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
