Gorgeous Easter craft ideas

Happy Easter from ilovegorgeous! We’re feeling all handy and we’ve come up with some great crafting ideas to give you inspiration over the long weekend, from painting eggs, to baking. We’d love to know what you will be getting up to with your families – share your pics or tell us on our Facebook page!

Pretty painted eggs:

Painting and colouring Easter eggs is a really lovely tradition and a great activity to keep the little ones entertained over the long bank holiday weekend. We’d suggest covering any precious surfaces with oilcloth or newspaper ahead of any decorating, but once that’s done, let the fun commence!

The below suggestion involves hard boiling your eggs and then dip-dying them, so they can still be eaten. Perfect for Easter lunch!

 

What you’ll need:

-       eggs

-       cups or bowls large enough to hold an egg – if you have lots of small saucepans this may be better)

-       food colouring (we love all the bright Easter colours)

-       clear vinegar

-       tongs

-       an empty egg carton

-       white wax crayons or shaped stickers (optional)

Get cracking:

-       Hard boil your eggs and let them cool.

-       Fill your cups or small bowls with hot water, add 1 tsp of vinegar and 1 tsp of food colouring, one for each colour you’d like to use. Give the mixture a stir to let the colour dissolve – you may want to experiment with shades by adding more dye.

-       Gently place an egg in the chosen bowl and leave the dye to penetrate. After about 5 minutes, remove gently with tongs and place in an empty egg carton to dry. Leave in longer for a deeper shade. We’d recommend placing this near a radiator or somewhere warm, so the liquid dries relatively quickly.

-       Try using a white wax crayon to draw a pretty design on the egg before dying.

-       We love using rubber bands or tape around the egg to create a funky Breton stripe.

-       Use pretty sticker shapes such as butterflies, hearts and stars on the egg before dipping into the dye.

-       Glittery eggs are a must! Use a light layer of pva glue on your dyed and dried eggs, and then roll in glitter. Leave to dry again on a sheet of greaseproof paper or foil.

-       Once your eggs are dry, feel free to paint pretty designs on top, or add stickers. You can even use felt and pva glue to make little chicks – perfect on yellow eggs!

Once your eggs are dry, try hiding them in the garden, serving them for lunch or pop them in a decorative basket as a pretty gift. Any uneaten eggs will keep in the fridge for 2 days.

Yummy Easter nests:

Easter wouldn’t be easter without eating lots of chocolate! We love making easter nests – they’re so easy to make, yet they look so pretty and a great centrepiece. They keep for a long time, just pop them in an airtight container; however we think they should be displayed on Easter day!

Ingredients:

 

-       170g shredded wheat biscuits

-       250g milk chocolate broken into pieces

-       50g butter, cut into little cubes

-       3 tbsp golden syrup

-       3 tsp cocoa powder

-       36 mini easter eggs (plus more to eat whilst baking..!)

-       12 pretty baking cases

Method:

 

-       Start by crumbling the biscuits into a large mixing bowl. You don’t have to use shredded wheat, you could use rice crispies or cornflakes, but these look the most like nests.

-       Put your chocolate into a small bowl and add the butter and cocoa powder.

-       Set you bowl over a small pan of simmering water – just make sure the base of the bowl doesn’t come into contact with the water, as the chocolate can separate. Stir gently until all the chocolate has melted.

-       One melted add the syrup, using a hot spoon, and stir again until you have a lovely glossy smooth sauce, yum!

-       Pour your mixture over your cereal and mix well. Spoon into the paper cases and top each nest with some mini eggs. Pop onto a baking tray to set and cool – this takes about half an hour.

Try decorating with chocolate drops, pretty sprinkles and even mini chicks – so easy to make and so easy to eat!

Pretty pompom Easter chicks:

We just think these are so sweet. Try making these and hanging them in little peoples’ bedrooms – or simply display them proudly around the house over the long weekend. If the weather’s nice and you’re planning an Easter egg hunt, why not pop them in the garden with your hidden eggs?

What you’ll need:

-       four card circles; 2 x 7.5cm in diameter, 2 x 6.5cm in diameter, both with a 2.5cm diameter hole in the centre. (You can experiment and make larger or smaller chicks if you’d like.)

-       Yellow wool. If you’re feeling creative, you can try using different shades of yellow, or even a different colour.

-       Four pieces of orange felt, cut into small rectangles.

-       Black stickers (or craft eyes)

-       PVA glue

How to make:

-       Take your two large card circles, place together and wind the wool around both discs until the hole is almost full.

-       Cut through the wool around the outer edge, and then tie a 30cm length of wool between the two discs. Remove the card discs and fluff up your first pom pom.

-       Repeat with the smaller discs.

-       Join the two pom poms together using the remaining ties. You now have your first chick.

-       Fold and shape your felt pieces for the feet, wings and beak, and glue in place.  Finally, stick on your eyes.

These cute little pom pom chicks can be hung using extra wool, or stuck to a surface using a piece of card. Alternatively, add to an Easter basket as a sweet gift for someone. Gorgeous!

Chocolate Egg decorating:

If you fancy being creative with Easter eggs and your little ones, take a look at Kid Style Junkie’s fab chocolate decorating ideas – a great project to make your very own egg! http://bit.ly/eastereggdecorating

Alternatively, take a look at our very own ilovegorgeous Easter egg, made by the lovely people at Melt Chocolates. 

For your chance to win this beautiful egg, simply take a look at our Facebook album of Easter Day outfits and let us know which is your favourite. Eggxciting! http://bit.ly/easteroutfits