Geez, I’ve done a lot for Spring in the past few years. Which is funny since I much prefer Winter. I know, I know, I’m the lone person out there for whom this is true. But snow is so dang pretty, I never tire of it. Just wish we actually got some this year. And I’m the type who doesn’t want the cold to end, I want to wear sweatshirts and sit in front of a fire. And the world is just quieter in winter, and gosh I like the quiet. And… enough longing for Winter. I need to psych myself up for Spring. Above are vegetable garden cookies. Ha, as if I actually “garden.”  As always, you’ll find everything seasonal in the Seasonal button up there, but below I’m linking to a few of my favorites.

I noticed a few themes in the collection. Each one is pretty predictable.

Cherry blossoms, of course, since I live in Washington DC and all. Cherry blossom cookies, painted cookies in cones, cherry blossom marshmallows, painted cherry blossom cookies.

Birds!   Bluebird brownie pops, poured sugar birdie cookies, painted birdhouse cookies, chicken (or hen?) cake pops.

Bugs! Bug marshmallow pops, butterfly cookies, bug topper printable on Oreo Cakester petits fours, bug cookies, easy Starburst dragonfly toppers, fondant bugs.

And of course, flowers.  Felt flower cupcake toppers, gerbera daisy cookie pops, carnation cookie pops, bite-size daisy cookies, how to make a flower cookie arrangement, springtime marshmallows.

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Well, only the ones on the bottom are angry. The one at the top is happy to be in such a place of honor.

It’s amazing what a couple of lines will do to give a Peep character.

Hey, why is that one so smug? Oh, right. He knows the ones at the top are the first to go.

To make these (Seriously? You want to make these?)…

Just draw faces with a black or brown edible writer and skewer with an 8-inch lollipop stick. It helps to grease the end of the lollipop stick with Crisco first.

By the way, if you’re into Peeps with character, anybody remember this collection of 12 Ways to Get Rid of Leftover Peeps?

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Oh, PEEPS. How silly, iconic, sweet, ubiquitous and a little bizarre you are. I know you arrive at every season, but Easter is really where you shine. Take your spotlight, Peeps. Enjoy it. Just don’t get too close to the spotlight (those things pack a lot of heat). When Michelle from Sugar Swings! Serve Some and Christi of Love From the Oven invited me to join them and fellow bloggers in a Peeps extravaganza, the Spring Hop Along PEEPS Party, the answer was kind of a no-brainer. Duh. Of course. We’re talking Peeps here. Be sure to hop along to everyone’s post, and there’s even a PEEPtastic GIVEAWAY!!

Scroll to the end of the post for all the links to the PEEPs party and for the GIVEAWAY details.

I went out and bought a plethora of PEEPS bunnies. I’ll call these Peeps bunnies in chocolate pudding egg shells. Seems a mouthful (literally, that’s how you have to eat them), but I can think of no better description. Peeps bunnies in chocolate eggs? Probably better. They are pretty easy to make, too.

how to make Peeps bunnies in chocolate eggs

you will need:*

Peeps bunnies

Wilton brownie pop silicone mold

semi-sweet chocolate chips

disposable decorating bags

paint brush

scissors

green candy melts

baking tray

wax paper

pudding or mousse

small spoon

royal icing flowers (optional)

*Find the brownie mold, disposable decorating bags, paint brush and candy melts at the craft store. I just piped the flowers with leftover royal icing I had, but you can also purchase pre-made flowers at the craft store.

step one: make your chocolate eggs

Place just over half a cup of chocolate chips in a disposable decorating bag. Melt in the microwave at 60 percent power for 90 seconds. Repeat at 30 second intervals until the chocolate is completely melted. Snip 1/4-inch from the tip and pipe a dollop of chocolate in a cavity of the brownie mold. Use the paint brush to brush the chocolate about 3/4 of the way up the sides. I used a good bit of chocolate to minimize breakage. A half of cup of chips should fill 8 cavities of the mold. Place in the fridge to harden about two hours. Carefully pop the chocolate eggs out of the mold and store in the fridge.

step two: make your grass

Line a baking tray with wax paper. Follow the same instructions above to melt green candy melts in a disposable decorating bag. Snip 1/4-inch from the end, and working with one egg at a time, loosely pipe a blob for grass and set a chocolate egg on top. Repeat with all the eggs and let set in the fridge to harden. If desired, add royal icing flowers before the candy melts harden, or pipe them after they harden.

step three: assemble your Peeps in eggs

Place a dollop of pudding or mousse in each egg. Snip the bottom off of a bunny and place in the cup.

 The Spring Hop Along PEEPS Party!!!

Be sure to visit all of the stops on the Hop Along PEEPS party! Here is the crew of talented bloggers knee deep in PEEPS.

And now… THE GIVEAWAY!!!

Our fabulous hosts, Sugar Swings! Serve Some and Love from the Oven, are giving away this PEEPS packed prize package.

Open to US Residents Only.  Use the Rafflecopter Widget below to enter, please remember it can be slow to load.  Good luck! Click here to enter:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!

I’m back with what’s quickly becoming a seasonal tradition. Last Spring it was all about flowers. This Winter it was all about snowflakes. Now Haniela’s has brought us all together again with Easter treats and crafts. And there are a whole bunch of us this year. Which means a whole bunch of ideas for the holiday. Why, it’s a virtual Easter Extravaganza! Just click on each picture above to visit the bloggers’ posts.

To see all the bloggers’ creations, click HERE to visit Haniela’s, and be sure to stop by everyone’s site for the full tutorials. For the direct links, scroll to the bottom of this post.

I kept things simple with some bow tie bunny cookie pops. When given the only parameter of “Easter-inspired,” I was overwhelmed with directions. Eggs, baskets, pastels, chocolate bunnies, gingham, daisies, carrots, cookies, cupcakes, fondant, marshmallows… So I scratched all that and just stuck with a plain white bunny. Two dots for eyes and a sprinkle nose makes these even simpler, and that, my friends, was purposeful. Defiant, almost, against complication. Though I guess the over calculating of simplicity erases said simplicity. And there you have my psyche in a nutshell. Sigh.

To make these…

First, make the cookies. Prepare cookie dough according to the recipe, chill, roll out 3/8-inch thick (for pops) or 1/4-inch thick (for regular cookies), cut out bunny heads (I cut off the heads of my copper bunny cutter, but you can cut the heads off any you prefer), insert lollipop sticks (found at the craft store), and bake according to the recipe. Let cool completely. For tips on making cookie pops, click HERE.

Second, make the icing. Prepare royal icing according to the recipe. Tint about about two cups of icing (depending on how many cookies you are decorating) white using Americolor Soft Gel Paste Bright White food coloring. Prepare a disposable decorating bag with coupler and size “3″ decorating tip (found in the craft store). Fill with half of the icing and close tightly with a rubber band. Reserve and cover the remaining white icing. For tips on finding supplies, click HERE.

Third, decorate the cookies. Pipe an outline on the cookies and let set about 15 minutes. Thin the reserved white icing with water, a few drops at a time, until the consistency of thick glue. Fill an empty decorating bag with the thinned icing, snip the tip about 1/4-inch and loosely pipe to fill the cookies, encouraging the icing as needed with a toothpick. Let the cookies dry well, several hours at least, or overnight preferred. For tips on basic cookie decorating, click HERE. When dry, use a dab of light corn syrup to adhere a little heart sprinkle, and draw two dots with an edible writer.

Fourth, add the bow tie. To make the bow ties, fold a piece of decorative paper in half and cut out half a bow tie at the fold. Cut a couple slits at the top and bottom of the center of the bow tie to thread the lollipop stick through.

Thank you to Haniela’s for including my bunnies in such a great collection! Visit each blogger at the links below:

3D Easter Bunny by Marielle – De Koekenbakkers
Chick Cupcakes by Robin – Bird On A Cake
Mrs. Bunny Centerpiece by Myriam – Chapix Cookies
Cheesecake Easter Eggs by Beth – Hungry Happenings
Cho “Bunny” Greek Yogurt Pops by Jill – Kitchen Fun With My 3 Sons
Hidden Easter Eggs by Stephanie – Ellie’s Bites
Easter Egg Cupcakes by Liz – Hoosier Homemade
Easter Treat Pouches by Elena – Just Me
Mini Meringue Cake by Karyn – Pint Sized Baker
Bunny Cake by Kathia – Pink Little Cake
Easter Gumball Machine by Marlyn – Montreal Confections
Easter Island by Laura – A Dozen Eggs Bake Shoppe
Easter Bunny Sandwich by Michelle – Creative Food
Bunny Garland by Sue – Munchkin Munchies
Egg Hunt Pound Cake by Jennifer – Not Your Momma’s Cookie
Dutch Easter Egg by Lorraine – Lorraine’s Cookies
Easter Egg Painting Chicks by Mike – Semi Sweet
Easter Basket Cookies by Amber – Sweet Ambs Cookies
The Carrot Patch Cake by Kim – The Partiologist
Cookie Bunny Pop by Meaghan – The Decorated Cookie
Pretzel Bunnies by Sarah – Miss CandiQuik
I, Robot Egg Cookie by Hani – Haniela’sTweet

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This collection of Easter egg decorating ideas I did for Reader’s Digest a couple years ago is still one of my favorites. I should, of course, mention that in real life we dunk our eggs into some colored vinegar and call it a day, but for blog world, I like to feel more creative.  Below are a bunch of Easter egg decorating ideas that are crazy awesome, in my view.

This one is pretty jaw-dropping. Easter eggs sculptures by Mr. Printables Blog.

Pretty, colorful and glittery. Glitter dipped Easter eggs from Create. Craft. Love.

I must-ache you a question. Do you like these eggs? Mustache eggs from No. 2 Pencil.

I wish I crocheted. Then I’d make beautiful crocheted egg holder ornaments from LVLY.

Something textile-related I could handle: Yarn wrapped eggs from A Place to Land.

Gold and shine and polka dots. Gilded and polka dot Easter eggs from Studio DIY.

No messy dyes needed, just a Sharpie. Doodle Easter eggs from Alisa Burke. And, an even cooler, colorful version with mix and match tops and bottoms.

Everything’s coming up chalkboards these days. Chalkboard paint eggs from TheFrugalGirls.com.

Ridiculously adorable. Sheep eggs by Spoonful.

I’m pretty sure this is my 5 year old’s dream Easter egg. Rhinestone eggs from The Swell Life.

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Feel free to share (nicely)! While my blog's photographs and text are protected by copyright, I do allow (and encourage) you to share ONE photograph with credit to "the decorated cookie" and link to this blog post. PLEASE don't reprint any part of the blog post and PLEASE don't post a photo without credit. Thank you!