The Great Bunny, Hunt & Brunch

Did you know the Easter Bunny leaves a weblike trail when he's hiding eggs? Oh yes, at least when it is toddlers going on the hunt...



Since Vin was only just starting weaning at Easter last year, I am classing this as his first proper Easter. Which, of course means time for a new family tradition. The Great Bunny Hunt and Brunch.

I threaded the string from the bedroom door handle, all around the kitchen and living room. A Subtle Revelry did this with paper streamers. What's that popping out of the toaster?

... of course! Those are the bunny wrapped candy bars... Be warned, turn your toaster off at the plug. Those bunnies are wrapped in paper (duh) and you'll melt your chocolate!

I think this was so much fun, I'm considering doing it for all gift based occassions! A couple of things though. Hide the gifts after your kid has gone to bed, otherwise he will follow you round and remove all his new toys from their hiding places. Also, be aware of small children running through spiderweb liked criss crossed trail wrapped around the house. It was like that scene in Entrapment, only with balls of wool and screaming kids.

Oh, and while I promised myself a relatively chocolate free Easter, there were five eggs, eight creme eggs, one packet of mini eggs, one packet of chocolate buttons, two chocolate lollies, three chocolate bars, four tiny lindt bunnies and a packet of Maltesers... pseudo-hippy/facist parenting can't win them all right?



confetti, confectionary and anti-consumerism

I've never really celebrated Easter before. Before kids it was just another chocolate based long weekend. We were remniscing today  about Easter 2008. I was recovering from surgery, D had just quit his job so we could go travelling. We bought leftover eggs from a corner shop and played Mario Kart for four days.

I'm still a handmade punk at heart though. And I felt truly rebellious using The Financial Times to make cascarones.

It wasn't entirely an act of anti-capitalism though. I just love the natural peachy colour that looks so good with my white china and subtle palette.

I love the idea of plants instead of flowers on the table, plus I've had a packet of cress seeds tucked in the back of a notebook forever. I just washed out the shells and allowed them to air dry, popped a damp cotton wool ball in the bottom and sprinkled in some seeds. I was hoping they'd grow super long and I could draw faces on the eggs and cut crazy hairstyles like the Play-Dough Barber Shop. But it was not to be.

I made these message eggs too - let me tell you trying to get the egg out of this little hole was not easy. I later read you should make a smaller hole in the top and blow the contents out, but I never do things the easy way. There are no shots of these message eggs in action, because I filled them with ultrafine glitter and instantly regretted it. Little Vin had glitter in his eyelashes.

You know we love brunch in this house, like our love day breakfast and our pancake day celebration... we had poached eggs with those pods I bought for David and Hot Cross Cookies:

See, I'm not really a fan of the Hot Cross Bun, so I made a sugar cookie with a little cinnamon and orange zest, rolled them into balls and dotted with currants and and icing cross. I love playing a little with tradition, and I really loved these cookies.

Oh, and the cascarones. I haven't used papier mache since I was at infant school and it was so much fun. Sticky fingers and endless possibilities right? (yes, we had a Blue Peter Tracey Island). I think they made the eggs a little tough to smash though. See...

That is one hundred percent toddler effort right there. He did it though, and loved them. A whole evening with a hole punch and a whole lot of sweeping up later, but so worth it.

Cascarones are a Mexican treat, like a mini pinata and they're meant for smashing over heads (don't worry, it is supposed to bring luck!) They're doing the rounds on the blogs right now. Jordan Ferney posted a fun game here.

So friends, was your day filled with confetti, sparkles and sugar?





the Easter Bunny cometh...

So, I'm attempting a somewhat chocolate egg free Easter. I may be kidding myself, I may eat my words this time tomorrow along with several packets of Mini Eggs. This isn't out of meanness, I hope you understand. But my kid is 19 months old, I don't wanna be spending £10 on a chocolate egg that's bigger than his head! And while we're on the subject... these eggs are hollow people. That's right, £10 for 125g chocolate!

But the holidays are all about the kids right? And I'm big on creating traditions for our little family, so a visit from a giant bunny and a breakneck hunt for sugar seems in order.

I figured the sugar coma was going to happen anyway, so I repackaged some mini marshmallows as tiny bunny tails. And did you know the Easter Bunny lays eggs... yep, multicoloured eggs.

And this one, I know is not to everyone's taste. But I live with boys:

I used Maltesers, but chocolate chips, raisins or Nesquik cereal would work... if you have older, and therefore more graphic and gross boys you could leave a trail of droppings for them to follow... trust me, I know my brothers would LOVE this idea



Little chick says 'don't forget about me'...



... I had grand plans for these sucker chicks (chuckers?) and I'm not entirely pleased with the Copa Cobana feathered headdress

And while I was digging around in my baking cupboard I found these flat lollies I was going to turn into ghosts for Halloween... so I made oeuf en stick instead:

I love how you can see the Toy Story alien arm poking out the side:



These candy bar wrappers are inspired (i.e. copied every detail) by these ones:

I wrapped up some fruit puree bars for Vin (which I'm sure have more sugar than regular sweets because they are like crack to my kid), and a Cookies n Creme bar for D:



And because it wouldn't be Easter without them:

I got some little toys and things for the hunt too, which is easier said than done, given my facist toy policy (no flashing lights, no brightly coloured plastic etc)

And these silicone poached egg pods - which are for David, though you know Vin loves his silicone baking set too.

And because I am that mom: