5 ways to celebrate National Donut Day!

Marissa Lundeen

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May 25, 2023

5 ways to celebrate National Donut Day!

Why we love National Donut Day

We are firm believers in the power and transcendence of creating. Okay, maybe that sounds a little hokey, but are we wrong? We wholeheartedly believe as we create with our hands we get in touch with our soul, and as we get in touch with our soul we live a more abundant life. Creating something beautiful or delicious and putting it out into the world is an act of courage and celebration, and we are BIG FANS of all of the above. The donut lassies, pioneers of National Donut Day, are perfect examples of the good and lasting impact that can come from creating. Continue reading to discover their incredible story and how you can celebrate this fantastic holiday for yourself!

The Story of National Donut Day

During World War 1, a group of Salvation Army volunteers left with the American First Division of soldiers with the directive of providing the troops with entertainment and support. After arriving at camp and inventorying their limited supplies, these women realized they had a good amount of flour, grease, sugar, and baking powder: the perfect ingredients for donuts.

They brilliantly used wine bottles and shell casings from large guns as rolling pins and put smaller shells to use by using them to cut out donut holes (innovation at its peak). They eventually fried anywhere between 2,500 to 9,000 donuts a day, supplying soldiers with a little taste and comfort of home.

As you celebrate National Donut Day this year, we hope you take a second to remember the incredible donut lassies and their stories. And what better way to honor them and one of our favorite food groups than to create something fabulous? We’ve put together some of our favorite donut crafts and recipes here to help you have the best National Donut Day yet!

National Donut Day Crafts and Recipes

1. Donut Flower Bouquet

Our cut-and-attach donut bouquet is a cute and simple way to dress up your favorite donuts! With minimal supplies, this is probably one of the easiest bouquets you’ll ever make and the yummiest your friends will ever receive. Beware, because once you try a donut bouquet you may never return to traditional floral arrangements again.

2. DIY Donut Rug

If you have a bit more time and are looking for a way to incorporate donuts into your decor, look no further! This donut rug is exactly what you need. If you can get your hands on an Ikea rug, spray and acrylic paints, blue tape, and a paintbrush, you’re ready to get going.

3. Donut Garland

Can a holiday be properly celebrated without a themed garland? I mean, Donut Day is simply not Donut Day without a garland. Luckily, we’ve created a donut garland template to help you celebrate this most important holiday in the style it deserves. All you’ll need is the template, scissors, string, a needle, a glue stick, and a hole punch.

4. Mini Baked Donuts

Before you write off making donuts as being too demanding and time intensive (oh awkward, was I the only one doing that?), check out these awesome baked mini donuts! They are just small enough to eat 5 at a time (because we know eating just one donut is like eating just one Oreo; impossible. Don’t try to tell me otherwise) and are healthier than your average donut with zero processed sugar and no frying. This guilt-free donut recipe is likely to become one of your Donut Day favorites.

5. Donut Macarons

If you’re ready to zhuzh up your National Donut Day celebrations and are feeling a bit ambitious, these donut macarons are perfect for you! These yummy French treats have achieved mega-popularity status in the past couple of years, and this pairing of the decidedly American donut with the French macaron is one of our favorite French-American duos yet.

We are outspoken, lifelong, shout-it-from-the-rooftops advocates of the goodness that is put into someone’s life and the world at large when an individual takes the time to simply create. The Donut Lassies were champions of this and used their creative skills to lift the people around them. This Donut Day, we hope you’re able to create something fun or delicious and share it with the people around you because sharing is caring! Just be careful to save a couple (or 10) donuts for yourself.

Happy donut-ing!

Easter Activities for Kids

Brittany

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April 12, 2022

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Easter Baskets

Every child needs an Easter basket! It’s one of our favorite Easter activities for kids. But have they ever been able to help make one themselves? For older kids, this Rope Easter Basket is a great option that requires absolutely no sewing. Just twist and glue and you’re done!

Our Paper Easter Basket is a perfect option for kiddos who aren’t quite up to the rope Easter basket level yet, but still want to try their hand at making an Easter basket. Just print, cut and assemble and you’re ready for that Easter egg hunt.

What to Put In Your Easter Basket

A fun activity that doubles as the perfect addition to your child’s Easter basket, try these carrot treat boxes! Fill them with treats and they also double as party favors for a spring or Easter themed party.

If you’re in need of other things to fill your child’s Easter basket with, here’s a post all about activity-filled Easter baskets. And here’s an Easter basket choose your own adventure! All out of time? These last minute Easter printables are sure to save the day.

Egg-centric Activities

It wouldn’t be Easter without some egg-centric Easter activities to keep your little ones busy. The bonus is that these activities appeal to adults and kids alike!

Egg Dying

Egg dying is a classic Easter activity for kids. We have lots of egg dying ideas for you to choose from, like our Naturally dyed Easter egg tree or our Easter Egg runner tablescape. For something a little more in-depth (ideal for older kids), these Ukrainian Pysanky Eggs, Nesting Easter eggs, pressed flower eggs and Botanical Easter eggs are stunning, and you can use to redecorate with for years to come.

Once you’ve dyed your eggs, you’ll need a way to display them. Try our Easter egg holders!

Slip a few of the lovely eggs you’ve dyed (or painted) into the grass for an Easter egg hunt. Let your kids find them using one of the Easter baskets above or this carrot shoulder bag!

Spring Birthday Activities

While not restricted to just a birthday activity, this Easter Scavenger Hunt with anagram balloons is a great one to add to the list if your child has a birthday at this time of year! And of course, no birthday required for a fun Easter scavenger hunt.

Speaking of spring birthdays, this Easter Tablescape Party Suite is the perfect way to celebrate. The best part is all you have to do is print and cut and you’re all done!

Coloring Pages

Another great option if you’re looking for good Easter activities for kids is coloring. Try our Ukrainian Easter Coloring Pages or our Easter coloring pages. If your child loves to color, you’ll also definitely want to check out this Flowers coloring book, as well as the rest of our coloring pages and books in the shop!

Dress-up and Play

What kid doesn’t like a little dress up? It’s a perfect Easter activity for kids. For the littlest of them all, this Baby bunny bonnet is adorable, not to mention a great way to keep their tiny scalps from getting sunburnt. For toddlers and children of all ages, these DIY bunny ears, Bunny party hats, and Easter printable crowns are fun and festive.

Need more activities? These Easter egg coupons will give you endless ideas of activities to do with your kids this Easter! Bonus: you can put them in their Easter eggs to avoid a sugar rush and keep them excited all the same.

You also won’t want to miss our springtime activity kit, or our springtime printable activity pack, which includes spring-themed coloring pages and paper dolls for your kids to have fun with.

Baby Animals

What child doesn’t love a cute animal? Even better, what about a bunny in honor of Easter? Make your own or buy one from our shop and keep your kids happily playing all afternoon!

From our shop, here’s a template for our DIY sewn bunny, or this Floppy bunny doll, if you’re not in the mood to sew.

Here are some more options to peruse:

Gardening

Have a budding gardener on your hands? Help them plant some lovely spring flowers! It’s a great way to capitalize on that warmer weather. Here are some supplies to get you started:

Budding Chef

Is your child interested in learning to cook? We have the perfect Easter treat and activity to try: Resurrection rolls for Palm Sunday!

Don’t forget the kitchen essentials for your kids to use:

More Inspiration

Need more ideas for things to do this Easter? Try this post on Easter crafts, or these Easter decor ideas. Happy crafting!

Snacks For Kids and Jasper’s Cooking Show

Brittany

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September 30, 2021

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Snacks For Kids and Jasper’s Cooking Show

To be quite honest, finding snacks for kids isn’t very hard in my household because Jasper does all the finding himself. 🙄 He’s been known to eat an entire stick of butter, chunks of garlic (why??), whole tubs of ice cream (though who can blame him)…you get the idea. Say what you will about the boy, he’ll never starve!

Still, I’d rather he ate food a little less…chaotically. Like, wouldn’t it be nice if instead of just finding an empty butter wrapper and lots of greasy fingerprints, then putting together the clues I handed him a plate of something healthy? Even better, wouldn’t it be nice if Jasper were able to assemble some reasonable food on his own? It sounds pretty great to me.

I know that it can be hard to think up intentional snacks for kids when you have a hangry toddler hanging onto your leg. So why not give the toddler some ideas so he can come up with his own snacks? Nothing could go wrong, right?

Without further ado, I present:

Cooking with Jasper: Ants on a Log

Watch me teach Jasper to make my culinary magnum opus, ants on a log!

It will probably be a few years before I can set Jasper free in the kitchen with total confidence (did you see that knife grab? 😮 Yikes!!). Still, ants on a log is definitely a snack that kids can make without too much help.

My 5 go-to snacks for kids

Ants on a log

Wash and slice celery into 3-4 inch lengths.
Spread some peanut butter into the celery divot.
Top with raisins. Tadaa!

Apples and cheese

Slice your favorite cheddar cheese.
Slice some apples.
Put the cheese on the apples. A salty and sweet symphony.

Snack-uterie board

Okay, this one takes some more time. But I’d much rather arrange food than actually cook it, so I don’t mind.

Gather your and your kid’s favorite snacks. I like using crackers, dried and sliced fruit, a few cookies, popcorn, cheeses, a few candies, and some sliced ham.
Arrange your treats on the board. This is where the craftiness kicks in!
Enjoy the tasty spread of snacks and treats together.

Snack-uterie boards are perfect for movie nights, game nights, or other times when the family is all sitting around and snacking. Check out my most recent one, the Char-boo-terie board, and my original Painted Charcuterie board.

Babybel and wheat thins

You know those babybel cheeses that come in the cute red wax wrappers? I think they’re great snacks for kids because they’re compact and don’t require any knives or slicing, and they’re delicious. They’re delicious, and the wax wrappers are also fun to model into little shapes.

Unwrap your cheese.
Use a stiff cracker (like a wheat thin) to chop of some of the cheese, and enjoy.

hummus with pita strips, carrots, and celery

Spoon some hummus into a bowl.
Slice a few pitas into strips or triangles (bonus points if you toast them first, but it’s not necessary).
Wash and slice a few carrots and celery sticks into 3-4 inch sticks.
Dip, then relish the combination of creamy and crunchy.

What are your go-to snacks for kids? I’d love to hear what your favorites are (and add them to my snacking arsenal)!

My Body Needs a Vegetable! Easy Recipes For the Cooking-Averse

Brittany

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September 3, 2021

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My Body Needs a Vegetable! Easy Recipes For the Cooking-Averse

You know how some “easy recipes” are actually ridiculously complex? 🙄 Um, excuse me. I’m looking for low effort, high reward meals, so I definitely don’t want to have to julienne anything. Who do you think I am?

Finding an easy recipe

When I say that I want an easy recipe, here’s what I mean:

MAXIMUM two pots or pans, but ideally one.
No special equipment necessary. Please just assume that I only have/know how to use the basics.
It shouldn’t take more than an hour to make.
No more than 5-10 ingredients are allowed, but preferably 5. This recipe was pushing it with 9 ingredients, but my team justified to me that salt, pepper, and olive oil hardly count because they’re countertop staples.
If I have to pay close attention to anything that might suddenly burn, boil over, or be suddenly ruined, I’m out.

That’s one of the reasons I love Smitten Kitchen recipes. Sure, she has some more advanced meals and recipes, and when someone else is cooking I’m all for them. But Deb, the author and founder of Smitten Kitchen, seems like someone who really knows what I mean when I say that I want an easy recipe. And I love her for it.

My fate in your hands

My team chose a few recipes that they thought I could handle, and then turned my culinary fate over to you in an Instagram poll. You chose this pasta with peas, lemon, and ricotta, and let me say– good choice! I didn’t do a perfect job and my taste buds still aren’t up to par (thanks, COVID), but even so it was very good, and I would make it again. That’s right, even though I hate cooking I would subject myself to this recipe repeatedly. That’s high praise.

You can watch me muddle my way through this recipe in this video!

More easy recipes

Here are some more easy recipes that the team likes making. We’ll see if I get around to making them, but they’re all Lars-approved via the team.

Lars Recipes

Over the years I’ve released a few recipes on the blog. They’re clearly mostly desserts (which are much more motivating to make than nutritious meals, sorry!), so satisfy your sweet tooth and learn a new recipe with these!

Thanks to Smitten Kitchen for the recipe and instructions! Do you have any favorite easy recipes? Send them my way!

Cute Watermelon Round Up for Watermelon Day

Brittany

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August 3, 2021

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Cute Watermelon Round Up for Watermelon Day

We could all use a little more celebration in our lives, and this watermelon round up for National Watermelon Day is a great way to make the everyday a little bit more special.

There are few things more refreshing than watermelon on a hot day, and lately, every day seems to require more watermelon than the day before (it’s been so hot here!). I’m happy to see that we’re not the only ones who are watermelon-obsessed, because there are so many other fun watermelon projects and products floating around the web these days. I don’t know if everyone else is also all about celebrating random holidays, but we’ll take it! We created a watermelon round up of our favorite watermelon-inspired products, recipes, and projects to help you celebrate!

Watermelon Round-Up

Like I said, we’re not the only ones with melons on the mind. Check out some of our favorite watermelon DIYs from our friends around the web!

Make this Watermelon Pinata and fill with all the fruity candies!
Mini Watermelon Bags make adorable favors for a party.
DIY Watermelon Serving Tray is a great addition to a summer get together
For the rice Krispie fanatic that I am, these Watermelon Rice Krispie Treats sound like a dream
Say goodbye to rainy day blues with this DIY Fruit Slice Umbrellas
Watermelon Sun Hat keeps you shady and sweet!
I love these Mini Watermelon Pinata pouches for gifts!
Watermelon Medallion Banner is a fun, fruity decoration

Shop Watermelon-themed Products

Still craving watermelons but don’t have time for a DIY? “Water” you worried about? Here’s a watermelon round up that you don’t have to break out the paintbrushes for.

Thanks for checking out our curated lists of projects and products. Every time you buy something from a link we post, we get a small commission back (at no cost to you) which helps us keep making these roundups.