fun toy Easter basket stuffers for toddlers

Honestly, at our house, we skip right over many holidays when it comes to celebrating with the kids. The kids went to bed at the regular time for New Year's. Valentine's Day might mean a few heart-shaped decorations and one fun family dinner, but mostly it means a babysitter for them while mom and dad get a date night. My children literally don't know what St Patrick's Day is yet (don't I sound like the most fun mom ever?).

But Easter? Hey, we actually do something with the kids for Easter! Easter is a thing at our house. We love to get fun spring outfits, do an Easter egg hunt, and give everyone an Easter basket.

On Saturday I went shopping for a few things for Claire's Easter basket. Which basically meant Cadbury mini eggs that we can only hope I have the self-control to not open before it's time to put together her Easter basket.

I realized I wanted something for her basket to offset all the chocolate. There was a little $2 bin at the store, but honestly the toys in there looked like they'd be broken even before the Cadbury mini eggs were gone.

So I searched Amazon when I got home, and wow, I didn't know there were pages and pages of awesome Easter basket stuffers. Here is a list of a few of my favorite Easter basket stuffers for young kids.

These are all under $10, small enough to fit in an Easter basket, will last way longer than anything in the cheap bin at the store, and are educational and fun to boot. Oh, and also they're all on Amazon Prime so you can buy today and have it show up on your door two days later, just in time to pack those Easter baskets. (If you don't have Amazon Prime, you can get a free trial here to get the free 2-day shipping.)

4 puzzles in a box: We purchased this set about a month ago, and they have been so fantastic in teaching Claire how puzzles work. The easiest puzzle is only two pieces and the largest is eight pieces. The pieces are nice and big, easy to hold and manipulate, and brightly colored.

Tangle Jr Fidget Toy: AKA the How to Keep Your Kid Quiet in Church toy. It's even fun for me to twist and turn these little toys and make fun shapes.

Light-up Spike Ball: Really, to make a kid's day, all you have to say is "light up" or "bouncy ball." Luckily, this is both of those things. This listing comes with a few, so each kid gets one and you can have an extra in case the dog think it's his toy.

Bubbles: We've been needing to replenish our bubble supply, and an Easter basket seems like the perfect opportunity. The bottles are small enough that they fit most Easter eggs, and this listing comes with 24 bottles (hello birthday party favors!).

Bathtub Crayon: A fun crayon with six different sides and colors for the bathtub. UPDATE: When I first made the post, it was on sale. The sale has now ended, which makes this product actually a little over $10, sorry. It still looks cool though.

Bookmark Timer: This one is for all the school-aged kids. It's a bookmark with a little built-in timer/stopwatch so kids can track their reading time. I would have killed for a few of these in my classroom when I was a teacher.

Play-Doh: The classic. Who wouldn't like some fresh, new, not yet dried and crusty colors in their Easter basket? We are down to one or two lone Play-Doh colors that are still malleable, so we need to restock. And 10 colors for $7 is pretty darn good.

Liquid Motion Bubbler: I remember getting to hold one of these at the dentist when I was getting a fluoride treatment at the dentist, and something about them is super mesmerizing.

Hair Chalk: Another fun one for the older kids - and hey, maybe the adults too. This hair chalk is bright, fun, easy to put on, and not permanent. It would also make the perfect birthday party favor.

Doodle Pro: We LOVE this. Claire will play with this forever, and loves how you can swipe away the drawing any time you want. We also use it for learning time, and it's the perfect car trip toy too.




Hope you like these as much as I do! If you buy today, they'll be at your doorstep by Wednesday so they can go straight into the kids' Easter baskets and you don't have to make another trip to the store. Happy shopping!

Do you do an Easter basket?

What do you put in it?

Any more good fun + educational stuffer ideas?

Contains affiliate links.

DIY Toddler-Friendly Holiday Gift Wrap

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #WrapGiveRepeat #CollectiveBias

Confession: Last year the holiday decorations didn't even make it out of storage. I was newly pregnant and so so sick (I still refer to those early days with the twins as the Dark Ages), my toddler was too little to understand the holidays anyway, and my husband never got around to it, what with finals and then packing everyone to leave for Christmas.

Let's just say this year I'm making up for it. Fine, maybe I'm overcompensating. But hey, my toddler is old enough to get it this year, and it has been SO fun decorating with her and teaching her all about the season.

I really want to focus on giving this year (Remember this post? Are you participating in the day of service on Thursday?). In fact, the sponsor of my post today, Scotch® Brand, is donating $200,000 to Fisher House this season, a charity that provides comfort homes where military families can stay while a loved one is receiving treatment. So, yesterday when the twins were napping, we made some holiday gift wrap together and talked about giving presents.

I love the look of craft paper as a wrapping paper, so all our DIY gift wrap was made from the same base. And with just a few more items, you can make DIY wrapping paper four ways. It's toddler friendly, budget-friendly, and adorable. Here's how.

1. COOKIE CUTTER STAMP

Spread a large length of craft paper on a clean surface. Pour some acrylic paint onto a plate (acrylic paint is usually pretty good at wiping off when you're done, but better use a disposable or plastic plate to be safe). Turn the cookie cutters upside down (to expose the thickest edge) and dip into paint, then stamp on craft paper.

This one was so easy, and my toddler absolutely loved it. We got a cheap set of cookie cutters from Walmart (I think they were $1.99) and have used them for both cookies and crafts already.

2. POTATO STAMP

This one is similar to the first one, except I made a potato stamp instead. Quick potato stamp tutorial: Cut a large potato in half. Use a knife to carefully carve a simple shape (well, if you're more talented than me, I guess you don't have to stick to a simple shape). I'd recommend a simple star or Christmas tree if you're a beginner. Pat the potato dry, and then dip it in acrylic paint and stamp on craft paper. I could usually get 3 or 4 stamps out of one paint dip.

3. GLITTER CRAFT TAPE

This one is so easy. Wrap the present with plain craft paper (it's a heavier paper, and I found the Scotch® Magic™ Tape worked best to secure the folds down). Then, use glitter craft tape to decorate the gift any way you want. (My toddler wasn't into putting the glitter tape on the present, and wanted to make herself a shoe from the tape instead? Figures.)

4. METALLIC PERMANENT MARKER

Wrap the present with plain craft paper (again, the Scotch® Magic™ Tape worked best for holding the heavier paper in place). Then use a metallic permanent marker to decorate the gift with the recipient's name, a holiday scene, or whatever you like. My toddler loved this one, and in fact, the backs of most of these presents are covered with her scribbles. This is an easy and fun way to personalize the gifts. Add a large ribbon as a final touch.

^^I know what you're thinking. How does she draw such symmetrical trees??

WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO MAKE ALL FOUR IDEAS

craft paper
scissors
Scotch® Magic™ Tape 3 Pack Caddie
acrylic paint
cookie cutters
glitter craft tape
large ribbon
potato

We picked up everything from Walmart (check out the cute elf packaging for the tape!), and although I already had the scissors, potato and ribbon at home, our total was less than $12, which is fantastic considering the number of hours this entertained us for, and the darling final product. (Plus, grandparents go crazy over homemade wrapping paper.) This is a great time to stock up on wrapping supplies at Walmart early and save with 50% off and Rollback prices as well.

What are you doing to give this holiday season?

Other favorite DIY gift wrap ideas?

There are lots more great ideas here too.

when service makes the world a little brighter: hosting a playdate

I'm so excited to share today's post with you.

My long-time readers know that the holidays can be pretty sad for my family as we commemorate the death of my angel mother. It's impossible to go through Halloween without thinking of three days before in 2009, the day she went from apparent good health to collapsed in the hospital with only a few weeks to live. It's impossible to go through Thanksgiving without thinking of the last Thanksgiving we shared with her - it was one of the last days she was up in her wheelchair, and one of the last days she remembered who I was. On my birthday I think about how we buried my mother in a frozen cemetery the day before, how I had never felt less like a child and more like an adult. A few days later was the bleakest Christmas I have ever had.

That's why mormon.org's Christmas campaign is so beautiful this year. It's all about doing small but meaningful acts of service. When people reach out and help others, it lights up the entire world. Whether or not you share my religious beliefs, I think it's a message we can all agree on.

Nobody was better at service than my mom. When I was thinking about a small act of service to share with my readers today, I went through quite a few possibilities. Should I clean out my closet and donate the extra clothes? Should I volunteer at a homeless shelter? Make care packages for the military? Deliver cookies to some neighbors?

All of those are great ideas, but then I thought - What would my mom do?

She would host a play date.

We ALWAYS had somebody else's kids over at our house. My mom was so great at giving parents a break to go on a date or get work done or just take a nap. And she was so great at loving every single child she came across. The best way I know to keep my mom's legacy alive is to try and be like her.

Of course I'll never be as wonderful as my mom in a million years, but I thought - this is one thing I can do. I can host a play date. I can give parents a little break, and I can love these kiddos.

So I did. It was a small act of service, just a few hours on a Saturday morning, but I really loved it, and I think these sweet kids did too. And that's the great thing about service. It helps you, it helps the person being served, and it helps the world be a little brighter. And it went surprisingly well, considering there were eight children under the age of three running around my small apartment. ;)

To see more examples of my Savior Jesus Christ and the ways he served people, click here. For more information about the #LIGHTtheWORLD Christmas campaign (launches officially this Friday!) click here, or visit Mormon.org's Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram page. And press play below to see the video of our little play date.

Thank you to Mormon.org for partnering with Silver Lining to create this video and blog post today. The content and opinions expressed, as well as my belief in the power of service, is all my own.

twin birth announcement (only 4 months late!)

Call me traditional, but when the twins were born I had every intention of sending out birth announcements to our closest friends and family. I even had a secret Pinterest board full of lots of cute twin birth announcement ideas.

But then.... life happened. And when I say life, I mean taking care of the two tiny newborns I mentioned. (Don't ask me about anything that happened in August, because I have no idea.) The birth announcements never happened, until a few weeks ago when I realized I could combine them with my Christmas cards this year. 

I am a huge fan of Christmas cards. At my family's house, we cover the entire double doors leading outside with cards we've received from our friends and family. It's just fun to walk past and look at everyone and what they've been up to that year. We love the letters, we love the tri-fold picture collages, we love the single picture cards, we love it all.

So here's our family's holiday card this year. It's a hybrid of holiday wishes and a birth announcement for the twins. We wanted something understated, simple, and classy, and Tiny Prints delivered. 

I could have spent hours on the Tiny Prints website designing my card, and they would have been very very happy hours. ;) The options for your holiday cards are almost endless, and I love that you can sort by how many pictures you want in your card. We almost went with a rose gold foil stamped card, and I love their glitter card collection too because the glitter doesn't leave a trail everywhere you go. We definitely had this fun year in review card in our cart at one point.

(See what I mean by spending lots of happy hours clicking around on this site?)

I'm kind of sad that I had to blur out our return address on these cards, because they had a million customization options for the card and the fonts we chose are 100 times cuter than anything I could have hand addressed. Get the customized postage too for added cuteness (and to save yourself a trip to the post office to buy stamps).

I also love that my newborn holiday card purchase helps provide money for Baby2Baby - an organization that provides necessities to children in low-income households. 

So happy holidays, and happy birth announcement, from our family!

P.S. Anyone want a holiday card? 

We already reserved a stack for our close friends and family, 

but I have a few extras for my readers!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

twin costume idea: milk and cookie

I'm pretty sure there's a rule somewhere which states that cute twin babies are required to match for Halloween. In fact, I'm going to make them match for as many Halloweens as I can without inciting a rebellion. We'll see how many years I can make it. (Wouldn't it be cute if they were Luke and Leia toddlers next Halloween?!)

So here's our little milk and cookie.

Since the twins are little and love to be in their carriers, we wanted to build their costume around their front packs. We thought of lots of cute easy-to-make combinations (salt and pepper! two peas in a pod! hamburger and french fries!) but ultimately went with milk and cookie. 99% of the credit for the manual labor goes to my amazingly creative sister-in-law, Ellie.

A quick tutorial, in case you're also thinking about a baby carrier costume:

MATERIALS
semi-structured front baby carrier (we love these)
cardboard
heavy duty scissors
fabric in whatever colors the costume requires
colored felt for smaller details
fabric or heavy duty glue

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut out the cardboard in the shapes you want. For the cookie, we did a simple circle, but the milk was a little more complex because we made it 3D and added a straw opening. (The straw is a paper towel tube.)
2. Wrap the fabric around the cardboard and glue to the back.
3. Cut out felt and glue onto fabric to add details to the costume. (This is what our chocolate chips are made of, as well as the stripes on the milk straw and the milk lettering.)
4. Cut 2 or 3 fabric strips (about one inch times 14 inches) and glue the middle of each strip to the back of the costume.
5. Attach the costume to the carrier by threading the fabric through the holes of the carrier and tying the ends of the fabric securely together. We like to tie the fabric knots to the side they're not digging into the baby's back.
6. Done!

The side views (you can see the fabric strips attaching the costume to the carrier, and you can see the 3D milk carton):

Good news, people. It only took me 26 years to actually be excited about Halloween. Between these costumes and my toddler who has carried her Halloween bucket around the house for days, trick or treating to her teddy bear, I just might be overcoming my major Halloween grinch tendencies. Finally. This candy corn popcorn snack helps too. ;)

Happy Halloween! 

sweet and salty white chocolate popcorn

When I was in high school, almost every Friday night was pizza night at our house. We all got to invite friends over, eat pizza, and then play games or watch a movie. I remember making a variation of this white chocolate popcorn mix on many a Friday night - usually to impress my older brother's friends, who were the ripe old ages of 17 and 18 and therefore soooooo handsome and mature. Nothing says, "Hi, I'm the annoying younger sister!" like a bowl of sweet and salty white chocolate popcorn plopped down in the middle of a board game. ;)

Here's my autumn variation of this recipe. I'm just going to tell you right now - the salt is the key to this recipe! Don't try to leave it out. It just won't work!

INGREDIENTS:

10 cups (about one bag) popped fat-free or low-fat popcorn
1/2 cup M&Ms
1 cup mini pretzels
3/4 cup candy corn
1/2 cup peanuts (optional)
1 bag (2 cups) white chocolate chips
1/2 - 3/4 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine everything except the last two ingredients in a large bowl. Stir loosely.
2. Pour the chocolate chips into a small glass bowl and melt in the microwave. Stir every 20 seconds.
3. Pour the melted white chocolate chips over the popcorn mixture, a little at a time, sprinkling salt as you go. Stir often, until all ingredients are mixed evenly together.
4. Store leftovers in an airtight container. Enjoy!

TIPS FOR SUCCESS:

Don't overmelt the white chocolate chips. When there are still a few white chocolate blobs, you're done microwaving. Give it a good stir and those last chips will melt right in.

Whatever you do, don't use less than 1/2 tsp salt! I usually sprinkle and stir in 1/2 tsp, and then I taste it. If I think, "That's good I guess," I know I need to add a little more salt.

I used this gluten-free delicious popcorn for the recipe, but I also love the bags of 94% fat-free popcorn. Buttered or movie-theater style popcorn won't work nearly as well.

Click here to visit the BOOMCHICKAPOP Facebook page, where you can share your #BringTheBOOM moment and enter to win Target gift cards, Halloween kits, and BOOMCHICKAPOP products.

I also love to bring this mix as a fun treat for the pumpkin patch, or in a bowl at a Halloween party. It would even be fun to put this in individual bags, tie it with festive bows, and give them out as party favors.

Ever made white chocolate popcorn before?

What variations would you add?

Happy snacking!

Easter bunny pudding cups!

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #SnackPackMixins #CollectiveBias http://cbi.as/1wma

How was everyone's weekend? I am feeling great today. After many long nights last week with only 4 or 5 hours of sleep (lots of crazy things happening in the Emery household!), I finally made up for it with 10 hours of sleep last night. Isn't it crazy how much of a difference a few more hours of sleep can make? Today I'm feeling refreshed and ready to go!

I wanted to share with you one of my very favorite Easter crafts that doubles as a delicious snack. As a child, I remember eating pudding cups once or twice a year on special occasions, and it was always a yummy treat for our family. These would be perfect for a class party, play group, preschool rotation, after-school snack, or Easter dinner dessert!

Materials:

6 Vanilla or Chocolate Super Snack Packs (make sure to get the new super size so the ears fit!)

12 shortbread or milano-style cookies

12 small or 6 large pink taffy candies

googly eyes

brown pipe cleaner

pink mini pom poms

hot glue gun with glue sticks

Instructions:

Glue on the googly eyes with a hot glue gun.

Cut each pipe cleaner in thirds. Line the pieces up and twist the middle a few times to make whiskers. Glue the whiskers onto the pudding cups with hot glue. 

Glue a pink pom pom onto the top of the whiskers.

Open the top of the pudding cup. Lean two cookies against the back side of the cup. 

Flatten out the taffy candies with your fingers and press them to the cookies. My taffy candies were large, so I cut them in half. 

Enjoy your yummy treat!

P.S. I got these new Super Snack pudding cups at Walmart. Click here to get an awesome coupon for $0.50 off a Super Snack six-pack!

Enjoy!