SWEETY BIRD~BEADY BABIES~EASTER BUNNY CUPCAKES~BARNYARD CUTIES!!

SWEETY BIRD

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup white chocolate chips
1 Twinkie
Chocolate sprinkles
Orange frosting
2 candy lemon slices

DIRECTIONS:
To make a pair of nests, first spread 1/2 cup of shredded coconut on a cookie sheet and toast it under a broiler until golden brown, about 1 minute. Remove the coconut from the oven, stir it, then toast it for 30 seconds more. Repeat as needed until all of the coconut is evenly toasted, then let it cool.
Next, melt 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips in a double boiler according to the package directions. Remove the pan from the heat (keep the chocolate over the warm water) and stir in the coconut.
For the nestlings, lay a Twinkie flat on your work surface and cut it in half. Press 2 chocolate sprinkles into each half for eyes and pipe on orange frosting beaks. Let the beaks set a bit, then stand the chicks upright on waxed paper and spoon the warm coconut mixture around them, shaping it into rings. Lastly, use frosting to stick on trimmed candy lemon slices for wings.

BEADY BABIES

These baby chicks are so easy to make, you can have an entire clutch ready in time for Easter.

MATERIALS:
2 round wooden beads (we used one 16-millimeter and one 25-millimeter bead) with holes large enough for a doubled Pipe cleaner to fit through
6-inch pipe cleaners
Acrylic paint
Craft feather
Fine-point marker

INSTRUCTIONS:
First, paint the beads with acrylic paint. When they have dried, bend a 6-inch pipe cleaner in half, sandwiching the end of a tiny craft feather in the fold.
Thread the smaller bead onto the opposite end of the pipe cleaner and slide the bead up to hide the bottom of the feather.
Thread the larger bead onto the pipe cleaner, then bend the ends of the pipe cleaner into feet.
Finally, use a fine-point marker to give your little chick eyes and a tiny beak.

EASTER BUNNY CUPCAKES

Instructions
Frost a cupcake (baked from your favorite recipe) with white icing and sprinkle on shredded coconut fur.
Cut a large marshmallow in half widthwise. Squeeze each half slightly to give it an oval shape, then decorate the sticky side of each one with pink decorators' sugar and set them in place for ears.
Add a jelly bean nose and either jelly bean or snipped Sweet Tart eyes, and mini marshmallows for cheeks. For a finishing touch, draw on decorators' gel pupils or whiskers if you like.

BARNYARD CUTTIES

This barnyard trio makes a great project for Easter, but the roly-poly pals are fun to play with any time of year.

MATERIALS:
3 Styrofoam eggs
Tacky glue
Fluffy, curly, and smooth yarn
Scissors Felt
Black ball-head straight pins
Extra-fine permanent marker

INSTRUCTIONS:
Flatten the rounded end of each egg by pressing it on a hard surface. Hold this end and drizzle glue on the opposite half. Press the end of the yarn into the glue at the egg's tip and spiral it around the egg. When you reach the midpoint, cut the yarn.
Apply glue to the egg's uncovered half and wrap as before, again working toward the middle.
Cut ears, a pig nose, and faces from felt. To make ear creases, dab glue on the ear's bottom edge and pinch from the back. Pin the creases in place until the glue sets.
Glue the ears and pig nose to the faces and attach the faces to the eggs' flat ends. Use ball-head pins for eyes, then draw on noses and mouths with a marker.
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