Pinterest Resolutions Update IV

It is hard to believe I have finished up some more of my Pinterest Resolutions- this year seems to be flying by!

Here is the full blog post in case you missed it- I vowed to decrease my number of pins and actually try some of the things I pinned.

First off, I planned a year of blog posts- some weeks are bigger than others but it is great having a list so that I know what to work on!

I also planned a capsule wardrobe for my summer holiday, which ended up being a lot of fun and super easy to do.



I made a Valentines Day coupon book for my boys, with the pizza night and Date with Daddy being used almost immediately! The 10 minutes of extra cuddles at bedtime was actually a nice reminder for me, to know that my boys enjoy just spending time with me and an extra few minutes of cuddles at night can calm us all down.



My plan to do a 12 card workshop went exactly as planned, and I also used up some of my paper scraps as well as some papers that I wasn't too keen on for my scrapbook layouts.



Our version of peanut butter and banana frozen yoghurt was enjoyed as a family fun night dessert, and they boys enjoyed helping to make it. It was very tasty and I now plan to experiment with other flavours.

Lastly, we did a fun active Easter Egg Hunt on Easter morning, with the boys working for their chocolate! It prompted some giggles and even I had to join in too, but it was a different way to start the morning and the boys didn't mind jumping around and encouraging each other.



Come back tomorrow when I will be sharing my next list of Pinterest Resolutions! I also posted yesterday about some Pinterest recipes I have tried lately in case you need some meal inspiration.

Carrot Cupcakes

Easter is nearly here- one of my favourite times of the year!

My boys and I had so much fun making some carrot cake cupcakes, complete with handmade wrappers.



Carrot Cake Cupcakes

Cake:
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups grated carrot

To decorate:
2 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon hot water
50g plain chocolate biscuits (approximately four biscuits)
12 dried apricots
12 mint leaf lollies

Line or grease a 12 cup muffin tray. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (350 degrees F).

Place the sugar, eggs and oil in a large mixing bowl and whisk together.

Sift the flour, baking soda and cinnamon into the egg mixture and combine. Fold in the grated carrot.

Spoon the mixture evenly between the 12 muffin cases. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until golden and cooked through. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.



Now it is time to decorate! In a bowl, mix together the icing sugar, orange juice and hot water to form a smooth, thick icing.

Crush the chocolate biscuits in a plastic bag with a rolling pin, or pulse in the food processor. Place in a shallow bowl.



Ice each cupcake and then roll in the crushed biscuits.



To assemble the carrots, cut a slit in the top of each dried apricot. Cut the mint leaf at the widest point, and push the top half into the dried apricot.



Use a small knife to make a hole in each cupcake, and then gently push the dried apricot into the cupcake. You can serve these as is or use some pretty Easter paper wrappers.



I cut these wrappers using the Cricut. For detailed instructions please click here to visit my Close To My Heart craft blog!



Here are the finished cupcakes nestled in their grass wrappers. These were a great treat at my scrapbook workshop over the weekend, and they would make a cute centerpiece for your next Easter themed event!

Virtual Book Club For Kids (Margaret Wise Brown)

This month we are featuring Margaret Wise Brown for the Virtual Book Club!

Lucas has really been enjoying the story of The Runaway Bunny, and with Easter coming up I decided this would be the perfect time to do a bunny themed activity.



We made our own rabbit masks out of a few household items.



You will need:
Rabbit face template (we used a template from Usborne Activities: Easter Things to Make and Do)
Brown, white and pink cardstock
Pipe cleaner cut into four equal lengths
Elastic
Glue
Small hole punch


We started by gluing the ears onto the template.


Next up was placing the nose and whiskers.


Cut a slit in the middle of the template up to the nose. This will allow the mask to stretch and fit over your child's face a lot easier.


Place two small holes on either side of the mask, and thread some elastic through.


My boys were thrilled with their bunny masks!



They had to test out how well they could hop as bunnies, and so a lot of jumping around the dining room was in order- the masks brought out their inner rabbit! They both looked adorable and loved having their very own masks.

Join the Virtual Book Club for Kids Facebook Page to see more inspiration from Margaret Wise Brown and other book related activities!