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So what do you do with all of those Easter egg shells? Kids love coloring eggs but the fun does not have to end there. Recycle those egg shells and make art.





All you need is paper, colored egg shells, and some glue for this one. The rest is up to you. You can print a coloring page, draw a picture, or let the kids draw their own picture. Next fill the area you will be working on with ordinary white glue. Now the kids can add the pieces of egg shell to the paper to make the picture.

This art project will need to dry for awhile on a flat surface.

These edible Easter baskets are an adorable addition to any Easter table. We love edible crafts so this one is a big winner in our family.




For this tasty treat you place waffle sundae bowls on a baking sheet and pour in any cake batter. Remember to leave room for it to rise while baking. When the cupcakes are cooled start by frosting them. You can then tint some coconut green by mixing it in a bowl with some food coloring. After you add the green coconut grass you can decorate with some egg shaped candy. All that is left now is to poke some licorice in to make a handle for the basket.

These chocolate bird nests are super easy to make and they make a great looking addition to your Easter. All you need is chocolate and chow mein noodles.



This treat is made by melting chocolate and mixing in chow mein noodles. That is it, no real directions needed.

You can use chocolate chips or a block of chocolate. I like to microwave chocolate in a bowl a little at a time. This keeps it from burning. After you melt the chocolate start mixing in the chow mein noodles until you have as much as you can coat with chocolate.


Spoon little amounts on to a baking sheet covered with wax paper. Form a nest shape with you fingers. Make sure to oil your fingers so that the mixture does not stick. When the nests have cooled place some egg shaped candy in them.

You can also make these in white chocolate if you prefer or both for some variety.

Rice Krispies are an all time favorite among kids. These are an adorable way to make them for Easter. I will show you three great Easter ideas to choose from. Your family will love them all.




This first idea is the one pictured above. All you need is some pull apart plastic Easter eggs. Make sure you spray the insides really well with cooking spray. Use the eggs as molds and when they cool decorate them. You can use frosting, chocolate, or even just colored sugar.

Another idea would be to use an egg shaped mold like a cookie cutter. This would create a flat surface to decorate. Place your cookie cutter on a baking sheet and press the rice krispy mix into the shape. When they are all cooled you can decorate them.


The last ones are rice krispy bird nests. Simply form little basket shapes with your hands when the mixture is cool enough to handle. Make sure to oil your hands well first. You can make them brown with chocolate cereal if you would like. After they have cooled make grass out of green colored coconut or green frosting. Then add some egg shaped candy. You could even place a Peep on top.

Now that the girls are getting older plain old colored eggs just will not do. We will be trying some new techniques this year. The girls are really excited and can't wait to get started.



DOTS

You can create very cute dot patterns using those hole punch reinforcement stickers. You dye your eggs in a light color and let dry. Then apply the stickers to the eggs and dye again in a darker color. When the eggs are dry remove the stickers for pretty spotted eggs.


MARKERS

Remember all those great Crayola nontoxic products? They can be used to decorate eggs and you will still be able to eat them. You have many options with these. Dye the eggs like normal and then when they are dry let the kids go nuts with markers. They can be as creative as they want.


Paint

Crayola Kid's Paints are also nontoxic. Your kids can paint designs and patterns or anything they would like. Another very pretty painting idea is to do sponge painting on your Easter eggs. You can come up with many color combinations .

These adorable bunny wash clothes have a convenient hole in the middle. They can be used to hold an egg for Easter. Wouldn't they be a cute surprise during an egg hunt? Plus after Easter they can be converted into a boo boo bunny. Just place an ice cube in the hole.



These cute bunnies are simple to make and require very little items.

YOU WILL NEED

• washcloth - a large baby washcloth is ideal
• rubber band
• two small black pompoms or plastic, movable eyes
• one small pink pompom
• one medium white pompom
• small amount of thin ribbon or yarn

DIRECTIONS

1. Lay a washcloth on a table. Roll one corner, diagonally, into the middle. Roll the opposite corner in the same way, so that both rolls meet in the middle. Fold the rolled washcloth in half.
2. Hold the two sides together and fold the two ends backwards, over the top. Fasten a rubber band around the front area to form the head. Fluff out the two ends to make bunny ears. This photo shows a side view of the bunny so far.
3. Glue the white pompom to the back, to make the bunny's tail. Glue two small black pompoms in place as eyes. Glue a small pink pompom below the eyes as the nose.
   Fasten thin ribbon around the bunny's neck and tie it in a small bow.
   

Check out these adorable Easter Lilies! They are a simple and cheap craft for Easter made out of construction paper cut to the shape of a hand.



YOU WILL NEED

• construction paper (green for leaves and any colors for flowers)
• drinking straw
• scissors
• pencil
• scotch tape
• OPTIONAL: pipe cleaner and floral tape

DIRECTIONS

1. Have child trace their hand onto a piece of construction paper, rounding out the palm.
   
2. Cut out the hand print.
3. Roll the palm into a cone and tape. Don't worry about the hole being too small, you can snip it open a bit if needed.
4. Cut pipe cleaner into 1/4s and fold into a V shape.
   
5. Push V into end of straw and put a piece of tape around. Curl the ends a little.
6. Put end of straw into flower and push through so the pipe cleaner is inside the flower.
   
7. Wrap each finger around a pencil to curl.
8. Cut a long leaf shape out of green construction paper and tape onto the straw. Two leaves looks best. Curl the leaf like you did the fingers.
9. Place flowers in a vase. An odd number of flowers always seem to look nicer.

There are so many options with this craft. Not only are they fun to make but they can have many uses. You can use them as a decoration or even fill them with some treats or cheap toys. How fun would an Easter egg hunt be with these extra large eggs that have surprise inside.



We have done a lot of paper mache in our house lately. It just seems like a great way to create less waste and save money on craft supplies.

To make these large Easter eggs simply paper mache some balloons. Mix flour with twice as much water to create the paste. Dip strips of newspaper in the paste and carefully wipe off the excess. Cover the balloon with the strips until you have around 4 or 5 layers. It helps to have the balloon resting in a bowl while you make it and it dries.

After the paper mache Easter egg has dried you can start painting it. If you want to use the large eggs to hold special surprises just make a small X cut on the bottom and carefully place the surprise inside. Then you can tape the cut closed.

Check out this cute Easter place setting that a friend showed me! How adorable would these carrots be on the dinner table this Easter?



This will be an easy and no mess craft for Easter. Think about how proud the kids will be to show them off to the relatives.

You will need...

• Orange Paper Napkins
• Green Pipe Cleaners
• Green Plastic Utencils

Instructions...

1. Open up the napkin and refold it into a rectangle
2. Take the bottom right corner and fold it up to meet the top of the napkin. It should end up left of center.
3. Place the plastic utensils just inside of the point created at the bottom where the fold was made. The utensils should lay diagonally so the tops stick out at the top left point.
   
4. Fold the left of the napkin over the utensils and continue rolling up the napkin to form the carrot.
   
5. Wrap pipe cleaners around the top of the carrot to secure the napkin leaving the ends to stick up like leaves.

Depending on the size of your napkins you may have to change the angle of the utensils when you wrap them.

Do you remember doing these at school when you were a kid? This would be a great craft to make with your kids this Easter.


Kids love getting messy and making things. Paper Mache falls right into there. My kids love doing paper mache crafts. They have fun sitting around the table together and we have great conversations.

Paper Mache is also a cheap craft that also recycles old newspaper. All you need is old newspapers cut into strips and the paste. To make paper mache paste simply mix flour with twice as much water.

To make this project you cover a balloon in at least 4 layers of paper mache. When the paper has fully dried (a day or two) cut a circle to form a window like opening in the egg. You can then decorate the inside and outside of the egg.

If you do not want to paint the egg you can use colored tissue paper on the first and last layer. Then you will already have a pretty colored inside and outside. Most people fill the egg with Easter grass and add plastic eggs and chicks. You can decorate yours any way you want. You could also leave the egg whole and paint them like pretty Easter eggs.