Handprint Easter Lily

The same woman who told my MOPS group about her responsibility chart and dusting mitts, also told us about Handprint Easter Lilies. She quickly explained the concept and then moved on to other ideas, but that one stuck with me and I love how they turned out!

 

I created an Easter Lily centerpiece for our kitchen and it has 3 lilies for Sweet P and 3 lilies for Baby Blue. I love the idea of doing this every year and eventually having a bouquet of handprint Easter lilies to cherish!

The idea is simple and a fun mom/child activity.

Here's what you need for the Handprint Easter Lily and centerpiece:

• sheet of white foam
• sheet of pink or red foam 
• green pipe cleaner 
• glue
• scissors
• pencil

Centerpiece:

• solid base (I used a mushroom container, but a floral styrofoam block would work)
• green construction paper
• green pipe cleaners cut into small pieces

Easter Lily instructions:

Trace your child's hand on the white foam piece (I just press with a mechanical pencil and it makes enough of an indention to use as a cutline). Cut out handprint. Repeat if you want more lilies. Cut a small piece of pink foam and cut into three pieces to form the stamens. I used a glue gun, but other glue would work. Hot glue the stamen to the top of a green pipe cleaner, then glue the pipe cleaner to the bottom middle of the handprint. Glue one side of the handprint to the pipe cleaner/stamen, repeat with the other side so that the hand wraps together to form the lily. Fold down the fingers to form a flower. 

Centerpiece instructions:

Cut a large piece of construction paper in half laterally. Using a hot glue gun (or other glue) secure the green construction paper to your base. It should stand up around the edges and not fit perfectly. Allow to dry, then cut the tops of the paper about every inch or so to form grass (see picture). Have your child poke the small pieces of pipe cleaner into the base to add more grass. Arrange lilies and poke into grass.

Wa-la! Easter centerpiece! Sweet P loves asking which ones are hers and which ones are Baby Blue's hands. 

Confetti Cupcakes from Scratch

We had reason to celebrate after the Farmer's day today and I wanted to make something sweet and scrumptious for dessert. Since the Farmer doesn't like chocolate, it needed to be a non-chocolate chip cookie or something with white cake. While googling cupcakes from scratch I saw one with sprinkles in the mix and decided to make some of my own with my trusty cupcake frosting. They're funfetti cupcakes without the store bought cake taste!

I'm a firm believer that most cakes (mixes and otherwise) have too much sugar in them so the first thing I did was cut the sugar down. Then I combined the white flour with whole wheat flour to make a heartier cupcake. The recipe I found called for almond extract and I neither like nor have almond extract so that ingredient got pitched immediately. We only have soy milk in the house so I used that as a substitute for milk and since I think cupcake liners are a waste of paper when I'm making them for us, I buttered up that cupcake pan like you wouldn't believe.

The Recipe: Confetti Cupcakes

What you need:

1/2 c soy milk (or regular milk)

3 egg whites

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 c white flour

1/2 c whole wheat flour

3/4 c sugar

2 tsp baking powder

6 tbsp butter

1 1/2 tbsp sprinkles (single color or rainbow)

Preheat oven to 350˚. Butter a 12-cup muffin tin like nobody's business. In a small bowl, whisk together egg whites, soy milk and vanilla.

In a large bowl (use your KitchenAid mixer bowl if you are going to use the mixer), combine flours, sugar and baking powder. Cut in butter using the paddle attachment (or use a pastry blender if you aren't using the KA mixer) on low speed until the batter resembles crumbs.

Add the soy milk/egg mixture and beat on medium speed for 1-2 minutes. Use a spatula to scrape the sides of the bowl and beat for another 30 seconds. Remove bowl from KA mixer.

Stir in sprinkles.

Pour batter into prepared muffin tin. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before icing.

Makes 12.

The Frosting

1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter (room temperature and cut into tbsps)

4 c powdered sugar

1/4 c soy milk (or regular milk)

Sprinkles (optional for topping)

Using a mixer (handheld of KA), beat butter on medium speed until creamy. Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and continue beating at medium speed. Pour in half of the milk and another cup of powdered sugar. Continue beating as you add the rest of the milk and another cup of powdered sugar. Slowly add the last cup of powdered sugar as you beat the mixture. Beat on high speed for 5 (yes, I said 5) minutes until the frosting is fluffy and creamy.

*Add more powdered sugar for a stiffer frosting)

Frost the cupcake using a spatula or knife. Sprinkle with sprinkles!

I'm linking up HERE.