Fun Easter Snacks

Oh my.  This poor blog is so neglected.  I can't believe it's been almost 5 months since I last posted.  I have actually done several Pinterest inspired projects since October including a Star Wars themed party, Grinch themed Christmas snacks for my son's class, and a full bedroom remodel, but I never got around to blogging about them!  I did take pictures though, so maybe I will post about them in the months to come.

Here we are now at yet another holiday, and once again, I signed up for snacks.  This time it was for my daughter's class.  I knew the kids would get plenty of candy during the egg hunt, so I wanted to find something less sugary but still fun. As usual, I turned to Pinterest for inspiring spring themed ideas! Pinterest did not disappoint.

Search Words: Healthy Easter Snacks

1) Babybel Bunnies by Blessed Beyond Crazy
I thought these Babybel bunnies were absolutely adorable!  But, I don't have a heart-shaped cookie cutter and didn't want to have to buy one just for this. Plus, I wasn't sure if all the kids were fans of cheese and carrots. So, I decided to search on.

Photo Credit: Blessed Beyond Crazy

2) Chickie Bird Fruit Cups by No Biggie
Talk about cute and super easy!  These little chicks made from pineapple fruit cups would be incredibly simple, but one thing held me back. Have you ever seen a first grader open a fruit cup? Juice tends to go everywhere. Time to look on.

Photo Credit: No Biggie

3) Butterfly Bags by Kosher On A Budget
Once I stumbled onto this blog, I found a ton of fun ideas. These butterfly bags jumped out at me because my daughter loves Goldfish and I already had clothespins on hand. We have a winner!

Photo Credit Kosher On A Budget

As you can see, I varied from the inspiration project a bit, but I am happy with how they turned out. Not only are they a fun snack, but the kids can keep the clothespins and use them to make tissue paper or Kleenex butterflies. The only thing I would change is to cut the pipe cleaner a bit longer.  I should have been looking at the inspiration photo when making them.  Oh well. They are still fun!

Supplies:

• Clothespins
• Pipe Cleaner
• Googly Eyes
• Snack Bags
• Goldfish
• Craft Paint
• Hot Glue

My total out of pocket cost:
$5.81

I bought some multi-colored Goldfish, googly eyes, and pipe cleaner at Walmart.  I already had snack bags, clothespins, craft paint, and hot glue on hand.  Other than drying time for the paint, I had these done in less than 15 minutes! The goldfish were $1.97 a bag and I bought 2.  The googly eyes were 97 cents a bag and the pipe cleaners were 88 cents a bag.  I have a ton of each left over for other projects, so their cost is really much less overall. It was a fast and affordable project!

Halloween Snacks

I was in charge of my son's school Halloween snacks this year and wanted to do something fun, yet simple.  I turned, of course, to Pinterest for inspiration! There were so many fun ideas, that I had a hard time narrowing it down.

Search Words: Halloween snacks

1) Couponing To Disney
I really loved the simplicity of these Witch Brooms made out of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and pretzels.  No one in my son's class is allergic to peanut butter or gluten, but my son reminded me that one of the other boys in his class doesn't like peanut butter.  Plus, I knew the kids would be getting a TON of candy Trick or Treating, so I really wanted something a bit healthier.

Photo Credit: Couponing to Disney

2) Princess Pinky Girl
There were a lot of wonderful ideas on this blog!  I especially liked these banana ghosts and orange pumpkins because they were healthy and looked easy to make.  But, I planned on sending the snacks to the school with my son in the morning.  I was worried that the peeled bananas would get really brown and gross before the party.

Photo Credit: Princess Pinky Girl

3) Under Construction
These clementine pumpkins were the perfect solution!  They were healthy, easy, and could be put in the fridge at school and not get yucky before the party.

Photo Credit: Under Construction

4) Living Life on the Lane
I felt like the clementines might need a little something to go with them.  I had really loved the ghost banana idea, but needed a way to make ghosts that wouldn't turn brown in the fridge.  So, when I came across these mozzarella cheese stick ghosts, I knew we had a winner!

Photo Credit: Living Life on the Lane

I grabbed a Sharpie and had these cute pumpkins and ghosts made in no time!  My son said the kids liked them, so I feel it was a win!  Hooray for cute and healthy treats!

Supplies:

• Clementines
• Cheese Sticks
• Sharpie

My total out of pocket cost:
$0.00

Clementines and cheese sticks are something we always have in our fridge as snacks.  Since my son's class just has 6 students (yes, just 6!), these snacks didn't really "cost" me anything.  I think, however, that we generally pay around $5 for a bag of clementines and $3 for the cheese sticks.  I already had a Sharpie on hand as well.  Easy peasy!

Cardboard Box to a Basket

I try to be a fairly organized person, but there is one area that always seems to get away from me and that is the top of my refrigerator. Being only 5'3", it's hard for me to reach up there and things tend to get pushed to the back and lost forever.  It always looks cluttered and ugly.  I decided I needed an inexpensive way to keep it all together and easily get things off the fridge so I could see everything at once in a pinch. When my husband brought home a cardboard box from work that was the perfect size, I turned to Pinterest to find a cute way to make my box a basket!

Search Words: Cardboard Box to a Basket

1) Millays In Texas

The first box transformation that caught my eye was this one in burlap by Millays In Texas. Unfortunately, I did not have any burlap on hand, and I really wanted to get this project done right away. So, I kept looking for other materials to cover my box.

Photo Credit: From Millays In Texas

2) Wonderful DIY Storage

The next idea I found from Wonderful DIY was to cover the box in fabric. I had some leftover fabric from my dining room curtains (I'll post about them another day!) and thought that would be a great way to tie the two rooms together. Alas, I did not have enough fabric left.  So, back to the searching!

Photo Credit: From Wonderful DIY

3) DIY Design Fanatic

Finally, I found this tutorial from Design Fanatic on how to turn a box into a basket using jute. I had plenty of this on hand from another project (I'll have to share that one too!), and knew this would be perfect!

Photo Credit: From DIY Design Fanatic

I am very happy with how my fridge top transformation turned out. It's much more organized and cute too, even without the addition of a liner. (I might get around to making one of those someday.)

Supplies:

• Box:  My husband brought this one home from work.  It was 23 1/2 x 19 3/4 and 7 1/2 deep.
• Jute: I had this on hand and used all of 1 roll and part of a 2nd roll. I believe I originally got them at Hobby Lobby for around $3.50 a roll.
• Hot Glue Gun & Glue

My total out of pocket cost:

$0.00

I followed the tutorial by DIY Design Fanatic, but to be honest, I didn't use nearly as much hot glue. I found that just a few dabs on the corners and in the center of about every other row worked fine for me. I also helped it go a lot faster by sitting it on top of a 2nd box and spinning it much like a potter's wheel. I just kept steady pressure on the jute as it unwound and around and around the box we went. I was done in approximately 30 minutes and I love how easily I can now access everything on top of my fridge!

School Command Center

School started a few weeks ago and I quickly realized we were in need of a School Command Center. As soon as my kids got home from school, their backpacks got tossed onto the window seat, flung open, and their contents scattered all over the dining room.  Important papers went missing, homework got lost, and I found myself reminding the kids over and over again to put things away and do their afternoon chores.  It was time to get organized. So, off to Pinterest I went!

Search Words: School Command Center

1) From Overwhelmed To Organized

This is the first image in my search that caught my eye.  I loved that there was a designated place for each child's backpack and that their morning and afternoon routines were listed and framed.

Photo Credit: From Overwhelmed to Organized

2) Kylie M. Interiors

This solution for paperwork intrigued me because of the use of clipboards.  I also liked the idea of a pretty frame to house them all.  By the time I got to this picture, a plan was starting to take shape in my mind.

Photo Credit: Kylie M. Interiors

3) Tatertots And Jello

Once I got to this image and saw the creative utilization of a screen door to house the command center, the idea in my mind was fully formed and ready to go!

Photo Credit: Tatertots & Jello

Armed with the above Pinspiration, I knew I wanted my command center to have 3 things:

1. Backpack spot
2. Clipboards for important papers
3. Routine reminders

I also knew that it needed to look pretty, organized, and fit seamlessly into my existing decor. Here's what I came up with!

Supplies:

• Screen Door:  I already had an old screen door on hand. I just turned it upside down. You can find a similar one for just $12 at DoItBest.com.
• Paint: The screen door was unfinished.  I used leftover Chalky & Company paint and powder and sanded the edges before sealing with polyurethene to give it an aged feel.
• Clipboards: I found these at Walmart for just $1.98 each.
• Hooks: These were leftover knobs from a previous project.  They were originally purchased at Hobby Lobby. I think they were on sale for around $3 each at the time.
• Family Sign: This was a gift from my sister that had been sitting in my closet waiting for a home.  I'm so glad it finally found a place to live. 
• Frames: These frames were $2 each at Walmart.
• Chore Charts: I am a digiscrapper and used supplies in my stash to design the chore charts using Photoshop.  I had them printed at the 1 hour photo department at Walmart for $2.84 each.
• Name Plaques: My neighbor is an amazing artist and sells chalk art.  She hand lettered these for me for just $2.50 each!

My total out of pocket cost:

$18.64

So far, the kids have done a great job putting their backpacks on the hooks and emptying their papers onto the clipboards.  I love how my command center turned ou,t and I hope that you are inspired by it as well.