March 2018

I had good intentions of sharing this post several days ago, but my intentions seem to be really conflicting with what real life has to offer me lately. I’ll save that for another day or we could go down a rabbit hole. Speaking of rabbits, Easter has seemed to creep up on us. This weekend will be pretty low key for our family: we’ll have an Easter egg hunt with our neighbors and attend church. I think we have a birthday party to attend as well. I’ll be REALLY happy if I get to take a nap or two. The past week has been crazy busy around here, and I know I’ll be ready for a little R&R in a couple of days.

I’ve been collecting items for Braden’s Easter basket for awhile thanks to my impromptu visits to Home Goods and Target, so I thought I’d share a few of those items and other ideas that make the holiday festive. Keep in mind, I have a toddler boy who is 3 years 7 months. How the heck did that even happen, by the way!? Some of my suggestions are catered to his likes, but I think many of these items are perfect for both boys and girls.

I recall my parents doing an Easter egg hunt for us growing up, giving us Easter baskets full of treats and peppering the front yard with colorful eggs filled with candy. We’d collect them in the yard while dressed up in our new church outfits and pose for pics. I appreciate that my mom did that for us, and I love creating little traditions for Braden that hopefully he’ll remember one day, too. I still have to supplement his Easter basket with some candy because I got into that the past few days. #pregnantladyproblems But for the most part, many of these items are easily found on Amazon, which per the norm, is how I roll. My neighbor told me that we’re definitely winning the package game on our block since we get a ton of stuff everyday. I can’t imagine life without the convenience of online shopping!

I have a basket from the past two years that I will pull out once again for all the treats, but I also picked up another basket because it was just so soft and cute. I’ll probably fill this one with smaller treats and  let him bring it to school for his spring party and Easter egg hunt.  The other bucket is much larger and I got at Target two years ago. I’ve linked a a couple below plus all the treats I have currently hid in a closet until later this week.

Easter basket essentials

• Baskets: cute white bunny basket and larger basket with liner that could be used year after  year
• Books: We have a few of these from previous years (God Gave Us Easter, I Love You, Honey Bunny,  Happy Easter, Mouse! and Llama, Llama Easter Egg.) We’ve been reading this one, The Story of Easter, a lot lately which, of course, helps give some context to the holiday that is much more meaningful. I ordered this little set of four books, which I should be receiving in the mail tomorrow. And, this Blaze an the Monster Machines obsession continues, so I found this book that I know he’ll love.
• Spring/Summer essentials: I got Braden a pair of swim trunks and new sunglasses. This kid has more sunglasses than I do!
• Playdoh eggs – We’re all about the playdoh lately, so these cute little eggs are perfect.
• Artsy items – coloring book, paint, and dry erase markers or colors to use on the art easel are always a hit. I also have a random stash of things I pick up at HomeGoods like this model car kit for him to paint.
• Plastic Easter eggs –  I have a ton leftover from last year but I would go to the Dollar store if I needed more.
• Bunny ears – $1 in the Target One Spot section. I pretty much have a whole cabinet with  seasonal items from this section. Target created this section for suckers like me.
• Items that fit into the eggs:
  • Dinosaurs
  • Bandaids – lately, they are basically stickers.  I picked up a ton in the One Spot Target section and tons of options on Amazon are available like this pack.
  • Stamps  – One Spot at Target finds
  • Stickers – One Spot at Target has a ton. Here are some cute eggs and bunnies.
  • Edible items – I have hoarded some candy that I like (and Braden likes as well) because I pretty much deserve it for all my crafty mom Easter basket shenanigans. Fruit snacks like Annie’s Bunnies are always a hit, and the small boxes of vanilla yogurt raisins, which are Braden’s version of crack that I just buy at the grocery store (much less expensive than Amazon.) are always a winner, too.

We are so fortunate to have built-in playmates on our street, so we’re doing an easy potluck Easter breakfast after the kids do their Easter egg hunting. I picked up some Easter egg hunt signs from Target for the yard. Cute signs  linked  here and here. Getting paper plates and cups for them is another fun way to make the morning a little special for them. I picked up some at HomeGoods weeks ago because I go to HomeGoods and come home with a bag of random things every time. Tell me I’m not alone! I’ve seen the meme that basically says: I go to HomeGoods so it can tell me what I need not vice versa.

Cupcake toppers to put on muffins (store-bought or homemade) are super easy and I have Peter Rabbit ones I picked up at HomeGoods ( are you surprised?) and also saw these cute toppers the other day, too. I bought Braden a few things for his kids table that we’ve already been using like this plate, cup, napkin and utensil set. I bought a set of two so we will have for family breakfasts in the future because I’m a cheesy mom who likes to set up a kids’ table for holidays. Ben – don’t hate. We’ve been using these items the past week or so. I did a Thanksgiving kids table as well, which I shared in this post.

I have a feeling I’ve probably bought too many things and some items  will end up getting saved for later. The good news is many of these items are perfect for using over and over again like the baskets or the books, so don’t feel too guilty for buying all this random stuff.

Let Amazon Prime be your friend and make your life easy if you’re still working on putting together baskets. Otherwise, I have seen plenty of cute items at my local Kroger, HomeGoods, Target, World Market, and Pottery Barn Kids. William Sonoma and Nordstrom have festive items, too.

My MIL gave me a Easter bunny cake mold recently,  which Ben and his sister told me they remember as children. It’s 3D, sort of like this one. Honestly, this looks like something I could easily turn into a Pinterest fail. This looks really intimidating and sort of gives me anxiety to think about making it. Can you imagine how long it would take to make this? This link say it’s a weekend project. Um, no. If I get a big wave of energy, perhaps I will share my efforts.

If you have any other fun treats or Easter traditions, I’d love to hear!