Easter Craft Decoration Ideas

Many years have passed since my own youthful days of enjoying holidays and the activities and crafts that go along with them with my parents and siblings; I still enjoy these holidays today with my own kids.

Halloween involved black and orange construction paper that was shaped into witches, pumpkins, and cats and taped in the window panes. Carving the jack-lantern and enjoying its spooky glow in the dark was great fun.

Christmas involved popcorn garland, tree decorating, and cookie baking. Easter, of course, was a time for decorating eggs to be hidden on the celebrated Sunday and hunted by the young ones.

My father and mother did hide some special plastic eggs, some with quarters or dollars hidden inside, trying to be sure each child "found" one of these treasured prizes. The fondest memories, though, are those of sitting at the kitchen table with different colored bowls of dye and having a chance to let my imagination and creativity go to work.

I think back on some of those boiled eggs that endured all that handling and hiding, how anyone could eat an egg after all that, so cracked and dented and going unrefrigerated for any length of time. Times have changed and while many still dye the real hard boiled eggs, craft supplies have brought us new toys to play with in the way of wooden or papier-mache craft eggs.

Eggs aren't just dyed anymore, either. They can be hand painted, spray painted, stickered, decaled, tied with ribbon, airbrushed, or used to create Melted Crayola Crayon eggs. Homemade egg dyes can be made from food coloring, vegetables, fruits, juices, spices, and wine.

Eggs can be "sponged" for an attractive mottled look. Just take a damp sponge, dab some acrylic paint in the color of choice on the sponge, and then lightly "tap" the paint onto different areas of the egg, allowing some of the background to show through. The egg can be previously died another color, used au naturelle as is, or basecoated with an acrylic wash. There's also BloPen eggs, swirled eggs, polka dot eggs, even jeweled eggs.

Kids can make adorable "egg heads" by attaching felt hats, wiggly craft eyes, glitter, and details with permanent markers. A little bit of red paint can be dry brushed on the cheeks for a blushing effect. Kids can basecoat their egg in a festive Easter pastel color, then use permanent markers to "graffiti" the egg with Easter terms or personalize the egg with their name.

Tie-dyed eggs are another fun project. Simply place rubber bands around the egg running in different directions, then place the egg in dye and let it sit for a while. Remove egg; let dry, and remove rubber bands.

Another Crayola tip is to use crayons to decorate the egg before placing it in the dye with swirls, triangles, circles, lines, dots, and words. When the egg is dyed, the crayoned areas will resist the dye, allowing the artist's creative designs to show through.

Easter egg decorating is a great activity for children and what a great way to spend quality time together. Spread out the kitchen tablecloth and get out the crafting supplies, whether you choose to use real eggs or faux eggs such as wooden or papier-mache versions for decorating. Enjoy the holiday!

A willow branch wreath hung over the front door provides the perfect home for a couple of nesting birds to signal the arrival of guests. Complimented with spring colored Hydrangea flowers and pastel ribbon creates a timeless Easter time look.

You will need the following supplies:

1 Willow Branch wreath (9in. x 9in.)
1 Package of decorative nesting birds; Pink/Yellow & Blue/Pink
2 Artificial spring flowers; We chose a Periwinkle Hydrangea ( lavender/blue) color
1 small package of Easter paper grass; We chose a bright neon green color
Wired ribbon; We chose a soft pink in a shear fabric ( 1in. width)
2 small plastic eggs; Pale yellow
Hot glue gun
Glue sticks
Door Hanger or medium size nail