Our Easter Craft Day Preparation

This is one of our huge craft day celebrations.
We are trying to come up with appropriate music that will help us celebrate this craft day as well as foods that are considered indigenous to this holiday.We are going to be making
   a homemade carrot cake this year from a recipe that I had gotten from my great grandmother. We are in the planning and research process of what other foods we will be serving. We are leaning towards an Easter Brunch menu.

Wendy found an interesting fact while searching for foods indigenous to Easter. I’m not sure how true it is but nevertheless I have never really thought about where the Easter Bunny originated from but it interesting.

“According to legend, the pagan goddess Eostre took pity on a wounded bird that was no longer able to fly. She transformed it into a white hare (an animal near and dear to her heart) and blessed it with the ability to lay eggs in all the colors of the rainbow, but only one day a year. When the hare later angered the goddess Eostre, she banished it to the stars as the constellation Lepus at the foot of Orion the hunter. The hare was only permitted to return to earth on Eostre's feast day each year to distribute its special eggs to the children”. (http://ancienthistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/easter_history_traditions_and_dates)

   Easter Craft Projects:

Before our craft day we are going to make a huge bunny this year to hang on our wall. We picked up some tan fur fabric. We will be cutting the bunny template out of cardboard and then using pillow stuffing will attach the fur along with all the misc accessories.

   Blown-out Eggshells:

Like last year my son is going to blow the yolk out of a bunch of eggs for us. He did this last year and had so much fun he asked to do it again. We will then decorate those eggs and possibly make a strand of garland out of the blown eggs. We will carefully crack a few eggs in half and then dye those halves or paint them. After they are finished we will then plant some small flowers and plants inside the eggs. We are then going to display them in a bowl surrounded by other natural items we will find around, like tree bark, moss, very cool twigs we find and either use naturally or paint for added decoration to our bowl.

How-to blow out eggshells:

• Poke a small hole at the top and bottom of each egg with an egg blower or pin. Make sure you pierce the yolk.
• With an egg blower (or you can simply use your mouth) carefully expel contents.
• Rinse, let dry and then dye with food coloring (Picture from Martha Stewart’s website)

 Silly Putty:

Kristen found a really neat activity on Martha Stewart’s web page for making green slime. On this craft day we are going to try to make this. This is going to be great. My daughter uses silly putty all the time to help her focus and fulfill some of her special needs. I know that sounds a little odd but she squishes this in her hands and it calms her down enough to focus. We will be making this and putting it into plastic eggs, essentially making our own “Easter” putty. On Martha’s page it says that this is long lasting and easy to make, it will pull apart, stretch, and even bounce. Here are the Know How’s on making Green Slime:

Tools and Materials

• 2 Mixing Bowls
• Warm water
• Elmer's glue
• 1/4 teaspoon unsweetened Kool-Aid or 4 to 8 drops liquid food coloring
• Craft stick
• Borax

  Slime How-To

1.  Mix together 1/3 cup warm water, 1/2 cup Elmer's glue, and Kool-Aid or food coloring. Stir thoroughly with craft stick; set aside.
2. Mix together 3/4 cup warm water and 2 teaspoons Borax. Stir thoroughly with craft stick; pour into mixture one, stirring continuously.
3. Remove glob from bowl and work in your hands for 2 to 3 minutes. Store in resealable plastic bag or air-tight container.

Tip: If mixture starts to dry out, pour a small amount of water over it and knead for 2 to 3 minutes before returning to a tightly sealed container.

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/green-slime