Are you looking for ideas that are gluten-free and celiac safe? Here are some tips and tricks that I have used. Depending where you live, it can be difficult to near impossible to find the standard Easter eggs and treats that are celiac safe. Especially the boxed chocolate eggs.

So you need to get creative! What works for me is to find other types of candy that are gluten-free like Dare candies, Smart Sweets, Welch's, Surf Sweets, Jelly Bellys, Ganong chocolate covered marshmallow eggs, Peeps, Turtles, Rockets, Skittles and lollypops. I buy them in the larger bags and put in small containers. Here are some of the gluten-free candies I found in my town at Safeway, Save-On-Foods, Shoppers, Nutters and Alpenrose.

Now you'll need something to put all that candy in! My local Dollar store is a great place to find some inexpensive Easter items. Besides the typical easter basket, you could use pretty coloured paper gift bags, and decorative tins to put the candies and treats in. Tins are fantastic for all ages. Don't restrict yourself just to Easter or Spring themes. Cartoons, movies, hobbies are some ideas for tin decorations that would work because the tins are useful afterwards to hold toys or jellery and so on. If you are going out to dinner they are a great hostess gift. A fun craft idea is to buy some plain brown bags and have your children help decorate them then you could leave them for the Easter Bunny to fill and hide.

I like to use a variety of smaller containers to hold the candies. The most popular would be the reusable plastic Easter eggs. I found some small decorated ziplock bags at the Dollar store that are great for larger candies. If you are using tins you can use pretty cupcake liners either the paper, tin foil or silicon type works great. I found some cute little Easter theme boxes this year.

Other types of containers that you can use are water bottles, mugs, pretty teacups, brightly coloured soap containers, old or new jars. Using items that have a second purpose is environmentally friendly, and budget wise.

These little containers are great to use for party favours on your Easter table too! I like to use pretty egg cups filled with jellybeans and make a name tag out of a post-it note and a toothpick. Your guest can enjoy the candy and take the egg cup holder home as a gift.

Don't restrict yourself to store bought candies. You can make gluten-free homemade treats and have fun decorating them with friends and family. Here is my sugar cookie recipe. Rice crispy cereals make quick easy treats. You can check out my rice crispy treat post here for some Easter ideas.

There are some great Canadian candy companies making tasty gluten-free candy. I like Dare candies as they are easy to find. Check out their website for more information http://www.darefoods.com/ca_en.

Another fantastic Canadian company is Smart Sweets. Check out their website http://www.smartsweets.ca/. If you are concerned about how much sugar you are consuming then these are a great treat.

For gluten-free chocolates check out Ganong another great Canadian company. https://ganong.com/. I love their gluten-free chocolate covered marshmallow eggs. I found them at Shopper's Drug Store.

I know there are a lot of other choices especially in bigger cities. I concentrated on what I can find in my town. What gluten-free candies and chocolates do you like? Do you have a lot of choice where you live? Have you ever ordered online?