Easter Basket Ideas | For Little Boys

Pete the Cat Book | Ninja Turtle | Magnetic Blocks

Peep Socks | Bunny PJ's | Sunglasses | Super Hero Legos

As promised, I'm sharing some of my Easter basket ideas for little boys.  My son is 3.5, and currently OBSESSED with all things super heroes, Ninja Turtles, and he loves to build things and take them apart on repeat.

As previously mentioned, I always like to throw in some sidewalk chalk, bubbles, and candy treats too, but books, a few toys, and some things that my kids can actually wear/use get tossed in as well.

It's worth noting, that if your boys are really young, you may want to avoid these type of Lego sets and stick with the larger Duplo variety.  We ONLY play with these when younger siblings are napping, and always at the kitchen table.

Hopefully this provides some fun inspiration for you!

Easter Basket Ideas | For Little Girls

bunny purse | bow | jelly shoes

chick socks | sidewalk chalk | sunglasses

bunny book | stuffed bunny

Easter is fast approaching, and with so much going on around here in the next month, I am trying to be proactive and put together Max and Ella's baskets ahead of time, just in case baby decides to arrive before or around the holiday!

I'm sharing some of my favorite ideas for what to put in a little girl's Easter basket today, and will be sharing some ideas for little boys (what's going in Max's basket), sometime this week.

I stumbled across the little bunny purse the other day, and almost died when I turned it around and it had a tail on the back.  It was so cute, I couldn't pass it up.

I always like to put sidewalk chalk and bubbles in my kid's basket to play with as soon as it starts warming up, and of course, there will be some candy treats too!

Our Easter Weekend

This past weekend was the first that it really, truly felt like spring was here to stay.

It was warm, and sunny, and all we wanted to do was be outside.

While Saturday was spent running errands and preparing to celebrate the holiday, Sunday was spent with family, at church, and hunting for eggs.

Max was finally old enough this year to really understand and enjoy looking for all of the eggs hidden around our yard, and having Ella here this year too, only added to the fun.

All around, the day was pastel perfection.  From the clothes, to the weather, to the ham dinner, to the quality time spent together.

{my dress}

{Ella's Pajamas | Max's Pajamas}

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter with your family!

-Jessica

Easter Things

We've been having a lot of fun around here preparing for Easter.  

I always loved holidays as a kid, and still do, so I try as hard as I can to make them fun and exciting for M&E, all while instilling in them a sense of tradition that we can carry on as they continue to grow.  

It's important to me that one day they will be able to look back and remember their mom making each and every holiday a special and exciting time for them.

With that being said, naturally I took to Pinterest (you can follow me here) to hunt for some Easter inspired crafts and recipes.

These bunny crayons were super simple to make and turned out so cute.  Max kept asking me if he could eat one when they were done.  I think he thought I was making cookies, even though he helped me put the pieces of crayon into the molds.  We found our mold at Joann Fabrics on sale, but you can also order one here.

{bunny garland is from Target, last year.  Similar here}

I realize it's a bit late in the game now, but if you are looking for a free DIY Easter garland idea, I picked up some paint swatches from Lowe's, traced an egg shape on them, cut a bunch out, punched holes in the tops, and then used bakers twine to string them together and hang from our mantle.  The color possibilities/combinations for this craft are really endless.

We stuck with what was familiar when it comes to egg dying this year, and went with one of the Paas kits, that are easy to set up and use.  We did pick up an adorable decorating kit at Target, and Max had a lot of fun sticking stickers all over our eggs and coloring on them with markers.

These Rice Krispie eggs were a blast to make, and since I gave up sweets for Lent, I will take Max's word for it, and assume they were pretty tasty.

{Easter basket liners}

Now I'm just looking forward to some quality family time together this weekend, Easter Mass on Sunday morning, baked ham, and watching M&E hunt for eggs before tearing these baskets apart!

Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

-Jessica

Swoon Worthy

I don't know if it's because last year Easter was towards the end of April, or the fact that I was 9 months pregnant then, but it doesn't seem possible that Easter is only a week away.

I'm a day behind on this week's Swoon Worthy post, thanks to a weekend getaway that we had no choice but to plan on a whim... Which I promise to explain in my next post!

But... in the time being, seeing as Easter is what's on my mind right now, along with about a million other things, here are all of the seasonally appropriate things I am loving this week...

1.  Call me overindulgent, but I am swooning over every last ingredient that goes into the making of these festive bars.

2.  We're huge fans of Jellycat stuffed animals around here, so when I found these super cute tiny versions of their Bashful Bunny, I had to grab one for Ella's Easter basket.

3.  Love this sweatshirt and these adorable chick pjs for boys and girls.

4.  How sweet are these cookies???

5.  What a fun and simple Easter craft for little ones!

6.  I do believe we will be making these this week!

7.  Who knew there were so many color options when it came to dying eggs? I'm all for the radiant orchid.

9.  You know we love a good holiday themed read around here, and of course we have to have some reading material that touches on the true meaning of Easter.

10.  Last but not least, it wouldn't be Easter for me without Cadbury Cream Eggs.

I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead!

-J

Easter 2014

Easter this year was perfect in every way... Besides the fact that I'm still pregnant. 

In all honesty though, it was a beautiful, sunny, and warm day in Pittsburgh. Perfect for egg hunting in the yard, a trip to church, brunch with family, and picking up my best friend from the airport.

We dyed eggs, and had a visit with the Easter bunny, who dropped off not just one, but 3 Easter baskets for Max.

Mom was even able to slip this handmade bunny in there. The pattern can be found at lionbrand.com

We were able to snap what will most likely be the last photos of just the 3 of us before baby girl arrives...

And my boys were so handsome in their seersucker.

All that's left to do now is wait. We're not exactly sure when this baby girl is going to grace us with her arrival in the world, but I'm truly getting the feeling it's going to be soon.

I hope you all had a beautiful Easter with your loved ones.

-J

Crocheted Easter Egg Garland

In case you haven't picked up on it by now, I have a slight obsession with holiday themed garlands.

After making a crocheted shamrock garland to hang on our mantle for St. Patrick's Day, I was determined to come up with one for Easter as well.

I played around a little bit, and finally came up with what I think is a pretty simple pattern to create these adorable Easter eggs.

Thankfully, due to my yarn hoarding habit, I had plenty of scrap yarn on hand, and ended up crocheting a total of 8 eggs.  You can make as many or as few as you'd like.  I think they'd look great individually hung as well.

Here's what I did:

using worsted weight yarn and a size H crochet hook, form a magic ring.  If you don't know how to do this, you can find a video tutorial here.

Inside the magic ring, make 10 sc.  Join with a slip stitch in top of first stitch (10 st).

Round 1-

Ch 2, dc in same (first) stitch.

2 dc in next 2 st.

3 trc in next st.

2 dc in the next 3 st

1 dc, 1 hdc in the next 2 stitches.  Slip stitch in top of first stitch to join (19 st).

Round 2-

Ch 2

Hdc in the next 4 stitches.

2 hdc in the next 2 stitches.

2 dc in the next 2 stitches.

2 hdc in the next 2 stitches.

Hdc in the next 9 stitches. Slip stitch in top of first stitch to join.

Break off yarn, leaving a little to weave in end.

For the garland, using 2 strands of yarn at the same time, I chained 150.  I then threaded that strand through the backs of the eggs, using a crochet hook.

You can make this garland as long or as short as you would like.

If you use this pattern, I would love to see the finished product, and by all means, if you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

-J