Easter is April 17, 2022

 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:
• Fun bookmarks. I just discovered these fun 3D bookmarks on Amazon. There is a crocodile, shark, Nessie, astronaut, dinosaur, gecko, etc.
• 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.
• DVDs. 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 the 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 leftover 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 canceled. 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 Gift Ideas

It seems the older everyone gets, the harder it is to come up with ideas! In case you need some gift ideas too, here are my gift lists:

• St. Nick's Day was 12/6, but there are a lot of stocking stuffer ideas that will work great for Christmas!
• You've Been Elf'd. Spread a little holiday cheer to your friends and neighbors. We also made and delivered cookies to our neighbors a few days before Christmas last year. They seemed to be a big hit! :)
• Life Experience Gifts. Tired of giving gifts that sit on the shelf? Try giving experience gifts!
• Gifts For Them That Help You! 
• Don't Forget Safety!
• Amazing Baking Gifts
• Don't Forget the Batteries: Tech Gifts
• My Favorite Christmas and Holiday Books
• Gifts for the Entertainer and Hostess
• Gifts of Fitness
• Remembering Others This Holiday Season
• Biking, Hiking, and Camping Gifts...Oh My!
• Woof, Meow, Bubble Bubble...Don't Forget Your Pets!
• End Of The Year Teacher Gifts. This is a list of end of the year teacher gift ideas, but many of them would work for Christmas as well.
• My Father's Day and Mother's Day posts also have some great ideas for gifts.
• Last year, we traveled the US in a RV and have made a new gift list for RVers! The links are to our other blog.
• Fun Christmas Gifts for RVers
  
• Practical Christmas Gifts for RVers
  

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

Mother's Day is May 9th, 2021

 Mother's Day is Sunday, May 9th! 

I have some gift/craft/food/fun ideas below! Just click on the links for the recipes or directions :) 

CRAFTS/GIFTS:

• 115 Mother's Day Gift Ideas
• Make a bouquet of flowers from egg cartons!
• Handprint Frame
• Easy Clay Pot Basket. This one was originally for Easter, but it works great at holding small gifts for Mom too!
• Homemade Card
• Make A Frame
• Family Photo Session (With COVID restrictions, you can use a tripod for your camera or phone or use a timer feature, and still be able to get a great family photo!)
  
• Easy Flowers. Made from markers, water, and coffee filters!
• Paint Pottery
• Flower Magnets
• Homemade Planter. Use a soup can and decorate to make a flower planter!
• Easy Mother's Day Card. You could also lightly paint a hand and make a handprint card.
• Hand Print Wreath. We made this for the fall, but change the colors to pinks, purples, or Mom's favorite colors and it works great for Mother's Day. You could also change it to a bouquet of hand print flowers by attaching to dowel rods or skewers (hot glue, tape, etc. on the back of the paper/foam sheet hand print cut-outs).
• Recycle a can into a cute planter!
• Lowe's offers free kids workshops, with themed gifts around Mother's and Father's Day. This year's event (a planter) is on May 8th and 9th. Due to COVID, it looks like the kits will be pick-up, not an in-store event.
  
• JoAnn Fabric & Crafts and Home Depot often have kids crafts/workshop events as well.
  

FOOD:

• Super Easy & Delicious Caramels
• Egg Casserole. Breakfast in bed, anyone?
• Make a Cake
• Fondue. Although this was a Christmas post, there are recipes posted, which work for any occasion!
• Fruity Flowers. All you need is yogurt and berries to make a refreshing flower themed snack!
• Flower Cookie Cupcakes
• Dessert Pizza 

FUN: (To Print: Right click on image, Save As/Save to Computer, Print.)

• Word Find, The Many Jobs of Mom
• Word Find, Mother's Day
• Word Scramble
• Crossword Puzzle

FREEBIES*:

• Shutterfly: Free card with code CARD4U.
• Barnes & Noble: It looks like several Barnes & Noble stores are having events from Friday to Sunday. Please double check with your local store for up to date event details.
• Zoo: There are a lot of zoos across the country offering free admission for moms on Mother's Day. Please call/check your local zoo's website or google before going.
• Bass Pro Shops: Free 4x6 picture for Mother's Day during select times on 5/12 and 5/13. Cabela's is also supposed to offer a free picture. 
• TCBY: Free FROYO on Sunday 5/12. 
• Abuelo's: They are giving away free gift (I believe with purchase of a meal).  
• Wienerschnitzel: Free chili dog, small fry, small soda for mom on 5/12. 
• First Watch: I don't see a new blog post on their website, but for the last several years they have offered a freebie for Mother's Day (last year it was a box of chocolates). You may want to check with your local store to see if they are offering it again this year.

*Always check with your local store to make sure they are participating before you go!

If you know of any other freebies, please feel free to share in Comments!

St. Nick's Day is 12/6!

I know we are just about to celebrate Thanksgiving, but St. Nick's Day is right around the corner on Sunday 12/6! If you are Christmas shopping next weekend, you may want to keep an eye out for little stocking stuffers. I have some stocking stuffer ideas and a little history on St. Nick's Day below.

I used to love St. Nick's Day when I was a kid. I remember waking on December 6th, eager to see what my stocking of goodies contained. When I was a little older, I learned that not everyone celebrates St. Nick's Day. In the US, it seems like it is more in the German and Dutch ancestry communities. I grew up in a city with strong German roots and St. Nick's Day was always celebrated. My mom had never heard of the holiday until she came here for college. She thought it was very odd that they told her to put her shoe outside her door!

Who Was St. Nick?
St. Nicholas (St. Nick) was the model for the jolly man himself (Santa Claus). St. Nicholas was from a wealthy family and would secretly give out gifts to people. The story I remember hearing was about a father who had three daughters. He was poor and could not afford dowries for the girls, which the needed in order to get married. Without the dowries, their futures looked bleak. Nicholas threw a bag of gold coins for each daughter into the house through a window at night. (There are different stories with different times frames: 1 night, 3 nights, 3 years.)


How To Celebrate:
Growing up, we each had our own stocking that we put out in front of our bedroom door the night before St. Nick's Day. My husband's tradition was to put his Christmas List in his stocking for Santa to pick up. However, other families put out shoes instead of stockings.

The night of December 5th, place a stocking or shoe outside the children's door(s) and fill it with goodies. You could also hang or place them on the fireplace. In the morning (on December 6th), open the stockings!

Stocking Stuffer Ideas:

• "Gold" $1 coins in honor of the bags of gold coins St. Nicholas gave. (You can ask for them at the bank.)
• Candy. My favorite is Candy Cane Tootsie Pops. The boys like getting the soda flavored jelly beans that come in a small soda bottle. (Target or Amazon carry them.)
• Small games or deck of cards.
• Books or comic books.
• Small coloring books, crayons, colored pencils, markers, fun shaped pens, etc. The coloring book link is to Amazon, but Target and Michael's often have these Grab & Go packs for $1.
• Barrettes, headbands.
• Grab and Go games. These fit into stockings and are great for car rides or while sitting in restaurants. Some of our favorites are Clue, Connect Four, Trouble, Battleship, and Guess Who.
• Special ornament. We get each kid their own ornament every year. It has their name and the year on it. (Even if I just write it on with a Sharpie.) We try to make it special for that year. (An apple/desk/pencil if they started school, a horse for their first horse ride, an ornament from vacation, a train if they took a train ride, ballet slippers or musical instrument for first show/concert.)
• For older kids: gift cards to Amazon, iTunes, movie theater, laser tag, their favorite store. Or a new phone case, ear buds for phone/computer/iPod.
• Hot chocolate mix.
• Small stuffed animals.
• Lego's. There are so many kinds! (Ninjago, a box of Lego's, Nexo Knights, Minecraft, Friends, and now even Mario). Lego also has Ornaments. Kids build the Lego figure and place them inside a clear round ornament to hang on the tree. The boys loved them. The mini-figure packs are also great stocking stuffer. (Lego has these in stores or online. Amazon, Target, Wal-Mart, and sometimes even the grocery store will carry these.)
• Small toys. (Hexbugs, small Nerf guns, Matchbox or Hot Wheels)
• Art supplies. (sketch pads, pencils, pens, paints, crayons, stickers...)
• Pez Dispensers. I loved getting each year as a kid. I used to have a small collection of them, but they got misplaced during moving. They come in a lot of varieties! (Christmas, 12 Days of Christmas, Star Wars, Avengers, Scooby Doo, Princess, Presidents...)
• Toothbrush.
• Flashlight.
• Temporary tattoos.
• Chapstick or lip gloss.
• Small fruit (clementines, apples).
• Compass. 
• Gum.
• Elf On The Shelf. Our Elf, Eugene, originally came to us on St. Nick's Day.
• New video game or DVD. The boys sometimes get a joint St. Nick gift of a game or DVD.
• Advent Calendar.
• For Kids: Even though they may get it a few days late, they'll still enjoy it! There are the traditional chocolate calendars, which I have seen at Target/grocery stores/craft stores this year. There are also a lot of non-food types available! [Lego City, Lego Star Wars, Lego Friends, Lego Harry Potter, PlayMobil, Play-Doh, Minions, Hatchimals, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hot Wheels, Disney (Tsum Tsum, Olaf/Frozen), Paw Patrol, Crayola, VTech, L.O.L. Surprise, military men toys/figures, charm bracelet, brain teasers/puzzles, and even a bead craft option.] There are also simple countdown versions and fill your own verison (decorative wooden, hanging bags/satchels--I think these could be easily made/customized as a DYI project too!). NOTE: I have had a hard time find the Lego calendar when it gets closer to December. Sometimes I would find it, but it was through a 3rd party seller and they had raised the price by at least $10. Check online and in stores early to make sure you get the one you want and for the regular price.
• For Adults: There are a lot of adult themed Advent Calendars too! Master of Malt offers many different alcoholic calendars (especially whiskey and scotch). There are adult chocolate advent calendars (nicer chocolates). Costco this year also has both a beer and wine advent calendars. I even saw some with socks for every day! 
• For Pets:
• Dogs: 
• New Toy (Honky Hedgehog, bone, ball)
• Whimzees These are the teeth cleaning treats I buy for J. She loves them, and I like the ingredients a lot better than some of the other dental products out there. Plus, they come in some cute shapes!
• Bully Sticks
• Booties for their feet These are the only booties J will wear. They are thin enough she can still feel the ground, but still protect her feet from ice and snow.
• Homemade Peanut Butter Pumpkin Biscuits (click link for recipe)
• Cats: 
• Toy

LINKS:
St. Nicholas (Wikipedia)
http://www.stnicksday.com/



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

It's Time for Hearts! (Valentine's Day)

It's hard to believe January is just about over and February is almost here. Valentine's Day is coming soon!  

I don't get any requests for homemade Valentines now that the kids are getting older. However, they still enjoy the Valentine's Day treats I make them. Normally, they get a small gift and some candy. I usually make a treat for the holiday as well (themed cookies, candies, pudding...) If you want any ideas, I have a list of Valentines, Food, Crafts, Gift, and Activity ideas below. If I come up with any new ones, I'll update the list!

HOMEMADE VALENTINE'S:

• Minecraft Valentine's Day Boxes 
• Heart Crayon Valentines
• Candied Popcorn Bags, "I'm popping with happiness that you're my Valentine". One year I attached a Valentine themed bag full of candied popcorn to a store bought Valentine.
• Use potato stamps to make a hearts on a homemade card. (Use a small heart cookie cutter to cut out the shape.)
• Play-Doh Heart ornaments/necklaces
• Make Heart Shaped Chalk
• Hot Air Balloon: it could even have a picture of your child in the basket. "Your friendship lifts me up."
• Butterfly Pencil
• Bubbles with a Valentine's Day themed note like "Your friendship makes me bubbly".
• S'more Kit (marshmallow, graham cracker squares, piece of chocolate), "Your friendship makes me feel mushy inside".
• Goldfish or gummy fish in a fishbowl shaped baggie with a "school" type of message. The pre-made bags can be hard to find and making the bags can be a little time consuming (click for directions). If you use a regular bag, you can cut a bowl shape piece of paper, write the message and place behind the fish.
• Other non-candy ideas: clementines, cars, glow sticks/bracelets/necklaces ("Your friendship brightens my day"). The dollar store or dollar bins at Target or Michael's are great to find little treasures in.
• Hanging Stained Glass Card with "stained glass" made from wax paper and crayons.
• Easy Stained Glass Heart with contact paper and tissue paper.
• "I know I'll go far/succeed with you as my friend" type of message with a goodie bag of school gear: pencils, erasers, goldfish bag, ruler, markers, stickers, etc. The dollar store or dollar bins at Target or Michael's are great to find themed pencils and erasers.

CRAFTS:

• Love Monsters and Bugs
• Heart Magnet and Bookmark Crafts
• Footprint Hearts (great for little kids)
• Stained Glass Valentine
• Play-Doh Hearts
• Valentine's Day Coloring Page
• Heart Bird Feeder
• Bouquet of egg carton flowers.  Works as a craft, decorations, and could also be a Valentine (write on the petals or leaves, use single flowers or make a bouquet...).

ACTIVITIES:

• Valentine's Day BINGO
• The Sky Is Falling, using heart shapes.
• Valentine's Day Word Find
• Heart Shaped Valentine's Day Word Find
• Valentine's Day Memory Game

FOOD:

• Hidden Surprise Poundcake. I made this for St. Patrick's Day, but if you substitute a heart for the clover, it would be great for Valentine's Day!
• Valentine's Day Cake Pops
• Valentine's Day Parfaits
• Easy Valentine's Day Lunch
• Candied Popcorn. Place in little Valentine's Day themed bags and they make a great Valentine's Day treat!
• Heart Peanut Butter Cookies
• Pie Jars
• Layered Jello
• Ice Cream Sandwiches, rolled in red/pink/purple, heart sprinkles
• Fondue
• Valentine's Day Candy

GIFTS: *

• Valentine's Day Gifts For Kids
• Unique Valentine's Day Gifts
• Last Minute Valentine's Day Gifts
• I even saw an ad for beef jerky flowers and a 10 day preserves gift box! 

PETS:

• The boys like to help make the Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Biscuits for our greyhound. We use heart, star, and pumpkin cookie cutters to make the shapes. 
• Gift ideas for Pets
• I also saw a Valentine's Day heart shaped box of treats for dogs at Target ($9).  

What are some of your favorite homemade Valentines and treats?

*If you buy an item on Amazon 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.