No-one has had to teach either of us how to do so, we just do!!
Naturally, Easter chocolate is no exception.
We do not mind too much what shape/form it arrives in (although 'Baby' is quite fond of her Cocoa Libre sheep)... unless, that is, it's an Easter egg.
Oh!
It never used to be a problem. But... 'Baby is older now and a whole lot more aware... of everything!! And she's a real sucker for marketing aimed at kiddies.
To be more specific, last year, once 'Baby' caught sight of a 'Doc McStuffins' Easter egg, in Sainsbury's, complete with bowl, cup and spoon, and that was it!!
'Baby' is mad keen on Doc McStuffins (a Disney character) and having seen the Doc McStuffins egg, nothing else would do for her except to get a Doc McStuffins egg. She wanted a dairy free one, of course, and I never heard the last of it!! Every single time I went to Sainsbury's she wanted me to check the box - to see if it was dairy free!!
Oh NO!!
'Cos here's the thing - dairy free chocolate has come a long way in the last few years, but to date, none of the dairy free chocolate firms has come up with a dairy free Easter egg in the kind of packaging that surrounds the 'normal' Easter eggs that most children have. It costs BIG money to get these things!! The dairy free firms are quite small - they just can't afford it!
However, there is a way around this!
I can't claim ownership of this idea. I think I saw it on Mumsnet a few years ago. Of course 'Baby' was a lot littler then - if she was even aware of dairy free chocolate at all, she wasn't bothered about what kind of package it chocolate came in! Therefore at the time, for us, it wasn't an issue. BUT I stowed this idea away in the recesses of my brain, and this year, it came in very handy indeed!!
The cunning plan goes like this:
1. Buy the 'normal' Easter egg which is the object of your little (or not so little) one's desire, along with a dairy free Easter egg of roughly the same size.
This was actually the most difficult bit! I bought a fair few eggs, before I realised that the white Choices egg was the only likely candidate - good job she likes Choices white chocolate, then, isn't it? You could actually make one, using your own dairy free chocolate, if you prefer.
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| Ta da! And here they are!! |
I also bought some Cake pop foil wraps, from Hobby Craft (as the Choices egg came without foil), but you could equally use kitchen foil - it's just a bit thicker than the cake pop wraps and more bulky! I needed two of the cake pop wraps.
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| I used silver, but gold was also available. |
3. Take the 'normal' Easter egg from its packaging and donate it to a member of your family/friends who can eat it - unless it's YOU of course! ;) Clean the wrapper (just to be sure no possible traces of milk remain) and wrap up your dairy free egg in the coloured foil.
You could of course skip this step, and keep your dairy free egg in it's own foil, but for us it was crucial - 'Baby' loves pink!!
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| All wrapped up! |
As the dairy free egg was still slightly smaller than the egg it was replacing, I pushed a small pack of dairy free buttons into the bottom of the cup in which it needed to sit.
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| The buttons came with the small Choices egg |
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| Almost perfect fit! |
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| It all fits in to place! |
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| Nearly there! The box is glued shut! |
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| It joined the rest of her 'stash' from Grandmas, Aunts, Cousins... etc. |
YAY!
BIG, BIG thanks to whoever posted this idea on Mumsnet! You are a lifesaver!! xx
This is amazingly brilliant and clever! What a fun way to still be safe and I like that you are planning ahead. I'm always in a last minute scramble myself for holiday treats. Thanks for sharing your creativity.
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