Easter Crafts
For egg dying crafts use traditional hard- boiled eggs
Eggshell Mosaic: Save and wash the eggshells used for making recipes using eggs. Place different colors of food coloring into different cups and dip shells into a different colors. Allow the shells to dry thoroughly and then crush them into tiny pieces. Draw a picture of an Easter bunny, Easter egg, etc on a piece of construction paper, cardboard or thin wood and spread glue on the picture. Cover the picture with the colored eggshells.
Making Hollow Chocolate Easter Eggs:
Find any type of Easter-related mould at the store. Melt chocolate and pour it into the mold. Coat mold and refrigerate. put mold into warm water an release chocolate from mold.
Making Solid Chocolate Easter Eggs:
If you have an Easter egg mold and want to make a solid egg just fill the two halves with chocolate (release as above). After they have hardened, place the two halves together, turn the egg over on its side and holding the two sides together drizzle a thin coating of melted chocolate along the crack to glue the two halves together. Leave the chocolate glue harden by placing something on either side of the egg to hold it upright. When set turn the egg over and repeat the process.
Easter Lambs:
Trace the outline of your hand with fingers spread out onto black construction paper and then have a parent help you cut out the hands and turn them upside down so the four fingers look like the legs and the thumb looks like the head. Then glue cotton balls all over and glue small pieces of white or pink construction paper for the eyes, nose, mouth and toes.
Paper Plate Bunny Basket:
A. Fold a paper plate in half and staple the sides, leaving it open at the top.
B. Using any color construction paper, cut out ear shapes and a strap about 12 inches long.
C. Glue the strap into the opening on the curved side of the plate and glue on the ears to one side of the strap. Using a crayon, color an eye on each side of the plate. Glue on a small pink pom-pom for the nose, and a small black line on either side of the plate for the mouth.
D. Fill with Easter grass and load up with jelly beans, Easter eggs, Hershey kisses, etc.
Brown Bag Bunnies
Trace a picture of a bunny on each side of a brown paper bag.
Glue the two pictures together, leaving the top open.
Stuff with cotton balls or shredded paper. Glue the top closed.
Decorate with paint, markers, lace, trims, pom poms, wiggle eyes, anything you can think of.
Growing Easter Baskets
Take empty 1/2 gallon milk cartons and cut down to about 4" high. With the leftover carton, cut a handle to staple to the basket.
Cover with construction paper and decorate as desired.
Fill about 2/3 full with potting soil, then generously cover with grass seed.
Water daily; grass will appear in 4-6 days.
Fill Easter basket with decorated eggs.
Spring Basket- Lace-trimmed, fabric-covered basket is perfect for holding those Easter eggs.
Design On Eggs - Use wax crayons to draw a design on the eggs - when dipped in the dye the color will not penetrate the egg and the design will show through
Colored Eggs With Crepe Paper - Wet the eggs and place pieces of colored crepe paper on the eggs. When the crepe paper is removed the color will stay behind.
Traditional Dye - Place eggs in food coloring (set up different colors in plastic cups so not to dye any of your good cups by accident) and add a few drops of vinegar. Leave the eggs in the dye until they're nicely colored. The longer the egg is left in the dye the more color the egg will have!
Multi Colored Eggs -To dye your eggs more than one color just use scotch tape or masking tape to cover parts of the egg and dip into a light colored dye. When the eggs are totally dry leave the tape on but now add more tape and dip them again into a darker color dye. Continue doing this using more tape and darker and darker colored dyes until you have the effect you want. When the dye is totally dry then just peel off all the tape and you'll have beautifully colored Easter eggs.
Sponge Eggs - Place eggs in egg crate. Fill paper cups about halfway with different colors of food coloring. Cut a sponge into small pieces and attach it to a clothespin (or a large Q-tip) and dip into the food coloring. Lightly dab over the top half of the egg. After the egg is dry then turn the egg over and repeat the procedure.
Sequin Eggs - Glue sequins on the eggs
Button Eggs - Glue buttons on the eggs
Lace Eggs - Glue lace on the eggs
Decorated Eggs - Glue ribbons and small pressed flowers on the eggs
Sticker Eggs - Put decals and/or stickers on the eggs
Glitter Eggs - Dip egg in glue and roll in glitter
Use Natural Easter Egg Dyes
Easter Bunny Brown
1 tb Instant coffee; heaping
2/3 cup boiling water
1/2 ts Vinegar
Wash eggs in mild soapy water to remove oily coating which could prevent dye from sticking. Add coffee to boiling water, stir until dissolved. Add vinegar. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Seren"dip"ity
Orange: Onion skins
Red: beets, raspberries, cranberries, grape juice, or red onions
Yellow: yellow onion skins, Golden Delicious apple peels, orange peels, saffron, lemon peels, shredded carrot, celery seed, walnut shells
Light Blue: frozen blueberries, thawed
Pale Green: spinach
1/4 ts Vinegar
Wash eggs in mild soapy water to remove oily coating which could prevent dye from sticking. Boil eggs with one of the above-listed ingredients. Add 1/4 tsp vinegar to water. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Bunny Bags - paper lunch bags , scissors, decorations of choice - Take a brown or white lunch bag cut a v out of the top with construction paper cut out ears and glue on to the top of bag - make whiskers and draw a face or make one and put a handle at the top and instead of children carrying a big Easter basket they can carry around their homemade bag.
Strawberry Basket Easter Basket - wooden strawberry baskets (1 quart size), pastel poster paints in many different Easter Colors , paint brushes , LOTS of rinse water!!!!!!! Easter grass in many colors . Paint the basket. Put colored Easter grass to line the baskets, add jelly beans, Easter Eggs and candy. Have some sponge and/or potato stamps on hand these also make an interesting design on the baskets.
Soda bottle Easter Baskets - 2 liter soda bottle, Scissors, Decorations of choice. Take 2 liter soda bottles and make them into Easter Baskets by measuring up about 5" and cut the bottle and leave 2 pieces about 1" wide for the handle. Attach handle by punching hole with a paper hole punch and inserting gold butterfly clamps that you get from the office supply. Glue lace, flowers, paper cut outs, and other objects of your desire. It is also nice to use some wide bios fabric tape around the cut edges so they are not sharp!
Woven baskets - Pastel colored construction paper two colors, Scissors, Glue or stapler - Using one piece of paper cut horizontal straight lines about one inch in from side to side across paper, about 1/2 inch a part from each other. The paper should be covered from top to bottom with these slits. Next take the other color of paper and cut 1/2 strips. Weave these strips in and out of the slits in the first paper. When completed with all the strips glue the ends of the strips to the first paper to hold in place. Next fold up the sides to make a basket shape. Staple or glue in place. With a contrasting color make a handle on your basket and staple or glue. Basket can then be filled with shredded paper to make a nest in the bottom.
Milk Carton Easter Baskets - You'll need: pint milk or juice carton, cotton balls, pink yarn, something to make eyes and nose (buttons, gumdrops or other candy or whatever you like). Close the top of the empty carton. Position the carton on its side with the top closed edge vertical. Then on the side which is facing up, cut along the two long edges and the bottom edge. Hold flap up slightly and cut it to form two rabbit ears pointing away from the pointed end of carton. Cover the entire outer part of the carton with cotton balls including the ears. Use a small piece of yarn to make outline of pink for the inner ear. Use buttons or whatever you chose to make eyes and nose on the pointed end of the carton. Place extra cotton balls for tail. Fill carton with Easter grass and candy.
Bunny Mask - Paper plate, Pink construction paper, Pink and/or white pipe cleaners, Yarn - Using the paper plate, cut out eyes and nose in the plate. Cut out bunny ears from pink paper and glue to the plate. Use pipe cleaners to make whiskers, attach to plate by poking through and knotting at back, or glue on. Use yarn to tie to either side of plate to tie on your little one's head.
Chicks in a basket - You will need - Egg carton, Cotton balls, Yellow food dye, Shredded paper (optional), Bits of orange paper , marker. Dip one large cotton ball in yellow dye diluted with water. Let dry. Cut egg carton so you have one section. Place a bit of shredded paper (color optional) in bottom of section. When yellow cotton ball is dry, draw eyes on top to make eyes. Cut out very small triangle of orange paper and glue on yellow cotton ball to make chick's beak. Sit chick in carton section to make the chick in the basket.
You can also by colored cotton much easier to use then making your own colored balls!!
Marble eggs - You will need - Large glass jar, Crayon stubs, Hot water, Waxed paper or newspaper, Empty egg carton, Clear acrylic spray (optional). Grate peeled crayons over waxed paper. Fill jar with very hot water. Drop bits of grated crayon into water. Add hard boiled or plastic egg as soon as crayon begins to melt. Twirl egg in water with spoon. the wax should make a design on the egg. Carefully remove egg and set upside-down in egg carton to dry. Once dry spray with clear acrylic to seal.
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With this radiant rabbit bookmark in place, a youngster--or even an adult, for that matter--with be eager to hop back between the covers of an unfinished book. To make a bookmark, paint a tongue depressor with white tempera paint. Use a fine-tip black marker to draw a face on the depressor once the paint has dried. For ears, cut an ear shape from felt. Using a Q-tip, apply blusher to what will be the insides of the ears and to the cheek area of the face. Tie a knot in the middle of the felt ears before gluing them to the back of the tongue depressor. If youngsters would like to give these bookmarks as gifts, have each of them write a cheerful greeting or message below the rabbit face on his bookmark. |