Gift Making Ideas For Children

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Children love to be creative. They can make many things from papers, cardboard boxes, and plastic bottles available at home. You may never know what a rubber band can be used for other than fastening something, but your kid might create a gun out of it.

The best way to use their creativeness is to keep them busy. You can get your children to create attractive gifts. Following are some helpful gift making ideas for children which keep them occupied for hours together:

Crafts and hobby kits:
Find a craft and hobby sets such as kid's crafts, craft templates, and arts and crafts projects for every vacation and season. These sets have easy-to-follow instruction manual in them which will help your kid in making gifts. You can also help them in making some gifts. They can create some wonderful gift items such as paper mache figurines, baskets, a Christmas tree, Easter eggs in a basket etc.

Picture frames:
Give your kids some thick white paper, some crayons or paints, some pencils and let them draw whatever they want to. During Christmas, they can draw a Christmas tree. Get that picture framed in an expensive looking frame. This will prove to be a unique gift because it has your child's imagination in it.

Colorful stones:
Let your kids gather smooth palm size stones. With the help of some colored paper and glue, kids can make cutouts of eyes, mustaches, bow, tie or anything from colored paper and glue them on to the stones. They can also stick velvet paper all over the stones to make Easter eggs.

Rock candy:
Among other easy gift making ideas, the easiest is making a delicious rock candy that can be prepared from home. For preparing rock candy, a child should have parental supervision and guidance. Dissolve sugar in water and boil it. Put the mixture in a jar and cover it with wax paper with a string, make your child add some strawberry or vanilla flavor into the concoction. As the water evaporates after one week, your rock candy will be ready. These can be given as gifts or added into a gift basket.

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Fresh Easter Gift Ideas to Herald the Arrival of Spring

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Many people love to give gifts to their loved ones at Easter. There are so many things to consider when trying to find the perfect gift for someone special. Ideas for Easter gifts are endless and can be customizable. If you are planning to make this Easter a time that your gift recipients will remember for a long time, now is the time to start thinking about what kind of gift they would like to receive and could even come in use long after the holiday is over.

Of course, everyone knows that the Easter Basket is the more traditional gift for Easter. There are so many things you can do with a basket. For children a basket full of Easter chocolates and other candy is an excellent idea. If you are giving an Easter Basket to an adult, the contents of the basket should be a little more adult orientated. You can still through some chocolates in the mix but also add things like bubble bath and body wash for the women and after-shave and shaving cream for the men. Gifts like this can last for a while.

If you are looking for a more sophisticated gift idea try looking at real or even fake floral arrangements. Flowers are greats gifts for parents or grandparents. Some flowers that represent Easter are daisies and tulips. These are the flowers that are most often associated with Easter, also associated with Easter is the Easter lily. The Easter lily also has religious meanings and is a really good gift for the grandparents. You can make your own floral arrangement, buy a premade floral arrangement or have one custom made for your recipient. You can also have a candy floral arrangement, these are more popular for Valentines Day but can also make a great Easter gift.

If you want to go with a less traditional gift basket there are many variations and endless possibilities. You can do a meat, cheese and wine basket or even a mini sausage, cheese and liquor or beer basket for your adult friends. For teenagers who have grown out of the candy and stuffed bunny stage you can create as basket around their particular interests. For example, a couple of small books, a book mark and a reading light for the book lover or a portable CD player, a couple of CDs and batteries for the music lover. You can also throw in some chocolates and a card.

Once again, ideas for Easter holiday gifts are endless. These are just a few that I personally thought were good ideas, and some less traditional options. Whatever gifts you decide to give to your family and friends they are sure to love them because of the simple fact you took the time to think about what they would like, and thought long and hard about them.

Have a lovely easter and wonderful spring.

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Of Chocolate Eggs, Bunnies, and Personalized Easter Baskets

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A way to celebrate Easter is to give away personalized Easter baskets, which could contain the traditional basket fillers, such as pascha (Easter bread), ham, egg, cheese, butter, salt, sausages, and eggs. For these traditional baskets to become unique and personal, extra effort needs to be exerted by the giver. It can be through a simple handmade card, hand-painted eggs, fine chocolate, or homemade basket fillers.

Another route to take in customized Easter baskets is to fill them up with non-traditional (or non-Christian) things, like gourmet chocolate presents, cookies, blankets, a sweater, and even bunnies. Whatever you can fit into the basket, as long as it's a heartfelt gift, then don't hesitate to pile it in.

To Buy or To Make

Custom Easter baskets can be store-bought or hand made - that is to say, everything in it you've made especially for the person for whom it is intended. After all, the only reason it is called 'personalized' is because it was tailored to fit the personality of the recipient. There are many stores both online and off that specialize in making personalized Easter baskets, and most of the online stores will have the baskets delivered to your doorstep, or your recipient's. 

If unsure of whether or not to buy it or make it, do a little research first. Sometimes it might seem like a good idea at first to just make it, but then late in the day you will realize that it's much harder work than it looked. If you're not careful, it can be a lot more expensive, too. The upside of giving store-made one-of-a-kind Easter baskets is that you already know what the cost is, and most stores have different price ranges to choose from. Not only that, they are probably much better at packaging, too.

But giving the exact same thing to everyone sort of takes out the fun in it, and making everything yourself can leave you too tired to celebrate. The answer to that is to take a hybrid approach:  start with some purchased items and add a little something extra from your kitchen or worktable.

Why Take the Made-to-Order Approach?

Giving another person a truly personalized Easter basket - or anything with a customized touch, for that matter - can make anyone feel special. It means that someone took the time and the effort to think of who he/she really is, as well as what he/she wants or needs. That is, indeed, the essence of giving.

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John Deere Farm Birthday Party Ideas

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Every little boy loves tractors! There is something about those big green machines. So, for this birthday GO Green! Invitations: Use a template of a simple tractor using green construction paper and outlining with a black marker. On a separate sheet of yellow paper, write the title "Our little Deere __ is turning __, so join us for some good old farm fun!" Plain white invitations can be made quite festive with the John Deere clip art or stickers. A picture of your child on a tractor would also be a wonderful invite and can be copied quite easily and cost effectively using a colour printer or at your local photo center.

The Venue: How about an outing? You could visit a petting zoo, a pumpkin patch, a pony riding center or a local farm. Your one step ahead if you already live on a farm! An old fashioned family bonfire is a wonderful back drop for this kind of event. No worries though, even if your a city slicker you can easily transform your home or backyard into a "farm house" worthy of a John Deere Birthday Party! Decorations: Green & Yellow of course! A wide range of John Deere licensed goods can be purchased through my website or your local party center. Throw in a barnyard feel with hay bails, saddles, scarecrows, pitch forks, cowboy hats and farm animals. Ask the kids to come in their finest denim farm clothes but provide them with a straw hat and bandanna when they arrive.

Activities: You can't have a John Deere Party without a tractor! So, if you don't have a real one for tractor rides, turn a regular old wagon into one with 2 large cardboard pieces, the tractor template, green paint and some imagination! The little ones will love their imaginary tractor rides. If your party is indoors or for some additional decoration, use a bunch of farm animal colouring sheets. Cover a full wall with butcher paper or large white paper roll. Make a farm scene by painting on some grass, a fence and blue sky. Have the kids colour the pictures and then cut and paste the pictures onto wall. Or you can even have the kids colour right onto the paper wall. The kids will have a blast decorating the life sized farm scene.

Games: Needle in a Haystack - Hide objects in a loose pile of hay. Use needles for older party guests and small toys for younger ones. Have them wear work gloves for safety. If you cannot get your hands on some hay you can use several bags of raffia or dried grass clippings. Young or Old, everyone loves a game of Horse Shoes - the younger the child, the closer the shot line. Do I Moo? - Attach an animal sticker or picture to each child's back. Each player must identify what kind of animal they are by asking "yes" or "no" questions. For example, "Can I fly?", "Am I pink?", etc. Catch a Pig - Grease up 1 pink balloon with baby oil for every player and place the whole bunch about 20 feet away from where the kids are lined up. On "GO" have them run and try to catch a pig and place it back in its pen. The pen can be any box or container. It is hilarious and not that easy! Have an area set up where you can practise your cowboy skills by roping some cattle. A simple rope works great as a lasso and a sawhorse from Dad's garage works great as an animal target. Chicken Egg Hunt - Reuse your plastic Easter Eggs by filling them with some neat toys, trinkets or candy and hiding them around the party yard or party room. Herding Cattle - Colour some black cow spots on white balloons.

Using a broom, the object is to swat 8-10 balloons from one side of the room to the other. Use a stopwatch to see who can herd the cows the fastest. Hoe Down - play some Country Music and form a square dancing line or have a line dancing lesson! Menu: A good, old, down home barbecue of hamburgers, hot dogs, chili, potato salad, watermelon and corn on the cob. Serve the snacks and salads out of mini galvanized buckets and fill a wheel barrow with ice to keep your drinks cold in. Have plenty of wooden picnic tables on hand for seating. The cake can be any shape or size but must have bright John Deere green coloured icing. Use a decopac set or simply use your childs favourite toy tractor for the center of the cake. Be sure to sit the tractor ontop of a mud or soil pile! A mud/soil pile is made by crumbling up some dark cookies. Corral the tractor and hill in with a pretzel stick fence.

Loot Bags: All kids love to dress up - a cowboy hat, a bandanna and a pair of kids work gloves would be the perfect gifts to take home with them. You can also purchase John Deere stickers, toy tractors, launchers & keychains for plastic lootbags. Plastic farm animals and candy eggs would be a great addition! All farms have gardens so why not provide each guest with a small pot and a few easy growing seeds like bean, radish or sunflower and have them "sow their seeds." They can take their plant home and watch it grow.

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Chocolate Party Ideas - 7 Ways to Sweeten Any Celebration With This Rich Candy Treat

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Who doesn't love chocolate?! The rich, sweet taste appeals to everyone from little kids to their great grandmothers.  So if you're looking for that special ingredient to add something extra to your next party, why not choose this delicious treat?  You can make it your entire party theme or just the crowning touch to your celebration.  Here are seven ways you can use chocolatey goodness to elevate your party to the next level.

1. Invitations.  Set the tone for your party by choosing invitations with a rich cocoa brown color scheme.  It's become a trendy color in the past few years, so the invitations shouldn't be difficult to find.  Add a drop of chocolate fragrance oil, scented perfume or even scratch and sniff stickers to the back of the envelope before mailing.

2. Atmosphere.  Just about any candle shop will carry candles scented with this delicous fragrance.  Scatter these small lit candles around the party to create an inviting ambiance.  Decorate with cocoa brown balloons.  You can use other balloon colors to accent the brown, such as silver, gold and red.  If you want to take it a step further, you can have napkins, plates and tablecloths in the same or coordinating color.  Using your digital camera on macro mode, take super close up photos of candy bar wrappers or the inside of a Whitman's sampler or box of truffles.  Make poster size enlargements of your pictures and display them at the party.

3. Chocolate Fountain.  This makes an elegant centerpiece and is a lot of fun.  Although a word of warning, it also very messy.  You can buy these small fountains for a reasonable price and rent larger ones.  For a cheaper alternative, consider a making a rich chocolatey fondue.  You can still dip pieces of fruit, cake, marshmallows, graham crackers and pretzels into the mixture.  But since the fondue tends to be a bit thicker in consistency than the fountain, there is also less mess potential.

4. Games.  If you're having an entire theme party, you might want to also include some games.  Hide gourmet wrapped truffles for a sort of Easter egg hunt.  You could fill a jar with M&Ms and have everyone guess how many candies it contains.   The person that comes the closest can take home the entire jar as a prize.  Play trivia by researching candy facts online.  Use wrapped confections as game pieces for bingo or other games.

5. Tasting.  You could build a whole party around this.  Invite your guests to taste and rate a variety of chocolates.  Break apart each bar and display on individual plates. Make sure you label each plate with it's name, country of origin, and anything else interesting about it.  This way, your guests can distinguish between the samples, when they mark the cards you printed for their ratings.  Don't forget to offer breadsticks and crackers to cleanse the palate between tastings.

6. Unique menu items.  Instead of just the usual devil's food cake, how about croissants filled with this rich ingredient?  Replace standard brownies with cocoa raspberry cookie bars.   You can serve white, milk or dark chocolate covered potato chips, popcorn and orange peel. Believe it or not, they actually sell bacon that has been coated in this delectable confection.  You don't have to go that far, but it certainly would be a conversation starter!

7. Chocolate favors.  Whether you have a candy theme party or a regular traditional event, you can't go wrong if you send your guests home with tasty party favors.  Personalized chocolate-bars are popular.  The candy bar wrappers are imprinted with your message and sometimes even a photo.  You can also find little mint size tins filled with these gourmet treats with the top cover displaying a personalized design customized for the occasion.  Your party favors don't have to be limited to the edible variety.  You can also give away cocoa scented candles, lip balm and bath beads.  Or how about a funny T-shirt or magnet with a quote about this dreamy confection?

So, the next time you plan a party, think about this delicious treat.  Whether you add just a little sweet touch to your celebration by giving your guests chocolate favors, or pull out all the stops and throw a big cocoa theme party, your guests will be delighted.

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3 Cute Easter Bunnies Crafts For Preschoolers

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These preschool Easter bunnies crafts light up the kids faces every time they make one of them. Celebrate Easter this year by making one of the three cute Easter bunny.

Easter Bunnies Crafts 1 - Fluffy The Easter Bunny

Materials:
A piece of hard cardboard
Pair of scissors
Pink paint
pom poms
Three chenille stems or pipe cleaners
Two Wiggly eyes
Loads of cotton balls
Glue stick
Paint Brush
HB pencil

Directions:
Draw a bunny shape using a pencil. Draw a bigger circle for the body and a smaller one on top of that for the head. Add two big ears and a round tail. Using pink paint, paint the bunny's ears pink and allow to dry. Stick cotton balls around the outer rim of the ears. Make sure you can still see the pink inner ear. Now using the glue stick, cover the rest of the rabbits body with glue. Cover the glue in cotton balls. Add a pom pom for the nose and stick on two wiggly eyes on the head. Using the pair of scissors, cut the chenille stems in half and place these on either side of the nose, as whiskers. You can add pom poms or buttons for the front of his body.

Easter Bunnies Crafts 2 - Rolly Polly Bunny

Materials:
Two clean toilet paper rolls
Any colored paint
Pair of scissors
Fibre tip Pens or markers
Two googly eyes
One ball of cotton wool
White paper
Glue Stick

Directions:
Using any color of paint you wish, paint the two toilet rolls the same. Allow time to dry. Draw and cut out two big rabbit ears on the white construction paper. Now draw an inner ear and color it in pink. Put a little glue on the front bottom part of the ears and attach to the back of the first toilet roll. The ears need to be in between the rolls before you glue the second roll to the back of the first one. Make sure the ears are facing you before you begin to draw the face onto the front toilet roll. Add two googly eyes and draw using fibre tip pens- whiskers, a mouth and a nose on the toilet roll. Now on the back toilet roll glue on the ball of cotton wool, this will be the bunnies tail.

Easter Bunnies Crafts 3 - Fluffy Rabbit Basket

Materials:
Empty plastic container such as a margarine tub
Loads of cotton wool balls
White construction paper - A4
Chenille stems or pipe cleaners
Wiggly eyes
Pair of scissors
Wood Glue
Pom pom

Directions:
Using a clean and dry plastic container, glue the outside of the container all the way round. Sick as many cotton balls on the glue so that the tub is completely covered. Weave together three chenille stems to form a handle. Glue the handle to the inside of the tub on either side. Draw big bunny ears onto the white construction paper and cut out. Glue these to the inside of the smaller side of the tub. the ears need to be next to each other. Add a pom pom for the nose and glue on the wiggly eyes, just under the ears. Use pipe cleaners or chenille stems to act as whiskers, glue these on either side of the nose. Now fill the tub with a soft material and add Easter eggs.

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Easter Chocolate: All You Need to Know About Choosing Healthy Chocolate this Easter

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You don't have to give up eating chocolate just because you want to eat healthily. But you do need to choose the right chocolate this Easter, the type that brings positive health benefits and isn't laden with disastrously unhealthy added fats and sugars.

When you're choosing chocolate Easter eggs this year, remember these facts:

Healthy chocolate What does chocolate contain, that's good for you? The cocoa bean, from which chocolate is made, contains antioxidants, as well as the minerals copper, magnesium and iron, and vitamins A, B1, B2, D and E. Research into chocolate shows that it can improve boost immunity, lower blood pressure and may even help to protect against cancer properties. Dark chocolate can lower cholesterol levels. And the chemical serotonin found in chocolate is a great natural anti-depressant.



Choosing good chocolate Sad to say, a lot of mass-produced chocolate bars do not give you all these health benefits. Why? Because they contain very little cocoa solids, and way too much sugar, fats and other additives. Also, manufacturing processes have probably robbed them of what little nutritional value they had. To get the health benefits of chocolate, choose dark varieties, containing 65 per cent or more cocoa solids. These types of chocolate taste rich, with a complex flavour - and provide you with all the health benefits of the cocoa bean.



Recognising good chocolate Look for a glossy surface, and dark colour with reddish-black undertones. The chocolate should break crisply when you snap it. Look for brands with no or low added sugar and a cocoa-solid content of 60% or more. Try to find trade brands, and also look out for organic chocolate such as Green & Blacks.



How much chocolate to eat Top quality chocolate should be savoured, so don't wolf those eggs down at a sitting. Make them last over 3-4 days. At other times of year, one or two squares of good chocolate, eaten twice or three times a week, can be part of a healthy diet, as long as you're also getting plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.

This year, at Easter, remember these chocolate facts, and buy an egg that tastes great and does your health a good turn.

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What Easter Day is All About

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This year to make a friend or family members Easter that bit more special, try sending them a free e-card. Free e-cards are quickly becoming the fast, affordable way to thank people, or congratulate them.

Easter is the conclusion of Holy Week as well as the Lent season, which is a period of forty days, excluding Sundays, symbolic of Jesus Christ's forty day fast in the desert, during which devout Christians perform deeds of spiritual cleansing and penitence.

The goddess of spring worshiped by Northern and Central Europeans prior to Christianity's introduction was named Eostre, which is believed to have stemmed the word 'east' as well as Easter. The more joyous of the two major Christian holidays, Easter marks not only the resurrection of Christ, but also the revitalization of the natural world.

Though it is the oldest Christian festival, the Church didn't set the date of its celebration, the first Sunday after the full moon following the Vernal Equinox, until 325 C.E. The significance of the Vernal Equinox has been a factor in the celebrations of many ancient cultures, from the Romans to the Egyptians, and it is on these seasonal festivals that symbolism of Easter is largely based.

As Jesus and his original followers were Jews, Easter is also inextricably linked with the celebration of Passover. For example, what is now known as the Last Supper is thought to have been a Passover Seder.

As with Christmas, Easter is a religious holiday that has become secularized over the centuries of its observance. Due to the high appeal of its customs, people around the world celebrate the holiday as a chance to gather with the people they love and enjoy the coming of spring.

Two of the most recognized Easter symbols are rabbits or hares and eggs, both of which are symbols of fertility, rebirth, and the continuity of life. Eggs are all the more significant because their consumption was originally forbidden during the Lent season.

Thus, they were reintroduced into the diets of devout Christians during the traditional Easter meal, for which occasion they were painted to express the cheer and delight identified with the holiday.

Painting eggs may have originally come from the spring festival practices of Egyptians and Persians. The custom continues to be very popular, especially in Europe, where painted eggs are given to friends, family, and kids as gifts symbolic of life, and among children as an amusing activity with which to celebrate Easter.

In the United States, the belief that the Easter bunny actually lays eggs laid the foundation
for the Easter egg hunt, in which eggs are hidden around the yard or garden for children to discover. Egg rolling contests, such as the annual one held on the White House lawn, are also customary.

As opposed to the purple garments worn by Catholic clergy throughout Lent, the Pope wears white robes as a symbol of the resurrection of Christ.

The date of Easter Sunday can vary as much as 35 days from year to year.

Millions of free e-cards are sent each year, and this year you too should try sending a few, and make someone's day that bit more special.

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Easter Kid's Crafts

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The Easter holiday is a fun one where kids get to enjoy the idea of a mythical creature bringing them hard plastic eggs filled with small treats, and marshmallow bunnies. Of course, one way to make the holiday even more exciting for these little ones, is to make Easter kid crafts with them. The following is a few fun ideas for Easter kid crafts:

Bunny sock puppets: Easter is all about the bunnies, and this Easter kid craft is the perfect way to get rid of all those mismatched socks, while still bring a smile to the face of your kids. For this craft, you need the following:

One sock for each Easter sock bunny puppet. White, black, pink, and brown socks work best, but really any old sock will work as long as it does not have holes in it.

Felt: Again you want natural looking colors, as these will be cut to make the bunny ears for your sock puppet.

Scissors.

A button for the bunny nose.

Hot glue gun and glue.

Google eyes, make them the right proportion for the size of sock you are using for the bunny sock puppet.

Felt tip markers to draw on extra facial features for the bunny.

To make this craft you are going to use felt to cut into bunny ears. You are going to want to glue eyes on, and a button as a nose, then draw on the mouth. You are going to glue the ears on, and there you have it, a fun little sock bunny puppet.

Egg decorating: Another great Easter craft is the traditional one of decorating eggs. One of the best ways to make this a craft any child can do is to avoid real eggs. Real eggs can result in big messes. So, instead of a big mess with broken yolks and the like, consider making paper eggs to decorate.

For this craft you will need some heavy card stock in white and other Easter colors. You will want to cut it into several different shapes and designs to use it to decorate the egg. You may also want to use things like gems, and glitter, ribbons, and paints. You can use any number of things to decorate your eggs. Let your little one's imagination run wild as he or she paints, glues, colors, and decorates his or her Easter eggs. You will want to let it dry completely between layers of decoration, and you will want to create a place where you can let them have fun without the worry of ruining carpet or something else.

There are all kinds of Easter crafts that can be made, you can stick with the more traditional figures of Easter, or you can branch out and create something more unique. The choice is yours, and depends entirely on your child, and what they think of as a fun Easter craft.

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Easter, a New Life Within (How my Family Celebrates Easter)

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Easter seems to have two different meanings in the mind of most people. There is the spiritual meaning of Jesus Christ rising from the dead, thus showing the world that death should not be feared if we believe in Him. Then, there is the other side that ignores the spiritual meaning and concentrates on Easter Bunnies, egg hunts and the traditional Easter ham and sweet potatoes dinner.

I would like to say that I do not know why you cannot have both meanings in your life. My opinion is that instead of being opposite, these two meanings are as one. Because of Christ and the spiritual meaning, I am free to be happy and celebrate the new life that Christ has promised. What is representative of new life more than baby chicks, eggs, rabbits and any of God’s wonderful creations? I can go to church and then come home and have an Easter egg hunt, Easter dinner with my family and wonder at the many creations of God.

In my mind, there is no way these two things can be opposite. They are all woven together like a perfect tapestry. What better way to explain to children the meaning of life, death, and afterlife than through our traditional rituals? Besides, I don’t think God is up there saying, “you should only go to church on Easter.” I like to think that He is a loving God with a sense of humor and smiling as we run around looking for Easter Eggs.

I have often wondered why this holiday has to be either or (the same for Christmas). Let us celebrate New Life through Christ with our family as we embark on this season of promise.

Easter also represents newness that can be created each day. Every day is new and if I have failed miserably one day, the next morning is a NEW DAY. We have all heard the adage; today is the first day of the rest of my life.

George Bernard Shaw, an Irish Playwright (1856-1950) said, “Life isn’t about finding yourself – life is about creating yourself.”

Tom Stoppard, a British playwright (b. 1937) wrote, “Every exit is an entry somewhere.”

Holy Bible, King James Version: Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of life. Romans 6:4

We certainly do have much to celebrate! Having said all of that, here are some of the fun things our family does at Easter:

This year our family will be celebrating in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Fortunately, all of my children and grandchildren live in Florida.

We always have a traditional dinner that includes ham and some of our other favorites. You may want to log on to Frannie’s Fine Recipes from the Heart, which is: [http://mysite.verizon.net/reso4qht/franniesfinewordsfromtheheart/id26.html] Sometimes we include the Creamy Squash Casserole, or Angel Biscuits. You can find both of these recipes on my site that I have mentioned above.

Most of the time, family members bring a favorite family side dish. For many years, we have included our famous bunny cake. Actually, it is from Baker’s Angel Flake Coconut. I found it on the Internet at: http://www.razzledazzlerecipes.com/easter/hiphop.htm (complete with a great picture).

We usually die eggs outside in the beautiful Florida sunshine. The weather is usually perfect this time of year. Everyone has to dye at least one egg – even the adults.

Besides real dyed eggs, I buy the plastic eggs and insert a prize. It can be money or a gift certificate or a promissory note to do something for another family member. Sometimes, I buy the scratch off lottery tickets for $1.00. I only buy a couple. (Lottery tickets are only for the adult hunt.) It is just a fun thing. What if someone actually won the lottery?

It is a tradition in our family, that after the children find the eggs; they then hide the eggs for the adults. By then, the children want us to hide the eggs again for them. I can’t think of a better way to participate in child’s play verses sending them out to hide and seek eggs by themselves.

Something else I started was the jelly-bean contest. Usually, you can find a large egg-shaped jar at a department store or craft shop. I will fill it with jellybeans after I count them. Everyone makes their guess (written) on the amount of jelly- beans the car contains. The winner is rewarded with the jar of jelly-beans.

We buy inexpensive prizes for the children. We make sure each child gets a prize. The prize is for finding the most eggs, the silliest egg, and the most unusual egg. Well, you get the idea. Every child needs to feel special and win!

One year, I made matching white lacy dresses for our four daughters. Each dress had a different color ribbon around the waist. I thought they looked so adorable and wrote a poem to express just that:

Easter’s Promise

Little Easter beauties

Dressed up in white.

Big delightful smiles;

Oh, what a precious sight.

Little hands waiting

To capture the Easter Eggs

And run through the

Grassy yard with racing legs.

Baskets filled with jelly beans

And a chocolate bunny

Are eaten by little girls

As the spring day promises to be sunny.

Since Easter means new life,

There’s nothing more fitting

Than seeing you created by God

A beautiful picture from where I am sitting.

Our Easter celebrations are so unusual that my daughter received a phone call from her sister-in-law in California. It seems she wants to come to Florida for Easter with her six year old daughter, Sydney. In her words, she wants Sydney to experience an old-fashioned Easter within a family setting. We will not disappoint Sydney.

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Healthy Easter Treats - Easter Bunnies Bring More Than Chocolate Eggs

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Easter baskets don't have to be full of chocolate and peeps. Here are some great ideas that will fill your Easter basket without all the extra fat and sugar.

Bubbles

What child doesn't love to blow bubbles? Grab a couple of bottles of bubbles for this year's Easter basket. The kids will have a blast with them and with a little luck it will be warm enough outside to keep them busy and running around chasing bubbles for quite some time.

Sidewalk Chalk

Another fun treat is sidewalk chalk. This is the perfect time to draw on the sidewalk with the weather warming up. Plus we get enough rain in the spring that your driveway or sidewalk won't be decorated for too long.

Homemade Playdough

Make some playdough using your favorite homemade playdough recipe (we have one at kinderinfo.com). Get a couple of small playdough toys to go along with it and let the fun begin.

Toys from the Dollar Store

You can also pick up some very inexpensive toys at the dollar store. I have found anything from Easter themed coloring books to kites in there. This is also a great place to shop for the Easter baskets themselves, as well as some plastic Easter eggs that are great for hiding small trinkets and treats.

Of course every child should have some special treats in the Easter basket as well. Along with the obligatory chocolate bunny, include some healthier treats.

Chocolate and Yogurt Covered Raisins

Both chocolate and yogurt covered raisins look like little mini Easter eggs and are a yummy treat. Fill a small cellophane bag with these sweet treats and tie a pretty bow around it.

Trail Mix with Jellybeans

Mix some low sugar cereal like chex, or cheerios with some small pretzels, peanuts, raisins, and some jellybeans for an Easter inspired Trail Mix. You don't have to feel bad about your kids filling up on this. Pour your trail mix in a small bag, or fill some large plastic Easter eggs with the mix.

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Cake Recipes - Scrumptious Easy Layer Cake

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The best thing about this cake, other than it being so easy, is that you can make it to please your taste buds! You really can choose any ingredients that you would like, but these are the ones that I have used in the past:

Cake

Pudding

Fruit

Cool Whip

Here are some other ideas of things that you may wish to choose from:

Cake: yellow, angel food, chocolate, strawberry, white

Pudding: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, lemon, pistachio

Fruit: pineapple, cherry pie filling, bananas, peaches, pears (you can use as many fruits as you would like)

Chocolate chips, cinnamon candy, coconut, walnuts (or any other kind of nuts), are also great options.

Now to "build" your new layer cake, all you need to do is, layer the ingredients into a clear glass bowl. The presentation is so beautiful because you can see all the colors & ingredients through the glass! You may want to choose ingredients & colors to match whatever holiday that you are preparing the cake for.

Start with the cake as the first layer - (break into pieces or cut into squares), add fruit, then some pudding, then cool whip. Cake - fruit - pudding - cool whip, etc - until the bowl is almost filled.
You can then top with items like: coconut, nuts, or cherries if you wish.

If you'd like to have colored coconut, just place coconut in a ziplock bag with a few drops of food coloring, and mix until desired color is reached.

An example of a nice holiday display; a large platter with the glass bowl in the center. Add green coconut "grass" around the platter. Then, add a few nicely placed Easter eggs (candy, or the real ones =) around the green grass.

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Chocolate Easter Nests Your Kids Will Love to Make

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Instead of coloring eggs this Easter how about having your kids make edible chocolate Easter nests? These nests are easy to concoct and will look and taste just like the expensive candy nests you see in the stores this time of year. Best of all, your kids can help with these. They'll have fun forming this chocolaty mixture into nests, then decorating each nest with jellybean eggs.

What you will need:

A double boiler

A medium size muffin tin

1 (14 oz.) bag sweetened flaked coconut

1 (6 oz.) bag milk chocolate baking chips

1 can chow mein noodles

1 (7 oz.) bag assorted jelly beans

1 Tbsp. solid shortening

Non-stick cooking spray

Directions:

In a double boil (or place a glass bowl over simmering water) melt the milk chocolate chips and one tablespoon of shortening. After mixture is completely melted, fold in flaked coconut and chow mein noodles. Gently mix together until thoroughly blended.

Spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Spoon enough chocolate mixture into each section of a muffin tin to flatten along the inside of each section make a basket shape. Immediately press jellybeans (gently) into nest.

When all sections of the muffin tin have been filled with a "chocolate nest," let them dry completely. While they last, display on a pretty dish covered with colorful Easter grass.

Makes approximately 24- 30 nests depending on your muffin tin.

Variation: These nests can be made with white chocolate baking chips as well. You can also add a couple of drops of either red or green food coloring to make pink or green nests from the white chocolate.

Happy Easter!

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The Risen Christ on an Easter Monday

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The Christian and Roman Catholic world commonly celebrates the day the Lord resurrected on Easter Sunday. The secular world may celebrate Easter Sunday as a day full of egg hunts, children's activities, meals with family and friends, and a visit by the Easter Bunny. While these have nothing to do with the religious observance of the day that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, it's a wonderful way to spend an afternoon in a beautiful garden filled with people that you love. This, however, isn't what Easter is all about.

What exactly happens on Easter Sunday?

Easter Sunday, as a religious celebration, is the day that Jesus rose from the dead after 3 days of death. The Catholic Church holds a special mass during Easter Sunday, and so does the Christian Church. In more traditional scenarios, merry-making and having fun between Maundy Thursday up until before Easter Sunday is not allowed, and so most celebrations (e.g. dinner with friends and family) happen on Easter Sunday itself, when the Lord has risen.

The secular world participates in Easter Sunday through various activities and shopping mall promotions. The Easter egg hunt also happens on this day, wherein children are given the chance to search for hidden eggs around a given area. Various prizes are offered during this egg hunt contest. Also as previously mentioned, the Easter Bunny makes its presence felt on this day as the harbinger of said Easter eggs.

If this is what happens on Easter Sunday, what happens then on an Easter Monday?

Just like Boxing Day, Easter Monday is a public holiday that immediately proceeds another holiday. It's a time spent visiting friends and relatives, and is a time of rest from the activities done on Easter Sunday. The Catholic Church holds a "crucession" as well as a mass that is held specifically for Easter Monday. This mass is almost identical to the previous day's service, aside from some minor changes in hymns. After the celebration of holy mass, citizens usually rest and spend time with loved ones.

Searching for more information on this UK holiday

If you'd like to know more about Easter Monday, there's a wealth of information to be found on this Internet about it. A quick search on Google reveals many tidbits that one could use to help him or her understand more about this largely Catholics celebration in the UK, and would also give some insight on some of the secular activities that are involved during this day.

While it's easy to dismiss Easter Monday as a UK holiday that does not hold much significance as the globally acknowledged Easter Sunday preceding it, it just goes to show that much worth is placed upon the Roman Catholic Holy Week in this part of the world. While other Catholic nations may have varying customs and traditions, celebrating Easter Monday and the entire Holy Week is an important religious event in the UK, and citizens are given the opportunity not only to observe the standards and practices of their religion during this time, but to give them a much needed break after it as well.

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Fun Jello Recipes For Holidays

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Whether you are planning your Christmas, thanksgiving or Easter recipes, there are all kinds of fun things you can do with jello. You might already have made jello poke cake recipes, jello cheesecake or even jello mousse recipes for special occasions but there are many more recipes you can try as well.

One of the great things about jello is its versatility. It can be used to color, flavor and add texture to dessert recipes and there are lots of different flavors you can choose from. You can also choose from jello gelatin and jello pudding.

A Few Jello Ideas

For Christmas, you might like to use a jello mold, perhaps a Santa or a Christmas tree. You can use red and green jello for a festive look to your jello mold recipe. Jello cookies are also very nice at thanksgiving and Christmas and they are also great for birthdays.

A jello poke cake is a very easy recipe to make. You can bake a cake using a cake mix and simply poke holes in it with a fork and pour jello over the top. The jello soaks into the cake, coloring it and adding flavor and you just need to let it set for a couple of hours. This is a great method of making a homemade cake recipe the easy way.

How to Make Easter Jello Eggs

This recipe makes twelve jello eggs and it is a fun recipe for kids. In fact, you can let the kids choose which flavors of jello to use for making this jello eggs recipe. You do not have to stick to the flavors suggested in the recipe. To blow out eggs, you need to make a hole in one end, poke a needle through the egg to pierce the yolk and use a thin drinking straw to blow the egg out. The hole must be big enough for this to be possible.

Afterwards you should run water into the eggshell to remove any egg traces. Finally, microwave the eggshells for fifteen seconds to dry them and strengthen them.

What you will need:

12 eggs
4 packages Knox gelatin
1 package strawberry jello
1 package blueberry jello
1 package orange jello
1 cup cold water
3 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons lemon juice

How to make them:

Add a cup of boiling water to each jello flavor and stir well until the jello powder dissolves. Dissolve the gelatin in the cold water and stir in the lemon juice. Mix a third of this mixture into each jello and boiling water mixture. Blow out the eggs by making a hole in the base and letting the raw egg run out.

Pour the liquid jello into the eggshells and store them hole side up in the egg box in the refrigerator until the jello sets. This will take a couple of hours. Take the jello eggs out of the refrigerator half an hour before serving them and peel them like hard boiled eggs.

Serve them on some green colored coconut flakes. You can make these by stirring a few drops of green food coloring into a dish of coconut flakes.

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Holiday Cake Decorating Ideas

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Good holiday cake decorating ideas don't have to involve complex creations or multi-layered cakes - you can make your cakes more interesting by simply making a few changes to the shape and adding some decorations. In this article we'll cover some popular holidays and discuss some ideas for unique cakes to impress your guests on these occasions.

Christmas Cakes

You have plenty of different angles to come from when planning a Christmas cake. You can celebrate the traditional values of Christmas with some biblical symbolism - a cake made in the shape of a cross is not difficult to pull off even if you have little baking experience. All you need to do is create a few cakes in a long, narrow pan and then cut these into pieces to arrange in a cross. Cover over the edges between each piece with icing, or fondant if you want a very smooth look. Another option would be to do a simple square or round cake and set up figurines to depict the scene of the Nativity.

You can also try other shapes like a Christmas tree, which would involve baking a triangle shape as well as a smaller rectangle for the trunk. You can get creative with the icing for this cake, with brown for the trunk, green for the tree and red and white for decorations. Using an icing bag for the decorations will help give you more precision.

Other options for the more creative baker include a Santa cake or a Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer cake. You could also try a simple cake in the shape of a gift box, with icing for the ribbon.

Halloween Cakes

Halloween is a great time of year to let your imagination run wild, and there are plenty of options ranging from old favorites like ghosts or Frankenstein through newer creations from the world of horror movies. Face cakes are all fairly simple to make, as they generally just require an oval cake and icing for the features if you want to do a basic version. If you want to get more complicated, you can bake extra parts for the nose and ears. You can get creative with icing - for example, using an icing bag to create red streaks dripping from a vampire's teeth. A skull cake is another popular Halloween choice.

Easter Cakes

Again, the cross cake could be an option for this holiday. Alternatively, you could do an Easter bunny cake with marshmallows for the eyes, nose and mouth. Another option if you're good at icing cakes would be an elaborately decorated Easter egg cake.

Fourth of July Cake

There should be a fairly obvious idea already springing to mind for this one - the American flag. This will be very simple to bake, but somewhat more challenging when it comes to icing. You will want to make use of an icing bag with a wide tip to create smooth, even stripes. The stars will be the real challenge, for which you will want a fine tip on the icing bag for extra precision.

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Dippity Do - Fun With Easter Eggs

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Easter is right around the corner and one of the great activities to participate in this and every Easter season is to color Easter eggs. Easter eggs are simple and fun to color; you just need to take note of the following tricks.

Easter eggs most often start with hard boiled eggs, so purchase a dozen or two for coloring. Gently lower them in boiling water for about 10 minutes. The eggs will cook and become hard boiled. Now just let them dry.

The easiest way to color your Easter eggs is to acquire an Easter egg coloring kit. These kits most often include dyes to paint your Easter eggs several colors, templates or stickers to adorn and design them, and an Easter egg holder to easily allow them to dry. Most kits only cost a few dollars and are very practical.

You can also prepare your own colored dye. You can blend about 1 tablespoon of food coloring with a half teaspoon of vinegar, then add about 1/2 cup to a third cup of water. Now just dip your Easter egg into the colored cup of water. The longer your egg sits in the water, usually the deeper and darker the color.

Moreover you can hand paint your Easter eggs. You can find many water color paints or other types of paints to design and decorate your eggs. Even undiluted food coloring generally works. It is important to note that you shouldn't eat any eggs that you have used paint on.

Creating or adorning your egg is fun and simple as well. Once the eggs are hard boiled, you can adhere stickers to the egg, use a brush to finely coat a creative design, or paste construction paper cut outs to your egg. Many people even dress their Easter eggs up with doll or handmade clothing made from cotton or other types of fabrics.

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