Of course, she had and Easter egg hunt, because younger kids would that every party if given the choice. And they also did a version of Pin the Tail on the Bunny using the largest cotton balls she could find – although the bunny looked a little odd when all was said and done.

They had a jelly bean counting contest and had some printable Easter coloring sheets and word games out on a table for the kids to do in between activities or to take home.

For favors each child got a new Easter pail filled with Easter stampers, a mini Easter egg painting kit, Easter candy and a small stuffed Easter bunny toy.

Actually, my oldest daughter still mentions this party every year and how much fun it was.  Here are some cute additions to your Easter party or bunny inspired birthday gathering. Click on the images for ordering information.

Easter Party Birthday Box Easter Party Table Cover Easter Ducky Egg Hunt Party Tote Bag (1) Egg Hunt – Tish and Tica – Easter Holiday Party Invitation Easter Egg Brunch – Cardstore – Easter Holiday Party Invitation Easter Tulips Deluxe Party Kit Bunnies and Chicks Party Bags by Wilton Bunny Tea Party – Kate Spain – Photo Birthday Invitation for Girls Easter Wishes Lollipop Bouquet Easter Egg Krispie Treat Pops Marshmallow Easter Bunny Bites Gift Box Giant Easter Bunny Cookie Easter Picture Bingo Easter Bunny Picks Easter Bunny Pops Easter Basket Easter Mini Stamper Easter Stationary Set Scratch Jumbo Easter Egg Kit Plastic Easter Eggs Hard Candy Mold Easter Asst. 6 pc

The cupcakes were a simple vanilla cake with buttercream frosting. On top was gold sugar and a red chocolate ruby slipper. Way cute and very yummy, too.

These would be perfect for a Wizard of Oz party theme. If you are having a Wizard of Oz birthday party or event here are some of our favorite Wizard of Oz party supplies and favors (click on image for ordering information).

Wizard of Oz Deluxe Party Pack & 8 Favor Boxes Wizard of Oz Cake Topper Kit 2 pcs Ruby Lip Gloss Slippers Keychain (8) Wizard of Oz Cupcake Rings 12 pcs Assorted Wizard of Oz Badge Of Courage Wizard of Oz Heart Clock Wizard of Oz Ruby Slippers Cake Picks 12 pc Wizard of Oz Sticker Book Wizard of Oz Ruby Slippers Child – Small The Wizard of Oz Napkins (16) Wizard of Oz 9 oz. Cups (8) The Wizard of Oz Invitations (8) The Wizard of Oz Blowouts (8) The Wizard of Oz Thank-You Notes (8) Wizard of Oz Compact Mirrors (4) Ruby Slipper Reusable Ice Cube Set (6)

First, she bought a few Build-A-Bear Workshop, Make and Celebrate Deluxe Birthday Kits with 4 Animals to Sew & Stuff in each one. Not only did making the bears work well as an activity for the girls, it made for an easy birthday party favor, too! If you plan on using the kit with younger kids, either do a lot of the threading ahead of time or enlist a few other parents to stay and help out. Older children (8+) will be able to do the project with minimal hands-on help. Each kit includes 4 animals to sew & stuff, 4 complete outfits & accessories, 4 invitations with envelops, 12 stickers, 48 punch-outs, 4 pin-on buttons, 1 easy-to-follow instruction sheet & 4 birth certificates.

She also found some Build-a-Bear Workshop party supplies on clearance and filled in the gaps with basic solid party ware. Click on the images below for product availability and pricing.

Build-A-Bear Workshop Centerpiece Build-A-Bear Workshop Blowouts (8) Build-A-Bear Workshop Sticker Sheets (4) Build-A-Bear Workshop Blue Invitations (8) Build-A-Bear Workshop Napkins (16) Build-A-Bear Workshop Mylar Balloon Build-A-Bear Workshop Mylar Balloon Build-A-Bear Workshop Thank-You Notes (8) Build-A-Bear Workshop Blue Thank-You Notes (8) ""Build-A-Bear Workshop Personalized Birthday Banner Large 30"""" x 100"""""" ""Build-A-Bear Workshop Personalized Birthday Banner Medium 24"""" x 80"""""" ""Build-A-Bear Workshop Personalized Birthday Banner Standard 18"""" x 61""""""

Growing up, my Mom would make classic Irish dishes year round, but the week of St. Patrick’s Day was always guaranteed to be special. Some of my favorite Irish dishes are:

Potato Leek Soup – This smooth and creamy soup is absolutely perfect for cold, dreary days. The leeks (from the onion family) are truly the secret ingredient. Thin sliced and tender the leeks add so much flavor to the soup.

Colcannon sounds exotic but it isn’t. Basically Colcannon is mashed potatoes with cabbage and sausage, plenty of butter and a bit of milk. Comfort food at its finest! This is also known as Bubble and Squeak.

Shepherd’s Pie was one of my childhood favorites. It is the ultimate one dish meal consisting of layers of ground meat (beef, lamb, or a combination), mixed vegetables, tomatoes, and a topping made of mashed potatoes and cheese. Yummy!

Irish Lamb Stew is made from amazingly simple ingredients, yet tastes so rich. I think the reason is that it cooks for 8 hours and those flavors just meld so well. Serve with Irish Soda Bread and you will feel like you are dining on the Emerald Isle.

Corned Beef & Cabbage is another simple yet delicious Irish recipe that is good any day of the year. The corned beef brisket will absolutely melt in your mouth after it spends all day cooking in the slow cooker.

For more great Irish recipes check out:

• Irish Traditional Cooking: Over 300 Recipes from Ireland’s Heritage
• The New Irish Table: 70 Contemporary Recipes
• The Irish Spirit: Recipes Inspired by the Legendary Drinks of Ireland
• The Irish Pub Cookbook
• McGuire’s Irish Pub Cookbook

Food photos from Food Network

Keep the kids busy while you cook with fun St. Patrick’s Day printable activities and coloring sheets.

Save up to 65% off wedding favors, too! The Knot Wedding Shop brought back their lowest price on Bubble Tubes — only $4.99/pack of 48. Plus, save on ALL bubbles, chocolates, coasters, fans, ribbon and more.

Check out their bonus deal this week: All personalized napkins are on sale, starting at only $17.99!

The full sale collection is always available in  the On Sale boutique. Sale prices and gift with purchase are valid Wednesday, February 24th through Tuesday, March 2nd.

And if you are looking for some Hello Kitty cake inspiration, I recommend doing a search for Hello Kitty on Flickr – these are a few of my favorites:

For some fun activities while your guests arrive or start getting restless, visit our friends at CartoonJr for some printable Hello Kitty coloring pages.

The Hello Kitty party supplies are by far some of the cutest ever! Click on the images below to get full ordering information:

Hello Kitty Party Deluxe Birthday Box Hello Kitty Party Centerpiece Hello Kitty Party Tiara Hello Kitty Party Lunch Box Hello Kitty Party Favor Bag Hello Kitty Party Banner Hello Kitty Party Blowers Hello Kitty Party Beverage Napkins Hello Kitty Party Bracelet Hello Kitty Party Bubble Necklace Hello Kitty Party Candle Hello Kitty Party Deluxe Favor Set Hello Kitty Party Game Hello Kitty Party Sipper Cup Hello Kitty Party Stadium Cup Hello Kitty Party Stationary Set Hello Kitty Party Stickers Hello Kitty Party Table Cover Hello Kitty Party Ultimate Favor Set Hello Kitty – Party Supplies – Plastic Bowl Hello Kitty – Party Supplies – Foil Balloon Hello Kitty – Party Supplies – Paper Lantern Garland Hello Kitty – Party Supplies – Confetti Pouch Necklace Hello Kitty – Party Supplies – Bubble Necklaces

Here are some ideas to make your iCarly birthday party the best ever!

• Transform any standard cake into a cool iCarly cake using an iCarly Mouse Cake Topper and bright blue, pink, purple, green and orange frosting.
• Serve zany snacks such as spaghetti tacos, smoothies and a big bowl of mixed snacks (come up with your own crazy mix).
• Record your voice saying “Random Dance” and play it randomly throughout the party.
• Have a Karaoke machine set up with the tweens favorite songs and give out prizes for the best versions.
• Set up a table with clay and/or recycled items for the guests to create their own sculptures, Spencer-style.
• Create a webcast or take photos with the iCarly Message Camera – your guests’ photos will appear on one of twelve iCarly set backgrounds.
• Favors can include anything wacky like iCarly notebooks, silly putty, funky mismatched socks (I like LittleMissMatched where nothing matches, but anything goes!) or inexpensive funky jewelry.

Finish off your party planning with some great iCarly party supplies! Click on the images below for ordering information.

iCarly Deluxe Party Pack & 8 Favor Boxes iCarly Invitations/Thank-You Postcards (8) iCarly Party Favor Box iCarly Compact Mirrors (4) iCarly Centerpiece iCarly Rubber Bracelets (8) iCarly Sticker Sheets (2) iCarly Tablecover iCarly Blowouts (8) iCarly Photo Prop iCarly Notepads (4) iCarly Message Camera iCarly Removable Wall Decoration iCarly Mouse Cake Topper iCarly Dessert Pocket Plates (8)

Let’s start with the cake. Creating a cake that looks like a Lego brick is actually pretty easy – you can take a regular sheet cake and cut it into four pieces, top each piece with 4 marshmallows or mini cupcakes and then frost (here is the recipe for a building block cake from Betty Crocker). Or you can get a little more elaborate like the cake to the left which was made by Krazy Kate Bakers.

Have fun with the party food, too. Make Lego shaped ice cubes (Lego Ice Bricks Tray) to put in the kids juice and let the kids play with their food – place bowls of pretzel sticks, marshmallows, gum drops, and square crackers out on the table and let them use their imaginations to build edible structures. Or get a big bag of candy blox and come up with a building or design challenge for your  little architects to create.

For the invitations, decorations and favors, check out the brand new line of Lego VILLE party supplies exclusively at my personal favorite, Celebrate Express. Click on images below for ordering information.

LEGO Ville Centerpiece ""LEGO Ville 9"""" Dinner Plates (8)"" ""LEGO Ville 7"""" Dessert Plates (8)"" LEGO Ville Mylar Balloon LEGO Ville Napkins (16) LEGO Ville 9 oz. Cups (8) LEGO Ville Cone Hats (8) LEGO Ville Invitations (8) LEGO Ville Thank-You Notes (8) Candy Blox 5lb LEGO Creator Mini Off-Roader – # 6742 LEGO Clikits – Photo Minis – No. 7502 – [30 pcs]

• 9″ Dinner Plates (2 lines of text & Image)
• Invitations (Front- 2 lines of text & Image | Inside- Party Details)
• Thank-You Notes (Front- 2 lines of text & Image | Inside- not personalized)
• Centerpieces (2 lines of text & Image)
• Empty Favor boxes (2 lines of text & Image)

Personalization is available on 14  exclusive party themes with more themes to be added in 2010. Click on images to pick your perfect party theme and start personalizing! (and save $20 on orders $100 or more! )

Lil’ Princess 1st Personalized Party Theme Lil’ Prince 1st Personalized Party Theme THE PIG Personalized Party Theme Pink Skull Personalized Party Theme LadyBugs: Oh So Sweet Personalized Party Theme Girls’ Lil’ Cupcake 1st Personalized Party Theme Construction Pals Personalized Party Theme Monster Jam Personalized Party Theme Mod Monkey Personalized Party Theme Pink Poodle in Paris Personalized Party Theme Horse Power Personalized Party Theme Yo Gabba Gabba! Personalized Party Theme Rock Star Personalized Party Theme

Sterling silver jewelry never goes out of style and always makes a great gift. I just love these gorgeous 1/4″ tall engraved bangles from DaySpring – each with a different inspirational scripture message. The scripture on the bracelet above, which happens to be my favorite, reads, “These three remain, Faith, Hope and Love, but the greatest is love.”

The bracelets make the perfect gift for Mothers, Sisters, and other special women in your life – not just at Valentine’s Day but they also would be perfect for bridesmaids’ gifts, birthdays, anniversaries or other special occasions. And, they come in two sizes – regular and petite – for ideal sizing.

Even better, through February 14, you can save 20% on these inspirational bracelets and everything else on the DaySpring site using the code VALNTN20 at checkout.

Below are the other 6 bangles in the collection from DaySpring. Mix and match, wear them as singles or stack 3 or 4 for an effective fashion statement. Click on the images for ordering information.

With God all things are possible – Sterling Silver Scripture Bangle The Lord is my Shepherd – Sterling Silver Scripture Bangle Serenity Prayer – Sterling Silver Scripture Bangle I Know the Plans I Have for You – Sterling Silver Scripture Bangle I can do all things through Christ – Sterling Silver Scripture Bangle Her Children Call Her Blessed – Sterling Silver Scripture Bangle