Tips For Sharing Easter Joy
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off at a local shelter, home or school where someone is in need. This simple act of kindness will inspire others to pass along their generosity too.
Spread the spirit of kindness
? Get the kids into the Easter spirit. Encourage them to make baskets for the lunchroom
monitors, the janitor or the crossing guard.
? Throw an ?Add A Basket? party. Your guests will make treat baskets to give away to local charities.
? Send an Easter e-Basket. Create a beautiful, virtual e-Basket with a message of kindness to friends and family. They just might ?spread it forward.? Go to www.BrightIdeas.com/addabasket.
? For e-Basket links, special basket tags, themed invitations for ?Add A Basket? party
and more creative ideas for an eggs-traordinary Easter, visit www.BrightIdeas.com.
Funny Bunny Cookies
Why not create these hilarious Easter bunnies with your little ones ?
and make up a story about them, too!
Makes 18 bunnies
Prep time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 12 to 15 minutes
Decoration time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate
1 bag M&M?S Milk Chocolate Candies for Easter
1 bag Starburst Fun Size Fruit Chews for Easter, unwrapped
1 tube or bag M&M?S Minis (optional for the bunny?s basket)
Yellow and orange food coloring
1 18-ounce package refrigerated cookie dough
1 16-ounce container white frosting
1. Thinly roll cookie dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Press out two sizes of cookies: 3-inch cookies for bunnies? bodies, and 1-inch cookies for bunnies? heads.
2. Arrange cookies on baking sheet, placing smaller cookies next to larger cookies. Press edges of two sets of cookies together. Bake in preheated 350?F oven 12 to 15 minutes, then cool.
3. Divide icing into 3 small bowls. Tint one bowl with a few drops of orange food coloring and one with yellow. Frost 1/3 of cookies orange, 1/3 yellow and 1/3 white.
4. Soften the Fruit Chews for Easter in microwave for 10 seconds. Mold candy into bunny ears and feet, then press into iced cookies to attach. Dot bunnies? faces with Milk Chocolate Candies for Easter for eyes, noses and mouths.
For the bunny?s basket: Soften one unwrapped Fruit Chews
for Easter piece in your hand (or for 5 seconds in the
microwave) and divide into two equal parts. Shape
half into 1-1/2 inch handle. Shape other half into
semi-circle for basket body. Make diagonal marks
across semi-circle with tip of knife. Press rope
into two outside edges of semi-circle, making a
basket. Place basket on frosted cookie and
fill with several M&M?S Minis.
For the bunny?s carrot: Soften one
unwrapped, orange Fruit Chews for
Easter piece in your hand (or for
5 seconds in the microwave) and
shape into 1-inch-long cone to resemble
a carrot. For carrot top, soften one green
Fruit Chews piece for Easter in same way,
then flatten and cut into spiky fronds. Press
to attach them to carrot and put carrot on cookie.
Cookie Garden
Fill a beautiful basket with yummy, homemade treats.
Take the wonderful centerpiece to a special family gathering.
Makes 12 cookies
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 10 to 12 minutes
Decoration time: 30 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate
Assorted Starburst Jellybeans, M&M?S Milk
Chocolate Speckled Eggs and Dove Chocolate Eggs
1 roll refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 16-ounce container white frosting
Assorted food coloring
12 lollipop sticks
Small basket, Styrofoam or green floral oasis and
Easter grass (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 350?F. Roll cookie dough to
1/4-inch thickness.
2. Using your favorite holiday cookie cutters, press out cookies from each shape. Press lollipop sticks into bottom half of cookies.
3. Bake 10 to 12 minutes; cool completely on wire rack.
4. Color frosting with a variety of food coloring.
Frost cookies and press on assorted jellybeans
and speckled eggs.
5. For display, press Styrofoam into a basket and
cover with Easter grass. Arrange cookie pops by pressing sticks into Styrofoam. Decorate grass with sprinkling of jellybeans and chocolate eggs.
Envelope Bunnies
Here?s a special delivery filled with first-class Easter treats.
Makes 1 bunny
Prep time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Easy
Assorted candies like Fun Size Starburst Jellybeans,
Dove Milk and Dark Chocolate Eggs, and Fun Size
M&M?S Milk Chocolate Candies for Easter
1 10- by 13-inch envelope
1 piece each pink and blue felt, construction paper
or foam
1 cotton ball
3 large chenille pipe cleaners
Non-toxic glue
2 google eyes
1. Using printable template (http://www.brightideas.com
/easter/pop_1396.shtml) as a guide, cut envelope into
shape of bunny face with ears. Cut pink felt into two
ear shapes, and glue them onto bunny ears.
2. Twist two pipe cleaners together in middle, forming an
?X? for nose and whiskers. Glue pipe cleaners at twist
onto center of bunny face. Glue cotton ball on top of
twist.
3. Cut two small hearts from blue felt for eyes. Glue them
just above whiskers. Glue a google eye in center of each felt heart.
4. Shape remaining pipe cleaner into a smile, and place it just
underneath whiskers.
5. Fill opening at top with Easter grass and an assortment of candy.