Spring Basket/Easter Basket Craft

In honor of March being National Craft Month, I have a craft to share!

I have a thing for glitter.  I love it.  You might have guessed that from the numerous craft posts that I've done with glitter as a main "ingredient".  I think that glitter makes everything better and more beautiful.  Have an old pair of shoes that just don't look good?  Put glitter on them!  Suddenly you're Dorothy and have just landed in Oz.  Did you get an F on your most recent school assignment?  Cover it with glitter and stick it proudly on the fridge!  Everyone will be so impressed.

My hubby, however, does not like glitter.  Whenever he sees my glitter box or glitter containers out, a look of fear washes over his face, and the utterance of "oh, no" may escape from his lips.  He knows that when I get the glitter out, he will find it EVERYWHERE.  Despite my best attempts to contain the bio-hazardous material, he will eventually find a fleck or two smack-dab in the center of his forehead, but only after he has had a super-important meeting with someone at work. 

What has this to do with a project?  Well, in an attempt to get myself out of the winter doldrums and into the spring spirit, I bought some supplies to make a spring-themed basket: a pretty blue wire basket, some green moss, some wide ribbon, and two packages of wooden eggs.  Do you see where I'm going with this?  You got it--a sparkly springtime egg basket!

Since we don't do Easter bunny stuff (because 1: we don't have kids, and 2: even if we did, we probably wouldn't do Easter bunny stuff), I'm calling this a spring egg basket, which can sit out as a decoration until the temps outside finally warm up--which might not be until July, so I figure that I'll get plenty of use out of this cute little basket.

First, gather your supplies:

• Wooden Eggs (Hobby Lobby, $4/pk of 4, or less if they're on sale or you have a coupon)--these should be in the woodworking aisle/section
• Basket of your choice
• Moss (I found mine in the floral section)
• Decorative ribbon of your choice
• All-purpose glue
• Glitter colors of your choice (spring colors are nice!)
• Paint brush
• Acrylic sealer (always a good idea to help with glitter flaking, although some glitter will come off regardless)
• Paper plate, newspaper, etc. to protect your surfaces and collect extra glitter

Next, prepare your basket:

I laced my ribbon through the openings on the side of the basket.  If you can't do that, you can opt to either just tie it around the bottom, wind it around the handle, make a big bow, etc.  Do what looks good to you!

I only laced the ribbon through two spokes in the back of the basket to keep it in place.

Tie a big pretty bow and trim the ribbon to your desired length.

Fill the basket with moss:

Then, the glitter!
Paint the eggs with the all-purpose glue and sprinkle on the glitter, making sure to not leave any bare spots.  It might take a few applications.  Allow to dry.

I held the eggs with my finger at the top and thumb on the bottom, and turned it as I painted on the glue.  I let them dry and then went back and painted the egg's top and bottom, holding it gently in the middle.

If it's warm enough, take the eggs outside and spray them with the acrylic sealer.  Allow the sealer to dry overnight in a well-ventilated area.  If it's not warm enough where you live yet, just wait until it is.  The glitter will be fine until then, as long as the eggs are not handled much.

Voila!

Because I had some of the supplies for this, like the glitter, glue, and acrylic sealer, this project cost me well under $25 for the remaining supplies.  This is a pretty family/kid-friendly project, and you can keep the eggs forever as keepsakes, as opposed to real eggs that get peeled and eaten.  If you don't want the mess of glitter, though, just use regular acrylic paints and let the kids decorate them that way!

Easter Fun

Not a whole lot going on right now.  I am sick with yet another cold.  Third one since Christmas.  It's getting old.  We had my husband's parents over last weekend for a visit, so I decided to be creative.  We were planning to grill shish kebabs, and I wanted to make some deviled eggs.  I saw this idea originally on Pinterest, so I decided that this would be a great time to make them.

I started out with six eggs.  I bring them to a boil, then cover the pan, turn off the heat, and leave them sit for twelve minutes.  Perfect boiled eggs every time.  (After they are done sitting in the hot water, I take them out and put them in the ice water to stop the cooking process.)  While waiting for the eggs to boil, I gathered my other items: Miracle Whip, McCormick food coloring, paprika, cider vinegar, and a bowl of ice water for the boiled eggs.

After the eggs are done, cut them in half and pop out the yolks.  I didn't match the bowl and the egg yolks.  That was just a neat coincidence.

I filled 12 oz tumblers with about 8 oz of water, added two teaspoons of vinegar to each glass, and dropped in the food coloring.  I think I started with three drops in each glass, then added three more.  I should mention that I don't think I've colored eggs since I was young...I know it's been since before I went to college.  So this was actually a learning experience.  Or, at least, relearning.  On a neat side note, if you put the egg whites in the water while the food coloring is swirled, you will get a sort of tye-dye effect.

So, I started out with the primary colors.  I dropped the eggs in and stirred to mix the water and food coloring.  I let the eggs soak for about five minutes each, then I placed them on a paper towel covering a plate to dry and absorb the extra coloring.

Then, I added food coloring to the existing colors to make secondary colors: orange, green and purple.

I let them sit and dry for another five minutes.  Don't let the different colored eggs touch--they will absorb the colors of the other eggs.

As the eggs dried, they darkened in color.  They continued to get brighter and more vibrant the longer they sat.  While they were drying, I mixed the Miracle Whip in with the egg whites (1/2 cup).  I spooned the mixture evenly into the egg whites, then sprinkled them with paprika.  Then I placed them on the serving plate, and voila!  A fun and tasty treat.  This would be something that you could make with kids--I'm sure they would like it.

On a side note, should you get any food coloring on your countertop like I did, there is a simple way of getting the dye off without permanently staining your surface: sprinkle baking soda over the stain, grab a small brush, wet it down, and start gently rubbing the stained area.  The color will immediately absorb into the baking soda, and come right off of your counter.  Pretty cool!

This weekend is Easter, or in some churches, Resurrection Sunday.  It is, of course, a celebration of Jesus' victory over death and the opportunity for us to be forgiven of our sins forever if we only accept Christ into our hearts and lives.  Once we do that, we are His forever.  As Galatians 2:20 says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."  If you haven't asked Christ into your life, now would be a great time!  You never know when tomorrow won't come.

I love how the jet streams in the pre-dawn sky created a perfect cross above the church.