Happy Easter All

 Just a quick post (as I have much to do this evening to prepare for tomorrow) to wish you surrounded by family and friends Easter Sunday.  Thank you mom for the wonderful cookies today, they are outstanding.

Apologies all for the picture below....I couldn't resist and we are P.D. Eastman fans in this house.

See you Monday.

xox
Dish

A Few Interesting Egg Decorating Tips I Wish I Knew Years Ago

So this particular post will not wow you with our professionally decorated coloured eggs, in fact it may underwhelm you with our low skill level.  No this post is to give you a few tips that I picked up from Mrs. Q this year that I can't believe I didn't know before now...nothing earth shattering but helpful.  Egg decorating to me is about the kids no matter the age level but as I have particularly young kids things need to be simple. 

Tip #1:  Use either empty toilet paper or paper towel rolls as your egg stands.  Cut them approximately 1 inch deep and you are sitting pretty!

 Tip #2. A simple white crayon before dying allows you to create whatever look you like, protecting those covered areas from the dyes. This is how I created the monogrammed eggs in the first photo. You can be really creative with this!

Tip #3.  With little ones choose mixed medias for your decorating that are easier for them to work with.  Below is the sequenced egg my son made...I think we decided it was a robot.  We also used stickers, markers etc.

Like I said nothing earth shattering, you are probably doing all of them already and obviously it is me that needs to brush up on my Easter Egg decorating skills!  Thanks again Mrs Q!

Happy Good Friday.

xox
Dish

Bobbette & Belle's Chocolate Nests Courtesy Of My Mother

I am blown away by these fantastic chocolate nests that my mother made yesterday from a recipe by Toronto pastry artists Bobbette & Belle.  Aren't they hilarious?!  My wonderfully supportive mother even took step by step photos so that we could share this project with all of you.  You're the best ma. 

Chocolate Easter Nests (excerpt from the Marilyn Denis Show )

• 8 oz semi-sweet or milk chocolate, chopped
• 2 – 2 ½ cups chow mein noodles
• Garnish: small jelly beans, Cadbury Mini eggs

1. Line a baking pan with a piece of aluminium foil, spray with non-stick vegetable spray.
2. Melt the chocolate in a heat-proof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Gently fold in chow mein noodles, being careful not to break them.
3. Spoon six mounds of the mixture onto the prepared pan. Use your fingers to form each mound into a 4-inch (10 cm) nest shape. Make a small indentation in the centre of each nest.
4. Place the pan, with the chocolate nests, in the refrigerator to set (about 30 minutes). Just before serving, remove the nests from the refrigerator and place some small jelly beans or other egg-shaped candy in the centre of each nest. Makes about 6 nests.

If you want to wow a crowd but need something that is ridiculously easy I am certain this should be your project.  Don't forget to add the little chick (from the Dollar Store) in your presentation.  I think the whole thing is priceless.

Such fun and thanks again mom. 

xox
Dish

Easter Egg Filled Paper Carrots

 I've been looking and thinking for a few weeks now as to what I was going to make for my son to share with the kids in his class tomorrow.  I saw this totally adorable idea on Oh Happy Day and I just had to give it a try. 

See the visual "How To" below:

A few notes. 

1.  Size of the paper for each cone is 8.5x5.5 (8.5x11 cut in half).

2.  Paper for both the cone and the greens are just a regular printing paper (not card stock).

3.  Depending on how tightly you make your cone you will need anywhere between 5-7 eggs.  Those below have 7 chocolate Easter eggs in each. 

4.  The greens are cut 1/4 inch wide. 

5.  Be assured the more you do the better you get so don't panic if you seem to be all thumbs in the beginning...I most certainly was!!

Wouldn't these be absolutely perfect for an outdoor egg hunt?!!  I love it!!

Happy crafting all.

xox

Dish

Our Spring Butterfly Dessert For The Easter Gathering

So here is the cake that I mentioned a few days ago my son and I created for the Easter Warm Up party we went to on Sunday.  It is super fun to decorate for the kids (okay...for us too) and reasonably easy to make.  I tried it once as a two layer cake and it didn't work out as perfectly as it does as a one layer so I would suggest you make two butterflies or use the left over cake batter for another project.

See below for a visual "how to".

I had a wonderful realisation during the making of this cake with my beautiful son.  It occurred to me although I always tried to do crafts with my kids it was never to the level of that which I do now in order to keep up the blog for all of you.  I started this blog to ensure that in my busy life there was a part of the day that I kept for myself.  It is evident to me now that by doing this project the reward is far more than I ever could have imagined for both myself and my kids.   

Thank you all for continuing to come and support this little project.  I hope our adventures really do translate into time spent with you and your family.

Fondly,

xox

Dish

A Twist On Decorating Easter Eggs: Here Comes The Chocolate!

My family was invited to decorate Easter eggs yesterday with our friends up the street and what a creative group they are! Sure we did the traditional egg dying but this brilliant mom came up with an easy and fun kid craft that really stole the show. She set us up to paint with coloured chocolate and pre-made chocolate Easter eggs; above is my eldest son's creation.

You need the Nestle Smarties filled chocolate eggs (these came in a carton like package), paint trays with brushes and different coloured melting chocolate from your local bulk food store.  The older girls put the trays of the chocolate pieces into the microwave for less than one minute (longer and the chocolate burns we determined) and we were ready.  Great idea right?!  No worries about needing to be delicate with the fragile white eggs and everything was safe and edible lest it get onto hands and into mouths.

This last photo was the egg I made to resemble my husband...he didn't see the likeness (he doesn't have as good an eye as I do apparently for this sort of thing).

Thanks Q Family!!  We had a blast.

xox

Dish

(Candy eyes also from the Bulk Food Store:  Bulk Barn)

What To Do With Left Over Cake Batter?

Today's craft with my son was to make the cake for a little project that we will complete tomorrow for you to see later in the week (assuming all goes well).  Because of that I had excess cake batter that needed to be made up into something and I had the perfect answer.

A girlfriend a while ago gave me a cake pan that has 6 mini "present" moulds in it and we used it to make four petite gateau.  Now after the experience with my son to make these little beauties I was exhausted and wanted the decorating portion of the cake adventure to be very very simple and quick to complete.   With that, I used a cup of icing sugar and a bit of water to make a paste which I then painted with a paint brush onto certain areas of the present awaiting sprinkle application.

A super easy way to have fun on a Saturday afternoon with my wee chef and hopefully we will do it all again tomorrow!

Night all, remember no post tomorrow.

See you Monday.

xox

Dish

Printable Easter Tags; You Give Them Some Sass

I wanted to make some quick and easy to use and "pretty up" Easter printable tags for us all this year.  Usually I use a boring blank tag for treat bags because I am grabbing whatever I can last minute but alas the cycle has broken tonight!  I whipped up this sheet of tags with a simple bunny image that I greyed out so you can put your own personal twist on the little fella depending on what you are attaching him to (loving not using my colour printer for this).  Although you don't see it above, Ellie's gift tag will also get a small white pom pom attached to the bunny for a tail (I will use the glue gun for that in the morning).

Here is what you need.

Print the template here, pull out some coloured pencils, paints, glitter etc etc and make these bad boys your own.  I love that I happened to have a piece of Kraft card stock and I look forward to using the rest of these tags with some twine.  Notice I also ran the pencil around the edge of the tag which you may want to consider as they looked as though they were "missing" something when I neglected that the first go round.

I hope you like them and they become a part of your holiday this year.

Quickly a note about the One Of A Kind Show in Toronto that I went to last night.  Lots of nice things, two vendors in particular I think I will share with you but as neither were Easter oriented lets hold off until after the holiday.  Other than that it was a great outing of sanity with mom although we were out far far too late for a work night...  ugh if only my younger self could see what a wimp I have turned into! 

Night all,

xox
Dish

Unique Easter Finds

The great thing about my day job is I have time between appointments to mill around a bit in fun areas within the city.  I now carry my camera everywhere as I never know when I will fall in love with something and then spend the rest of the day annoyed that I couldn't snap a picture of it.  Earlier this week I came across these happy Easter finds and wanted to share. 

As I mentioned during our Valentine's prep I am always looking for items to give my kids at holidays that aren't edible.   In this French inspired boutique, Belle De Provence, I found several Easter items that oozed cuteness and no calories.  What do you think about the little tin eggs seen in the above and below pictures?  In my mind I see these hung on a little Easter tree, each one filled with a perfect spring surprise.  I also have a crush on the bunny couple above...

 These candy jars would be beautiful in a shop window and the royal trio below would add perfectly to my holiday mantel decor.

 I had the pleasure of talking briefly to Sabrina, the manager of the Belle De Provence store in Bayview Village Shopping Centre in Toronto and asked her how she would describe the store.  It's a French Vintage themed shop with a strong feminine approach to luxury bath/body products and gift ware.  You can buy all of their bath and body products on-line but unfortunately the gift ware is only available in the store (although if you call they will ship gift ware items to you).

Not a bad adventure to break up the work day and certainly worth checking out if you are in the area and need to indulge yourself.  Sadly since I was focused on Easter I didn't pick up any bath products for myself whilst I was there....I guess a soak in the baby bubble bath will have to do for tonight. 

Night all,
xox
Dish

Belle De Provence --- Bayview Village Shopping Centre
2901 Bayview Ave, Toronto, Ontario M2K 1E6
416.512.2767
lothantique.ca

Printable Easter Egg Stained Glass Template

Simple and pretty eggs to create some Easter bunting or window art for the holiday gatherings.  The first egg pattern allows for much creativity either with your hand punches or scissors.  I like the delicate butterfly pattern that doesn't overwhelm the eye and balances off the heavy pattern of the other egg. This would look wonderful with the two patterns alternating down the line. 

Special "How To" Notes:

1.  Each egg requires a front and a back with the tissue paper in the middle....so you need two egg cut outs for every one egg.

2.  The heavier the card stock the better for the eggs as you reduce the chance of being able to see the tissue pieces through the card stock when held up to the light.

3.  When punching or cutting patterns into the card stock eggs ensure that you punch/cut the two together in order to ensure the patterns line up perfectly.

 You can download the egg template here.

Love to hear your thoughts and hope you enjoy.

Night all,
xox
Dish

DIY Paper Easter Baskets

I love teachers!  They really do know everything but even more fascinating to me is that they can pull it all off with a large number of kids in 10 minutes or less.  Take for example this perfectly festive paper Easter basket that my son made today with his teachers Kathleen and Nelvie. 

Kathleen was kind enough to show me how she put them together in order to share with all of you.  First you need a square sheet of paper, this one is 10 inches, with slits cut up the corners towards the centre approximately 4 inches.  

You then simply pull the sides together and fasten.  Kathleen used a stapler (because she needed to make a million of them) but when I do this I think I will use a needle, thread and a pretty button to secure the sides of the basket.

 Then you just need to fasten on a rectangle to make the handle and you are good to go onto the decorating station!  I may use my scalloped scissors to add some sass to my handle.

Aren't they adorable?!!  Way to go son, I love it and look forward to you bringing it home.

Kathleen, thanks for sharing and keep up the great work!

xox
Dish

Classy Easter Printable Art

I love being able to change some of the artwork on my mantel based upon the season and holiday.  This year I liked the idea of mixing mediums a bit with the printable egg framed and then adding a bit of a pop with a ribbon bow.  Some years I have more than one printable but this year I liked the idea of having the same image in different sizes with coordinating bows.

I printed this image as a jpeg at my local photo finisher but as you may just want to print it at home you can download the pdf version here.

A crazy easy way to quickly add some understated class to your holiday decor.  I personally love it.

See you all Monday, have a wonderful end to your weekend.

xox

Dish

Start The Season Off Right: Bunny and Nest Cupcakes

I went into my crafting archive for this post as I thought we needed to start off the food part of this season with something sweet and easy!  Let's be straight ANYONE can pull off the nest cupcake with some coconut and Cadbury Mini Eggs. 

If however you have a Sunday free why not try crafting some bunny heads with either some modelling chocolate (you can buy or make) or fondant.  To create the bunny ears I used  two sizes of flower cutters (the petal portion specifically) and stuck them together.  I then painted the nose and inner part of the ear with pink luster dust (luster dust, some colourless vanilla and a paint brush).  The hardest part of making these little bunnies was trying not to permanently stain my hands while mixing a small amount of fondant with black colouring to make the eyes. 



Fun right?

Get the kids involved in this one.

Night all.

xox
Dish

Springing Into Action With Potted Bulbs And Easter Eggs

Now that I have my plate clean for awhile from birthday party obligations I am finally able to get excited about spring and Easter.  I have many ideas as to things that I want to do this season but I first needed to fix the house up to celebrate the end of winter.  This for me always means that we have fresh potted bulbs from the local markets and I have my favourites: white tulips, white hyacinths, grape hyacinths and the white crocus.  I have a stock of various white or off white ceramic and glass pots that I throw the ugly plastic green bulb pots into and voila, spring has sprung a casa Dish.

Today I decided to spruce up my beautiful pots with a bit of Easter whimsy, see below.

I am sure you could buy something similar from a floral design store but I like to make my own.  I bought these little eggs from one of my favourite stores (which you will see me site many many times over the lifetime of this blog)  The Creative Bag.  Although I have never done it, you can order from them on-line. 

I felt happier today just by having the bulbed flowers in the house. 
Why don't you treat yourself and pick up a few?

xox
Dish