OMG, right? Aren’t these the cutest edible bunny treats? At my house we were so glad that the Twinkie made “The sweetest comeback in the history of ever.” But to be fair, we only have Twinkies on really special occasions. When I saw the Wilton Bunny Ears Decorating Kit I kept it in the back of my mind in case it was a perfect fit for some upcoming birthday treat. When my daughter mentioned wanting to take Twinkies for her treat, as you all know she loves bunnies, mixing the bunny ears with the Twinkies was the perfect marriage of sweet goodness!

Ingredients:

• Twinkies
• Wilton Bunny Ears Decorating Kit (sold at Meijer and Jo-Anns)
• Edible Easter Grass (sold at Meijer)
• Mini Loaf Paper Wrappers (look like cupcake wrappers, only longer)
• Kitchen Shears
• Frosting

Recipe:

1. Use a kitchen scissors to cut edible grass and sprinkle it in the bottom of the wrapper.
2. Lay Twinkie on top of edible grass.
3. Add Wilton ears, eyes and noses to Twinkies by gently pushing them into the “face” of the Twinkie.
4. Add a dab of frosting the tail area of the Twinkie.
5. Smile, eat and enjoy!

The post Recipe | Twinkie Bunny Treat appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

The mustache trend continues at our house. While shopping in the grocery store we spied an awesome decorating candy pack from Wilton that includes lips, teeth and mustaches. This candy pack was a must have for decorating these pudding cups for Charlie’s birthday. The pudding cups were a perfect Preschool birthday treat and everyone gobbled them right up and there was little mess to clean up. (Umm, yes the preschool teacher loved that!) Get the recipe and instructions below.This recipe is from Kraft Food & Family Magazine in 2007. They called this recipe Frozen Chocolate “Soufflés”, but at my house we call it Frozen Pudding Cups. My son wanted layered pudding like the pudding cups at the store and he insisted we have both vanilla and chocolate. Who was I to argue? It satisfies both the chocolate and the vanilla lovers!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups milk
• 1 pkg (smaller size) Jell-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding and Pie Filling
• 1 pkg (smaller size) Jell-O Chocolate Fudge Flavor Instant Pudding and Pie Filling
• 2 cups thawed Cool Whip Whipped Topping
• 1 pkg Oreo Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, CRUSHED (about 2 cups)
• Wilton Decorating Candy – Mustache, Lips and Teeth Icing Decorations
• Wilton Candy Eyeballs
• Dixie paper cups

Recipe:

1. If you want to make 2 different kinds of pudding, use half the milk (1 1/2 cups) and add one box of dry pudding mix. Beat pudding with wire whisk for 2 min. Stir in 1 cup of thawed Cool Whip.
2. Prepare other flavor of Jello-O pudding same as above.

3. 

   Crush up an entire pack of Oreos. Put a small layer of crushed Oreos in the bottom of each cup.

4. 

   Spoon the first flavor of pudding into the cups, on top of the Oreos. Next put another layer of Oreos on top of the pudding layer.

5. Spoon the second flavor of pudding into the cups. Fill the cups almost to the top.

6. 

   Place the Wilton Candy Decorations on top of the second pudding layer.

7. Place pudding cups in the freezer for 5 hours or until firm.

Frozen pudding can be eaten in the cups as I did for the preschool class or turn the treat upside down (as shown in the top photo) and tear off the paper cups and eat. When I took the frozen pudding cups into school for a treat, I took them in frozen and the teacher let them sit until morning snack time and they were thawed enough for the kids to eat them easily. Perfect!

The post Recipe | Funny Face Pudding Cups appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

My son is double-dipping on his birthday treats this year! His birthday fell on the first day of school this Fall, but at the end of last school year you might remember that I posted about making worm brownies for him to take to school for summer birthdays! He is still in love with space (and brownies) and we came up with these fun Solar System Brownies that are created easily by adding a few toppings.If you want to make your brownies from scratch, you can follow my recipe for this delicious homemade brownie at this post: Peep Bunny Brownies. These brownies are chewy and gooey and oh so good. You can double the batch or use a smaller pan to make them thicker.

How To Add the Solar System:

• Buy some star-shaped sprinkles for the stars. Sprinkle them on top of the brownies when the brownies are about 3/4 of the way finished baking. It will help them stay on the brownies if they are added when the batter is still a little gooey and they can melt a bit and stick onto the brownie.
• To create the sun, we bought yellow gumballs from Party City, you can buy bags of all one gumball color there. When the brownies are cooled and cut push the Sun gumball into the brownie.
• If sending to school you might want to make sure it is okay to have gum in the classroom!

The post Recipe | Solar System Brownie Treats appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Remember the book How to Eat Fried Worms? I remember reading this book in grade school and it made a big impression on me. The thought of eating a worm was really icky, even if it was fried and covered in ketchup. This summer my kids and I are going to read that book (YOUR kids would love the book too!!) and since this is our first official week of summer we are kicking it off with this wormy treat.

This treat is a great birthday treat for boys to take to school also. It was really easy and cheap to make and every kid loves to have a piece of candy on top of their dessert!

You can read my recipe for this delicious homemade brownie at this post: Peep Bunny Brownies. These brownies are chewy and gooey and oh so good. You can double the batch to make them thicker or use a smaller pan.

How To Add the Worms:

• After the brownies are baked and cooled and cut, use a clean scissors and cut the gummy worms in half. Use the back round end of a wooden spoon to make two deep indents in the brownie (or wash your hands and use your pinky finger to poke the indents). Then stick a worm piece in each indent, now the worm looks like it is crawling through dirt.

If you want to check out the book you can use the link below to see it on Amazon.

This is my affiliate link and I may receive compensation from Amazon.

The post Recipe | How To Eat Fried Worms Brownie appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

This is the treat my daughter took to school to hand out on her birthday. Homemade brownies layered on top of edible Easter grass and topped off with a bunny Peep on a toothpick. We put each one in a cello bag and tied them with a ribbon. A cute treat, don’t you think?

After photographing this I started to think how perfect this could be for an Easter dessert, a bunny themed birthday party, a baby shower (you could change the color of the bunny to be blue for a boy!), and any sort of spring celebration. And who doesn’t love a good chocolate brownie?

These homemade brownies are ooey gooey delicious. If you want a good from scratch recipe I am here to share. It is actually right off of the Nestle Toll House Cocoa powder label. My bestie from college made these once when we were visiting and it was love at first bite!

Nestle Toll House Chewy Cocoa Brownies –

Ingredients:

• 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter melted
• 2 Tbsp. water
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (I actually substitute wheat flour and it works fine)
• 3/4 cup baking cocoa
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 13×9 baking pan. (I like to use a pan that is smaller to make the brownies thicker and more gooey!)

Combine sugar, butter, and water in large bowl. Stir in eggs and vanilla extract. Combine flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in medium bowl; stir into sugar mixture. Stir in nuts. Spread into prepared baking pan.

Bake for 18 to 25 minutes or until toothpick comes out slightly sticky. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

The post Recipe | Peep Bunny Brownies appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

I posted a picture of this cake to my personal Facebook page asking my friends what character this cake was. One person responded Mr. Magoo! Either this friend doesn’t have knowledge of Star Wars Angry Birds or my cake decorating skills are worse than I thought! I hope it is the former We recently got Star Wars IV, V and VI. While watching the movie my kids were making comments like, “That guy in black looks just like that bad black piggy.” Yup, that is Darth Vader and he doesn’t look like the piggy, the piggy looks like him. My husband and I have been having lots of laughs over all their movie comments.

My daughter loved the cake and so did my boys. Who doesn’t love a cake that combines donuts, candy and cake? Mmmmm, am I right?

This cake was really easy to make, follow along below to make your own Angry Birds Princess Leia cake.

Supplies:

• Cake Mix
• White Frosting
• Pink Frosting (I bought Whipped Strawberry)
• Chocolate Frosting
• 2 Blue Cadburry Mini Eggs (for eyes)
• 1 Yellow Cadburry Mini Egg (for beak)
• 2 Swirly Donuts
• Oven Safe Deep Small/Medium Size Glass Bowl
• Cupcake Tin and Liners
• Toothpicks

How To:

1. Mix the cake mix according to the directions on the box. Grease your bowl and pour in the cake batter. (I had extra batter leftover for a couple cupcakes.) Bake your cake at the temperature listed on the box. Baking times will vary because of the thickness of the cake. Use a toothpick to test the cake and see if it is baked all the way through.
2. When the cake has cooled, cut off the top of the cake (that part that is already more flat) to make it lay perfectly flat. Lay the cake on a plate with the rounded part up. This is Princess Leia’s body.
3. Frost the back of the cake with chocolate frosting.
4. Frost the front with pink frosting.
5. Add globs of white frosting for the eyes and patch under the nose.
6. Add the eyebrows and eyelashes using brown frosting. I used a toothpick to spread it carefully into place.
7. Add the blue Cadburry mini eggs for the eyes.
8. Add the yellow Dadburry mini egg for the beak. (I had to support the beak by hiding a toothpick underneath the egg.)
9. Add the donuts to each side of Princess Leia’s head.
10. You can see Angry Birds Princess Leia here.

The post How To | Princess Leia Star Wars Angry Bird Cake appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Do you recognize this character? If you have a small children and own any sort of touch screen device you have probably seen and downloaded the game Cut the Rope. My 4 year old loves to pretend he is Om Nom and ask me for candy. He might be pretending to be Om Nom, but I am pretty sure the wanting candy party isn’t pretend He was thrilled to see his Om Nom birthday cake the morning of his birthday. And all the candy piled around Om Nom really made all my kids excited. It was a simple cake to make and required no special pan!

Supplies:

• Cake Mix
• White Frosting
• Green Food Coloring
• 2 Chocolate Chips (for eyes)
• 4 Mini Marshmallows
• Assorted Candy – Round Peppermint hard candy would be ideal, but I used leftover candy that was hidden in our pantry!
• Oven Safe Deep Small/Medium Size Glass Bowl
• Cupcake Tin and Liners

How To:

1. Mix the cake mix according to the directions on the box. Grease your bowl and pour in the cake batter. (I had extra batter leftover for the cupcakes.) Bake your cake at the temperature listed on the box. Baking times will vary because of the thickness of the cake. Use a toothpick to test the cake and see if it is baked all the way through.
2. When the cake has cooled, cut off the top of the cake (that part that is already more flat) to make it lay perfectly flat. Lay the cake on a plate with the rounded part up. This is Om Nom’s body.
3. Use the rest of the leftover cake batter to make cupcakes. You will need 2 cupcakes to create Om Nom’s feet. Follow cupcake baking instructions on the cake mix box.
4. When the cupcakes are baked and cooled, cut two cupcakes in half. Use the halves to create Om Nom’s feet. Arrange the cut cupcakes on the plate around Om Nom’s body. Use a dab of frosting to secure them in place.
5. Scoop some frosting into a small bowl. Make this frosting a light green color by adding green food coloring to the frosting until you get the desired shade.
6. Frost all of Om Nom’s body and feet with the green frosting.
7. Cut a small chunk of cupcake to create Om Nom’s antennae on top of his head. (I think that is what that is?) Place it on the top of the cake, you might need to secure it with a toothpick, and frost with green frosting.
8. Use big globs of white frosting to make Om Nom’s eyes. Add a chocolate chip to each glob to finish off the eyes.
9. Add four mini-marshmallows to Om Nom’s face to create his teeth.
10. Dump candy around Om Nom’s feet.

The post How To | Om Nom Birthday Cake appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

Remember before when I said I am not in love with baking? Well, I am still not, but I put in a good effort to make some cute cupcakes for L to take to school for her birthday, staying with her bunny theme of course. After a week of the older 3 getting strep throat and the baby getting a double ear infection I was pretty tired out from all the coughing and the lack of sleep. We had L’s birthday celebration on Sunday and then on Monday I made cupcakes for her to take to school on Tuesday. Do you ever get in the middle of a project and think, “What am I doing this for?” That is the mental state I was in while I was decorating these on Monday. In the end though, she was super excited to get home from school and see how cute they turned out. The next day after school she told me all the kids said the cupcakes were the “best ever”. (Really? It’s just a box mix. Add enough marshmallows to a cupcake and I guess they become awesome.) If you have to indulge your daughter with bunny theme cupcakes you may want to follow the directions below.

 Supplies:

• Cake Mix
• Frosting
• Green Food Coloring
• Cupcake Liners
• Large Marshmallows
• Small Marshmallows
• Edible Easter Grass
• Wilton Candy Eyeballs
• Wilton Sugar Sheet White
• Food Scissors

How To:

1. Bake your cupcakes according to mix directions.
2. Add green food coloring to frosting until you get the desired green color. Frost cupcakes with green frosting.
3. Cut the large marshmallows in half using a food scissors. Place them onto the cupcakes.
4. Add a small marshmallow to one end of each large marshmallow.
5. Cut off short chunks of edible Easter grass and place around the bunny body.
6. Cut bunny shaped head from the Wilton sugar sheet. (My head was a semi-circle with ears.) Place head in front of bunny body.
7. Add two candy eyeballs to the front of the head, push them down into the frosting so they appear to be peeking out.
8. * Here is an important tip about the sugar sheet bunny heads, do not cover your cupcakes! The moisture with cause the sugar sheet to become soft and the ears will flop over. If that happens just make sure the ears flop back onto the body, it will still look like the bunny is hiding and playing peek-a-boo. Another option is to leave the heads off until closer to the time they will be eaten and then add them (they will probably be brittle if you have left them uncovered). I prepared mine the evening ahead because we had to head to school right away in the morning and some of mine flopped backward.

The post How To | Peek-a-Boo Bunny Cupcakes appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

If you saw my Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday post you were probably wondering how to make your own caterpillar cake. You can follow along with the instructions below. I would rank this cake as easy to make and decorate, but I need to preface this by saying that I have no cake decorating background so my cakes are mediocre at best. Although, my kids think they are the best cakes ever, so that is all that really matters.

How To | The Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake

Supplies:

• Cake Mix
• White Frosting
• Bundt Pan
• Birthday Candles
• Purple Pipe Cleaner
• Sour Patch Kids Candy
• Food Coloring
• Sandwich Baggies
• Large Cutting Board

How To:

1. Bake your cake in a Bundt Pan. Remove cake from pan and cut the entire cake in half. On a large cutting board place the ends of the cut cake together in a curvy line.
2. Use food coloring to dye 3/4 of the frosting in the container green. Dye a small portion yellow, another small portion black and the remaining frosting red. (I found that the color actually darkened up a bit after sitting, getting that red color takes a lot of dye!)
3. Use a bread knife to round off the front and back ends of the cake.
4. Next, use some green frosting to “glue” the middle of the cake together. Then frost the green body part of the cake. *Reserve a small amount of green frosting for the eyes.
5. Use red frosting to frost the head section.
6. Place a small amount of green frosting in a baggie and snip a small hole in the end. Use the frosting to make circular eyes.
7. Place the yellow frosting in a baggie and snip a small hole in the end. Use the yellow frosting to create an outline around the green eyes.
8. Place the black frosting in a baggie and snip a small hole in the end. Use the black frosting to create a nose on the caterpillar.
9. Cut a purple pipe cleaner in half. Bend each piece in half and insert into the top of the caterpillar’s head to create the antennae.
10. Decorate the back of the caterpillar with sour patch kids gummy candies.
11. Add candles and sing the Happy Birthday song!

The post How To | Very Hungry Caterpillar Cake appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.

My son who is in love with The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle turned 3 recently. He wanted a Very Hungry Caterpillar birthday party, so I was excited to fulfill his wish. Of course any proper party needs appropriate cake, food and decor. I love to make their birthdays really special, but for me it is important not to blow the budget. I also have time constraints, I do all the cake decorating (because it’s a surprise) and room decorating after my kids go to bed (you know, at the point when I just want to crash in the chair and relax). My point being, I am sure I could go a lot crazier with the decor, etc., but my reality is that I have a short time frame to accomplish the wow factor. (If you want to make a Very Hungry Caterpillar costume click here or for the cake instructions click here.)

For his birthday party lunch I served all the food The Very Hungry Caterpillar ate in the book. I told all my kids and their guest that they could wear a costume if they wanted. The kids loved having a funny lunch with all sorts of random fruit, food and treats. I also served macaroni and cheese, the birthday boy’s favorite food, as the main course.

I created my own tiered plate by putting one large plate on the bottom and then turning a tall glass upside down and placing another plate on top. I bought the streamers, balloons, candles and table cloth all at Dollar Tree. At my grocery store the bakery sells single slices of cake, single cupcakes and slices of pie. See below for my decor and grocery shopping checklist.

Shopping Checklist:

Decor Items –

• Green Streamers
• Assorted Color Balloons (Red, Yellow, Green, Purple)
• Red or Green Table Cloth
• Napkins, Cups, Plates, Plasticware
• Green Leaves
• Gift Bags and Tissue Paper

Decor How To –

1. To create caterpillar streamers I cut 7 foot lengths of green streamers. I used pieces of folded over painters tape to attach them to the ceiling. (See pic above.) At the end of the streamers I placed balloons (my balloon multi-pack didn’t have very many red) to represent a caterpillar head.
2. I covered the buffet area and table with red and green table cloths and sprinkled around some skeleton leaves from the craft store. (Had it been summer I would have picked green leaves from outside.)
3. I also wrapped the gifts in red and green gift bags and stuffed them with yellow, red, green and purple tissue paper.

Grocery Items –

• 1 Apple
• 2 Pears
• 3 Plums
• 4 Strawberries
• 5 Oranges
• Slice of Watermelon
• Piece of Chocolate Cake
• Ice Cream Cone
• Pickle
• Swiss Cheese
• Salami
• Lollipop
• Slice of Cherry Pie
• Sausage
• Cupcake
• Bamboo Skewers
• Red and Green Grapes
• Apple Juice Boxes

Grocery How To –

1. Arrange all the items that the caterpillar eats on plates.
2. Create caterpillar grape shish kabobs by adding a bunch of green grapes and then a red grape for the head.
3. Have red and green colored apple juice boxes available for drinks.

The post How To | Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party appeared first on Alanna George | The Craft Nest.