Young At Heart Mommy

Managing Motherhood Through Love & Laughter

Easter Egg Dying FAIL!

Easter weekend has finally arrived. Time to dye your eggs, plan your Easter egg hunt, and prepare the baskets with goodies! Toodie and I always look forward to coloring our eggs and decorating them together. I had all of the eggs boiled and ready to go so we could get started right after dinner. As you can see from the pictures Toodie was prepared in her apron and ready to get those eggs colored! 
Everything was fine and dandy until we went to take the eggs out of the coloring cups. Instead of having a vibrant beautiful hue to them, they were covered in a thick stringy sludge. It was almost like we dipped them in slime. I’m not sure what in the heck happened to our delightful coloring experience but it was not good! None of the color was eve sticking to the eggs. It seemed like the longer we left them in, the more gooey slime coated them. It was disappointing and frustrating considering we have used the same brand every single year with no problems.Guess we’re going to have to start from scratch on Sunday.
Regardless of the mishap Toodie enjoyed eating the eggs and soon forgot about the not so pretty outcome! Has anyone else had this problem before? Maybe I had a bad batch of color tablets.

Instagram Finally Makes It To Android!

 
If you have an iPhone than you probably already know how popular the Instagram App is. I was so excited to see it finally hit the Android market this week. If you often use your phone to take pictures and post them to your social sites than you will enjoy using Instagram. Once your photo is taken you can change the visuals by cropping and altering with a variety of filters. I know I am not the only one enjoying it. According to CNET it was downloaded a million times in just an hour! This App makes you want to take a photo of everything. You could probably make a lint ball look beautiful with its features! It’s very addicting and a fun way to share your personalized photos.

Spring Time Flower Pot Cupcakes

These are so cute I just had to share! I recently found this “Blooming Cupcakes” Decorating Kit at Target and figured they would be a perfect to make during Spring time. The kit comes with only six silicone flower pots so I suggest if you see them you pick more than one box up. You can go ahead and use any cake mix for these. I went ahead and used chocolate mix to stay with the whole “dirt” theme. I also used vanilla frosting and added green food coloring so it would look similar to grass. 

Since we were just making these for fun I didn’t go to crazy with the decoration. Toodie decorated all of them and was having a little too much with the sprinkles! While we kept it pretty simple there are other things you can do with the flower pots. You can even take a flat lollipop ( Charms are perfect) and cover it with frosting, placing Easter candy corns in a circle to make a flower. Then sticking it in the middle of the cupcake. Another idea is to cut the tops of the cupcake off, fill the center with chocolate pudding, then lay the top back on so it is flipped over. This will give the affect and look of real dirt. After, you can add a little chocolate frosting or pudding on top with crushed Oreos. Last but not least, top it off with a gummy worm! The possibilities are endless and there really are so many cute ideas you can create with these. As you can see they also turned out pretty yummy… 


LUSH Ocean Salt Scrub: Pure Bliss!

Not familiar with that lovely little container pictured above? Well allow me to introduce you to the Ocean Salt Face and Body Scrub by LUSH. If you have never used any of the products by LUSH than you are truly missing out. ALL of their products are not only handmade but they are also made from natural products. Each product has a sticker on it telling you who at the LUSH factory made it and when. It also has an expiration date. I started using this scrub on my face two years ago and have been hooked ever since. It can also be used on your body as well. The only downside for me is that the nearest LUSH store is about an hour away. At least all products are available on their website.
This scrub is packed with avocado butter, sea salt, grapefruit, lime, and several other ingredients that your skin will love. It exfoliates without drying and leaves your skin with it’s own natural glow. According to the LUSH website the antibacterial effects of lime and the trace of alcohol in the product is ideal for blocked pores, blackheads or blemishes. From personal experience I can assure you that it actually does do all of those things! 
If you love your skin and are looking to try something new then I suggest you give this a shot. It isn’t often that I actually recommend a skincare product but besides my Clarisonic this is one thing I will never stop using. It not only leaves your skin baby soft but after a few days of using you will notice that the actual texture of your skin will improve. Pores will be smaller, redness diminished, and happy skin is left behind.  I guarantee you will like it just as much as I do! If you want to give it a try you can check Lush.com to find your nearest store. They often give generous samples of their products and this will allow you to try before you buy. You can also order straight from their website.

Tissue Paper Easter Egg

I feel like I have really been on a roll with the crafts lately! I guess I can thank the wonderful world of Pinterest for that. Here we have what I like to call the “Colorful Tissue Paper Easter Egg.” I found a similar idea online and decided to add my own twist to it. The best part of this Easter time craft is you don’t really need much. All of the supplies you can get from just about any craft store, Walmart, or Target. You will need a large sheet of white poster board, Elmer’s glue stick or liquid, hole punch, ribbon, colorful tissue paper squares, and glitter ( which is optional). 

If you are like me and NOT a Picasso then I suggest you find some sort of Easter egg outline to trace. Luckily I had a felt Easter Egg chair cover on hand that my mom had purchased last year. I went ahead and roughly traced it, cutting out the Easter Egg shape. Remember, it really does not have to be perfect because most of the edges will be camouflaged by the tissue paper. Next you go ahead and cover small areas with the glue stick so they can stick the tissue paper squares on. We did it in sections because Toodie liked to take short breaks here and there. When the egg is finished and covered you can punch two small holes in the top so you can string the ribbon through. This will allow you to hang up your masterpiece when finished. Since Toodie is just like her mommy and loves sparkle, we had to add some glitter! 

The only thing I would probably do differently with this craft is to cut out a smaller egg. As you can see from the picture this thing was huge! Half way through I could tell Toodie was getting tired so we took a break and came back later to finish. If you have more than one child than the larger egg would probably be a great craft for them to work on together. The next day we decided to make mini eggs to give to family members and it was a much smoother process. Even though it took longer than expected I have to say that when finished it did make a beautiful front door decoration for everyone to enjoy.

Where Has The Time Gone?!

Ever look back and ask yourself where in the world has the time gone? I don’t think time has ever passed so quickly until I became a mom. I’m sure I am not the only one that feels that way. When we want time to speed up it drags but if we want it to slow down there is no stopping it. If there is anything I have learned, it’s that you should always cherish every single moment you have with your child. The years pass by quickly and you can never get those precious memories back. I would give anything to go back to the those first milestones! There is nothing I love more than looking at all of Victoria’s baby pictures and seeing how much she has changed over the years. It only reminds me how much i love being a mom and that I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us. Don’t take any moment, memory, or smile for granted! Hug them, love them, kiss them, and always remind them how special they are.

Homemade Easter Treat Ideas

With the Easter holiday right around the corner I have been on the lookout not only for fun crafts but also things I can make on my own.  If you are still hopping down that bunny trail and have a child of your own, you may want to check out these ideas. There are many creative “do it yourself” Easter recipes out there and these are just a few of the ones that caught my eye.
These homemade carrot snack packs are perfect to put in Easter baskets or as decoration on the children’s table at your Easter dinner. They also are a nice candy substitute if you are trying to cut down your child’s sugar intake! All you need is green curling ribbon, a pack of pastry bags, and your child’s favorite orange snack! The pastry bags can be found at your local craft shop and also Party City stores. You can use anything orange to make your homemade carrots- Cheez Its, Cheetos, Cheese Balls,Cheese Doodles, Gold Fish, and even Orange flavored jelly beans. They are simple to make and very cute to stick out of an Easter basket. 

Bunny Bait is a sweet treat used to make sure the Easter Bunny doesn’t forget to make his stop at your house this year.  Have your children help you make the bunny bait to leave out just for the Easter Bunny.  This colorful combination contains popcorn, white chocolate, plain chex mix,  broken pretzel pieces, M&M’s, & a few colorful sprinkles. After breaking up the pretzel pieces you place them in a large bowl with the M&M’s, Chex Mix, and popped popcorn.  Heat the white chocolate candy coating in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds, until completely smooth & melted. Drizzle the candy coating over the popcorn mixture and stir to coat. Spread out on a large piece of wax paper and top of with colorful Easter sprinkles. After it cools you can break off the pieces and put them in cute Easter bags to give away.

Bunny Smores are a fun spin-off to your typical smore. All you need are a few packages of Easter Bunny peeps, graham crackers, and individually packed Hershey chocolate bars. This is another one that only takes minutes to make and would be really cute to handout to any children you may be having at your Easter get together. 

Bunny Brownies can be the perfect gift for a friend, neighbor, coworker, or your child’s teacher. Depending on how many you plan to make, you will need glass jars, Easter M&M’s, Marshmellow Peeps, and chocolate brownie mix. The idea is to give them everything they need to make Easter brownies. You can add your own festive Easter ribbon and a homemade tag with instructions.

Bunny Brunch At Brio

This past weekend the Brio Tuscan Grill near our home had a fun filled event called the “Bunny Brunch.” During the Bunny Breakfast children had the opportunity to color festive pictures, decorate Easter eggs, and have their photo taken with the Easter Bunny. Breakfast included a full buffet of eggs, bacon, seasoned potatoes, french toast, fruit, and a delicious spinach frittata. 

It was no surprise that Toodie barely touched her plate and wanted to head straight to the room with the coloring tables set up! There were several coloring sheets to choose from and dozens of hard boiled eggs to decorate.She was in heaven. Last but not least she had her meeting with the Easter bunny. I don’t think she even knew what to really make of their encounter considering she just stared for a good 10 minutes. Hopefully this has warmed her up to meet him again at the mall later this week. But I still have a feeling I may end up sitting on the Easter Bunny’s lap with her just like I did with Santa last year!


Crafting With Little Hands: Alex Toys Paper Plate Bugs

I recently spent some time searching for age appropriate craft kits on Amazon. I was so excited to find the Alex Toys craft sets. The Paper Plate Bugs was the first kit I ordered I was immediately impressed with the quality. Toodie loved choosing which critter she wanted to make and going through the process of creating it. This kit came with everything you need to make 5 colorful bugs out of paper plates.  It also included stickers, buttons, googly eyes, pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, pom poms, paper punch outs, a glue stick, and easy instructions. Each of the bug are packaged individually so you can create one at a time. 
The only downside that I have found is the glue stuck. The one con is that the adhesive is not strong enough making it hard to keep the project together while you are working on it. If you have a glue gun I suggest using that instead to apply the heavier parts including the smaller paper plates or attachments. Just make sure it is out of site and not in the path of little hands! I found it easier to hot glue everything on before she got started that way I could put it away and not have to worry.
This is a wonderful project for one child or two. The great part is that each of their boxes come with individually packaged crafts. If you have a three year old like me than I am sure you know one will keep them busy for quite some time. While today we worked on the Butterfly, there are still three more bugs to make for a later time. One of the best parts is everything you need is in the box so there is no having to run to the craft store to get more supplies. This was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to see what the other kits are like!


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