When I was preggos with Devin, my coworker told me about her mom who would always set their dinner table to match the current holiday and the St. Patrick's day tablecloth she would put out every year. She spoke about this memory so fondly. I thought it was so sweet that she was able to remember the details so vividly. I told her that I was totally stealing the idea once Devin was old enough to understand. LOL. Sure enough, I've done this a few times now so Easter would not be an exception. As usual, I hit up The Dollar Store, Hobby Lobby and my fave place ever - the dollar bins at Target. I started early so I was able to find a lot cute Easter goodies. I was already planning on baking for Easter so I just made some extras for me, the hubby and Devin to share - tiramisu, strawberry mousse cheesecake, Oreo truffles, coconut macaroons and chewy coconut cookies. Although I don't love the idea of getting the kiddos a gift just because it's a holiday (they have enough toys as it is), I still wanted to get them something to open. Most pre-made gift baskets are full of candy and toys that would most likely be thrown out after a few uses. So, for Devin, I bought a few treats that could easily be packed in his backpack + a Disney Cars book (which was already sitting in my Amazon cart). For Kelsey, since she really has no clue what's going on (ha), I just stuffed her bag with a few onesies and a teether - things I would've bought for her anyway. Pretty easy and something they'll actually use/eat. Behind the scenes:
So the reveal didn't go exactly as planned. I set almost everything up the night before then I closed off the room. In the morning, I told Devin to not go in to the playroom and that he needed to "wait for mommy." As I was giving Kelsey a bath, Devin walks into the the bathroom with the book in hand, happily shows me his new Cars book and says "Mommy, I found a book!" Oh, my sweet Devin. LOL. He loved his book though, maybe a bit too much. It's a book of all the Disney Car characters. Since he can't read yet, he's constantly asking us the name of each car that's pictured and now he's telling us which cars he doesn't own but wants to buy with "daddy's money"... what have I gotten us in to? Just like Valentine's Day, I wanted to set up our table to do something fun for Devin for St. Patty's Day. I didn't want to spend much so I stopped by the Dollar Store and Party City to pick up some supplies. I make a lot of pancakes/waffles on the weekend. To be honest, I really didn't feel like baking so I decided to just color my waffle batter 4 different colors and attempt rainbow waffles (the hubby got a spinach, mushroom and tomato omelette). Tip - when attempting rainbow waffles, only pipe half the waffle. I made the mistake of trying to make rings of different colors to make a whole waffle. By the time I had to switch baggies for the next color, the colored batter I just piped ended up spreading too much. This caused me to have a blurred rainbow, not a defined rainbow I was so hoping for. BUT, for my first attempt, I think it ended up pretty good. I wanted to switch it up, so I set up the table on his playroom. Devin had the biggest smile when he saw everything... and that moment made it completely worth it for me! Total spread cost less than $10!
Dollar Store: plates, napkins, forks, Rolos Party City: beads, 2 mini hats, chocolate coins Last year, I started preparing our dinner table to match the current holiday. I thought it would be a fun and easy way to build memories with my kiddo.. on a budget! Devin was only 2 at the time. He didn't understand the concept of Valentine's Day so he was underwhelmed to say the least. Lol. My tradition only lasted 2 holidays before I gave up. Ha! Now that Devin is 3 and seems to have quite a sweet tooth (he must get it from his mama!) + we added a baby girl to our wolf pack, I wanted to try it again. I grabbed my decorations from last year, stopped by Hobby Lobby and the dollar bins at Target. Of course, I wanted to mix in some homemade but easy treats so I whipped up some chocolate covered Oreos and strawberries and made cream puffs. I set up most of the table the night before. When Devin came down the the following morning and saw the table he said, "Ooo. Tha's niiiice mama." 😍It was a decent Valentine's Day dessert spread for 3.5 and Devin was pretty excited about the goodies in his envelope, too. Up next... Saint Patrick's Day! Hobby Lobby - pink paper straws, mini dairy jars, scrapbook paper (used to wrap the jars)
Target - red doilies, paper plates, heart bowls, pink and gold jewelry stand (re-purposed as a mini dessert stand) |
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