Rice Krispies Easter Egg Treats

This may sound crazy to you, but I have never made Rice Krispies treats until now! My parents were health nuts long before it was popular. To give you an idea, I had my first chocolate bar when I was nine; it was so rich, I almost threw up afterwards. We rarely had salt or sugar in the house. I think the only times we did were when Mom was making something special for guests or a church potluck. We definitely never made Rice Krispies.

I wanted to make a special Easter-themed treat for Baby J, but baking with my oven is hit or miss. It had to be something no-bake, and eventually these Rice Krispies Easter Egg Treats crossed my mind. They are very easy and quick to make.

Rice Krispies Easter Egg Treats- My Life: A Work in Progress

What you need:

  • 4 cups of mini marshmallows
  • 4 tablespoons of butter
  • 5 cups of Rice Krispies cereal
  • Empty plastic Easter eggs (washed and dried beforehand, since you never know where they’ve been!)*
  • White chocolate (optional)
  • Sprinkles (optional)

*I used large plastic eggs (I don’t have exact measurements, sorry), and the mixture filled up 10 of them.

Rice Krispies Easter Egg Treats- My Life: A Work in Progress

Directions:

Place a large pot on the stove, with the burner at low heat. Melt the butter, then add the marshmallows in, stirring occasionally. Once the mixture is thoroughly melted and blended, turn off the burner and add the cereal. Stir.

Rice Krispies Easter Egg Treats- My Life: A Work in Progress

 Rice Krispies Easter Egg Treats- My Life: A Work in Progress

When the mixture has cooled enough for you to touch, grease the inside of a plastic egg with butter or oil. Stuff each side of the plastic egg with the Rice Krispies mixture; let the mixture overflow slightly. Then press the sides of the plastic egg firmly together, until it’s sealed. Let the plastic egg sit on a cookie sheet or the counter for about 30 seconds.

 Rice Krispies Easter Egg Treats- My Life: A Work in Progress

Rice Krispies Easter Egg Treats- My Life: A Work in Progress

 Rice Krispies Easter Egg Treats- My Life: A Work in Progress

To remove the treat from the plastic egg, press your thumbs at the center of the egg, one on each side of the seam, and press gently until the egg pops open slightly. Then you can carefully pry the egg open all the way with your thumbnail or a fork prong.

Rice Krispies Easter Egg Treats- My Life: A Work in Progress

If at any point your mixture starts becoming too hard for the egg-shape to form, you’ll need to melt your mixture slightly on the stove top again. So work quickly! My mother in law and I were forming these as quickly as possible; many hands and small batches are best for this treat.

Rice Krispies Easter Egg Treats- My Life: A Work in Progress

Decorating:

These are cute just as egg-shaped Rice Krispies treats, but this is how I decorated mine:

I melted a block of white chocolate in the microwave at 50 percent power (30 seconds at a time). After dipping an egg in the melted white chocolate, I sprinkled Spring-themed cupcake sprinkles over top. Then I placed the finished and decorated Rice Krispies Easter Egg Treats, one by one, into an empty egg carton with the decorated side up. The carton then went in the fridge. After the chocolate was firm, the treats were ready to eat!

Other Decorating Suggestions:

  1. Mix crushed, small Easter-themed candies in with your Rice Krispies mixture, before you form the eggs.
  2. Use cookie icing to draw fun designs on your eggs.
  3. These eggs would also taste delicious dipped in melted milk chocolate.
  4. Or, dip the eggs in white chocolate that has been dyed with food coloring into pastel colors.
What yummy treats have you had lately? Do you have a favorite way to “dress-up” Rice Krispies treats and make them extra special?

It’s an Easter hop! Have an Easter-themed craft, recipe, or other post you’d like to share? Link up below! Family-friendly only, please.



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Toddler #DIY #Craft Time! Make Your Own Felt #Easter Bag

Baby J will be 2 years old next month, and we haven’t established that many family traditions yet. The biggest reason is that his dad has been gone so much (all of which will change this summer, when J starts shore duty- woohoo!), and I just haven’t felt like celebrating holidays on my own.

But this Easter, Baby J and I are going up North to visit his aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandmother. So I’m making an effort to celebrate this holiday!

I’ve seen cute little felt Easter bags at several stores recently, and it occurred to me that a bag would be a fun, easy craft to make with Baby J. Because he’s so little, I did do most of the work on my own, but I let him help me “place” the decorations on the bag and pretend to glue them on. After the bag was finished, he ran off with it and kept trying to shove his cars and trucks inside, so apparently the bag was a hit.

To make your own easter bag, you’ll need the following:

  • Glue gun and glue
  • 5-7 pieces of 9″x12″ felt in multiple colors*
  • Coordinating thread and needle (or sewing machine)
  • Scissors
  • Easter coloring sheets
  • Ruler
  • Marker or pen

*I used 2 pieces of blue felt for the bag itself, and then chose 5 other colors for the decorations. I did have plenty of leftover fabric, so you could probably make do with fewer pieces. If you have extras…save them for another craft!

We bought our felt pieces from Michaels, but I’ve seen them at Hancock Fabrics, as well.

“Instagramming” our shopping trip…
Our selection (I let Baby J help pick)

Steps:

1. Do a web search for “free easter coloring pages printable” or a similar search term.

For our craft, I gathered several images from this collection of printable Easter egg color sheets, a flower coloring page, and a bunny coloring sheet. The great thing about this bag is you can customize it to whatever design you want! If you’d rather design a religious Easter bag instead of secular, there are a number of free religious coloring pages online (crosses, lilies, etc.).

2. Print out your selected pages and cut out the drawings. Then using the cut-out drawings and a marker or pen, trace designs on your felt (make sure to keep 2 whole pieces of felt untouched on the side, to make the bag itself).

If you need to, use pins or tape to keep the cut-outs secure, while tracing them.

3. Cut out your felt decorations.

Time to make the bag!

4. Cut a one inch strip of fabric off the top of each fabric rectangle. These strips will be the bag handles.

5. Pin each end of the straps to the wrong side (inside) of the bag. Pin them 2″ in and 1/2″ down. **

Make sure the straps aren’t twisted. Also any markings that are leftover from tracing should be facing the inside of the bag.

**If you’re planning on using the bag for heavier items, pin the straps 2″ in and 1″ down. When you get to step 5, you will sew the straps in two places- at 1/4″ and 1/2″. This will make the straps more secure, but it’s not necessary if the bag’s only holding candy and small toys, etc.

Pin at 2″ from the top edges.

6. Sew the straps on at a 1/4″ (half way). Once the machine needle is secure and all the way through the fabric, it’s fine to remove the pin that was holding your fabric together.

Sew over the strap several times to secure and strengthen it. I sewed back and forth for a total of four times.

7. Pin the sides and bottom of your bag together, then sew at a 1/2″.

8. Turn your bag right side out, and start gluing on your decorations.

We tried using a natural craft glue first, but I had trouble getting the decorations to stay on, so after Baby J was in bed, I used a glue gun.

Once the glue is dry, your bag is ready for use!

I wonder if mommy’s herbs will fit in here?
 What Easter crafts have you made? Do you have any family traditions (from any holiday) that you’d like to share?
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Wordless Wednesday: 11/27/13

I haven’t posted a wordless Wednesday photo in months, but I love these photos of Baby J that I took last night! In the last photo, he was so insistent that he was going to walk off the plane with his own carry-on just like everyone else. Don’t worry; we were the last ones off, so we weren’t holding up traffic!

Our Thanksgiving travels- My Life: A Work in Progress

Our Thanksgiving travels- My Life: A Work in Progress

Our Thanksgiving travels- My Life: A Work in Progress

Our Thanksgiving travels- My Life: A Work in Progress

Our Thanksgiving travels- My Life: A Work in Progress

Twelve hours of travel (including flight delays, layovers, and to and from the airports), but we made it!

Are you going out of town this week?
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