Like I shared earlier this week, I debated saving these pictures for next year. To keep them to post right before next Easter, when they'd be a bit more timely than sharing now. However, I wasn't sure I could keep all these sweet foot-print pictures to myself for that long- and I was even less positive that I would be able to find them next year- so I'm sharing them now. I'll also share a few non-Easter related ways to use these ideas, so you don't have to wait a whole year before trying them out for yourselves!
Having nieces on the other side of the country has perfected our mailing skills! Isia loves to compile little collections of things for her cousins- usually stickers and fairy tattoos. For their Easter package, we filled a dozen eggs with an assortment of goodies. There were, of course, stickers and tattoos as well as little bracelets, princess socks (one sock per egg), and a make-your-own necklace kit among other things. I then looped silver thread through the top and stuck two star stickers together over the ends to make a label for their initial.
Isia decorated the top, it reads "Isia Happy Easter." We then wrapped it first in bubble wrap and brown grocery sack paper before mailing it on its way. According to my lovely sister-in-law it arrived intact and was well-enjoyed. It's definitely a package method we'll be using again before next Easter! Wouldn't it be fun to fill an egg carton with art supplies or nature goodies? (Love all these egg carton gift ideas from Design Mom.) Such a great way to reuse materials and make sure your package will arrive in one piece (wink).
Then there was a small bout of egg dying. We kept it simple this year- just star stickers resists. It's a favorite technique around here. We love filling a paper with stickers- the thin, metallic kind are the best- then painting or drawing over them. When everything is dry, it's so much fun to peel them off and see their imprint left behind. Speaking of foot-prints...
...Isia enjoyed lending hers to make bunnies for our Easter card. We used assorted paper (including some previous artworks) for the background, then added the face & cotton-ball tail when they were dry. Aren't they sweet? She was so proud of them! Foot-print bunny cards aren't limited to Easter of course, you can always send a "Some bunny loves you" card or wish someone a "Hoppy Birthday." (smile) I sadly realized that our season of sending Isia's foot-print in the mail is almost over. Do you see how it barely fits on the paper? She's getting pretty good at this whole growing up thing.
This middle of the week finds me...
...pondering the three large holes in our house-is-on-the-market kitchen ceiling.
...hoping they will reveal the source of our slow dripping that began over Christmas.
...looking forward to having my kitchen- and ceiling- in one piece again.
...reading the second chapter of The Journal of Best Practices
...admiring his dedication to being a conscientious spouse, and his ability to laugh at himself. (Neither is an easy feat.)
...enjoying all these early Spring blossoms.
...ready for them- and this lovely warm weather- to settle in and stay for awhile.
...debating whether to share our few Easter crafts this year, or wait until next Spring? Hmm, I don't think I can keep all these pictures of sweet little paint-covered feet to myself.
...excited to share those, as well as some great homemade cleaning goodness and busy sketch-booking, with you soon.
Hoping Spring has arrived at your doorstep, wherever you are!
Don't you love a great list? I created several this year preparing for Easter. Decorating techniques for our cascarones, pretty cake ideas, and all sorts of beautiful Easter basket inspiration. But then my grand-father, Cory and I all got sick last week, one after another- and I realized my focus needed to change. This was not the year for lists. So we enjoyed a very simple Easter instead: just a few decorated eggs, no Easter baskets, and not one sit-down meal. If you've been joining our creative journey for awhile, you'll know this downward trend has happened before. It's that intersection of creative bliss meeting real life, and needing to accommodate the best we can to make both happen.
Especially the life part. Because, I dare say, these kiddos were just as happy finding their Easter goodies in the bushes as a beautifully decorated basket. And they happily searched for the few eggs we made, not realizing how many my list had called for.
Very few of our cascarones ended up getting crushed anyways. Even though we broke a few of ours to encourage her, Isia insisted hers were "too pretty" to break on anybody. I doubt her little brother will have the same hesitation next year! (A quick tutorial on the Photoshop effect above, here.)
Yes, it was a simple Easter. So simple, in fact, that I ended up leaving my real camera at home & snapped just a few shots with my iPhone instead. So all these lovely photos were taken by my parents, leaving me in the unaccustomed role of being in the picture. Hmm... and despite his look to the contrary, I promise that I did not steal any of Billy's Easter candy.
"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember."
(words and inspiration via Soulemama.com)
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This middle of the week finds me...
...enjoying small signs of Spring: a timely bouquet of daffodils from a dear friend & melting snow.
...fortunate to be surrounded by a community that loves with their actions.
...reminding myself to pass that love on: meals and kiddo-watching mean so much these days.
...happy to be finished with Vernes and onto not one, but two books- The Journal of Best Practices & Learning by Heart: Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit
& Learning by Heart: Teachings to Free the Creative Spirit
...especially excited for Sister Corita's book. I was just introduced to this extraordinary artist by a recent Tinkerlab article, here.
...disappointed by our recent shaving cream egg experiment. Although it was lovely to mix the food coloring with the shaving cream, our hands ended up darker than our eggs!
...content with all the lovely paper we dyed with the shaving cream instead.
...deciding how to dye the rest of our eggs. (So many possibilities... so little time left.)
...collaborating with my Mama for the kiddo's Easter baskets this year, which I think is brilliant.
...including some fun kiddo toothbrushes, stickers, and- of course- glitter glue.
...wondering if we should include some magic jelly beans too?
How are you dyeing your Easter eggs this year?
