Mom creates DIY 'McDonald's' meal for kids amid coronavirus lockdown, complete with 'Happy Meal' packaging
"I felt sorry for the kids when McDonald's closed because I had promised them a trip there," said Kristy Collins, from Hull, in East Yorkshire, England. "I started thinking about how I could make it up to them and just thought, if we can't go to McDo
FOX NEWS - A mom in England whose kids are missing their favorite McDonald's meals amid lockdown has recreated their fast-food order -- complete with realistic packaging.
Creative Kirsty Collins, 33, had promised her kids a trip to the fast-food restaurant last month, but their plans were scrapped when the chain closed due to coronavirus. Undeterred, the mom of three had the bright idea to recreate the iconic McDonald's packaging using pens, pencils, paint and cardboard from around the house.
Collins, who is training to be a teaching assistant, then cooked up her own versions of the fast-food chain's iconic Happy Meal and Chicken McNugget meal.
She asked her kids, Kieren, 15; Jake, 9, and Lily, 6, to go upstairs while she prepared dinner, and she says they were "super excited" after coming down and seeing the surprise.
Collins' children, Lily, 6, Kieren, 15, and Jake, 9, were "so happy and really loved" the idea, she said. (SWNS)
"I felt sorry for the kids when McDonald's closed because I had promised them a trip there," said Collins, from Hull, in East Yorkshire.
"It's not something we do very often, just as a treat every now and then, so they were really looking forward to it. I started thinking about how I could make it up to them and just thought, if we can't go to McDonald's then let's bring it to us."
"It was worth the effort after seeing the smiles on the kids faces," she added. "They were so happy and really loved it."
Collins and her partner Darren stayed up all night making the packaging from colorful cardboard and paint.
Collins and her partner Darren Duffill, also 33, started crafting the packaging at 9 p.m. last weekend, and were working away until the job was done at 4 a.m. the next day.
The boxes were made by cutting out cardboard templates and decorating them in traditional McDonald's colors before folding them into Happy Meal shapes.
Collins and Duffill crafted containers for burgers, chicken nuggets, two Happy Meals and even a few portions of fries. The pair also put together McDonald's cups and filled them with milkshakes.
"It took quite a bit of time and effort to do but it was quite fun for us as well," said Collins. "I like making things, so it wasn't too much of a chore to do this."
Collins added that she took some inspiration on how to make the templates from Pinterest, a social media site where people share ideas about their hobbies. And some of the decorations were printed out while others were done using paint.
Collins said her kids were so pleased with the finished product that they are keeping the packaging. But she's just glad it helped to take their minds off lockdown.
"The kids have been finding it a bit difficult because they've only got the house and the yard to play in, so they're fed up."