Hello everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful Easter! Here in the Midwest we had a beautiful sunny day which was quite a surprise, because now we are wearing winter coats again haha, mother nature sure is hilarious. Here is a round up of all of the crafts that we created on Easter day and some cookies of course!

I decided to try painting paper mache eggs this year. They are light and easy to work with. I got them at Michaels for 40% off! The paints and brushes were on sale with a coupon so it was a lucky day indeed!

This is the first batch of mommy and me eggs. I love them!

These are the same eggs with feathers, googly eyes, glitter pom poms for tails, a snip of foam for the chick’s beak, dollar store easter ribbon for the bunny, and glitter scrapbook paper for the bunny ears. I used Tacky Glue to adhere everything. I absolutely love these guys!

More pom poms glued together with Tacky glue for the body, pipe cleaner legs lol! Googly eyes and bead eyes. Glitter scrapbook paper for the beaks This was so much fun!

The top chick is a yarn pom ball with googly eyes and felt, he looks like he is ready to party! The bottom is the whole crew on a cake stand as our table center piece. The tall bunnies were made out of toilet paper rolls and cotton balls with paper cut out eyes pom noses and pipe cleaner mouths. We made them last Easter. The paper chick on the bottom right is from last Easter as well, it is just 2 pieces of construction paper rolled in to two circle and glued together. I cut out paper eyes, beak, and feet out of paper scraps.

Then we made “cascarones” They are a Mexican tradition. You hollow out your eggs, rinse and let dry, dip into egg dye, let dry, fill with confetti and glue them closed with tissue paper squares and a bit of diluted white glue. Then you chase each other and crack them on someone’s head. We do it in our yard, it is all biodegradable and so much fun!

And finally our cookies! I scored at The Salvation Army and found this cookie cutter and press for 40 cents! And this my friends is the BEST sugar cookie recipe:

http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-best-cutout-cookies-38629

Best Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

2 to 3 dozen cookies, depending on size

1 cup unsalted butter, softened at room temperature for 1 hour
2 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

In the bowl of a stand mixer (or in a large bowl, using a hand mixer), cream the butter and cream cheese with the sugar. Beat for several minutes, or until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, vanilla and almond extracts, and lemon zest.

Mix the flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl then gradually add to the butter and sugar mixture until fully incorporated and a soft dough is formed.

At this point the dough can, and should be, chilled or frozen. If making cookies in the near future, divide the dough into 2 balls and roll each out to 1/4 to 1/8-inch thickness between large pieces of parchment paper. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Or freeze the dough balls, wrapped in plastic wrap and a freezer bag, for up to 1 month. To thaw, leave in the refrigerator overnight then proceed with the recipe.

To bake the cookies, preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare baking sheets by lining them with parchment or a Silpat. Cut cookies out of the rolled dough and place on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake cookies for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on thickness. Let cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet, then remove to a wire rack.

Cool completely before icing or decorating, and store in a tightly covered container.

We use the Kitchn recipes a lot at home and they have never failed me! They have a cookbook now which I wish I could own, but for now I just go to their website it’s free so, yay!

There you have it folks! I hope you enjoyed our Easter in a nutshell.

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