob. I placed in baggies and gave them out at Christmas.

Click here for a PDF printable recipe!
NOTE: I'm trying out adding a link for the PDF to make printing easier. Please let me know if it doesn't work and I can try something else!

*If you buy an item using the links, I may receive a small commission for the referral. It does not affect your cost at all! If you want, you can read my Disclosure page for a little more information.

It's National Dog Day!

Both my husband and I grew up with dogs, and we had our own dog together for many years. She was an amazingly patient, although lazy, dog. She was great with the kids and had such a great temperament. Unfortunately, she grew older and passed away this year. So, for all you fellow dog lovers out there, give your dog an extra hug or toss them another treat, because today is National Dog Day!

You can print it or click on it to make larger. To Print: Right Click-Open image in new tab-Print or Ctrl-P. Or Right Click-Save/Save Image As/Save to Computer-Open the saved image-Print.

ANSWERS BELOW!

Woof, Meow, Bubble Bubble....Translated: "Don't Forget Your Pets!"

The gift buying season is upon us. Every year I sit down and make a list of the people I need to buy for and struggle to match that list to gift ideas. Face it, some people are harder to shop for than others. Since I'm probably not the only one with this problem, I thought I would share some of my ideas. Today's list is for the  furry and scaly creatures in our lives. Check back often throughout the month for more gift buying ideas! Good luck shopping! May the deals be plentiful, your cart overflowing, and your wallet not emptied.

Pets like getting gifts too! In fact, we usually give our dog a cardboard tube filled with treats that she works on opening/eating while the kids open their gifts.

DOG:

• Dog House (We have an inside dog, but this looks like a nice house.)
• Collar 
• Leash  This is the leash I use for J, and I love having the two handles! The normal handle is great for walks, but when I need her closer the second handle comes in handy.
• Toys: Kong, Nylabone, Stuffed Toy, ChuckIt! (For those of you, like me, who cannot throw the ball very far!)
• Dog Bed
• Treats: Whimzees, make your own
• Pawz: Disposable rubber booties. These are the only booties J will use. We get snow and ice, but she can't feel the ground well in the thicker normal style dog boots/booties. These protect her feet but she can still feel the ground. We love them.
• I saw Advent Calendars for dogs at the store! DreamBone comes filled, or Midlee offers an empty one that you can fill with your own choice of treats (which is great for dogs with dietary restrictions!).

If the kids want to help there are some ideas for gifts they can make for the dog too:
     *Chew toy. Use scrap pieces of fabric (jeans work best) and tie together in a knot at the top. Braid together and tie again at the bottom.
     *You can ask your kids for any stuffed toys they don't want anymore and are ok with being chewed up. The boys have donated a few stuffed animals to make stuffies for the dog. I bought squeakers online to sew into the toys to make our own squeaky toys. It's a lot cheaper than buying a ton of stuffies for her, when she normally destroys them within a day.
     *Treats. Fold over the ends of a cardboard tube on one side (toilet paper roll, paper towel roll, etc.). Fill with a few dog treats and fold the ends over to seal. Let the dog(s) figure out how to get the treats out while everyone is opening their presents.

CAT
Mouse Catcher
Scratching Post
Tree House
Ball Tower

FISH
Tank/Aquarium
Reef Ornament
Log
Ship: Pirate or Battleship
Fish Training/Obstacle Course


GERBIL/HAMSTER/FERRET
Running Ball
Playground