Monday, April 25, 2011

easter chick crafts


It's a long story, but we have a small mountain of empty egg cartons piled beside the front door. Last fall my father-in-law indulged my urban farming fantasy and went and bought ten hens, and he tends to them at his farm just outside Tottenham. Ten hens produce a lot of eggs. (Among other things.) I am sometimes a little afraid to visit my in-laws because I know we will not leave without eggs. A lot of eggs. And so we are in constant need of egg cartons, which I collect, reuse and keep in a pile by the door.

Putting together a quick Easter craft was a snap:

1. I cut out individual egg cups
2. The kids painted the egg cups (they used watercolours that were on hand but acrylic would be nice and give more vibrant colours.)
3. Once the egg cup is dry we put a few strands of shredded paper in the bottom to make a little nest. Then a dollop of white glue in the bottom of the cup and affixed a medium size pompom. Glued another pompom on top. Added a chick's beak (a diamond-shaped piece of felt, folded) or a bunny's nose and googly eyes. We added mini pompoms for cheeks as well.

Once everything dried, we placed our bunnies and chicks into small cello bags filled with yellow shred and a handful of Hershey Kisses. We set them around the table at each place setting. But they turned out so cute that next year I'd like to make them for school as well. Goodness knows we have enough egg cartons on hand.


The Easter bunny carrot garden was fun for my 8-year old to make. Full instructions are here, but in a nutshell paint the egg carton, make the pompom bunnies and 6 adorable "carrots" using pipecleaners and orange beads.


Happy Easter.