For some reason I find it very difficult to spend a lot of money on Easter Baskets. For years we did a family basket rather than one for each kid. There were items specific to each child (video or book they wanted, their fave candy that the others didn't like, etc...) but mostly it was for everyone. We did this because I found the bean counting to be unacceptable and TOTALLY contrary to the reason that we celebrate Easter. My breaking point on this was having Wiz throw several fits because he got fewer black jelly bean than Jess did. He didn't have fewer total jelly beans, just fewer of the black ones than she did. He LOATHED the black one and wouldn't eat them anyway!
We included a lot of handmade items also.
One thing that is hard for me is the egg hunt. I don't like the plastic eggs because they are so bad for the environment. You spend money on them to either pitch them or to store them (and forget where they are so that you must buy more next year. I detest hiding eggs, esp outside because of the risk of food borne illness. Eggs have a natural waxy/oily coating that keeps bacteria from getting into them. Boiling removes this coating and leaves them vulnerable to all sorts of things. So hiding hard boiled eggs creeps me out.
A fairly easy solution is to turn plastic spoons into bunnies and eggs. Cut little ears out of felt (or fun foam or cardstock) and glue them to the side of the spoon that holds the spoon. On the back side, draw a nose and whiskers and smile. You can draw eyes or glue googly eyes or beads on. This is all done with the handle pointing down. For easter eggs, decorate the back of the spoon with sharpies or whatever you have on hand.
To set up the hunt, stick the handle of the spoon into dirt,a shelf,anywhere you want to hide them. For each spoon found, the child gets an egg. Or, if this is an adult only hunt, the winner gets a beer, tiny bottle of booze, whatever. You can put a number on the front of the spoon and label the eggs accordingly if you want. This way the hard boiled eggs are not exposed. For toys and trinkets you would put into a plastic eggs, you can use a small fabric bag or put them all into a brown paper sack or hat or whatever and have the kids reach in and pull one out.
For some of our kids/families, candy isn't what we want to give out. At least not in large amounts. If you use plastic eggs, you can hide a lot of things in them. I made prizes for a friend's church Easter Egg Hunt one year. The person in charge stole all of the money that was to fund this hunt. Over 100 kids showed up each year and the church was worried because they couldn't spend that much again. My friend knew I was both cheap and crafty and she begged me to help. I worked in a large call center for a jewelry company and for three shifts they helped me make bunny and egg spoons (about five hundred total). We worked between calls and they were so sweet. I didn't even ask.
I also made koolaid playdough. Unsweetened koolaid gave color and scent and it was super easy to make. We scooped out enough to fit into half of the egg and then put it into a cheap sandwich bag (the fold over kind, not the ziploc kind). The bag and dough were then put into a plastic egg. I also made homemade super balls that went into eggs. They are surprisingly easy to make. (So is silly putty if you want to put that into an egg, or just play with it.)
Everyone at the church who knew about the theft was shocked at how little all of this cost, and even more surprised that the kids and parents liked these better than all the toys and candy from past hunts.
What are your favorite Easter ideas and crafts? If I can find the right crimps, I am going to take ribbons, attach a crimp on each end, then a charm or fancy bead to that for bookmarks. I think they would fit into a small egg but I will likely put them in a new book for my kids.
We included a lot of handmade items also.
One thing that is hard for me is the egg hunt. I don't like the plastic eggs because they are so bad for the environment. You spend money on them to either pitch them or to store them (and forget where they are so that you must buy more next year. I detest hiding eggs, esp outside because of the risk of food borne illness. Eggs have a natural waxy/oily coating that keeps bacteria from getting into them. Boiling removes this coating and leaves them vulnerable to all sorts of things. So hiding hard boiled eggs creeps me out.
A fairly easy solution is to turn plastic spoons into bunnies and eggs. Cut little ears out of felt (or fun foam or cardstock) and glue them to the side of the spoon that holds the spoon. On the back side, draw a nose and whiskers and smile. You can draw eyes or glue googly eyes or beads on. This is all done with the handle pointing down. For easter eggs, decorate the back of the spoon with sharpies or whatever you have on hand.
To set up the hunt, stick the handle of the spoon into dirt,a shelf,anywhere you want to hide them. For each spoon found, the child gets an egg. Or, if this is an adult only hunt, the winner gets a beer, tiny bottle of booze, whatever. You can put a number on the front of the spoon and label the eggs accordingly if you want. This way the hard boiled eggs are not exposed. For toys and trinkets you would put into a plastic eggs, you can use a small fabric bag or put them all into a brown paper sack or hat or whatever and have the kids reach in and pull one out.
For some of our kids/families, candy isn't what we want to give out. At least not in large amounts. If you use plastic eggs, you can hide a lot of things in them. I made prizes for a friend's church Easter Egg Hunt one year. The person in charge stole all of the money that was to fund this hunt. Over 100 kids showed up each year and the church was worried because they couldn't spend that much again. My friend knew I was both cheap and crafty and she begged me to help. I worked in a large call center for a jewelry company and for three shifts they helped me make bunny and egg spoons (about five hundred total). We worked between calls and they were so sweet. I didn't even ask.
I also made koolaid playdough. Unsweetened koolaid gave color and scent and it was super easy to make. We scooped out enough to fit into half of the egg and then put it into a cheap sandwich bag (the fold over kind, not the ziploc kind). The bag and dough were then put into a plastic egg. I also made homemade super balls that went into eggs. They are surprisingly easy to make. (So is silly putty if you want to put that into an egg, or just play with it.)
Everyone at the church who knew about the theft was shocked at how little all of this cost, and even more surprised that the kids and parents liked these better than all the toys and candy from past hunts.
What are your favorite Easter ideas and crafts? If I can find the right crimps, I am going to take ribbons, attach a crimp on each end, then a charm or fancy bead to that for bookmarks. I think they would fit into a small egg but I will likely put them in a new book for my kids.
