Easy Spring Décor

 

In my powder room, I have a frame that holds chicken wire. I use it to add a little touch of seasonal décor to the tiny room. I usually find a greeting card that I like and then cut it apart so I can show the front of the card as well as what might be written inside. It a simple way to bring the season or holiday into another room of the house. I use clothes pins to hold the card in place.

Originally I was using the first set of five clothes pins that I decoupaged with craft paper to match the room.

As each season rolls around, I’ve been trying to change the clothes pins as well. I bought a package of 50 at Wal-Mart of just a few dollars.

To get ready for spring, I pulled out three new clothes pins and put a quick coat of yellow paint on the top side.

 

 

 Then I used some rubber stamps that I picked up from the dollar bin at the craft store. With a little dab into ink then were ready to go.

 

I love projects that I can prep, finish and clean up so quickly. It’s a great way to get motivated for a bigger project too.

Foolish Fun

After all the Leprechaun mischief it would be impossible to allow April fool’s day to go by without a little trickery.

For the past few years, I have been playing food games with the kiddos. Now we are to the point where they are looking forward to Mommy’s antics.

So far my April fool pranks have been a twist on what they are giving at meal time.

This year they started their day off with a fried egg…

That’s an egg, right?

 

Well, since they are not really fond of fried eggs, I gave them yogurt and half of an apricot. (Healthier than the white chocolate eggs they got last year.) Being that they were not sure what it was at first, there was some hesitation for the first few bites but then they caught on.

Ops, Mommy forgot to pour your milk. Here ya go… What the????

A drop of food color in the glass before they came down to the table and I was prepped for trick number 2.

Off to school after a few; “Your sock is untied” and “There’s a bug on your nose” and then I was busy plotting my dinner plans.

 

 

Jell-o in a drinking glass with a straw makes for some “hard to drink” juice. (I’ve done this one before but they love it)

For the entrée I made “pasta” I put some off-white icing in a piping bag. I chilled the bowl first so the icing would hold shape nicely. Then I filled the dish with “squiggles” (that’s a technical term).

 

Now for the meatballs and sauce I used Ferrero Rocher Chocolates and seedless red raspberry jam.

 

The only thing missing was a veggie. Oh but wait…I have the perfect fix.

Broccoli!!

 

I grabbed a handful of green tootsie rolls from the “pick your own” candy bin, borrowed a tablespoon of icing from the “pasta” (added a few drops of food color) and then finished the look with some dark green jimmies.

 

I popped the unwrapped tootsies rolls in the microwave for 5 seconds to soften them up slightly. Then I sliced halfway down each one and pulled the side out like tiny tree branches. Dip the cut ends into colored icing then into the jimmies and you have...

 

broccoli tops!!

 

 

The kids were thrilled with the not so healthy dinner. But what kind of Mom would I be if that is all I had them eat??? They had to have dessert too!! What better dessert than meatloaf cupcakes?

Sounds gross right?

I make a meatloaf but shaped it into cupcake sized balls and baked. Then when they were ready, I put them into a cupcake paper and cover them with (blue) mashed potato icing.

I did manage to get the “pasta” away from them while we ate our “cupcakes”. After dinner, we used Nilla wafers to scoop the pasta up for a tasty treat.

The effort is well worth it to see those smiling faces and hear them laugh and joke with each other. They have been warned that next year’s tricks will be slightly more devilish… Mwahh ha ha haaa….