Easter Basket Scavenger Hunt

Easter Basket Scavenger Hunt

One Easter when money was tight and my kids were little I decided to take the clearance stuff that I had, and make a scavenger hunt for the kids so that it seemed like they had more items.  Since then, it has become a tradition that my kids will not live without. 

I print out a page of tags for each child. 

Each page is a different color, and each child is assigned a different color.  Then I count up all of my items and start writing clues for each item. 

To make it easy to cut, I would just fold over the whole page on top, and then cut around the tag.  I would write the clues on the inside of the tag.

For the little kids, I drew pictures of their clue, for example,  a T.V. or a bed, etc. 
I number the clues to make it easier to follow.

After a few years of doing this, I decided to have the kids do it for each other.  That way I didn't have to spend so much time on it, and it made the kids more involved.  Then I would hide the gifts when they slept.

Easter Egg Hunt
After the kids were done finding their items we would have an easter egg hunt.  I always assigned each kid a different color egg.  That way I could put things like money, or girl things, or boy things, so that the egg was more personal.  It also kept the kids from having bad feelings on Easter.

See how to spruce up unwanted Easter decorations into a cute Easter Egg Tree: http://hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/2012/03/easter-egg-tree-recycled-from-old.html

Make a cute Easter Garland from last year's Easter clearance items:
http://hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/2012/03/easter-egg-garland-from-last-years.html

Make some easy bunny bread for your Easter dinner:
http://hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/p/favorite-family-recipes.html

 

When Life Gives You Too Many Lemons Just Freeze Them Into Ice Cubes! Make hot lemon and honey for a cold! Recipe included.

When Life Gives You Too Many Lemons Just Freeze Them Into Ice Cubes!

Growing up in Arizona we had lemon trees.  In the Winter we would get so many lemons that we couldn't use them all.  Then in the summer we wouldn't have any lemons, and would love to have them for cooking.  Here is a way to get lemon juice all year round:

First, squeeze your lemons.  To get the most lemon juice out of your lemon, put it in the microwave for about 15 seconds, then roll it around the table a little bit. 

Then cut your lemon and squeeze into a juicer.

Poor the juice into ice trays and freeze.

When the trays are frozen, empty out the ice cubes and place into a freezer bag.

Use as needed.

Put  the lemon peels down the garbage disposal for a fresh, clean smell.

Here's a great recipe to use your lemon cubes for a cold:

The best honey to use is Cox's Honey!

If you are suffering from eczema here's a way to get 

rid of it with honey.  

Check out this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVvr-ryd3KM&feature=youtu.be

Easter Egg Garland From Last Year's Easter Clearance

Easter Egg Garland From Last Year's Easter Clearance

I love to shop for clearance items, and try to challenge myself to to use what I buy. I bought these decorations last year and thought that they were so cute.  I was thinking about using them as gift tags on Easter presents.  I have seen a lot of blogs this year on Easter Garland.  That gave me the idea to string it all together for a garland to hang from my mantel.

Here's all the stuff I got on clearance.  I took the ribbon and measured it against my mantel and cut it to fit.

Then I took off the existing string and used yellow ribbon to tie onto the main ribbon.  I started in the center and worked my way to the ends, making sure the ornaments were spaced even.

When I was done I had an adorable, and economical Easter garland for my home.

See how to spruce up unwanted Easter decorations into a cute Easter Egg Tree:
http://hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/2012/03/easter-egg-tree-recycled-from-old.html

Have an Easter Basket Scavenger Hunt.  Here's how:
http://hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/2012/04/easter-basket-scavenger-hunt.html


Make some easy bunny bread for your Easter dinner:
http://hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/p/favorite-family-recipes.html

 

Easter Egg Tree Recycled From Old Easter Decorations

Easter Egg Tree Recycled From Old Easter Decorations

I had bought some Easter Egg Tree Decoration Kits on clearance a few years ago.  I never really liked them, but would use them any way. 

While getting out my Easter decorations I decided that it was time to throw it away.  But then I thought that I always wanted a nice Easter Egg Tree.  So what could I do to "doctor" this one up to make it "nice?"

I think the tree part is what bothered me the most it was multi colored, and just seemed tacky:

So I got out some white enamel paint, and painted it, leaves and all with white paint. 

The decorations seemed a little plain.  So I antiqued the bunnies and the chicks, glittered the eggs, and took off the strings and ribbons (because they seemed to dangle too far off the tree.)

Then I went to the craft store and found some cute white flowers with rhinestones in the middle and hot glued those to the branches.  I also bought some white ribbon to tie the ornaments onto the tree. 

When I was finished, the little pot that the tree came with just seemed too small.  So I found a larger pot that I liked and put the tree in it.  I attached the green ribbon to the pot then filled the pot with glass pebbles.  I thought it turned out cute!

I saved money (by recycling) and I also have a Easter Egg Tree that I like!

I also took last year's clearance items and made them into a cute Easter Garland.  See how it turned out: http://hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/2012/03/easter-egg-garland-from-last-years.html

Have an Easter Basket Scavenger Hunt.  Here's how:
http://hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/2012/04/easter-basket-scavenger-hunt.html

 

A Bring Back the Beach Bowl

In my last blog I showed how to make a cute Beach Photo Frame:

 http://hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/2012/03/beach-sand-photo-frames.html

When my family did that project we had so much fun collecting items, that we had a bunch of items left over.  That's when I decided to bring home the extra stuff and create a "Bring Back the Beach Bowl."  It is much like a zen garden, but with a beach theme. 

We found a glass bowl and filled it with sand.  Then we added a bunch of our beachy items like drift wood, sea glass, sea shells, etc.  We added a candle for fun.  Then we placed it on our coffee table to help us remember our vacation.  What is fun about is that we can still play in the sand and rearrange our beach bowl any time that we are missing the beach.

Beach Sand Photo Frames

Every summer our family takes a trip to the beach.  This is one of our favorite activities.  Because of our love for the beach we decided to do a family craft so that we could bring some of the beach home with us. 

We used foam core poster board and cut it out to the size of frame that each person wanted.  We used an utility knife to cut the foam core with.

During our vacation we collected shells, rocks, beach glass, sand dollars, etc. from our walks and our boogie boarding trips

We also brought back a bucket of beach sand.

We covered the foam board frame with white glue and layered the sand onto the frame.  Then with the glue and also a glue gun we attached the shells, rocks, wood, etc.  Each person had their own unique design.

After the frame was dry we put a 1/4" ribbon around the side to hide the foam edge.

Then we placed one of our favorite beach pictures inside.

And that is how we brought the beach home with us!

Use the leftover items from your beach frame to make a "Bring Back the Beach Bowl"
Take a look at mine at http://hollyshome-hollyshome.blogspot.com/2012/03/bring-back-beach-bowl.html

A Carousel Valentine with Resee's Peanut Butter Cup

Here are some cute Valentines that the kid's can make for Valentine's Day.
They both are similar.  The first one is a playground.  The second one is a carousel.

First print out the "recess" Valentine on pink paper.  Then cut them into squares.  Color the Valentine, then tape in around the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup.  I used the 8 pack size cups.


Printout for the "recess" Valentine:

Then print out the playground on card stock. Cut around each of the

playgrounds with decorative scissors. Then color the playground. Tape the "recess" Valentine to the   center of the playground.

Printout for the playground:

 
 
 
Here is another Valentines that is similar, but a carousel theme:

Here is another fun printable that can be used as a Date Night Valentine