If you are looking for more whimsical and fun Easter desserts, your wait is almost over. Next week I will have a roundup of fun Easter themed desserts that are full of whimsy. Make sure you are subscribed to my blog so you don’t miss any of my updates.

Easter Desserts-Fancy Cakes

• Lots of people think of carrot cake when they think of Easter dessert. This carrot cake from Food Meanderings is said to be healthy and light!
• Maybe Hybrid Rasta Mama’s Carrot Cake Cheesecake is more to your liking.
• A pound cake is also nice for Easter. Maybe this Dairy Free Lemon Pound Cake from Make it Dairy Free is perfect for your celebration
• This Orange Pound Cake from The Mom Maven is a personal favorite of mine.
• Yum! Baked Broiled and Basted shares her Strawberry Delight Ice Box Cake!
• I love a good Humming Bird cake. This Humming Bird Cake from Raia’s Recipes is Gluten Free and Dairy Free!
• I need to try this No Bake Easter Creme Egg Ice Box Cake from Food Meanderings!
• My Rainbow Cake from The Mom Maven was a lot of work but it impressed my extended family!
• Everyday Delicious shared this impressive Chocolate Orange Bundt Cake.
• Fans of Rocky Road should try this Rocky Road Cake from Recipes from a Pantry.
• I’ve always wanted to make a checkerboard cake. Maybe I’ll try this Easter Checkerboard Cake from Amanda’s Cookin’ since we are going to an Easter celebration where there are chocolate allergies!
• Merkari Mother shares this beautiful Easter Drip Cake!

Easter Desserts-Pies and Tarts

• This Lemon Chiffon Pie from Went There 8 This would be a beautiful addition to any Easter table.
• I am intrigued by this Creme Egg Chocolate Ganache Tart by Baking Queen 74.
• These personal Raspberry Lemon Meringue Tarts from The Olive Blogger look heavenly!

Easter Desserts

• Need a Vegan Easter Dessert? Rhian’s Recipes shares her Vegan Cashew Chocolate Truffles recipe with us today.
• Love Lemon? Try these Meyer Lemon Shortbread Cookies from The Curious Frugal.
• I am obsessed with all of these Creme Egg Recipes!! Went There 8 That shares her Cadbury Creme Egg Brownies!
• It is about time I make my Strawberry Trifle again, it is so yummy!

Easter Breads

• The Individual Easter Italian Bread Rings from Christina’s Cucina are so cute!
• Hot Cross Buns are an Easter staple. Have you ever had Coconut Mango Hot Cross Buns? Recipes from a Pantry shares her African recipe with us today.
• Christina’s Cucina shares another recipe with us as well, her Italian Dove Bread, which is also known as Colombia di Pasqua.

I’m sure you have found at least one recipe here to try. I know I have!! Make sure you come back next week to see all the fun and whimsical Easter desserts!

The post 22 Fancy Easter Desserts to Wow Your Guests appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Supplies

• Hot Glue Gun
• Glue Sticks (you can get both glue gun and glue sticks from Glue Guns Direct shop)
• Styrofoam Wreath Form (I got the small one from the Dollar Tree)
• 30 feet of ribbon (I got 4 spools of 3yds each at the Dollar Tree)
• Plastic Easter Eggs (I got a package of 18 at the Dollar Tree)

Since I already owned my glue gun and glue sticks this craft cost me $6.00=tax to make!

Directions

1. Heat up the glue gun.
2. Remove the ribbon from the spool (I found it easier to work with this way).
3. Add a dot of glue on the inside of the wreath form and adhere the end of the ribbon.
4. Wrap the ribbon tightly around the form adding a drop of glue on the inside every 3-4 wraps.
   

   Wrap the wreath form with ribbon.

5. When you run out of ribbon, add a dot of glue and overlap the new ribbon with the old and continue until the wreath is completely covered.
6. Cut about a 2′ piece of ribbon and fold it in half. Wrap the ribbon around the wreath and slip the ends through, tie the loose ends together for hanging.
   

   Create a ribbon loop for hanging.

7. Place a thick line of glue about 5″ long on the wreath and start adding eggs. make sure the narrow end is pointing into the middle.
   

   Hot glue the eggs in place.

8. Continue this process until the wreath is completed.
9. Allow the glue to dry completely before hanging.

As you can see it is a pretty easy craft that took me about an hour to make. I love the way it looks on my door and my neighbor commented on it seconds after I put it up! I hope you like this and all the crafts I share here. Please feel free to use the sharing buttons to share this and all of my crafts across social media.

The post How to Make an Easter Egg Wreath appeared first on The Mom Maven.

I love this Easter Egg Bouquet from Crafty Journal. They are easy to make and would be a nice addition to your Easter buffet or dinner table.

The Crafty Chameleon has ideas for three different types of creative Easter baskets to add to your Easter celebration.

I made this adorable Easter candy gift bag craft as part of the HERSHEY’S #bunnytrail promotion.

I have made this craft with kids at church several times over the last few years. It is pretty easy and the kids enjoy making 3D Easter Eggs.

This Easter Egg Wreath by Scrumptilicious4You is the craft I still want to make this Easter season. It dowsn’t seem too difficult and I’d like to start making seasonal wreaths for my home.

So, what do you think? Will you try at least one of these craft projects this year? Leave me a comment and tell me which one you’d like to try.

The post 5 Easter Crafts You Can Make appeared first on The Mom Maven.

HERSHEY’s Chocolates Candy Jar

Supplies:

• 1 smooth Mason Jar
• Spring Washi Tape
• HERSHEY’S KISSES Milk Chocolates
• WHOPPERS ROBIN EGGS
• JOLLY RANCHER Jelly Beans
• CADBURY Creme Eggs

Directions
Pop the lid insert out of the Mason Jar and decorate with Washi Tape.

Decide how you want to decorate the Mason Jar with the Washi Tape. I just used tape on the jar’s seams. You can do whatever makes you happy.

Carefully layer the candies in the jar.
Seal the jar tightly to keep the candy fresh.
This craft would make a great decoration, centerpiece or party favor.

REESE’S Easter Centerpiece

This craft takes a little more time than the one above but it isn’t difficult and it adds a nice pop of color to your table or mantle.
Supplies:

• 11 dowels (I used 12″ 3/16″ craft dowels-bamboo skewers would also work)
• 1 bag of Easter grass
• Floral Foam
• A glue gun and glue sticks
• 4 REESE’S Peanut Butter Eggs
• 4 REESE’S Reester Bunnies
• An adorable  small-medium sized Easter/Spring themed gift bag
• Saw

Directions

1. Cover your work space with newspaper.
2. Fill the gift bag with floral foam-cutting to fit.
3. Cut 4 of the dowels to 11″
4. Using a dowel make 11 holes in the floral foam in three rows 4-3-4
5. Using the hot glue gun adhere the 4 REESE’S Peanut Butter Eggs to 4 of the 12″ dowels
6. Adhere the 4 REESE’S Reester Bunnies to the 11″ dowels
7. Adhere clumps of Easter grass to the remaining 3 dowels
8. Allow the hot glue to cool completely
9. Insert the 4 egg dowels in the back row of holes
10. Insert the 4 bunny dowels in the front row of holes
11. Insert the grass dowels to the middle row and fluff the grass as needed
12. Add additional grass to the top of the floral foam to hide the foam.

If you are looking for more crafty candy ideas visit CelebrateWithHersheys.com. There you can find ideas like the HERSHEY’S Flower Pot Bouquet Craft and the Baker’s Basket.

HERSHEY’S Easter Prize Pack Giveaway (The Giveaway is Over!)

Enter to win your own HERSHEY’S Easter Prize Pack filled with candy. This giveaway is open to US entries only. This giveaway ends at 12:00am on March 23, 2014. The winner will be chosen by Rafflecopter and verified by me. The winner will be notified via email and will have 48 hours to claim their prize by responding to the email.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received product from Hershey’s and a stipend from Global Influence for this post. All opinions are 100% mine.

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You can always add that perfect crunch to any sandwich or burger by adding a Vlasic pickle on the side or as a topper, but if you want to get a little more creative, check out these innovative ideas from celebrity chef Kevin Roberts to ensure that this year’s Easter celebration is the best it can be. Kevin, a.k.a. “The Food Dude,” is author of Munchies and Kissing in The Kitchen, media personality, executive chef and owner of three successful restaurants, and was most recently seen as a finalist on the Food Network’s The Next Food Network Star.

CREAMY EGG SALAD ON ENDIVE

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 carton Eggs, hard-boiled and chopped

1/2 cup, Mayonnaise

1/2 cup, Dill Vlasic Pickles, chopped

SALT and PEPPER to taste

1 Endive, cleaned and end cut off, peel leaves apart

Vlasic Dill Pickle Spears, for garnish

Instructions: Boil eggs until hard. Cool, de-shell and add yolk and whites to mixing bowl. Chop in bowl.  Add mayonnaise, chopped pickles, salt and pepper and mix well.  Stuff egg mixture into the endive leaves, plate and garnish with pickle spears.

EGG SALAD MELTS

Serves 4-8

Ingredients:

1 carton Eggs, hard-boiled and chopped

1/2 cup Mayonnaise

1/2 cup, Dill Vlasic pickles, chopped, for mix and garnish

SALT and PEPPER to taste

1 package Bagels, halved

4 slices Cheddar Cheese

Instructions: Boil eggs until hard. Cool, de-shell and add yolk and whites to mixing bowl. Chop in bowl. Add mayonnaise, chopped pickles, salt and pepper and mix well.

Toast bagel halves, add egg mixture on top, add cheese slice and bake in oven until cheese is melted.

CRAB STUFFED DEVILED EGGS

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 carton eggs, hard-cooked

2 (6 ounce) cans crab meat

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon sale

1 Vlasic® Baby Dill or Sweet Gherkin pickle, thin sliced, 1 inch long

Instructions: Cool eggs first, then cut in half lengthwise and remove yolks, keeping whites intact.  In a large bowl mash the yolks and crab meat. Mix the mayonnaise, cumin, paprika, pepper and salt. Make sure all ingredients are nice and blended.  Stuff mixture into egg whites covering entire top. Place thin slice of pickle on top of each egg mixture.

The post Easy Recipes-Easter Snacks from Vlasic appeared first on The Mom Maven.

This versatile easy recipe is perfect for your Easter dessert and enables you to entertain on a shoestring. Store-bought sweets can be expensive, and economic times call for easy and budget-friendly ideas.

For more recipes, log onto www.duncanhines.com.

“HELLO CUPCAKE!” EASTER EGGS

Created by the authors of the popular cupcake decorating book Hello Cupcake!. This is a fun Easter project to make with the kids or with your baking friends. All it takes are easy-to-find ingredients, fun food dye colors and delicious frosting. Easter Egg Cupcakes aren’t hard to make — but they’re sure to impress as gifts, or to decorate your holiday table.

Print

Easter Egg Cupcakes

Author cindy

Ingredients

• 12 unfrosted Moist Deluxe Devil’s Food Cake Mix cupcakes baked in white paper liners
• 12 honey graham crackers
• 2 cans 16 ounces Creamy Homestyle Classic Vanilla Frosting
• Green yellow, orange, blue, purple, and pink food coloring
• 2 tablespoons each mini and regular white pink, green, and blue decorations

Instructions

• Tint 2 cups of the frosting light green. Spoon 1 1/2 cups of the light green frosting into a zippered plastic bag. Tint 1/2 cup each of vanilla frosting pink, light blue, light purple, orange, and yellow. Spoon 2 tablespoons each into zippered plastic bags. Press out the excess air in each of the bags, seal, and set aside.
• Using a serrated knife, trim the graham crackers into an egg shape 3 1/2 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide. Snip a small corner (1/4 inch) from the bag with the 1 1/2 cups of green frosting and pipe a small dollop on top of each cupcake and place a graham cracker on top, pressing down to secure. The cracker will hang over the edge of the cupcake. Freeze the cupcakes for 10 to 15 minutes to set.
• Place the remaining 1/2 cup of each tinted frosting into a separate microwavable bowl. Working with one color at a time, microwave the frosting, stirring frequently, until it is the texture of lightly whipped cream, 20 to 30 seconds. Holding a chilled cupcake by the paper liner dip the graham cracker into the melted frosting to coat, turn right side up and let stand. Continue with all of the cupcakes and graham crackers making two eggs of each color.
• Snip very small corners (1/8 inch) from the bags with the 2 tablespoons of frosting. Pipe decorative dots, lines, and dashes on top of the frosting-coated crackers. Using the bag with the 1 1/2 cups of light green frosting, pipe dots of frosting around base of each egg always pulling the peak away from the egg (be sure to cover any exposed cupcake).
• While the frosting is still wet add candy decors to create decorative patterns.

The post Easy Recipes-Sweet Treats for your Easter Celebration appeared first on The Mom Maven.

Crafts

Make a Sheep Egg using hard-boiled eggs, vibrant egg dye, a cute pipe cleaner stand, and some glued-on details (paper ears, pom-pom nose, and so on), this critter is an Easter favorite.

Try some Pop-Up Eggs! Make your Easter extra festive with this 3-D paper egg. The secret to its look is colorful, accordion-folded paper strips.
Bunny Bean Bags: Make your own bunny beanbag and get some use from the single socks left behind.

Easter Activities

• The Great Egg Drop: Kids construct protective coverings around raw eggs before dropping onto a target below. The goal is to hit the bull’s eye without breaking the eggs – making a little bit of a mess and a lot of fun memories!
• Less Sugary Easter Egg Hunts: Fill plastic eggs with puzzle pieces to make Easter egg hunts more fun and less sugary.
• A Kid-Friendlier Way to Dye Eggs: Put the eggs in wire whisks, and dip away!

Check out these and the hundreds of other great Easter celebration ideas online or in Disney’s FamilyFun magazine.

The post Fun Easter Ideas for Your Kids appeared first on The Mom Maven.

This year you can get your child their own cool Easter oilcloth tote bag. Tanner Bananer is an awesome mom-owned company in South Carolina. Sabrina Vegis founded Tanner Bananer, named after her daughter Tanner, in May of 2003. As a mother of two, Sabrina saw a need for adult and children’s products that were eye-catching and easy to clean! Tanner Bananer’s beautiful and robust Mexican oilcloth (which is actually printed vinyl) is just that! “The little ones love the bright colors and parents love the ease of care.” said Vegis. “Chocolate smears and smashed jelly beans just wipe away with a damp cloth.

According to Vegiss, “Tanner Bananer oilcloth products come in cheery spring colors so they are ideal for Easter displays or the yearly egg hunt.” Her product line includes five different styles of totes, three styles of marketbags, adult and children’s aprons, bibs, changing pads, splat mats as well as porch and patio pillows. For an additional $10 you can have your purchase personalized. All Tanner Bananer products are sewn in the South Carolina Lowcountry and are sold in the open-air historic market in downtown Charleston every Friday and Saturday.

You can purchase any of the Tanner Bananer products by clicking the link.

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