HAPPY EASTER!

Here's a FANTASTIC Easter treat that's a good
substitute for giving candy:

My crafty and clever friend, Mel,
surprised everyone in my
office with this Easter craft!
She bought disposable 12" Wilton's
frosting bags and green
raffia on a spool at Michael's.
Use goldfish crackers,
Cheese-Its, Cheese Puffs
or Cheetos.
...and
Here's an Easter card I made for my

wonderful pen pal, Leslie-Ann:

Inside View:

and to center a punch perfectly...

Use a pencil to mark the center

of where the punch should go!

This is how I got my holes perfectly

aligned for the ribbon shown above.

For this card, I finally got to try the eyelet and ribbon technique shown in a previous post HERE.

FUN TIMES WITH THE CARD CHICKS!

My Sister, Janie

 Janie brought DELICIOUS spaghetti salad
(see recipe below) and

quiche from Gene's Market

She brought fresh fruit, too - YUM!

 Chocolate Cake, Artichoke Dip and Lemon Bars

from Rachel - HEAVENLY!
See recipes from Rachel at the
end of this post!

 Janie, Rachel and Christie

Michele and Katie

Clever favor from Tiffany

and chocolate egg from Rachel

Inside Views

 Recipe

 Another Version

 You can coordinate the raised

punch on the front with the inside punch

used to make the window for the treat.

 My Favor

I purchased these from:

http://www.cafepress.com

Rolo Rose Idea

 Our Project #1

 #2

 #3

#4

#5

Gift idea using cupcake wrappers votive holders. I found this kit of wrappers at TJ Maxx and they sell them at Michael's, JoAnn's and even Safeway has cute sets of

cupcake wrappers, too!

Janie's Spaghetti Salad

1 English Cucumber chopped

1 Green Pepper chopped

1 Carton of Cherry and Yellow tomatoes

3 stalks of Celery chopped

2 Bunches of Green Onions chopped

1 8oz. package of Spaghetti noodles, cooked and drained

2 packages of Good Seasonings Italian Salad Dressing:

(Make one package of dressing according to directions and 

sprinkle one package on drained spaghetti noodles.)

May use Balsamic Vinegar to liven up the taste. 

Directions

Cook spaghetti noodles, drain, cool and sprinkle with dry Italian dressing mix.  Toss noodles to coat all noodles. 

Cut up the salad vegetables and add to cooled spaghetti noodles.  Toss the salad with half of the made up Italian dressing. 

Toss well.  Place in refrigerator overnight.  If you would like a zesty taste or more flavor add Balsamic Vinegar to taste.

Salad will keep for a couple of days.  

RACHEL'S LEMON BARS

Crust:

1 C flour

1/2 C butter

1/4 C powder sugar

Cream butter,floor and sugar.  It should like peas. Press into a 8" x 8" pan  Bake at 350 until golden brown. Cool.

Lemon:

2 eggs

1 C sugar  

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 T fresh lemon juice

2 T flour

1/2  t baking powder

Mix eggs, sugar , salt, lemon juice together.  Add floor and baking powder  Pour over crust and bake 25 minutes.  When cool sprinkle with powder sugar.

RACHEL'S CHOCOLATE CAKE

2 cubes of butter

1 C water

4 T cocoa 

Place in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.

Remove from heat and add:

2 C flour

2 C sugar

1/2 t salt

then add

2 eggs

1/2 C sour cream

1 t baking soda.

Pour in a greased 9 x 11 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-22 minutes.

Frosting:

1 cube butter

4 T cocoa

6 T milk

bring to a boil.  Add

 1 c chopped nuts

1 t vanilla

Powdered sugar to taste. Pour mixture over cake when warm.

Enjoy :)

ONE MORE CHOCOLATE BUTTERFLY

I met a fellow paper crafter last week and she told me she would check out my website. Not only did she check it out...but she made her own version of the chocolate butterfly! Thank you, Juliette, for making me smile with your version! The proportion of the egg body to the wings is perfection :-)

To see other variations, click HERE.

CARDS FROM MY PEN PAL

 I FINALLY got to meet my AWESOME

pen pal who lives in Vancouver...

and here are some of the

wonderful cards she made for me!

LOVE the actual dog print from her dog

BooBoo to thank me for the

canine outfit I brought for her!

BOO BOO a true fashionista!

MORE CHOCOLATE BUTTERFLIES

Using the SU butterfly Sizzlet cutting folder, I made another version of the butterfly I posted HERE this week. I took a piece of tulle slightly wider than the butterfly width and about 3" high, gathered it tightly in the center with a piece of floss, snipped close to the knot and attached it to the center of the butterfly using a small glue dot as shown in the second photo. Over the knot, I put a piece of red sticky/score tape and placed an Easter egg in the center. The antenna were cut from the same paper and added to the back with TomBow Aqua Liquid Glue - one of my favorite products because the duel tips allow for gluing tiny or large paper surfaces.

Chocolate Butterflies!

Make these chocolate butterflies from Hershey's Easter egg wrapped chocolates! The left side of the photo shows the completed chocolate butterfly and the right side shows a butterfly turned over so you can see how the antennas were created. Start by using any 5 petal flower die cut. On the first flower, I cut the antennas out of the 5th petal (leaving them attached to the rest of the flower). On the second flower, I cut off the 5th petal completely, attached the two flower petals with a glue dot, lifted the top wings to add dimension, then attached a chocolate egg with a glue dot for the body of the butterfly! Put several butterflies around your place settings at Easter time or use them as place holders to give your dinner guests a big smile! Click HERE for another variation on this theme!

NEW NEIGHBOR

We have a new neighbor next door and here's the card I made for her:

Back View

Inside View

RECIPE:

Eyes are 3/4" and 1/2" punches

Body is the largest Nestie in the

Small Scallop Circles set

Top feathers and toes are made from flower punches

SENTIMENT: SU Curvy Verses, Retired