Easter is around the corner, and we've put together this guide with everything you need to make the holiday special without spending a fortune! From family tradition ideas to festive recipes, along with Easter basket gift guide and adorable (free!) printables, a memorable Easter is about to be easier than ever!

As moms, we always want to make holidays special for our little ones, but let's face it, sometimes the budget can be as tight as a bunny's hug. I'm here to share some egg-cellent ideas on how to make this Easter as special as can be without breaking the bank.

EASTER FAMILY TRADITION IDEAS

Years down the road, your kids won't remember what filled their Easter basket – they are going to remember how your family spent their time on this day! And there are PLENTY of ways to make Easter a special family day at home.

• Plant Jelly Beans – Plant jelly beans in a small patch of dirt with your kids the night before Easter and replace the jelly beans with peeps on a stick before they wake up. Your kids will think they grew a peep garden!
• Have a Hip-Hop Dance Party – No, not like the music… like the bunny!!
• New Traditions Crafts – We love these meaningful activities to remember the true meaning of Easter. Use Code “JORDAN” for 20% off your order.
• Read Easter Books – There are lots of Easter books for kids of all ages. Try the Berenstain Bears, Pete the Cat or Clifford's Happy Easter!
• Have an Egg Toss – Boil the eggs first for less mess!
• Dye Easter Eggs – This good ole' fashioned Easter tradition of dying Easter eggs never goes out of style!
• Make a Special Easter Breakfast – Make irresistible homemade pancakes and dye them colors for a special Easter surprise!
• Host a “Jesus Dinner” – Our kids LOVE this one! We eat with our hands, charcuterie board style, and talk about the resurrection and real meaning of Easter.
• Roast Peep S'mores – Mmhmm. Just like it sounds! You can even make s'mores in the microwave.

EASTER RECIPES & TREATS

Easter is notoriously a day of sweet treats and a traditional family dinner! Here are some of our favorite recipes for the special day:

• Ham Dinner – It's not Easter in our house without my go-to ham dinner! The ham is made in the slow cooker, plus we've got a great list of ideas for the best sides and desserts to go along with it. It couldn't be any simpler for you to plan your meal! (P.S. Don't forget to check out all of these great ideas to use up that leftover ham!)
• Adorable Easter Bunny Cupcakes – We have the BEST vanilla cupcake recipe with the cutest Easter bunny frosting in this blog post!

• Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes – Change up your potato game this Easter by making this super easy, cheesy scalloped potatoes recipe. Be sure to make plenty because they won't last long once you put them on the table!
• Strawberry Spinach Salad – Salad is always a quick and easy side to put on the table that's also healthy! This strawberry spinach salad plus homemade poppyseed dressing will become a new staple on the dinner table.
• String Cheese-Stuffed Crescent Rolls – These cheesy rolls are so easy to put together. The hardest part will be keeping them on the table long enough for everybody to get one before they're gone! Your Easter meal won't be the same without them.
• Cadbury Mini Eggs Chocolate Chip Cookies – Make your chocolate chip cookies festive by using Easter candy in them instead of plan chocolate chips. Once you make chocolate chip cookies with Cadbury Mini Eggs, you'll never want to go back!
• Easter Chocolate Bundt Cake – Here's your new favorite doctored cake mix recipe! Make it and then decorate the top with fun Easter-colored icing and sprinkles.
• Cool Whip Fruit Salad – This delish fruit salad is not only packed with protein, but it's also a fun pastel pink that makes it the perfect dish to serve with your Easter meal!
• Spring Trail Mix – Mix some Cheerios, Chex, popcorn, raisins, and pretzels. Add some pastel candy for a nice pop of color, and serve in Easter-themed cups.

And lastly, avoid “Leftover Burnout” with this list of 21 recipes we put together to creatively use up any Easter Dinner leftovers! Check it out in this Shelf Cooking Blog Post!

EASTER BASKET GIFT GUIDE

In our house, we don't celebrate Easter with gifts for our kids. But I do have plenty of cute gift ideas that would make great Easter basket additions if that's something your family does!

• Some Bunny Loves You Gift Idea – Our cute Some Bunny Loves You printable dresses up a bag of candy and lets the recipient know just how loved they are!
• Combined Sports Gift – Get something fun that the whole family can do together! I'm talking balls, frisbees, jump ropes, hula hoops, anything that can get you moving outside as a family together.
• Line by Line Scripture Study Accessories –for older kids or other adults in your life, I LOVE these beautiful scripture study accessories, books and materials. that remind us of the true meaning of Easter. Use code “JORDAN” for 10% off your order. They have a gorgeous church bag that I love so much.
• Good News Brand Co. – This is a company I love that has bracelets representing the miracles of Christ that would make amazing Easter gifts. Use code “JORDAN” for 10% off!
• Capable Kid or Capable Teen Planner – great basket filler that's both fun, cute and totally practical! Use code FCFBLOG10 for 10% off!
• Play Dough – you can never go wrong with play dough, and these bulk packs can be broken up into multiple baskets if you have more than one child!
• Beads: My kids love beads. Daivy wanted a set of her own so I’m getting her this – amazing value, everything she needs included.
• Single-Player Simon Game – entertainment and memory test, this is a simple and affordable but FUN game for the basket!
• Friendship Bracelet Making Kit: these are so popular right now, and this cute kit comes with everything little Mory will need for her creative project!
• Pack of Squishmallows – my kids love squishmallows, and this is a cute pack that can be broken up into multiple baskets if needed.
• Monster Truck Set from Sam's Club: If you've got toy car lovers, I recommend this pack.
• For more kids gift ideas, check out my list of Amazon Favorites here!

EASTER DECOR

Truth be told, I haven't always done a lot of decorating for Easter. It's something I've been more intentional about this year, wanting to keep the holiday Christ-centered in our home. I used Etsy for some Easter decor pieces – and I suggest you sign up for Rakuten before you do the same! You get a $30 sign-up bonus today and then cash back for every purchase after that!

• Carrot Napkin Utensils – Such an adorable idea from Smart School House to have your napkins and utensils ready for your Easter dinner.
• Easter Egg Garland – Take some plastic Easter eggs and clip them on a string. Tie pastel ribbons on the string between the eggs. You can even take a cheap, Easter-themed plastic table cloth, cut it up and tie it on the string as well. It makes for a super cute, easy, and cheap garland!
• Easter Bunting with Pom Pom Bunnies – Clean and Scenstsible has a super cute and FREE printable bunting! That, plus some twine and pink yarn is all you need to make this easy and adorable bunting.
• Shabby Chic Easter Eggs – Make these using Dollar Store plastic eggs, plus a few more things from Design, Dining, Diapers.
• Pastel Paper Garland – Don't forget how easy it is to sew paper garland! I plan to do this with my kids for this Easter. (Ummmm and please don't judge how old that post is. It was one of my first few from way back in 2011! Crazy right?! Don't worry, maybe one of these days I'll get my bootaaay in gear and will take some new pictures and update it…#DoubtIt #ButMaybe)
• Easter Egg Wreath – There are so many different ideas for cute egg wreaths on Pinterest!

Looking for more great ideas?

• Throwing an Easter party? We've got some great ways to feed a crowd on the cheap!
• I always make sure that my grocery hauls for the week include any holiday necessities.
• Costco is a great place to stock up on those bulk items that you know you'll need a lot of!

Happy Easter, Freebs!