Pink Peppermint Blogger

I’ve been waiting for Easter to roll around again to share this adorable Egg Hunt First Birthday that Lauren and family hosted for her youngest son.

Here’s the invitation I designed with a custom bunny die cut. Lauren added a tiny blue bow. She does love some detailed hand work. “Hippity Hoppity, there’s a birthday on its way.”

There are lots of sweet little details sure to make everybunny weak in the knees.

Lauren took a class and learned to make these deco mesh wreaths, to which she attached bunnies in the center. I’m impressed.

There was signage letting guests know which way to go.

The festivities were around back so guests were pointed in the right direction with this giant carrot pointer and Egg Hunt signage.

Lauren made these great yarn eggs and hung them from the trees. I love what great visual impact they had for relatively little cost. Except time, that is. I recall that they took a while to make!

Sweet white child-size tables covered in burlap and topped with these white egg trees planted in candy were set up on the back porch. Love.

I’m pretty sure this is the cutest place setting I’ve ever seen. I love the addition of flowers and mini eggs to the grass mats. And don’t get me started on the bunny napkins. I am TOTALLY stealing that.

Each guest chair had a yarn pom bunny tail—blue for the boy bunnies and pink for the girls. Swoon.

The hungry little bunnies munched on sliders, carrots in flower cups with ranch dip, cheese, mini cream puffs, Annie’s bunny cereal dry in flower muffin liners, and assortment of fresh fruit, cheese, bunny pops, and plastic eggs for the littlest bunnies were filled with puffs and yogurt melts.

Thirsty rabbits drank from these lidded cups with bunny straws.

There were sippy cups on hand for the little ones.

Adults even got in on the fun with these cottontail drink cups.

The kids all brought their baskets and took turns hunting eggs, letting the crawlers and new walkers get in on the fun too!

There was a surprise visit from the Easter Bunny! The birthday boy was a little unsure.

Then it was time for cake.

And a sweet little Easter smash cupcake for the birthday boy!

This is one of my favorite photos. Look at the delight in his face!

I love the birthday banner too, made from kraft letters affixed to egg-shaped doilies. “Hippity Hoppy Birthday!”

Inside the house, there were more sweet decorations to be found.

Complete with a play space for baby, no less.

When it was time to pack up their eggs and go home, guests each left with a keepsake egg hand-painted by a local artist who donates proceeds to a local not-for-profit.

As we’ve come to expect, Lauren did an amazing job. Her attention to detail is unparalleled, and what a special day it made for her baby boy’s first birthday!

Things have been so busy around here that I haven’t had time for my usual holiday merrymaking. I’ve always been a big fan of Easter and Springtime, probably because I’m an April baby.

While combing the seasonal aisles at Target a few weeks back, I bought one of these inexpensive bunny-shaped chocolate molds.

I rediscovered them Wednesday and decided to make some time to try them before Easter was long gone. I was so tickled with the way the first tray turned out that I made a few more sets for my daughter to share with preschool friends.

In addition to the candy mold costing less than $3, I thought it was super easy to use. I ended up going back to the store to buy three more sets of molds so I could make more than five bunnies at a time.  I also loved that the directions called for real chocolate, which I much prefer the taste of candy melts.

Here’s are list of the supplies I used:

Chocolate chips

GulfWax, optional

Squirt bottle

Lollipop sticks, 5 inches long

Lollipop cello bags and ties

Decorative ribbon

I melted one bag of chocolate chips and 1/8 of a bar of GulfWax in a double boiler, The GulfWax helped to thin the chocolate a little and also gave the finished product a bit of a glossy shine. Using a funnel, I poured the melted chocolate into a squirt bottle.  I have umpteen of them left over from Caroline’s candy house party.

I filled the molds then added the sucker sticks, covering the end of the stick with more chocolate. I gave the tray a final tap on the counter to get rid of any air bubbles and level out the chocolate. Then, I put them in the freezer to set.  I was nervous, but they popped out of the molds really easily.

Here’s another look at the finished product.

I think they turned out super adorable. We took them to the Easter party yesterday, and the kids devoured them! I started thinking about how cute it would be to play with different flavors and colors, using butterscotch, white chocolate, or maybe even peanut butter chips to create calico bunnies.

Totally adorable for a birthday party favor or as adult favors for a baby shower too.  So what are you waiting for? Get yourself to Target before they’re all gone. Just don’t go to my Target. I already cleaned them out.

I’ve been stuck in a Beatrix Potter vein this Easter season. I saw some awesome faux cabbage leaf chargers in a catalog, and it got me thinking how cute it would be to use real carrots, cabbage, lettuce, radishes (do rabbits eat those?) and other bunny fare to decorate for an Easter party!

On a whim, I grabbed some produce and used items I already had at home to make this festive bunny snacks centerpiece!

What you’ll need:

• whole carrots
• 3/16″ dowel rods
• green yarn, raffia or string
• Spanish moss
• a container deep enough to sink the dowel rods at least 3 inches and provide stability to each carrot
• foam, oasis or a wood piece with drilled holes for your dowels cut to fit your container
• decorative ribbon if desired

My dowels were a bit long at 12 inches, so I snipped about 3 inches off with some heavy duty scissors before getting started.

I had a HUGE skein of yarn left over from several Halloweens ago (witch’s hair), which I split and used a single thickness of to wrap my dowel rods like such:

I didn’t have to adhere the yarn to the dowels. Instead I just wrapped the yarn at top and bottom to hold itself on. You can leave about 1/4 inch at the top exposed and whatever amount at bottom that will be hidden in your base. If you wrap it all the way down, the yarn will bunch a bit when you slide it into the foam.

Then, I snapped the green tops off the carrots and pushed the 1/4 inch of unwrapped dowel about that far into the base of the carrot. Be gentle or the carrot may split. Here’s what you end up with.

I prepared my base, threading my container with this awesome burlap ribbon.

Then I used some bright green Spanish moss to camouflage my foam.

As you can see, my container was oblong, but I think there are a variety of shapes that work – square with 3 carrots across and 3 down or maybe even potting each carrot by itself. The trick with the single carrot will be to find a pot that doesn’t visually overpower one carrot but is deep enough to secure the dowel and heavy enough not to tip over with the weight.

I placed the center carrot first, and then the carrot on either end and worked toward the middle to ensure equal spacing.  For extra stability, you could use low temperature hot glue to keep the dowels from wobbling. After inserting the carrots in my base, I filled in the top of the arrangement with more Spanish moss and that was it!

Here’s the finished product.

Here are a few more pictures of the table you might enjoy as well as a source list at the bottom of the post.

The carrots lasted for quite a few days in the fridge even after the dowels were inserted. I’d say you could easily do this the day before a party and still have them look great. I soaked mine in water too and that seemed to help preserve their freshness. They’re supposed to look a little rough–it adds to the sort of rustic, fresh-picked look. After three days of leaving mine on the counter, they were a little tired and on the fourth day, I was left with this:

I’m going to wait until closer to Easter and redo the centerpiece with some fresh carrots. Hope you enjoy!

Sources:

• Melamine cups, bowls and plates, coordinating drinking straws – Target
• Coordinating napkins – Party City
• Grass mats and small felt carrots – Hobby Lobby

Totally need your help here! I recently did a round of custom invitations for an egg hunt birthday party. I know which version the birthday mom picked. And I think I know which is my fave.

Seldom are the client’s pick and mine one and the same. It’s funny to me how often someone picks an invitation different from the one I think they’ll go for. It happens a lot, and there really is no right answer. I guess we are all right as long as we pick the one that makes us most happy! Actually, I have two favorites among these Easter party invitations plus a third that just makes me extra giddy so I’m torn.

So here’s where I need your help. I typically only put one version of each invitation up for purchase in my online store. I guess I started that to avoid having a million options, many of which were just slight variations from the one before.

I’d love to hear which is your favorite design and which is your favorite wording option. Everybunny who participates will be entered to win a $15 gift certificate to our new online store! Details below. Here are the contestants:

Number 1 – Gingham Bunny

Number 2 – Party Chicks

Number 3 – Peeking Bunny

Number 4 – Bright Basket

Number 5 – Egg Polka Dots

Number 6 – Brown Bunny

So, which design will it be?

Two entries per person:

1) One comment on which are your top two fave designs {feel free to say why}

2) One comment on which is your fave wording

Leave your comments on this post before midnight CST on Wednesday, April 6th. The winner will be drawn at random and announced on Friday, April 8th. Hey, I might even tell you which one the birthday mom chose.

Thanks, as always, for your input and good luck!

I love you Spring. You are my fave time of year {save for my outrageous seasonal allergies}. That’s alright though. I love you anyway! Don’t tell Fall.

I think there’s nothing perkier than a little touch of green to get you in the mood for Spring. Case in point:

Doesn’t this image make you want to do a cartwheel? It’s one of my all-time fave customer images. I suggested it. She tried it with stunning results and then taught me how to do it myself!

If you’ve never tried your hand at growing your own wheat grass instead of paying $20 for a flat at your local nursery, I highly encourage you to give it a whirl this year. It’s perfect for Easter, for baby showers and bridal teas this time of year. Around here you can get a large solo cup full of wheat grass seeds for $2. All you need is some seeds, a container, some dirt and water. Start about 7-10 days out since you have to soak the seeds for a time first. There are all sorts of directions online for growing decorative wheat grass. It’s super simple.

Last year for Easter I gave our teachers these:

I bought lined baskets and cute, inexpensive bunny figurines, grew the wheat grass, nestled the bunnies in and added a bright Eastery plaid bow to each basket handle. Note: there will be a fretful moment when you think your grass won’t be ready in time, but it grows and fills in AMAZINGLY quick! Just make sure you keep it moist. It’s a sweet gift for teachers or hostesses and for $10 each (less if you’re a real bargain shopper), you can’t beat it.

Happy Spring!

I’ve got quite a few to share with you, but the kids are out this week and time is scarce, so I’ve decided to share these as they are ready. First up are these sweet little brownie cups. I first shared these on my Facebook page, and I got so many comments that I thought I’d repost them here.

This is a great project to do with preschoolers or older kiddos. My son and I made these together. We made brownies in muffin tins. I made the mistake of baking them in paper cups. They stuck SO badly even after I had sprayed them. Then, another friend had the same problem using just a greased muffin tin with no paper. I have heard that the fudgie brownies turn out better as muffins than the more cakelike ones. Anyhoo, if you know what we are doing wrong, please do share a comment! Or just make miniatures with the store bought brownie bites.

We shaped the edible Easter grass (Target, World Market) like birds’ nests. Then, we piped a bit of chocolate icing on top to give the nests something to hold onto. Those are Cadbury mini chocolate eggs placed in the center. Yum!

Here’s another sweet treat that we made last year. I thought they turned out so cute that we decided to try them again for my daughter’s classroom goodies this year!

There are lots of places online where you can find cone-shaped bags. Sometimes they are in quantities of 100, but really they are cents each and you can use them up within a year or two or go in with a friend and make these together. I have also seen them locally at Hobby Lobby. The beauty of these cone bags is that you can make the treats as big or as small as you like by just lopping the excess off the top of the bag. Here, I used those tiny rubber ponytail holders for little girls to close the bags. I pulled apart some raffia for the green attached to each carrot and used one of my personalized bunny tags complete with a cottontail. I think they turned out super sweet. Hope you agree!