Eggs, Eggs, Everywhere

We are inundated with eggs!

Eggs to DYE


Eggs to PAINT


Eggs to EAT


-and-

Eggs to HUNT


A beautiful weekend with my beautiful girls. I hope you all have had a wonderful Easter.

Today's Inspiration IV: Apothecary-Style Candy Dish

Lots of apothecary-style candy dishes were prevalent leading up to Halloween last year, most notable the simple-as-can-be tutorial on Dollar Store Crafts. I'm not exactly what you would call "speedy", but I consider getting one assembled before a year has passed pretty good for me. Easter candy tastes just as good! Supplies: Covered Candy Dish, Candlestick and powerful glue.

Ready...

Set...

Fill!

I know they're not fancy but for just about $2 a piece, they are perfect. So, how many days before they're empty?!

Ingenious Eggs

Plastic eggs abound this time of year. We've got several dozen around the house already, and we haven't even attended an egg hunt yet. So, what to do with the abundance of eggs now that all the treats and trinkets have been consumed/stashed away? Try what my daughter's preschool teachers did:

There are single syllable rhyming words written on each egg that can be changed at the turn of the shell (jet/let/pet/get; top/hop/pop/stop; etc.). What was also clever was that since they didn't want one child picking up a half dozen "-at" eggs, they used markers to draw color coded dots at the bottom of each egg cup to be sure that each child received all the variations.

One of my most favorite bloggers, Lindsey at Filth Wizardry, has created her own version called a 'Spinny Speller' on which uses small-sized duplo blocks for each letter. Then for early readers, she uses stickers with sight words on the wider duplo blocks to construct sentences.

These eggs are just a simpler, less expensive way to accomplish the same result. A bag of eggs and a Sharpie. Doesn't get much easier than that.

So by the way, does anybody out there remember the jingle "The Incredible, Edible Egg"? Looking forward to eating some of the chocolate variety this weekend.

A McSorley's Initiation

Life is good when you get to gather with friends. Well, this trip was really about gathering with the hubby's friends. We were celebrating a milestone for him, after all. And what better place to celebrate than in NYC.

I have heard for YEARS about McSorley's. The fact their window advertises "We've been here since before you were born"; the sawdust covering the floor; the floor to ceiling eclectic array of memorabilia (including wishbones dating back to WWI); the crackers, cheese and pot of mustard tray; and of course, the half pints of beer they serve - light beer or dark are the only two beverage choices available - that are impressively served twenty at a time.  

So, this "saloon" has been in existence for 157 years. And, oddly, even though I attended high school just one block away from McSorley's, I had never partaken of the darks and lights until 2011. However, I have a deep, meaningful relationship with McSorley's since 2003, when I was pregnant with my first daughter, and together, we read this Joseph Mitchell book:  

In it, we found a perfectly fitting name for our daughter. Just like her turn-of-the-(20th)century predecessor, our turn-of-the(21st)century girl has a heart of gold, and hopefully a strong connection to the city her parents love. Cheers to my hubby's 40 years. I love you, honey!  

Four Basic Food Gr...What?!?

Don't you think every kid's lunch box deserves a little

PLAYDOH?

Well, they do say it's non-toxic!

Alright, folks, go check your calendar. It's April Fool's Day!

Thought it was worth a little laugh. Hope you were able to pull off a few pranks before day's end, too.