Easter Mantel

I decided to decorate our mantel for Easter this year with only using things I had around the house. It turned out okay but I think next year I will leave the black family sign out. It is too dark with the other items.

I used a few glass vases I had and filled a couple with clear Easter grass and plastic eggs. The other two I filled with assorted plastic eggs only. I added a couple stuffed bunnies, a stuffed Easter egg and some green candles in the back. I had a single cloth napkin I found on clearance last year so I folded it and placed it in the middle. The green bunny egg holder I made and will be showing you how to do that in a couple of days. I added a glass jar I had that was filled with rocks, two Pine Cone Bunnies my boys made and an Easter sign. I finished it off with a bunny serving dish.

Pine Cone Bunnies

My oldest son loves holidays. I mean LOOOOVVVEES holidays. When I told him we were making pine cone bunnies he wanted to make them right that second. Problem was, we had to find the pine cones. After a few walks around the neighborhood we finally found some that would work for our project.

What you will need:

pine cones

googly eyes

pipe cleaners

pom poms

felt

card stock or construction paper-white and pink

glue

hot glue gun

Start by cutting out the card stock for the ears and teeth. Use glue to attach pink inner ear to the white outer. Cut out felt for the feet. I attached mine to some foam to help it stand better. Use hot glue to attach the whiskers, pom pom nose and teeth. Glue on the eyes, ears and tail. Attach to the feet and use a black marker to draw some "toes".

My 5 year old was able to help with a lot of it but my 2 year old pretty much just threw the supplies on the floor so I had to pick them up a million times. They both really love the bunnies though and are very proud of them.

Homemade Applesauce

I got a good deal on apples a couple weeks ago so I used them to make applesauce. It made my house smell great while it was cooking. We will definitely be having this again soon.

Ingredients:

7 lbs apples (I used Fuji)

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1. In a slow cooker, toss together the apples, brown sugar and lemon juice.

2. Cover and cook on high for 3 hours or until apples are very tender.

3. Mash up the apples with a potato masher.

4. Stir in the cinnamon.

This is great by itself but would also be yummy as a crepe filling or on pancakes.

This recipe is linked to:

Tasty Tuesday

Menu Plan- April 10th - 16th

My Mother-In-Law gave me some slow cooker recipes when I was visiting last week. Some of them sound very good so I will be making several dinners from those recipes. Should be a fairly easy cooking week since I will be using the slow cooker so much. Breakfasts: Pioneer Women's cinnamon rolls & fruit eggs in a hole cereal/oatmeal X 2 pancakes blueberry muffins eggs and toast Lunches: Leftovers X3 sandwiches and fruit Eat Out Lunch at a birthday party Dinners: Texas BBQ Beef N Beans and Veggies Slow Cooker Chicken Breasts, Rice and Salad Soup and Rolls Slow Cooker Taco Casserole and Salad Picnic Meal at the Drive-In movie BBQ Sloppy Joe's and fruit Hot dogs & Hamburgers on the grill with pasta salad and fruit

Yard Sales April 9th

It is finally yard sale season. One of my favorite subdivisions (the one I hope to live in someday) had a community yard sale. I wasn't looking for anything specific but found a few items to take home. I spent $7 for two pairs of shoes, a cookbook, basket, package of balloons, stuffed M&M (for my mom), a snowman sign, Easter egg ornaments and a package of raw hides for my dog.

CVS Trip April 9th

CVS:

Total Spent $.67

Total Saved $9.62

10 Snickers Eggs (Reg. $.87, Sale $.50 - $1/2Q = FREE)

Straws (Reg. $1.59)

I paid using a $1 ECB and $.67 OOP. I earned a $1 ECB for bringing my own bag.

Cinnamon & Sugar Snowflake Snacks

My oldest son is on spring break so I have been looking for things to do to keep him busy. One idea I came across is to make a snowflake shaped snack out of tortillas. My son loved the idea and jumped right in to help.

Fold the tortilla in half then fold in half again. With a pair of clean scissors cut out shapes like you would if making paper snowflakes. Place the snowflakes on a greased cookie sheet. Spray the top with cooking spray and sprinkle with cinnamon...

and sugar.

Bake at 400 degrees for about 7 minutes. Watch closely so they don't burn.

Let them cool and enjoy.

My husband and I make them as snacks (without cutting a snowflake shape). After they come out of the oven we sprinkle with powdered sugar and a drizzle of chocolate sauce.