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Sweet for Easter

March 25th, 2011 4 Comments Seasonal Goodies · party inspiration
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I got such a response from these last year that I’m reposting for all my new fans and followers. (Thanks to all of you). I had all but forgotten about it until I spied some edible grass at the store earlier this week. These little brownie nests are great for Easter parties, Spring treats for the class, baby shower goodies…You name it!

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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 for posterity.

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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. (update: silicone baking cups fixed the problem)

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! (update: I just started using these tags with a “welcome baby” message, and they are super sweet.)

Marshmallow Roses – The Finished Product

February 14th, 2011 2 Comments Seasonal Goodies
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Well, here we are on Valentine’s morning. We got in late last night, but I whipped these up in no time. I dipped, dried and sealed up the marshmallows for freshness last night. Then, I added the leaves to the sticks so all that was left this morning before school was to add the sticks and wrap the flower bunches. I secured the “stems” with small clear hair rubber bands, wrapped them in green tissue paper, covered them with a clear cello bag and added a bow and tag.

My 5-yr-old is giving these to his preschool teachers today. He was pretty excited because he loves to eat them himself!

Here’s a closeup of the tag. “I couldn’t have picked a sweeter bunch!” They got good reviews in the carpool lane! ;)

My daughter’s class is celebrating Valentine’s tomorrow. Strange, I know, but she doesn’t have class on Monday.

S9 later today, we are tackling these ridiculously adorable necklaces for her teachers from One Charming Party.  Wish us luck, and Happy Valentine’s Day!

More Tweet Things…

March 23rd, 2010 2 Comments Seasonal Goodies
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I have a few more Easter goodies to share today. Yep, I finally got them all done. First up are these cutie cute cute suckers.

Easter Suckers

This is actually two suckers in one. What looks like a design on the front is actually a whole separate sucker. They came with coordinating ribbons, which I wouldn’t have picked but they were already there, and I’m not about reinventing the wheel. OK, sometimes I’m about that, but not today.

I added some Pink Peppermint gift tags, and they turned out pretty sweet. This one says, “Here’s a treat for somebunny sweet!” I also thought about using the “I’m a SUCKER for a friend like you” line from my Valentine’s post.

Green Bunny Tag Round

I also came across these adorable little gumball machines complete with gingham ribbon, which I thought were just too festive to pass up! Can you stand it?

gumball machines

My WalMart had both these and the suckers above along with some other festive things each in pink, green, yellow or blue–and all for under $1.50. That being said, I’ve had two friends go in search of these and come up empty handed, but I have to believe they were distributed to some stores other than my own. Here’s a close up of the tag. It reads “Have a hippity hoppin’ bubble poppin’ Easter!” It would be easy enough to replace the gumballs with small jellybeans for younger kids. My two have been eyeing these for weeks just desperate to get their hands on them!

upclose gumball machines

And finally an update on the birdie brownies shown below…

Birdie Brownies

After some initial problems with the brownies sticking to the muffin tin, I had great results this time using a Pillsbury Fudge brownie mix with silicon baking cups and baking spray with flour in it. Those things popped right out. Whew! I filled the cups 2/3 full and baked for about 23 minutes. They came out a bit underdone but they continued to cook for a bit longer once removed and are delish!

Watch out! That one looks like it’s about to hatch. The only reason my children are napping today is because they want to help me decorate these later. [Insert wicked laugh here.]