Easter Bonnet

 Sometimes you may notice in photos of Emma, large flashy rings, several strings of beads around her neck, sticker "earrings" on her ears and clothes that only a five-year old with an early opinion for fashion would choose. Yes, she already has an eye for the runway. Often, we are told "you are going to be in trouble in a few years!" But, I love her creative eye and her love for style already at five years old. I'm sorry, I just find it adorable! I'll get back to you in ten years!

 On to our sweet Easter bonnet (styled by Emma.) Can you believe this hat started as a paper bag? Yep, we just rolled it down until we had a hat. This technique could work for so many different hats. I think I may make Grayson a pirate hat soon. He would love that. Yes, while Emma loves fashion, Grayson is more of a pirate loving kid and yes I am embracing that one too and hoping that in ten years there is no need for further addressing of the issue. Hehe...imagine that!

 With some paint our paper bag started to turn into a hat. Emma mixed a few colors to get this perfect shade of lavender. Pretty, right?

 A few details and some hot glue and we were set. I am working with Emma on learning to use the hot glue gun. This makes her smile from ear to ear. Any kind of grown-up step and she is in absolute heaven.

There you have it! Our homemade Easter Bonnet. For more details on this project check out my full tutorial on Kiwi Crate!

Easy Easter Crafts

Wow, spring break is almost over and Easter is a couple days away. Where did the week go? I am doing a quick list of some easy Easter crafts we will be trying to squeeze in this weekend between birthday parties, egg hunts and visitors. Where did I place that magic wand again? 

     

 Oil Pastel Easter Egg Decorating

Egg Carton Egg Chimes

 Washi Tape Eggs

 Easter Egg Collage

 Yarn Eggs

Homemade Spring Gifts

 We love to decorate for each season and holiday. Spring is a favorite for the obvious reasons, sweet baby animals and pastel colors that just make you smile.

 These vintage animal scenes were found in an old children's book we had. Search the thrift stores for a good one or you could always find some vintage inspired scrapbook paper to use. 

 With a little mod podge and a few tiles we have a set of spring decor to decorate our home or give as gifts. For all the details on this craft, head here....Vintage Spring Tiles.

 This cool egg block was made with some festive floral paper and wood scraps we found at a local hardware store. We pulled out our letter stamps to make it in even more precious. Here are the details, Egg Blocks.

Homemade Easter Baskets

 Homemade Easter baskets are a great spring craft and a wonderful tradition to leave out for the Easter Bunny to fill. Less consuming and more creating! Yes!!

 Do you like the focus on my little guy? Yes, he's a serious crafter.
Dig through the fabric scrap drawer for this one. They finally have a use.

 With a little mod podge and a lot of dry time this sweet Easter basket came together.

 This was the best part for the kids!
For full details on my fabric scrap Easter basket check out my full tutorial on Kiwi Crate.

 This cool popsicle stick basket would make a great party favor or a sweet way to carry a couple colored eggs. Best of all, it starts with a recycled  paper cup.

 Each stick can get a personal touch with markers or paints.

Some glue and a pipe cleaner handle are the finishing touches. Check out the details here, Craft Stick Basket!

Spring Critters

 I love spring crafts because we get to create adorable little bunnies and chicks. There is not much sweeter than that! The kids love creating these little "pets" too. They usually end up with names and little homes made from Amazon boxes (yes, I am a little bit addicted to Amazon, it could be worse, right?)
This so-darn-cute cotton bunny started with a toilet paper roll. Check out the full details here, Cotton Bunny.

 

 I love when I sit down with Emma to make a sweet little chick and she chooses the hot pink pom-pom for hers. Her colorful spirit is inspiring! Here is how it all came together, Spring Chick in a Basket.

 You can never have too many chicks...or can you? This is Jill and Henry (named by Emma) and here is how you make your own Jill and Henry, Pipe Cleaner Chicks.

 Today the chicken came before the egg, but we can't have a spring crafting post without the nest and eggs. You will not believe how easy the Paper Bag Nest and Tissue Paper Eggs are to make!! Click the titles to see.
Happy Spring! 
 

Dying Easter Eggs Naturally

 

I knew there had to be a way to naturally dye our Easter eggs without spending an entire day boiling onion skins and pureeing spinach. I spent an afternoon experimenting with several different staining type foods. The best results I had were with coffee, beets and turmeric.

 With these few ingredients and some vinegar I was able to make safe natural dyes for my children to use on our eggs this year. For my full instructions check out my article on Family Sponge.

The Rustic, Egg Carton Easter Egg

Here it is, the last alternative to plastic eggs that will be joining our Easter egg hunt this year. I did it, no plastic eggs will be attending.  These eggs made out of egg cartons have a great rustic look and are so fun to crack open and find a treat.

                                      

                                       Materials:                                        

egg carton

paints 

paint brushes

scissors

treats

hot glue

                     1. Cut the egg carton domes out, so you will have twelve half egg shapes.

 2. Have the kids decorate them in whichever way they please. We used paints, but you could certainly use markers, glitter glue or whatever their little hearts desire.

 3. Once they are all decorated; wait until the children are asleep and fill them with the goodies of your choice. Close them up with hot glue. Just a few drops here and there will hold it together and allow for them to be pulled apart at the hunt.

Happy egg hunting!

*You could trim these up better and really make them more egg shaped, but I thought they looked great with an imperfect rustic kind of look.

Felt Pocket Easter Eggs

Join me at Family Sponge this morning for another alternative to plastic Easter eggs. These are adorable little felt pocket eggs that I sewed and the kids got to decorate. I have already stuffed them all full of treats and goodies for our Easter egg hunt on Sunday. These will be at every Easter for as long as they last. 

Look at the concentration! Yea, she was into it!

Happy Easter!

The Golden Egg

 As we count down to Easter Sunday I am preparing for our big Easter egg hunt. We do this every Easter, but I made a vow to myself this year. I will not use any plastic eggs. Instead I will make things from recycled materials or things that we can use over and over again each year.
My first, The Golden Egg! For some reason I hear the sound of harps as I say that.

Materials:

paper mache eggs

gold paint

paint brush

glitter

Now all you do is paint your eggs gold and sprinkle with glitter before they dry. At the hunt the children can exchange these eggs for a golden dollar. These look like something anyone would like to hunt for. 

Join me over at Family Sponge tomorrow for another plastic egg alternative that can stay with your family for years to come.

eco-eggs egg coloring kit- product review

Today we spent the day with family coloring eggs for Easter and thanks to my friends over at eco-kids we got to do it in earth friendly style with their awesome eco-eggs coloring kit! I came across eco-kids when trying to find a way to color eggs this year in a more natural way that is safe for my children and the world around them. These dyes are made of natural and organic fruit, plant and vegetable extracts. How wonderful is that? So, let me tell you about our experience....

 The preparation was really simple. You add the dye powder packets to 1/2 a cup of warm water each and mix. There are instructions for both hard boiled eggs and hollowed out eggs. We did hard boiled today. Now for the fun!

The kit comes with three colors; orange, blue and purple. To achieve other colors there is a chart for mixing. I loved this part and so did the kids. Color mixing is always fun and a great learning tool.

 

Some of the colors take a bit longer than a chemical dye to really get a deep color, but it's a good opportunity to cut out these adorable egg legs that come with the package. 

Sweet Audrie showing off our cute little egg legs, the frog and duck. You can also print out some other fun egg accessories and watch their step by step video on eco-kids site.

I absolutely love the color of these eggs. They turned out so beautiful and organic looking. I think they would make a great centerpiece on Easter day. Eco-kids has wonderful products that are great alternatives to keeping chemicals out of the home, but still allowing children to explore and enjoy art everyday. To get your own eco-eggs and other great products, check out eco-kids!
Happy egg coloring!

Ballerina Clothespin Bunny for Easter

Last year, the night before Easter as we were preparing to leave carrots and a letter out for the Easter bunny, Emma broke out into tears. Why? Well, would you like a larger than human sized rabbit coming into your home while you're sleeping even if he was packing chocolate and jelly beans? Emma was having no part of this; except of course she would like the treats without the intrusive bunny. She was smart and asked us to call the Easter bunny and inform him that she would prefer her goodies left at the neighbors house, which we of course did in order to get some sleep that evening.
As we prepare for this years bunny arrival I wonder what the outcome will be. Maybe this ballerina bunny craft will warm her up to the idea.

Material needed:
round top clothespins
white paint
paint brush
white felt sheet
small white pom-poms
googly eyes
fancy trim for tu-tu
tacky glue
sharpie

1. Paint your clothespins white and let dry.

2. Cut two ears from felt and add them to the head with tacky glue along with googly eyes, trimming tu-tu and pom poms for feet and tail.

3. Add the mouth with a sharpie and you are all set for some imaginative ballet bunny play. What could be better?