Easter Fun at Poundland

If you follow me over on Instagram then you'll know how much I love to decorate our dining room to celebrate special occasions throughout the year.

With Easter this weekend Poundland asked me to pop to one of their local stores and pick up some goodies to have fun with, with so much to choose from we could of gone a bit mad but I knew what I wanted and we set about picking up some things.

It all starts for me with our dining room table, covering it in an oober bright table cloth. Adding on some fabulously fun plates, napkins, cups and straws and lights it is an Easter eggs-travaganza!

With the addition of some bunny bunting and eggs to our tree it is a colourful array of Easter loveliness.

I loved the little extras that they had in Poundland including these fabulous bunny mask glasses and crackers, my two love crackers at Christmas so this made for fun at Easter too with a little Easter joke, dress up and hat.

With lots of kits for card making, egg and hat decorating, Easter activity packs, cupcake sets and more there are plenty of things to keep your little ones busy over Easter.

And finally a little bit of Easter egg hunting, with Easter Egg hunt kits, plenty of eggs and chocolate to hide we couldn't of asked for more, we managed to get everything we needed for under £20 and I think you'll agree it looks fabulous and we definitely had lots of fun choosing our goodies.

With so much more for the home, food, outdoors, picnics and more I could of spent a lot longer in there and at £1 an item the perfect bargain for the thrifty too.

This is a collaborative post, all words, pictures and opinions are my own.

Top 5 Easy Easter Activities

With an early Easter this year, there is no better time to think of some bright colourful springtime activities to do with the children, especially on the colder and wetter days.

So, I have put together our top five super easy Easter activities.

Easter Bonnets

These don't have to be expensive, most shops have reasonably priced hats now, or you could make some out of cardboard and tissue paper. We opted for some pre made hats with the addition of some feathers, little chicks, sheep and ribbons.

We started by wrapping the ribbon round the hat, using some sticky dots to attach it, then added on some tissue paper grass and the chicks, sheep and feathers. The sticky dots make it easier for the children to do this themselves, no mess which is always a plus.

Once you've finished your creation you are all ready for Easter and any parades you might have to go to.

Sweetie Filled Carrots

These easy to make sweetie filled carrots are the perfect addition to an Easter party or just as something different to put sweets in for your children on Easter morning.

To make them, all you need is some A4 orange and green card. To start, cut the orange card in half and then roll into a cone shape. Then, stick down with some tape or glue, you may need to clip with a peg until the glue is dry as the card springs back quite easily, if you had some cute easter themed washi tape this would look good too. 

Next, cut off the overhang at the top of the card to make the top of the carrot a circle, then using the green card or some green tissue paper to make yourself a green carrot stalk and stick this in place on the carrot. Now, unless you are intending to fill with lots of eggs, pop some tissue paper or shredded paper in the bottom of the cone and just place some eggs on top.

You could make smaller versions of the carrots by using a quarter of the card or any old bits of card you have lying around, these carrots could also be used as a prize at the end of an easter egg hunt.

Easter Cakes

I love baking with the children, it's a great way of getting them to help me in the kitchen and they can also enjoy the fruits of their labour afterwards. These are almost too easy but they look cute and can be altered to suit everyones tastes, cornflake cakes are by far the easiest of things to make, even for the non-bakers. You'll need chocolate (I use milk), cornflakes, chocolate mini eggs and some cake cases.

Take some chocolate, 200g should do it and melt in a heatproof bowl over some water, once melted add in some cornflakes, no real amount here just keep going until they are all coated and you've mixed them into all of the chocolate.

Once you've mixed all of the cornflakes into the chocolate, place a large spoonful into each cake case, add a few eggs onto each cake and then pop in the fridge to cool and harden.

Serve on a pretty plate at an easter party or just because!

Easter Tree

Each year we have an Easter Tree, don't ask why but we love to decorate a branch or piece of tree we've found with some easter decorations we've either made or found in a shop. It's a simple way of adding a little fun and colour to our home and has definitely become a tradition.

This year I have chosen some pussy willow branches as our tree, we already had a few branches from a winter bouquet so I bought a few more from a local florist. We would normally find a branch from a tree on one of our walks but as these looked so great we used them instead. 

We have some little felt chickens and wooden eggs to add this year, I will add a few more as I find them and we will be making some more over the next few weeks.

Easter Egg Hunt

I love to do Easter Egg Hunts for the children, we don't go overboard on chocolate and just do a few eggs for them to find around the garden, but they love it and if the weather is fine it is the perfect way to get them out in the garden first thing to enjoy the morning sun.

You can buy cheap Easter egg hunt kits from places like Asda for about £1.50, and with some fillable eggs you can add your own chocolates or healthy treats or even something completely different, some little toys or pieces of a puzzle maybe.

These are just a few but there is so much more you can do, whether inside the home or out and about. 

If you are in Nottingham then Rufford Abbey have an Easter trail, you pay £1 and they give you a sheet to follow round the gardens. Once you've found all of the clues you get a chocolate, an easy way to get out and about an enjoy some fresh air and join in the Easter fun without having to set it all up yourself.

Why not check out your local garden centres and some of your favourite spots to visit, they usually have something on, either over Easter weekend or during half term.

I have started a Pinterest page with some of my favourite activites from other fellow bloggers too, there is some great inspiration.

Follow The Mummy Diary's board Easter Activities on Pinterest.

Gluten Free Creme Egg Brownie

I have been trying to eat less wheat and gluten in my diet, it doesn't agree with me and makes me feel lethargic and to be honest not that great. I do however love cake so have been trying hard to find recipes for gluten free cakes that taste great, are easy to make and will also be eaten by family too.

These brownies are great on their own but with the addition of creme eggs make the perfect easter treat, pretty certain the addition of anything else chocolate related would be great.

Ingredients:

225g Unsalted Butter
225g Dark Chocolate (70% minimum)
3 Medium eggs
200g Caster Sugar ( I use golden)
1tsp Vanilla Essence
175g Ground Almonds
Creme Eggs, mixture of full size and mini or just full size if you prefer, cut in half.

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven to 170°C, line a 23cm square baking tin with tin foil or baking parchment.

2. Break up the chocolate and cut the butter into small squares, place in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water and heat until melted, set aside to cool a little.

3. Whilst the chocolate mixture cools, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla essence together until it is smooth and creamy in texture, you can use a hand whisk for this.

4. Once whisked, slowly pour the chocolate into the egg mixture and keep stirring, you can use a spatular to do this, folding in the chocolate and egg until combined.

5. Fold in the ground almonds until completely combined and then pour into the lined baking tin.

6. Place the creme eggs equally over the top of the brownie, best to think about how you are going to be cutting it up into pieces.

7 Place in the centre of the oven for around 25-30 minutes, it should be set on top and a skewer or sharp knife inserted into the middle should come out with a little of the mixture attached to it. It will continue to cook in the tin and you want it nice and gooey so don't leave until it is too dry.

8. Using the tin foil you should be able to lift out of the tin without too much effort, whilst it is still warm use a knife to cut into squares.

These gooey and tasty brownies make the perfect treat and are great for any creme egg lovers, served warm with a scoop of ice cream or simply with a cup of tea.

Please note the ingredients I used were all checked to be gluten free, please ensure you do the same.

Easter Egg Hunt at Rufford Abbey

We decided in January we wanted to buy a new house, it was a kind of quick decision but several factors played a part and it has totally been the right one so far.

But I will talk more about this another day, this is a post about a day out for Easter after a hectic few weeks in which the children have been a little bit neglected, as has the family as a whole to be honest.

We headed up to Rufford Abbey, a little overcast but nice none the less.

For a pound you got an egg spotting sheet and had to walk around the gardens to spot them, perfect for the kids as they love the gardens there.

Off to spot some eggs, look high into the trees guys...

We have been up to Rufford many times before, it continues to be a great place to visit with so much to explore and enjoy with the changing seasons.

Once we had found all but to missing eggs (hiding at the Information Centre) we claimed our prize, a yummy chocolate bunny, which didn't last long.

Our usual trip to watch the cars drive through the ford and an ice cream finished off the trip.

What did you get up to this easter?

Easter Activites

So Easter is finally upon us and with the weather not looking so great I have been looking at fun things to do with the children....

First on the agenda we have an Easter egg hunt, this is great for indoors or outdoors really and is super simple. I have some little chicks that are going to be guarding the eggs, my son just has to spot these to find his eggs (little chocolate eggs at each chick).

To decorate the house I have found these gorgeous garlands that you can print out at home and hang up around the house http://www.printablepaperproducts.com/printable-crafts/easter-bunny-garland or http://www.thesweetestoccasion.com/2011/04/easter-bunny-bunting/

I also found some masks in Hobbycraft that you can colour in and decorate, these are really great for toddlers and I will be using at my sons birthday party in a few weeks, but for now the bunny ones are great for Easter.

Next we will be baking some more Easter cakes, we had a test run last weekend and produced these beauties it is just a standard victoria sponge mix for the cakes and then a super yummy chocolate icing from the Hummingbird Bakery book on top, topped with some Easter treats.

Kids love to help decorate cupcakes

I have also bought some chocolate moulds from  Sew White, we have had a go with them already but will make some more at the weekend if it doesn't brighten up. My son really loved helping make them and the chocolates we made haven't lasted long either so they are big hit.

Posh chocolate button anyone?

Chocolate dinosaurs!

I think for breakfast tomorrow we will be having Madeleines, again using a new mould I bought from Sew White and then we'll be having Mutton for tea.

Should it brighten up there is an open day at a local Animal Shelter so we will probably venture to that, you get to see some animals whilst supporting the charity :)

National Baking Week...my favourite cake!

As you will come to notice I enjoy baking, I am by no means amazing but I do enjoy it and other than the cleaning find it a good way to relax.

In honour of national baking week I thought I would just share one of my all time, easy to make and blummin' tasty cakes from the fabulous Nigella Lawson, the Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake.

This cake is pretty much a sling it all in the mixer and go cake and the icing is easy and to die for, I have never known this cake last longer than a day in our house with everyone that visits having a piece!

It is easy to ice and touch wood I have never had it go wrong, as long as you let the ingredients come to room temperature it is a sure fire winner.

Best of all you can decorate to make as pretty or as plain as you like, it is our 'easter cake'.

My Easter cake, complete with chicks!

But I have made for birthdays and when I feel the need for a yummy chocolate cake or to take to a party.

A simple but gorgeous Birthday cake!