Make your own heirloom Easter Basket

As I mentioned in the current edition of the CreativeGiftGiver website, when I was a child my mom made our Easter baskets from an old beach bottle that was cut into a bunny shape and crocheted on the edges with colored yarn. As an adult looking back, I now realize the uniqueness of that homemade basket. I still have it (although it has aged and worn a bit). But I can still feel my mom's love when I look at it, knowing she took the time to make a special basket for each of us kids.

On the website, I give links and suggestions for making your own heirloom Easter basket. Most of the baskets are made with recycled items found around the home, or inexpensive items you can pick up from the craft store.

I also promised to share information on how to make the Duck and Bunny cannisters pictured on the website. These adorable cannisters would make perfect baskets that could be reused year after year. So, let's get started!


Duck and Bunny cannisters

Supplies:
1. Small potato chip or nut can 
2. Fun foam in your choice of colors 
(we used orange and yellow for our duck and 
white, pink and black for our bunny) 
3. Chenille stems (also known as pipe cleaners)
4. Hot glue or tacky glue
5. Cotton ball (for bunny's tail)
6. Scissors
7. Permanent marker
 
Instructions:
1. Measure the length and width of the can and cut out a piece of fun foam to fit around the can.  Glue it onto the can, lapping ends in the back and leaving two gaps at the top for the basket handles.
 
2. Hand draw (or use a coloring book pattern) the wings, beak, eyes and webbed feet for the duck;  or ears, eyes, 4 paws (two for "hands" and two for "feet") and a nose for the bunny.   
 
3. Trace each piece on fun foam and cut out with scissors.  If desired, trace an outline of the wings and webbed feet, or the paws, with a black permanent marker onto the fun foam.  Allow ink to dry completely
 
4. Glue each piece of fun foam onto the can.  (For the bunny, make whiskers out of black chenille stems and glue them behind the bunny's fun foam nose.) Allow to dry completely. 
 
To make the bunny's tale, glue a cotton ball on the backside of the can. 
 
5. If desired, use a permanent marker to draw additional details on the face. 
 
6. Take two or three chenille stems and twist them around each other, then shape them into a handle.  Place each end of the handle on different sides of the basket, anchoring the handle between the fun foam and the can.  Secure in place with glue. 
 
7. Fill with shred or Easter grass and add candy or small trinkets. 

Fool 'em with crazy food!

Tomorrow is April Fool's Day. I usually don't have time to think up clever pranks to play on friends and family, but this year is a bit different. Since its spring break and I'm not driving kids to and from school and activities, I actually have a few moments to plan a little mischief!

My son is a very picky eater, and usually complains about almost every meal. In lighthearted fun, I decided to surprise him (and the rest of the family) with a crazy meal.

Preparing and serving a crazy meal gives your family and friends the gift of laughter and a good time. It also proves that not all gifts need to be wrapped in beautiful paper and tied with a bow. In fact, the best gifts are those born out of your time and creativity.

I've been doing some research online for good food pranks to play on my children. The April issue of Family Fun magazine has some great ideas, including "fish sticks" made with a chocolate wafer cookie and peas shaped from green taffy. It looks so realistic that when my daughter just saw the photo I was uploading for this article, she said "ohh, those peas and fish sticks look good!" Check out the article here.

In fact, Family Fun magazine is gaining a reputation for its realistic looking dinner food made from sweets and other unexpected food items. In previous years they have shown how to make spaghetti and meat balls from buttercream frosting and malted milk balls.


I think I'm going to serve a "backwards meal" tomorrow, using their recipe for cupcakes made from meatloaf. (The pastel colored frosting is really mashed potatoes.) So we will start with the fish sticks and peas featured above, then end the meal with the meatlof cupcake.

Check out this link for some of their other prank recipes.

Some other ideas I've gleaned from the internet:

1)Wormy apple
Cut a small round hole on the side of an apple using an apple corer, then put a gummy worm inside the hole for an unexpected surprise.

2)Buggy ice cubes
Dig into the kids' toy box and pull out a few of those plastic spiders and other bugs they may have collected at Halloween. Wash them well, then put them in ice cube trays. Cover them with water and freeze them. Then pop the frozen cubes into their lunch or supper drinks.

3) Eggs and toast, anyone?
The eggs are actually lemon pudding and lemon curd! See the complete instructions here.

4) Tomato soup
Use frosting (diluted a bit) and add red food coloring. It will be more realistic if you serve it in a soup bowl with crackers!

5) Bacon Cheeseburger Cake
Who knew you could turn a yellow cake mix into a cheeseburger? See it here.

6) Twinkie Sushi
I'm not a fan of raw fish, but even I might be convinced to try these!

7) Moldy Sandwich
Spatulatta has a video that shows kids making this, plus other delectable treats like Kitty Litter Cake and Doggie Do Do Drops

8)Pizza -- or is it?
This website has a nice photo of a pizza made with yellow cake mix for the crust, frosting tinted red for the sauce, red fruit roll-ups cut in circles for pepperoni and olive made with black licorice.

If you try any of these items, please take photos! I would love to post them (along with your stories and credit to you) on this blog.