it's not about the bunny. . . .

bunnies are soft and cute.

when they're chocolate, they're yummy, too!

chocolate bunnies. . . .such a fun part of Easter celebrations!

but. . . . .

it's not about the bunny.

He is Risen!

wishing each of you a beautiful, blessed Easter Sunday and a

fresh and lovely Spring:)

be blessed,

Suzanne

Don't Forget to Wear Your Easter Bonnet. . . .

remember dressing up in a brand spankin new

Easter Dress and Bonnet?

i used to love that!

i still love seeing hats or bonnets on Easter Sunday morning,

although it's much more rare.

but not with these beauties. . . . .

  

aren't they purty???:)

need a last minute table decoration for Easter Dinner?

head out to the dollar store and grab some of these glitter eggs. . . .

find a pretty container around the house, some styrofoam to stick the eggs in and

Easter Grass.

Now look what you created. . . .

or, get out your favorite mason jars

(i love mason jars)

and you can do this. . . .

 isn't that choclate bunny cute???

and if you have time. . . .

and some paint around the house,

you can do this. . . .

Happy Saturday!

Suzanne

Jelly Beans, Jelly Bean Cookies and Magic Jelly Beans. . . .

ahhhh. . . . .i love me some bright, colorful jelly beans.

they're just plain fun!

i have a board on pinterest called "fun food". . . .

and for sure, jelly beans qualify!

so i was just tickled as could be to find some

 cute jelly bean ideas out there.

read on for a few great ideas.

but first, check out this jelly bean cake, costume and my favorites. . . .

jellybean happy pills:)

oh gosh, i almost passed out when i saw these jelly bean sugar cookies.

sign me up for a double batch. . .please!

the recipe for this is at :sallysbakingaddiction

or here's another one from

  simplyklassichome.

magic jelly beans anyone?

this next idea is seriously too cute!

full instructions can be found at nothingbutcountry.com but in a nutshell,

in a pail with some wheatgrass or even easter grass,

have your child "plant" a few jelly beans.

the next morning,

you have replaced the jelly beans with a giant rainbow lollipop.

get it?

the jelly beans turned into a lollipop.

soooo cute!

and the lovely lady behind this at nothing but country provides you with a printable 

magic jelly beans seed packet to make it oh. so. real!

when i taught Sunday School for the little ones years back,

i just had to find a way to give out jelly beans.

so we used something like this attached to a cute bag of jelly beans:)

meaningful, clever and YUMMY:)

wait. . . .

we need more jelly bean cookies, don't you think?

 here are simple, colorful cut-out sugar cookies.

Thank you to Partiologist for the idea!

No jelly bean cookie cutter?

well. . . .buy a tin of jelly bellys and use that!

works awesome!!!

these look super good. . . .

and i think will be made in this house tomorrow!

Jelly Bean Blondies

Jelly Bean Blondies

Ingredients

1 Stick Butter or margarine Melted (1/4 cup)

1 cup brown sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract Pinch salt

1 cup all­purpose flour ( or Gluten Free Flour Mix) 1/4­1/2 cup jelly beans

Instructions

1. Butter an 8×8 pan

2. Mix melted butter with brown sugar – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla. 3. Add salt, stir in flour.

4. Pour into prepared pan, and sprinkle top with Jelly Beans.

5. Bake at 350°F 20­25 minutes, or until set in the middle.

6. Cool on rack before cutting them.

Recipe by A Few Short Cuts at http://afewshortcuts.com/2012/04/jelly­bean­blondies/

have a beautiful Easter weekend!

be back tomorrow:)

Suzanne

WANTED: My Birthday Girl. . . . . .

 my baby girl has a birthday today.

a special birthday.

today she is sweet sixteen!

let me tell you a bit about her.

she's a God-fearin

country music lovin,

cowboy boot wearing

football watchin

sweet tea drinkin

southern girl.

she has down home values 

and old fashioned morals in a modern world.

her faith is solid and strong.

(she's actually been called a "female Tim Tebow" by people she just met:)

she's fun

she's brave

she's thoughtful

she's generous

she's a cutie

she's adventurous

she's friendly

she's smart.

she's my girl.

she's 16.

and i love her!

happy birthday baby girl!!!

xoxoxo

mama

AND a birthday cake to match those boots,
made by a sister, with love:)

Palm Sunday. . . .

Wishing you a beautiful and blessed Palm Sunday.

Hosanna!

Marshmallow + Bunnies & Chicks =

PEEPS!!!

gotta love those little sugary peeps, right?

or are you one of those people who pretend not to like them,

as my husband does every year.

 (although they do seem to disappear.  hmmm. . .)

well, on this i am totally honesty.

i love my peeps:)

i mean, they are amazing little things.

you can eat them, bake with them, decorate with them.

and they're so cheap. 

cheap, cute, yummy. . . .

what more could you want, right?

and as this preschool church sign shows,

apparently i'm not alone:)

(it IS for 3-5 year olds so very cute:)

and they look so darn cute in an Easter basket.

so be warned. . . .even if you hate them, they will be in any basket i make

cause they're just so bright and fun.

you can throw them away. . .

or better yet, throw them MY way:)

 i know you're holding your breath to see all the cool things you can do with them,

so let's take a look.

you can

DECORATE with peeps.

 how CUTE are these ideas?????

you can make "peep" kabobs. . . .

or "peep" pops!

anyone up for s'mores?

maybe you want your peeps dipped in Chocolate.

one bag of chocolate chips will dip about 20 peeps.

don't ask me how i know this:)

but the grand finale of peep ideas is this. . . .

a "peep" mobile

i tell you, some people are SOOOO creative!!!

i found most of these on pinterest and many were hard to track down.

however, a number of the ideas can be credited to

Misty Kearns, CEO of Me.

i almost forgot!

i've talked about how much i LOVE caramel popcorn.

have i mentioned how much i love 

marshmallow popcorn?

i don't make it, because i would eat it.

all of it:)

now you can make marshmallow popcorn with PEEPS!

Yum, YUM!

well, my peeps. . . .
that's it for me today.
xoxo
Suzanne
linking up with pink saturday:)

Princess Cupcakes, Silly Eggs, Sea Glass and Spring. . . .

well, that's a lot to cover for sure.

and i know what you're thinking. . . .

at least some of you;

spring???

  what's that???

but you know it's coming. . . .

and for what it's worth, it's going to be WAY nicer for most

of you than us here in south florida.

cause that's when our humidity hits full blast for, like, EVER!!!!

some people deny that but it's all too real.

the good news. . .we have nice winters.

it's all a trade-off, right?

so today, i have a few cool, random things i stumbled on 

over at pinterest.

see what you think. . . . .

are these the cutest princesses or what??

and surprise. . . . . . 

they're cupcakes!

yep. . . .some genius person turned a cupcake upside down,

stuck a plastic doll pick in it, frosted it and

voila!

adorable!

actually, i think what i like best about these is it looks like a regular mom

frosted these.  

don't get me wrong, they look yummy and cute,

but they are not some fondant frosting or something perfect like that, you know?

the best kind:)

keeping with the kid theme for a minute here,

these alphabet crayons are amazing!

they melted down crayons and hardened them in 

silicone alphabet trays.

you can get these trays at Amazon for $10.99

a tip i saw was to use cooking spray to enable them to pop out.

there are tons of tutorials all over the web if you want to make these.

i know. . .looks like a bit of a project.

but think what great favors these would make:)

spring makes me think of Easter.

and we used to color eggs when i was little.

what's funny,

except for some super creative types who came up with a new way to do that,

we still pretty much color eggs the same way.

with colored tablets and vinegar.

and some pathetic little egg dipper thing that never worked:)

but how about adding google eye stickers to your colored eggs.

isn't this cute?

i always get an urge to paint something in the spring.

and besides various shades of cream and white,

my favorite color around the house is aqua.

like sea glass.

so very pretty!

okay, this next one is way off track but i had to share.

inside out caramel apples.

oh gosh, i'd love these. . . .

spring, summer, fall or winter!

go to cup of sugar pinch of salt for the how to's:)

pretty soon, y'all will be trading in those snow shovels for these. . . .

pretty bicycles and flowers.

so hang in there!

xoxo

Suzanne