When the Easter bunny comes early...

This is what my living room floor looked like on a dark cold night last week when all of the kids were fast asleep. 

Sorting and organizing almost 30 piles of treats for our neighbourhood kids...making sure that everyone ended up with the exact same items and the exact same amount.

Because today was the day when our neighbourhood friends arrived family-by-family to our court, and the kids searched high and low through everyone's yard until they found all of their treats.

I had prepared all of the candy into a scavenger hunt for the kids and we spent the morning furiously running around hiding hundreds of treats all over everyone's yards.

Then as the clock hit 10am this morning, crowds of people starting walking up our court...and the fun began.

So after collecting the kids to explain how the scavenger hunt was going to work, I handed each of  them their papers and everyone was off.
 

Our court was all of a sudden a buzz of little people and older kids too running around desperately trying to find every single item on their page--searching in bushes, behind rocks, under trees, in planter boxes and all over the grass.

Searching until every single box on their sheet was checked off. Then proudly showing everyone their stash.

And as the buzz died down and the treats were finally all found, the kids sat to explore their baskets and nibble on treats and food from our snack tables...

because a basket full of treats on Easter weekend is exactly what the Easter bunny had in mind.

And Terry and I are now off to hide more eggs since the real Easter bunny arrives tonight and our house will all of a sudden be a buzz all over again tomorrow morning as Mini Eggs, foil wrappers and plastic eggs will be scattered about--and 4 little kids will be racing all over the house with excitement. 

Thank you to our wonderful neighbour friends for a great morning and for all of your contributions and help! Childhood memories are in the making.

Happy Easter weekend everyone.
Enjoy the chaos. Eat the chocolate.

Erica xo

Cheap and chic Easter vignettes

This just makes me so darn happy.

Speckled eggs in a little tin pot. I mean, seriously. How cute is that?!

It gives me visions of my dream of owning lots of land, a barn and our kids running into the chicken coop to collect eggs each morning for breakfast.

A girl can dream.

But in the meantime, this little egg basket, flowers and Happy Easter sign is all sitting in my dining room, where our kids are instead just playing with the eggs--not eating them. So, one step at a time. I suppose.




And on our dining room table? Well, there are even more speckled eggs, soft green moss and bunnies--begging for Spring to arrive for good. Begging for the baby bunnies to be born under our back deck for the 3rd year in a row, for flowers to start popping up and for the sun to bring some warmth to what have been some very cold days.

Then if you head into our kitchen, more bunnies and speckled eggs sitting on soft green moss will greet you--because holidays are just my favourite.

But you know what else is my favourite? 

A great deal. 

So here's the truth--you want to create your own little Easter vignette? You don't have to pay a fortune---you just have to go to a Kindergarten teacher's paradise (a little ol' place called Dollarama). Don't tell anyone. But seriously, almost everything you see was from that gem of a store. You just have to be prepared to do a little Dollarama DIY and you're all set. 

Some brown craft paint and a steel wool scrub pad is all you need to turn solid coloured plastic eggs into adorable speckled eggs. And those white bunnies? Well...

THIS is what they used to look like when I first bought them (for only $2 each!).

But with a little white spray paint they've been transformed into adorable little bunnies...a little more chic--a little less cheap.

 And that adorable teal coloured cake stand? Yup, $4 Dollarama special.

I use it for parties (Mya's tea party was why I originally bought it) and I swear I'll find a million other ways to use it throughout the rest of the year.

$4 well spent.

Then you throw a little green moss on top of it (found in the craft aisle), some decorative twig balls and you've got yourself a little rustic spring vignette, for only a few dollars.

And that pretty little Happy Easter sign? Well, if you want one for yourself, HERE is where I found it for free online (I just printed it off of my printer at home on regular white paper and popped it into a white Dollarama frame that I already had). Perfectly easy, perfectly cute. Add some mason jars (free from my basement) and whatever spring flowers that you love, and you've got yourself a cute little spring scene.

So if you're sick of the cold drab weather that seems to never go away these days--add a few speckled eggs, a couple bunnies and some flowers to your space and I swear you'll feel better. And so cheap--I mean seriously you can't go wrong. 

It almost makes to believe that Easter is actually just around the corner, despite the fact that we're all still wearing winter coats. 

Happy spring everyone. 

Erica xo