Easter bunny footprints!

Easter is almost here! Can you feel the excitement?!

I want to share with you a fun Easter tradition. When my siblings and I woke up on Easter morning the first thing we did was run to the front door. We would open the door and find...

...that the Easter bunny CAME! He always left his footprints on our front porch.

I made the footprints on my table (because the Easter bunny hasn't come yet).

To get started you will need: a paper, pen, scissors & flour

Draw your foot.

Cut it out.

Sprinkle your flour on top. Pick up the paper carefully. Discard the flour. Flip your paper over to do the other foot & repeat.

I did two different feet to show you some different options. Lots of flour for a solid foot or light flour for a dusted look. Pick your favorite! Clean around the feet

And you are finished.

I hope the Easter bunny stops by your home this Easter!

Fun Easter egg hunts

Here are some ideas for Easter egg hunts I found online.

Try out the ones you like; then report back and let us know what you liked/disliked about it!

1. Odd & Even hunt: assign each child odd or even. They can only take the eggs they find if it has their assignment. (Don't forget to write odd/even numbers on your eggs)

2. Color hunt: assign each child a color. They can only take the eggs they find if it is their assigned color. (you can assign two different colors to a child; more than one child can have the same color)

3. Notes: spice you the egg hunt by putting notes into some or all of the plastic eggs. Notes can be "kiss mommy", "give one of your eggs to brother", "help baby sister find one egg", "run around the house one time before finding any more eggs", "hug daddy", "take one of cousins eggs", etc. I think this one should be approved by all of the children because if you just have a child coming up to another child demanding an egg it could get ugly. But if everyone knows what some of the notes are it could solve the problem. Tell us what you think!

4. Golden egg: this egg could hold a special treat (different from all of the other eggs). Such as money, toys, stickers, etc.

5. Checklist: give each child a checklist; this way no one gets more/less eggs than there friends.

_____2 blue eggs

_____1 pink egg

_____4 orange eggs

_____1 purple egg

_____3 green eggs

_____1 golden egg

6. Jellybean hunt: in one or more rooms of your home hide some jellybeans. My husband loves this one.

7. Nighttime hunt: hand out flashlights and let the hunt begin (this can be played inside with the lights out or outside).

8. Parent's turn: have the children hide a few eggs for the parents to find. And if you are wanting a certain treat, now is the time to let them fill your eggs as well.

9. Name hunt: find the eggs with their name or letters of their name.

10. Teams: pair up in twos or in groups. Help each other find eggs. This is nice when you have younger and older children in the hunt together.

Do you have other ideas? Send us a message and let us know!

Enjoy your weekend!

Crayon decorated eggs

Today we are going to decorate Easter eggs with crayons.

So get some water boiling and boil your eggs.

Meanwhile, dig out the crayon box with all of your old crayons. I used a potato peeler to shave my crayons.

When your eggs are all done cooking. Dry them on a towel. Put them back into the carton (you can use a paper plate, plastic cup, whatever you want to get the angle you want). Sprinkle the crayon shaving on to the eggs & watch it melt. You can do one color or multiple colors!

Have fun!

Thumbprint Easter baskets

Today we are putting our children to work. You can make this for your fridge, scrapbook, a gift for grandpa & grandma or other family/friends. It is super fun & a great way to document your children.

You will need:

paint with soap: I used the primary colors

brown & white paper

cup with water

scissor

paintbrush

paint plate

rag with soap

brown & black markers

glue

First, put your paint onto your plate; mix in some dish soap. This helps the paint come off of your children & their clothes a little easier.

If using the primary colors: mix them for more colors.

Have your child(ren) dip their thumb into the paint. For younger children paint their thumb. Press thumb on the edge of your white paper. Wash thumb and repeat with a new color.

Cut out brown basket & a white back drop.

Paint grass onto your white back drop...use different shades of green.

Glue white back drop onto the brown basket.

Cut out your "Easter eggs" and glue them on top of your grass (tucking the bottom of the paper behind your basket).

To cover up the white the surround the eggs paint some more green grass.

With brown marker add some texture.

Add a little saying.

Easter scavenger hunt

In my family and my husbands, one of our Easter traditions was participating in a scavenger hunt to find our Easter baskets on Easter morning. My husbands family did the scavenger hunt together. In my family each child had their own scavenger hunt; clues were easy to difficult depending on your age.

A few places that baskets were found in my house were the bathtub, behind the couch, in the dryer, the oven, and dishwasher. My husband's family (as far as I know) always found their baskets in their parents bedroom closet. Some other places to hide baskets could be outside (depending on the weather), pantry, under the bed, under a desk, the linen closet, a large doll house, etc.

I am not very good at coming up with clues like my mom is, but I found this great website where you can buy the clues. And if you are like me...you don't have the money to buy them. But I think it will be very helpful in making your own clues. You have to check it out here!

Now there are a few ways that you can hide the clues. My family just had slips of paper. You can get a little more creative with writing the clues onto egg shaped (or bunny shaped) pieces of paper (decorated is even better). You can hide the clues in plastic eggs. If your clues are short you can right them on hard boiled eggs (room temperature) with permeant marker. With each clue you can have a little treat for each of your participants like a jelly bean or a Peep.

If you don't have children but have a special someone this can be great date idea. Spend time writing the clues and hiding them. Then take turns finding your basket.

Be sure to have your camera ready, because you don't want to miss any great moments.

Happy Friday! Be sure to check out Doodles and Doilies next week for more exciting ideas to make life fun!

Filling Easter eggs

Looking for some ideas on what to put in your child's Easter eggs this year. I found lots of great ones online.

Here are some of the ideas if found:

For boys:

hot wheels, army men

For girls:

lip smackers, hair barrettes/bows, small nail polish, dress up jewelry

Other toys:

stickers, finger puppets, bouncy balls, whistle, mini bottle of bubbles, silly putty, play dough, jacks, marbles, cartoon band-aids (children love to put them all over their body), money (start saving!), decorative shoe laces

Food:

Cheerios, mini M&M's, Lucky Charms, bite size candy bars such as Milky Way, animal cracker, Teddy Grahams, trail mix, fruit snacks, McDonald's/Wendy's coupons, Goldfish crackers, dried fruit, chocolate Kisses, gum

Traditional:

Peeps, jelly beans (cut them in half for toddlers)

Theme:

*art: pom poms, ribbon, yarn, crayons, wiggly eyes, foam shapes, beads

*ice cream sundae: cookie crumbs, nuts, gummy worms, mini M&M's (have bowls, ice cream, whip cream, syrup and other toppings ready for a fun treat after all the eggs have been found)

*puzzle: puzzle pieces to the same puzzle (as a group do the puzzle together after all the pieces have been found) (OR a green colored egg for example can hold all of the pieces to one puzzle, all of the purple eggs have another puzzle and so on. Each child finds only their colored eggs for their own puzzle)

*lego sets: same idea as the puzzle

**If you have toddlers do not put anything in the eggs that could be a chocking hazard.**

What are you fun ideas for filling Easter eggs?

Easter Egg Scripture Story

I love this fun way of making sure Christ is included into our Easter activities. After all He is why we celebrate Easter!

You will need 12 plastic eggs (I got a package of 18 at the dollar store); number them 1-12. Here are the items and scripture references you will place in the numbered eggs:

#1 sacrament cup; Matt. 26: 17-30

#2 three dimes; Matt. 26: 14-15

#3 small rope or twine; Matt. 27: 1-2

#4 soap chip; Matt. 27: 24-26

#5 thorns; Matt. 27:28-30

#6 small nail(s); Matt. 27: 50-54

#7 dice; Matt. 27: 35-36

#8 gravel; Matt. 27: 50-54

#9 white material; Matt. 27: 57-61

#10 rock or stone; Matt. 27: 60

#11 spices (bay leaf or clove); Matt. 28: 2-5

#12 leave empty; Matt. 28: 5-8

You can display them however you like. Some ideas are in a basket or egg carton. You can also present the Easter story over twelve days (opening #12 on Easter day) or you can open them all on Easter. This is a visual way for all, especially children, to review the Easter story.

FYI: I used tissue paper in the bottom of my basket because plastic Easter grass can be a chocking hazard for children.

Homemade Easter egg dye

Hooray! It is finally April and the Spring weather is getting so much closer. And what a better way to start off the month than with a DIY project.

I was reading in Better Homes and Gardens magazine when I can upon this great idea. Making your own Easter egg dye.

Let me share the recipes with you:

PINK: 1 cup pickled beet juice & 1 Tbsp vinegar

PURPLE: 1 cup grape juice & 1 Tbsp vinegar

BROWN: 1 cup strong coffee & 1 Tbsp vinegar

BLUE: cut 1/4 head cabbage into chunks. Add cabbage to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 Tbsp vinegar. Let cool to room temperature. Remove cabbage with slotted spoon.

DARK PINK: Cut 1 medium beet into chunks. Add beet to 4 cups boiling water. Continue as you would with the blue dye.

YELLOW: Remove the peel from one orange. Add peel to 4 cups boiling water. Again continue as you would with the the blue or dark pink dye.