March Madness Table Idea for April!

Crazy, isn't it?

How March Madness takes up 

part of April as well?

 For those of you that are die-hard basketball fans, I am posting my ode to the basketball gods with my March Madness table. 

 I used my regular (at the time) kitchen table, a little painters tape, a little electrical tape, a package of stick-on letters and one basketball-crazy son. (Sons are optional in this table idea, but everything else is needed.) 

 After my son made my (at the time) kitchen table into an amazing basketball court, I got to bring in the fun stuff for the actual party. I used Easter basket basketballs to hold some of the things like silverware and napkins. Some of the Easter basket basketballs were nylon and some were felt. All were cute.

 I also took a cheapo basketball and cut it half (right on the seam). I then had two serving dishes for chips. 

 I bought little basketballs out of the party favor aisle at Wal-Mart and had them laying all over the court (table). My cute plates were from the dollar section of Target years ago, but I know you can find cute things at Hob Lob or a party supply store too.

 I used basketball luggage tags tied to the chairs to "star" some of the basketball players from our party. Those name tags are for children's luggage, but can be used for so many other things! (Diaper bags, napkin rings, etc.)

 If you can't find the luggage tags, then you can just tie basketball numbers (address numbers in their other life) to the backs of chairs. You can use the number(s) of your favorite players. 

 The flat basketballs were erasers in the shape of basketballs. All these little balls could go home as party favors as well too. 

 I found some disposable basketball dishes at Hobby Lobby. (Notice the orange suckers in the corner I used too?)

 This was originally a cheap basketball frame from the Dollar store. I renamed all my food dishes with appropriate name and put the menu inside the frame. 

 I even included an old net in my March Madness tablescape. Of course you could buy a new net to use as well!

 Here are the types of tape I used for my "basketball court". And yes, it all came off very easily once March Madness was over. 

 My son Luke was serious about getting this court set up right! He even used a tape measure so it was completely even. I think less trouble could go in to the making of the court, but I will say, my "court" looked very, very good!

 Since I do not have this table anymore in my kitchen, I was trying to think how I could recreate the court and still enjoy some March Madness. Plus those of you that do not have a harvest type table could do the same......This could be recreated easily on a piece of MDF and laid across a kitchen table. Not only that, but a basketball court could be on one side and a football field could be on the other side! 

 Hmmm. I'm thinking I have TWO new jobs for Luke! 

 If you put it on a piece of MDF you could store it and bring it out when needed.....instead of ripping it off of the table at the end of March Madness. 

In fact you could also just put in your favorite team logo somewhere on your "court" or "field". 

In the meantime, keep your eyes peeled for all the inexpensive little treasures that can be repurposed to be part of your tablescape.

Anyone need to hire Luke?

Linking up with:

WOW US Wednesday

Open House Thursday

Metamorphosis Monday

Stone Gable TTT
Tablescape Thursday

Yes, Jello. (But with a weak twist?????)

Obviously I am sorely lacking if I am posting jello ideas.

But I am.

(Lacking and posting!)

 In fact, even as I post this, I realize it has probably been done four kajillion times and I am the only one that never boarded that train. But pretend with me that I had a great idea. 

 I hosted Easter dinner for the family. I was making the tried-and-true-made-a-million-times strawberry jello with the pretzel crust. But I had a (probably very unoriginal) idea that I would make the jello in a cheesecake pan instead of a casserole-type dish. That way the pretty layers would show....Even before it was cut into. 

 I tried it and it worked like a charm. I made it in my large cheesecake pan and it took every bit of the pan. Just before serving, I ran a knife around the inside edge of the pan. I then popped the buckle of the pan open  and let the pan expand slowly. Bingo!!  Jello!  Pretty Jello!!

Just in case you are the only person in America to never make this jello, I will include the recipe. And just in case you also think this was an original ingenious idea, I thank you for that! And yes, it tasted just as good as it looked! 

STRAWBERRY PRETZEL SALAD

• 2 cups crushed pretzels
  3/4 cup of butter, melted
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup white sugar

• 1 (8 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
• 4 (3 ounce) packages
  strawberry flavored Jell-O®
• 3 cups boiling water
• 1 package frozen strawberries

HEAT oven to 350°F.

MIX pretzel crumbs,  sugar and butter; press onto bottom of  pan. Bake 9 min. Cool.

BEAT cream cheese and sugar. Fold in cool whip; spread over cooled crust. Refrigerate.

ADD boiling water to gelatin mix in large bowl; stir until completely dissolved.  Pour over cream cheese layer. 

POUR berries onto gelatin. Refrigerate 3 hours or until firm.

****TIPS to make this the best.

DO NOT bake the crust over 9 minutes. In fact I usually pull it out at 7 or 8. Over nine makes it like cement. 

I add the cream cheese layer when the crust is cool.

After I mix the jello, I put it in the fridge for about 30 minutes then I add it over the cream cheese layer. That has given it time to cool as well as gel a little. I add the sliced strawberries  after I have added the jello layer. That is what makes the sliced strawberries look so nice.

I have seen these recipes that add two blocks of cream cheese. That is not needed at all. 

I used my cheesecake pan as I would to make a cheesecake. Super easy to make. 

Linking with:

WOW us Wednesday

On the Menu Monday
Foodie Friday

Some Bunnies Easter!

With the exception of the very cute big bunnies,

everything at this table was shopped from home, 

or a great deal. 

The cabbage planter was a garage sale find for $1. The cute little bunny dishes were out of the $1 bin at Target. Everything else I have had forever and I just mixed and (very little) matched until I had a Bunny Table set up!

Now....about those cute white bunnies in the center of the table! Well they were gifts to me from my sister and she bought them at the (wonderful) Nell Hill's. Aren't they cute?  

The perfect casual, but fun, Easter table done for very little money. 

Linking to:

Wow Us Wednesday

Lessons in Carrot-ing!

 At first glace did you think that was a basket of big 'ole (real) carrots? I think it kind of looks like it. 

 Well for those two or three of you I had fooled, they are not (real) giant carrots. They are giant carrots, but they began their Easter seasonal life as carrot bats. Yes, as in baseball. And they come with that green ball. The great news is that they only cost $1 a piece. Now that's a deal. They can be found at your local Wally World or Dollar Tree. I am sure they are at other places as well, but that is where I purchased mine. 

 They also begin their seasonal Easter life looking very orange and very plastic. Ugh. But about a minutes worth of work on each carrot takes care of that. I used gel stain I already had. I simply wiped each carrot down with the stain then wiped off what I did not want to stay on. 

 The carrot on the far left has not been wiped down with stain yet. You can tell the difference. The others look more like real carrots now. 

 During spring and Easter season I love to use them everywhere. I put them in all sorts of baskets and arrangements. I just stick the "handle" part of the "bat" down in the container so that only the top shows. No one is the wiser....unless you are reading this and now you know! 

 As I was sitting here typing this up, it occurred to me that perhaps a little of the green raffia or Easter grass would look cute glued to the top. Or even some torn/shredded green fabric. Hmm. I'll have to try that out!

 As you can see, I've put these carrots in all sorts of arrangements and containers. I've used them from rustic, to tin, to galvanized, to china. They seem to fit in quite well in all places. 

 I've even used them on the door a couple of times in baskets. 

 Actually the ones on the door I never even hit with stain. You can tell in the pictures, but I don't think you can tell when driving by and looking at the door. I should probably stain them though. 

 I even used them last year when I took pictures of (then) 12-day-old Leightyn. I made cute Easter cards that said, "There is Some-Bunny new in town!" (Don't worry, I cropped the picture so you couldn't see the adult!

This year Leightyn carries the carrots around hitting them together like drumsticks! 

 So that is your complete "lesson in carrot-ing". Now you need to head to your local store and find some "carrot bats" to buy. Hit them with a little stain or watered down paint and you too are ready to carrot-ize just in time for Easter. Have you seen an easier Easter tutorial????

Linking to:

Metamorphosis Monday

Wow Us Wednesday

Cupcake Wars....

I blame everything (that goes wrong) on age.

 The fact that Easter is one week away. Age.

The fact that I need to get my butt(!) in gear and get some things done. Age.

Anything I forgot to do or did not get done. Age.

 Despite the "age" thing, I am sharing several different quick and easy ways to make cute, fun Easter cupcakes. These cupcakes are totally edible. The "grass" is really some kind of candy. It came in longer lengths and I just cut it with my (kitchen) scissors. All ingredients were found at Wally World. 

(Yes, even the little bunnies are some type of candy.) 

 Who doesn't love to use Peeps at Easter? 

 I made "real" frosting, but they could have just as easily been canned frosting tinted green. Kids don't care! 

 My aunt made these cupcakes. I have no idea how I got away with only one picture. Maybe because they were getting scooped up so quickly. 

 I used a white cake mix and tinted the batter various pastel colors. I baked them in a mini muffin pan. Some I used wrappers on and some I did not. Personally, I kind of like how they look without the wrappers. You get to see all the cute colors. 

 Some I lined up on a cute little Easter platter. I used a star tip and just squiggled lots of white frosting on top of each one. Then I put a few sprinkles on each cupcake as well. 

 A few cupcakes got places of honor among the Easter decorations.

 Then I used a bunch of them and put them in the push-up tubes. Kids really love these. Two mini cupcakes fit inside each tube perfectly. You could also put one cupcake and one Peep rabbit. 

 I ordered my push-up containers on line. I do not remember where I got them, but I am sure they can be googled up. I bought a lot at once and have used them with all kinds of desserts. 

 To display them I just put them inside several little Easter buckets filled with grass. Simple. Fun. Easy.

I promise I understand about time constraints and holidays that sneak up. Each of these recipes are fast and easy, yet fun for all the kids...and big kids. 

Linking with:

Metamorphosis Monday
Stone Gable's Menu Monday
Wow Us Wednesday