Ah, springtime. If it ever stops raining here in Rhode Island, maybe we can even go outside and enjoy it!

Around this time in all sorts of climes, some folks give and get Easter baskets. Others plan or participate in Easter egg hunts. If you happen to be a teen in Greencastle, IN, you may be headed to Eggfest ‘10 for a night-time egg hunt at Robe-Ann Park. Glee Gum is among the proud sponsors, so be sure to look inside those hidden plastic eggs for your very own Mini Glee Gum. Yum!

Stuffing your own plastic eggs or Easter baskets with sweet treats? Consider the Mini Glee Variety Pack! Each pack contains 21 Mini Glee Gum packs in an assortment of fun, fruity flavors: Tangerine, Bubblegum, and Triple Berry. Delish!

In the meantime, a question: if April showers bring May flowers, what do March showers bring? Yup, that’s what I thought. MORE SHOWERS! Stay dry, gum chums. And happy spring, regardless!

Glee Gum may have met its match! Check out the fabulous flavors and brilliant branding created by the first grade students of J.A. Allard Elementary School in PA.

The school recently purchased 7 pounds of chicle gum base. As part of an annual Math/ Science Olympics program, the gum base was distributed among the members of the first grade class. The students took the gum base pellets home to make their own unique brands of chewing gum, with the help of their parents. They chose the flavors, the packaging and the names, and then presented the results at school.

What did they come up with? All manner of delicious-ness! Take, just for example, Logan’s Lemon Zinger, Marissa’s Pink Peppermint Passion, Kira’s Blueberry-Mint, and Rhianna’s Red Berry Cherry Twist. Then there were some more mysterious in nature, such as Green Monster Gum and Grape Ape Gum (which featured the snappy slogan “Eat if you dare.”) And they all looked lovely!

Thanks to Principal McElroy for sending these super pictures… and for giving Glee a healthy dose of competition!

Gum chums, I know you are a clever bunch. But I bet sometimes even you are stumped for new ways to express your genius and creativity. Too sleepy to sing another song? Too pooped to write another poem? Too plumb tuckered to paint another masterpiece? Never fear! I have the perfect solution here. How about… crafting?

FaveCrafts.com is a swell site certain to help you ”discover the crafter in you.” It’s got thousands of free project ideas in all areas of crafting, gathered with permission from manufacturers, designers and bloggers. I first learned about the site when it featured an article about Glee Gum and the Make Your Own Candy Kits (hey, what’s not to love?). And I was thrilled to see their Green Crafting section, chock-full of eco-friendly crafting concepts!

Just to give you a sampling, consider Pizza Box Art…

How about a lovely necklace made of bread tags? Charming!

Giving one of your new creations as a gift? Be sure to top it with a beautiful bow made of magazines!

And you’ll love these lists of nifty and novel things you can do with old toothbrushes and sweaters! Say, that puppet looks like an argyle I once knew…

While you’re on the site, you might want to sign up for the newsletter and take a peek at the blog. While you’re at it, check out the latest giveaways, like the chance to win a book about the Japanese art of Temari (thread balls) or a gift basket of products from Earth Safe Finishes.

Hm. My miniature replica of the Taj Mahal, made entirely of chewing gum, is not going so well. I’m going to head over to FaveCrafts for some inspiration. See you there, my crafty comrades!