I posted this idea last year and I wanted to mention it again this year because it was a huge hit last year with the preschool set. (My husband was pretty impressed with me too.)
If you have little ones, you can make these fun little stuffed “carrots” as a snack or a treat and I bet they just love it.
There are several options for filling your carrots that I will show you below. Personally I prefer crackers because my littles get so much candy this time of year it is crazy.
It really only takes a few minutes to make these and as I am posting this my children are climbing all over me begging to eat the carrots ;). I actually took these to our preschool last year for the little Easter party and literally every child grabbed one of these carrots. Most of them ate the sweets first of course but they made sure to walk out the door with the fishy carrots.
So you can fill these with pretty much anything orange and here are the supplies you need:
You just need to purchase piping bags from the craft store, ribbon and whatever you want to fill it with.
The piping bags are about $5.00 for (12) but they are usually not on sale so you can use a 40% or 50% off coupon. The Wilton ones are not my favorite because they have a big stupid logo on the bag but those were the only ones I could find.
Next I find it easiest to just place a glass on the counter and open your piping bag. You can just dump whatever you want to use to fill it in the bag and then the glass helps you fill the bag and also tie the ribbon on.
See the big stupid Wilton logo? It actually kind of helps because you can use that as a guideline to fill the bags the same amount. I found the logo is hard to see once you tie the ribbon on so no biggie. Also one little tip as you fill- if you use larger items like crackers or cheetos or something watch as you start to fill. My fishy in the photo above is facing down which is good. With larger items there can be one cracker that blocks the tip and then you might have an inch of empty space and the carrot won’t look as pretty. (So shove those fishies to the tip of the piping bag.)
Tie the ribbon on top and you are done!
One bag of Goldfish will do about 4 carrots. These are pretty good size because I didn’t feel like trimming the piping bags but you can always make them smaller.
You can put these in a little basket or pictured above is a bucket and filler from the Dollar Tree. I think one of the inexpensive planters from the Garden section might be fun too.
I use Goldfish but here are some other ideas and by the way the Market Pantry version of Goldfish are shaped like little chicks so those are cute to use. I have also seen Cheetos used in these bags.
Jelly beans are probably the prettiest way to fill these because of the color and how they reflect light. Here is how Martha Stewart made these with orange Jelly Beans.
Spoonful did something similar but used tissue paper at the top instead of just ribbon. I think you probably need to hit a candy store or a party supply store to get all one color jelly beans.
Reese’s actually makes these pre-assembled for about $3 each or so. I have seen these at Target.
And for fun I did a carrot one for my Kindergartner’s lunch tomorrow. I think the carrots are cute inside the bag and these are actually perfect for on the go. That piping bag makes it easier for the kids to manage without spilling.
(UPDATE: That entire bag of carrots came home empty the next day- success!)
So super easy and a very fun little treat for class parties or to stuff in Easter baskets.
Here was one of our baskets from last year and the little carrot peeking out was very cute.
Endcapps says
Your girls have the cutest lunches! The carrots in a carrot will be the envy of the lunchroom tomorrow, too cute! 🙂
Charlene says
Lol, I wish! The envy of the lunchroom is the little boy whose Mom buys Handisnacks and Jello ;). I am just hoping this gets her to eat carrots.
Endcapps says
The Jelly Belly Factory Store in Fairfield, CA is a resource for purchasing jelly beans in desired colors (ie, exclusively orange ones). And the Belly Flops (misshappen ones still perfectly edible) were bargain-priced. And my children thoroughly enjoyed the free tour of the factory and the free bag of jelly beans and hat at the conclusion. Don’t miss Jelly Belly Factory if you’re in No CA!
Jessica says
There was just a coupon for Annie’s crackers from SmartSource (?). I think I’ll make these and use those because they look like bunnies!! TOO CUTE, thanks for the idea and being so darn creative!!!
priya says
Nice ideas and very well executed
MichelleM says
Super fun, easy and cute. Thanks!
Barbara Wasalaski says
You can also buy rectangular bags at a card and party supply store at @ 10/$1.50. Roll one bottom corner around the bag to make a cone and secure with tape.
Shannon G says
I am SO making these for the Easter baskets this year! I love the idea of having something besides sugary candy. And it’s so festive!