For years, before adding the candy treats, Easter baskets have been stuffed with all sorts of fillers, from cellophane grass to shredded paper and more!  But today, the most unique option is available – edible Easter grass!  It may sound crazy, but this is a really fun basket innovation.  Imagine your children’s surprise when not only are their chocolate bunnies and jelly beans edible, but their basket filler as well!  (Edible Easter Grass, $3.50)

Consider adding this latest creation to your baskets this year!

You may also enjoy:

• Felt Chocolate Bunnies
• Guilt Free Easter Treats
• Fun Storage for Stuffed Animals
• Cute Felt Cake Kits

Tags: edible easter grass, basket stuffing, filler

Tip of the Week -  Grow Some Wheatgrass!

At this time of year, we are all thinking of Spring and looking for signs that a new season is on its way!  But until those flowers are actually blooming outside, consider growing some wheatgrass inside!  Some people grow wheatgrass as a cat treat and others to make juice, but I love it for its bright, fresh green color and decorating possibilities!

Where to Purchase Seeds or Kits

Whether you plant your grass seeds in a low, flat tray or in a set of small pots, with light and watering, the grass should sprout in about 7 to 10 days!  You can pick up the wheatgrass seeds at your local garden or pet shop, from an online resource, or you can let Uncommon Goods do all of the work for you!  At Uncommon Goods, you can purchase a handcrafted pot complete with soil, seeds and instructions! (Wheatgrass Planters, $38, pictured top)

Once your grass has sprouted, you can display your greenery just as it is or nestle faux birds, bunnies, eggs or Easter accessories among the blades.  Either way, you’ll be able to enjoy a lush lawn long before the real thing is ready!

If you’re too short on time or inclination to follow my recommendations for creating Fabulous Easter Baskets, there are some lovely choices of pre-filled Easter baskets.  Here’s my thoroughly researched take on the best of the bunch.

For Children

• Lovely Willow Basket -  A cute willow basket with candy, velour bunny, balls, stickers and more.  Very classic look, $24.98.  (Easter Gift Basket, $24.98)
• Busy Baby Gift Basket – this basket is perfect for the new baby in your family (or even one on the way!)  A natural wicker basket is filled with lots of colorful baby items: a plush toy, rattle, terrycloth finger puppets for bath time, soft book and more!  You can select a neutral, boy or girl version each retailing for only $42! (From babygiftidea.com, Busy Baby Gift Basket, $42)

• Kid’s Fun Filled Easter Basket – this cute blue wicker basket is filled with all sorts of fun stuff for kids, including Crayola art supplies, snacks, Silly Putty and a teddy bear!  Great for a boy or a girl! (From Adorablegiftbaskets.com, Kids Busy Basket, $69.95)

For Tweens

Filling baskets for the 10 to 14 crowd isn’t easy, but Great Arrivals has come up with clever options for both the guys and the girls!  Filled with traditional Easter treats and small age appropriate gifts, these baskets are brilliant!

• For Girls – Marvelous Me:  Easter Basket for Tween Girls Ages 10 – 14 Years

• For Boys – Humorous Easter Fun:  Gift Basket Tween Boys Ages 10 -14 Years

For Gardeners

Gardeners of all ages will enjoy this terrific tote filled with lots of tools, gloves and a lovely selection of Burt’s Bees products for garden-worn hands!  (Gardener’s Gift Basket, $43)

For Pet Lovers

Don’t forget your favorite dog or cat this Easter!  Choose from a “Good Dog” or “Good Kitty” basket filled with treats, toys, collars and more!  (Good Kitty Gift Basket, Good Dog Gift Basket)

For Anyone

• Gourmet Wine and Cheese Easter Basket – this is the perfect Easter basket for the adults on your list!  With your choice of Chardonnay or Cabernet wines, along with cheeses, crackers, nuts and many other epicurean treats! (Chardonnay Basket, Cabernet Basket)

• Pajama Gram – Send a Pajama Gram!  Thinking outside of the “basket,” consider this thoughtful gift for anyone on your Easter list!  Beautiful pajamas arrive perfectly packaged in sheer hatboxes for women and girls, pj’s for men and boys are tucked into attractive travel kits! (Pajama Gram)

• The Popcorn Factory – The Popcorn Factory has dozens of terrific Easter options!  Using a secret recipe, they’ve formed popcorn into adorable eggs shapes – the popcorn “eggs” are tucked into colorful cardboard containers or colorful plastic baskets with chocolate candies, and perhaps cutest of all, a popcorn egg decorating kit!  The kit comes with 12 plain “eggs,” a candy writer for icing, “glue” and all sorts of candy to jazz up the eggs!  I’d choose this kit over dyeing hard boiled eggs any day! (hop to it sampler, bunny twin totes,  popcorn egg decorating kit)

You may also enjoy:

• Create Fabulous Easter Baskets
• Host an Easter Egg Hunt
• Use Your Easter Leftovers
• Easter with Kids!

February is not too early to start thinking about Easter!  This year Easter Sunday is on Sunday, April 4, and it will be here before you know it!

Choosing a Fabulous Easter Basket!

Do your children have special Easter baskets? My children have been using the same, handcrafted baskets since their very first Easter, and I am still holding onto my own childhood basket!  These unique baskets are a big part of our Easter traditions.  If you don’t have a basket weaver in the family, or have been using a hodge podge of baskets, consider starting your own tradition with lovely, personalized baskets.

Two great sources for baskets are Pottery Barn Kids and Lillian Vernon.

• Lillian Vernon – wicker Easter baskets with personalized fabric liners in three color combinations (Fabric lined wicker Easter Baskets, $18.98).
• Pottery Barn Kids - offers traditional wicker Easter baskets in white and honey with personalized fabric liners. (Easter Baskets for Girls, Easter Baskets for Boys)

Heirloom Easter Baskets

For a truly heirloom basket, consider investing in Easter baskets made by the Longaberger Company.  The quality and craftmanship, as well as the cuteness factor, are unbeatable.  If you’re interested, take a look at the Easter 2010 basket.

This year’s basket is whitewashed with pastel trims.  Available separately are an over-the-edge scalloped Liner in a cute Easter print, a protector, and a wooden lid with a floral decal in solid brown! (Longaberger Easter Basket).  You will not be disappointed, and you can also be sure that your children will still have their basket when they are parents!

Filling a Bunny Worthy Basket!

In the interest of limiting the candy that goes into my children’s baskets, I’ve taken to filling each basket around a specific theme. The themes have varied widely from year to year, depending on the age, sex and interests of my kids!

Once you have chosen a theme for each child, filling a basket with fantastic things will be a breeze!  Also, by choosing a theme in February, you can keep your eyes open for cute additions as you go about your errands.  Some examples for themes are:

For Little Ones

• Elmo, Dora, dinosaurs, Polly Pockets, Hot Wheels, Curious George, Barbie, a favorite Disney princess, PlayDough, Fisher Price “Little People”  (pictured at right, Fisher Price Little People Easter Egg Hunt), Rubber Ducky or craft items.

For Bigger Kids

• all kinds of sports, Lego, pirates, music, Harry Potter, Sponge Bob, beach, nature, outdoors, gardening, or for girls, beauty or spa.

Types of Items to Consider Including in Your Easter Baskets

• Little stuffed animals, dolls, small toys, CD’s, balls, small versions of a favorite toy, iTunes gift cards, books, craft supplies, DVD’s, Play Station or wii games, sports accessories or puzzles.
• Some of the major retailers like Target or WalMart carry candy in many of the themes listed above and more.

If you need a little more help with specific items for a basket, here are two examples that will help guide you:

For a Baseball Theme

• Colors – use a color theme of red, white and blue or if your child has a favorite team, their team colors.  Choose fluff and ribbon to match.
• Stuffers - consider packages of baseball cards, chocolate balls wrapped in foil made to look like baseballs, an actual baseball, handheld video baseball game, baseball cap, signed memorabilia related to a player or team (try ebay),  Big League chew gum, baseball stats book, really attractive baseball podiums from the Land of Nod, and finally, Baseball Pencils With Ball Erasers from eCrater.com.

• If your custom is to give a significant gift – Major or Minor League Baseball game tickets or Major League Baseball sheets, comforters, pillows and more from Pottery Barn Teen.

For a Disney Princess Theme

• Colors – use a color theme that matches the color of your chosen princess!  Green for Ariel, yellow for Belle, blue for Cinderella or pink for Sleeping Beauty.  Choose basket trim and filler to match.

• Stuffers – Barbie Disney princess dolls are available for each princess as well as Polly Pocket sized dolls,  DVDs and CDs of movie music, princess fruit snacks, princess themed candy (available at large retailers), Disney Store candy in cute containers plus a wide range of toys and games specific for each princess available on the Disney Store website, dress-up accessories, little books, tiaras, coloring books, puzzles, card games, stickers, games for a PC or gameboy.  The sky is really the limit with this one!
• If your custom is to give a significant gift – tickets to Disney on Ice or Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, or a princess scooter!

If you don’t want to pick a specific theme, consider a “color” theme.  Pick a color for each child and fill their baskets with little gifts all in that one color.  Match the basket grass and ribbon trim to your chosen color!

For Adults

Don’t forget the grown ups in your life!  Possible adult themes include:

• gardening, barbequing or grilling, wine tasting, spa, books and movies, gourmet cooking, Italian or other specialty cooking, or coffee and tea

A Few Tips for Attractive Assembly!

• Most baskets are deep, so using tissue paper, densely stuff the basket almost to the top.
• Top the tissue with Easter grass or crinkled paper, commonly known as fluff!  Coordinate the color of the grass to what’s in the basket.
• Arrange the items in an interesting way, taller items in the back and smaller items in front.
• Sprinkle chocolate eggs and jelly beans between the toys.
• Trim with a really pretty ribbon and if possible, tie a little something into the bow!

Don’t worry, if you’re interested in creating one of these baskets and if you start planning now, you’ve got plenty of time to do it right!  Happy hunting!!

Tags: how to fill a fabulous easter basket, filling fun easter baskets, creating terrific easter baskets, choosing a theme for an easter basket, filling an easter basket with toys and unique items, unique easter baskets, beautiful, upscale, fantastic, creative, unusual, creative  

This is a terrifically fun way for families to celebrate the season!  An Easter egg hunt is an event that lends itself to family, neighbors, friends, or all of the above!  In the course of my research on this topic, I’ve found that there aren’t too many variations on the egg hunt theme, but I think I’ve simplified the approach!

Planning

Saturday or Sunday?

• Should you host your party on Easter Sunday or the day before?  This totally depends upon who you are inviting to your egg hunt!
• If your party is for family, I’d choose Sunday.
• If it’s for neighbors or friends, I’d choose Saturday.
• You should probably have a rainy day plan or a rain date as well.

Eggs

• You will need A LOT of colored plastic eggs!  Plan to fill at least 10 eggs for each child participating in the hunt.
• Luckily, these eggs can be found inexpensively at your local dollar store or discount stores like Target, Michaels or Walmart.  The earlier you get your hands on these eggs, the sooner you can fill them!
• For filling, consider stickers, small toys, or change as alternatives to candy.  Check out Oriental Trading for a huge assortment of items to fill your eggs!  Keep in mind the ages and needs of your guests;  do you need to consider “choking hazards” or food allergies?

Menu

• Plan to serve brunch either before or after the hunt.
• Decide which time works best for your crowd.  This may depend upon the ages of your guests.
• Check An Easter Egg Hunt Brunch for a suggested menu.

The Big Hunt

• If the children are diverse ages, create two separate areas for hunting.  Consider the front yard for big kids and the back yard for the little ones.
• Pair helpful teenagers with toddlers.
• Hide the eggs according to the age of the hunters – easy spots for the younger set and trickier locations for the more experienced hunters!
• Limit the number of eggs that each child can find so that all the children end up with a similar number of prizes.  As mentioned above, 10 eggs is a reasonable number.
• Ask your guests to BYOB or bring their own basket!  Or provide each child with a plain, white gift bag and have them decorate it when they arrive at the party.  The children can then fill the bag with eggs during the hunt.

Final Thoughts

Will your egg hunt be an annual event or a one time only event?

• If you’d like to host the hunt again, I recommend collecting the plastic eggs after the children have emptied the contents into their bags or baskets.
• If it’s a one time only event, let the eggs go home with the kids!

The Golden Egg

• This is an idea where one or two golden eggs are hidden along with the plain plastic eggs.  The finders of the golden eggs receive a special, larger prize.
• DON’T do this!  As the parent of 2 crying children at last year’s hunt, one of whom was knocked over by a more aggressive hunter, the golden egg is not worth it’s weight in gold!

Have a wonderful celebration!  And watch out for that leftover candy!

You may also enjoy:

• Theme Your Kids’ Easter Baskets
• Fun Easter Craft
• Easter with Kids
• Easy Easter Baskets

Tags: easter egg hunt, how to host an easter egg hunt, fabulous, fun, easter egg hunt for children, easter family fun, ideas, menu, recipes