Bunny Cakes

Classroom Easter Treats: Jelly Bean Carrots + Bunny Tassels

I love making little favors/goodies.  I will use any excuse and Easter is one of the best out there because it means cute little bunnies are a must.  So for B's classmates I decided to throwback to an easy favorite, jelly bean carrots.  The *Jelly Bean Carrots* are originally from Martha Stewart (how to instructions found here) and are very easy to make and are perfect for little helpers.  I made the carrots a bit smaller for the little guys & gals and added a *Bunny Tassel* to make them irresistibly cute.  

The project is relatively simple, but there are a bunch of steps.  Since I don't have a lot of dedicated free-time I tackled the project a step at a time.  First I cut out the bunny faces (the bunny face came from a pin of kikki-k's bunny gift tags).  When cutting always use the right scissors for the job--Martha Stewart Crafts precision scissors were perfect for this task.  Next, I made the fringe tassels from white tissue paper (how to video here). Then I made the carrots and then finally assembled it all together.  I used washi tape to attach the bunny face to the tassel and then ribbon to tie it all to the carrot.

The bunny tassels also make great gift toppers...this was for a recent baby shower gift and inspired the making of the bunny tassel.

Happy Easter!

-K

Easter Cookies

When it comes to Easter I always feel the need to bake sugar cookies.  It goes back to my days when I was fresh out of college and my roommate and I would spend the entire weekend making Easter cookies in a tiny NYC apartment.  Because it takes so much time, I usually take a day off work so I can have an entire day to focus on the sweet treats without the demands of the kiddies.  Last year was no exception and I got to try out my 'new' Martha by Mail Hatching Bunny giant cookie cutter (from the 90's, found on eBay).  The resulting to cookies turned out so cute that I packaged up one to take with us to an Easter Wedding event to accompany our card.

Here are some action shots....To add icing details to the little cookies I use a toothpick.  This allows me to put a tiny dot for the nose and a small line of pink for the ear details.

For the gold accents, I spray the gold paint into a container so I can collect some of the liquid paint and then use a paintbrush to apply the paint onto the cookies.

Finally, this is a favorite picture from my day of Easter cookie baking...

-K

Jadeite Bunnies

Last year right around this time my obsession with jadeite began.  For me the minty cool colors of jadeite are almost synonymous with Easter and Spring.  Therefore my modest jadeite collection has a considerable amount of bunnies.  In searching for new pieces to collect I am not a stickler for vintage and instead I go for the figural pieces.  Of course the Martha By Mail jadeite figurines are my favorite.  These were produced in the 90's and are not considered vintage.  As soon as there is a hint of Easter (i.e. once Valentine's Day is over) then I am ready to pull them out of the their display and sprinkle them around the house.  I few non-jadeite glass bunnies have also made it to my collection.

-K

Non-Fussy Easter Kiddie Table

Decorating the kiddie table at holiday times is always fun for me.  While I may have one or two elements planned ahead of time, the act of pulling it all together is usually very last minute and experimental. This year I ordered adorable bunny chair backers/treat holders from Pottery Barn Kids well ahead of time, but I had nothing else planned.  With 10 minutes till the guests arrived it somehow came together.  The bright green of the Easter grass and napkins is off-set by the neutral tones of the cups, bunny figurines and pastel Easter eggs.  A hint of pink is also picked up by some of the elements (the bunny noses on the figurines & the bunny chair backers, the ruffle of the cupcake liner under the bunny eggs and the speckled pink Easter egg nestled in the bright green grass) which adds a nice softness to the table. The Bunny Eggs decorated by the older boys and the little bunny cookies on the forks bring some whimsy to the serious neutrel tones.  Nothing is fussy and overly kiddie which is probably why I liked how it turned out so much.

-K

Our Easter Eggs Over the Years

This past week Martha put out a call for Easter eggs for her Good Egg Contest. If Martha calls, I answer.  I dug through our Easter archives and created some new goodies to enter in her contest.  Here are a few pictures of some of my 'good' Easter eggs from over the years.

*The Bunny Pack* - This is my favorite entry.  The older boys helped me draw cute bunny faces on regular white eggs with markers.  It was fun and easy to do.  I love how sweet the boys' bunnies turned out.  We placed the bunny eggs in mini-cupcake liners to complete the cutesy look.  The little pom-pom stickers are from Martha Stewart Crafts.

 

*The Egg Throne* - For the perfect dark chocolate bunny pop we created a throne out of a faux robin's egg, paper greens and a tiny ceramic pot.  The green paper leaves were made using my neighbor's new cricut explore machine (it's awesome!).

 

*The Glitterati Eggs* - Glittered eggs always look good because they add sparkle and depth.  They are also very versatile.  They are relatively easy to make it will look good year after year.  

 

*The Traditional Dip-Dyed Eggs* - These are perfect for the kids to do.  They love getting creative and experimenting with different colors.  A simple rubber band applied to the egg before dying can have interesting results.

 

*The Favorite Eggs* - Washi paper eggs are my favorite.  My grandmother taught me how to make them and I have a few that she made in my collection so they are special to me for both sentimental and asthectic reasons.  This year I paired them with my new jadeite and pink bunny egg holders.

Hope you make some good eggs this year!

-K

Our Easter

This Easter we had a nice and relaxing late brunch.  We kept our menu simple which added to the relaxing atmosphere.  For our table I reused the daffodils and just displayed some of the bright eggs the boys made.  A few more colorful touches with the salad plates and glasses rounded out our Easter table.  We also celebrated my Mom's birthday with a surprisingly delicious & lite trifle made with angel food cake, lite cool whip and rainbow sprinkles (sorry no pictures)--it was a major hit.  This was the first year little O (my nephew) was an active egg hunt participant which made it a lot more fun as he delighted in finding each egg.  I am looking forward to when all 4 boys will be out there hunting for eggs.  Here are some pictures from our Easter weekend...I always give my Mom plants for her birthday and the beautiful cupcakes were made by our neighbors.

-K

Glittered Eggs

Martha [Stewart] is the queen of many things--glitter included.  She has the best glitter selection out there.  I recommend her glitter collection packs, which give you a wide selection of colors that you can mix and match as you desire.  Also, her new florescent glitter collection offers a bunch of fun, bold colors.  This year I thought it would be fun to glitter some eggs to add some bling to old Easter favorites: daffodils and candy.  Glittering eggs is pretty easy.  To start with you can either paint or dye your eggs (I would paint them if they're fake or dye them if they're real).  Then coat with craft glue and sprinkle on a heavy coat of glitter and shake off the excess.  Plan to glitter about half your egg at a time...this way you can get a nice even coat.  Finally enjoy!  You can embellish your eggs further by adding stickers or ribbon.  If you are going to place your glittered eggs with food be sure to sit them in cupcake liners.

For the treat tower below the boys helped me make jelly bean carrot favors (idea from Martha) and then we layered in mini chocolate bunnies and carrots with our glittered eggs.  I used stickers (from Martha) and ribbon to add a little extra to the display.  The cake stands are also from Martha via her Macy's line.

My second use of the glittered eggs was to add some interest to Spring daffodils.  I first layered some sheet moss down at the base of the daffodils.  Then I nestled in the glittered eggs and some colorful glass flowers.  I attached a glass hummingbird to a skewer so he could hover amongst the blooms.  I also tied gold elastic around a few of the eggs to complement the glitter.

Happy glittering!

-K

White Chocolate Easter Bunny Pops

Last year I found a sweet chocolate bunny mold at Target.  It was cute and cheap, so I bought it.  Actually I really like the Easter merchandise at Target.  They have great stuff year after year and I am always excited to check it out.  But, I digress, back to the chocolate mold...I bought the mold but didn't have a strong inclination to actually use it until the boys asked to make something for Easter.  It seemed like a perfect task for them, all we needed to do was melt chocolate and squeeze it into the molds.  The first bunnies the boys created turned out a bit messy, but by the second one they both got the hang of it.  After the bunnies hardened we wrapped them in cello bags and tied them with ribbon.  They came out super cute, the boys were really proud of their efforts.  I put the extra bunny pops in a milk glass vase with Easter grass and some faux eggs and thought it made a lovely Easter decoration.  Hopefully we can find some time to make them again this year.

-K

Chocolate Easter Bunny Brownie Treats

If you're looking for a fun way to dress up a dessert for Easter then look no further!  Start with a cookie or brownie base (I used mini-bundt cake brownies) then top with some green frosting for grass.  Next, nestle a chocolate bunny in the grass and place two orange tic tacs in the grass next to the bunny.  That's it, you're done!  Throw some Easter grass on a platter and place your treats on top.  Your guests will love it especially the wee ones.

 

      

-K

Some Bunny - Easter Cards

I had been toying with using these bunny cards as Valentine's Day cards as I think it would be really sweet for the boys to write something nice about each of their classmates, but it never happened so I turned them into Easter cards last year.  They are the perfect accompaniment to any Easter treat: flowers (Ranunculus will soon be in season!), Easter candy or a basket full of goodies .  Just download, print, trim and deliver.  I have created two versions of the cards: download the Monsieur Some Bunny Cards or the Mademoiselle Some Bunny Cards.  Each file has 6 little cards.  Enjoy.

-K