Frugal Easter preparation

I had planned to take pictures of my homemade peanut butter eggs and coconut eggs, but I forgot to take the pictures before I put the kids to bed. Suffice it to say that making your own Easter candy is much more inexpensive than buying the candy from the store.

In order to make around 28 of each kind of egg (peanut butter and coconut in smaller sizes), all I had to purchase was a bag of coconut ($1.40). I already had the rest of the ingredients on hand, so it was a lot cheaper than buying just 6 of each kind of premade egg.

I also decided that a family of four, with two of them under the age of six, does not need a whole ham to themselves! I like the boneless Cure 81 hams, but I certainly don't like the price of them. And since I haven't been on hand to find good grocery deals on hams over the last few weeks, I decided to go with a cheaper presliced ham and add my own glaze. For less than $3, I got plenty of ham for us. I was happy!

Some other traditions we plan to enjoy this year: an Easter egg hunt (using last year's plastic eggs filled with loose change and various on-hand candies), homemade hot cross buns, pickled eggs, coloring eggs (using a kit I got for $0.10 last year), and hidden baskets.

As for the baskets, there won't be much candy in them. I suspect most parents feel like I do - my kids get enough sugar! :) So I got them each a chocolate cross, they'll each get a few homemade peanut butter and coconut eggs, and the rest will be non-food items. That includes a Sizzix Sidekick (reg. $50 on clearance for $8), 2 sets of Cuttlekids dies (also on clearance for less than 50%), papers I've cut to the exact size needed for the Sidekick machine (from my own paper scrap pile), and a few embossed Winnie the Pooh images (from my own Cuttlebug). If I know my kids, they'll be deliriously happy. And I'll be happy when I'm not dealing with two young kids on a sugar high. :)

What are you doing for Easter?