Easter Bunny's Amazing Egg Machine (Pictureback(R))

Easter Bunny's Amazing Egg Machine (Pictureback(R)) Review

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Easter Brunch - Recipes and Ideas on How to Host the Perfect Easter Brunch

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Great Easter brunch recipes or menu is the one that provides people with both appetizing and sweet foods. So, if you are going to host the perfect brunch for this coming Easter, you should be able to offer variety of choices of foods that everyone will enjoy.

A dish like creamy scrambled eggs is a very special egg recipe made with cream cheese, butter, and milk. This will have a very creamy and tasty texture that is entirely different from your traditional scrambled eggs. You can also make quiche or egg-based casseroles for your brunch menu.

Another is French toast stuffed with sweetened mixture of ricotta cheese and strawberry jam and topped with deliciously fresh berries. This recipe is very easy and simple to do. You can make it as quick as 30 minutes and serve plain or with maple syrup. Either way, this recipe is very delightful.

You can also prepare a Wisconsin-brunch casserole to go with your egg dishes and French toast. This brunch casserole is made with cheddar cheese, mushrooms, and ham covered with a mouth-watering, creamy sauce. It is a good idea to prepare this recipe the night before and just bake it the next morning.

Next great menu for your Easter brunch is butter potatoes boiled in the broth of a beef and then coated with parsley and brown butter. This will give the potatoes a very unique flavor that everyone will love. You can also make Au Gratin potatoes for your side dish. It is very easy and quick to make recipe from hash brown potatoes, cheddar soup, chicken soup cream, and sour cream.

Then there are also your ham steaks or smoked ham serve with a mouth watering ham glaze made from pineapple juice, raisins, and cherries and then flavored with luscious spices such as ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and many more. A delicious crumb coffeecake menu will also make your brunch perfect. Topped with sweetened fruits, this recipe is very delicious in its own way.

For your beverages you can offer your guests tea, or coffee, or orange juice, or punch juice. This will complete your brunch. There are other Easter brunch recipes that require less preparation yet offers excellent taste of foods for your guests to enjoy. You just need to be creative with your menu or turn it to a potluck brunch for less prep yet delicious foods this coming Easter.

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Decopatch Ideas: Intriguing Crafts For All Occasions

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Creating eye-catching crafts is something anyone can do, given the proper technique and supplies. This is also true with Decopatch. Just about any material can be covered in Decopatch, making it a very versatile crafting technique. The following Decopatch ideas can be used for a variety of holidays and occasions.

Picture Frames

A Decopatch frame can be used for a beloved family portrait and given as a gift any time of the year. These are also fun to help a child make for framing their favourite piece of artwork from school. Picture frames can be vibrant colors for accenting what it surrounds or made with muted colors so as to not detract from it. Either way, the pieces of paper can be added right onto any type of frame; wooden, metal, or even plastic.

Greeting Cards

It's always fun to create greeting cards that are more personal than the ones sold in stores. The store-bought cards that are hand crafted can be quite expensive. Homemade greeting cards can add a nice touch to the holiday salutations enclosed within them and help the card creator save a bit of money as well.

Easter Eggs

A basket filled with Decopatch Easter eggs catches a lot of attention. It's better if these eggs are emptied out first, by poking a hole in the top and bottom of the egg. After this is achieved, the contents can then be blown out. When the egg has been emptied and allowed to dry for a short while, the Decopatch can begin. This will make the eggs very sturdy and able to withstand lots of handling without becoming damaged.

Furniture

This is a great project for a child's room, sewing room, or anywhere there's a need for some flair. Tables and chairs are the most common forms of furniture that are covered in Decopatch, but any type of furnishing can be covered.

The process is fairly simple:

Step 1 - Tear paper into small pieces

Step 2 - Apply glue where the paper is going to be positioned.

Step 3 - Place paper onto the glued surface, one piece at a time.

Step 4 - Apply a coat of glue over the piece of paper that was just placed on the item.

Step 5 - Once all the paper is in place, make sure all pieces are coated with the clear glue.

Step 6 - Two or three coats of varnish can be added over the entire project for additional protection. Be sure to wait an hour between each application.

Do you like the ideas that are mentioned above? It's best to use clear glue that is designed specifically for Decopatch. We know that you are going to have a lot of fun doing this.

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Recipes and Fun Activities For Easter

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It's that time of year again when daffodils will soon be in bloom, trees will be budding, and a lot of folks will be anxious to get out and work in their flower beds. It's called spring! And with spring comes the Easter bunny. An exciting and fun time for both kids and parents.

My all-time favorite Easter candy were those marshmallow peeps. Every spring (to this day), I indulge in a package or two. I love them so.

There are lots of fun activities for kids on this special spring holiday. Go beyond egg decorating and help your little ones decorate cute things for the house. Maybe some homemade crayola pictures to display in the windows or perhaps create an Easter tree. Egg relays are a lot of fun as well. You know the game with the egg and the spoon where teams are paired up and the winners are the ones who carries the eggs from point A to point B? This game can be mixed with children and parents for even more fun!

Cookie decorating can be a fun activity too. Bake the cookies ahead of time and make them in all shapes. Egg shaped, bunny shaped, or anything you wish. Make sure you have plenty of pastel food coloring for the frosting along with lots of sprinkles. Another cool idea...have your kids help you prepare the Easter meal. Put a special, homemade apron on them and they will feel like a real chef. It's pretty much tradition to prepare a ham for the meal. But what can you make as side dishes and desserts?

Let's explore a couple of ideas...

Easter Cupcakes

Ingredients

(for basic cake recipe-about 12 cupcakes)

1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup self rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbs milk
2 large eggs
12 Easter-themed cupcake liners
frosting
food coloring
sprinkles
cupcake or muffin pan
small chocolate bunnies

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. With a wooden spoon, mix the butter and sugar together until smooth, ( about 2 min). Add the eggs and milk and stir thoroughly.

Gently fold in the flour and mix until completely blended. Divide the batter evenly into the cupcake liners. Place the pan of cupcakes on a shelf just above the center for 15 minutes.

After cooled, frost the cupcakes in the color of your choice. The kids will have fun decorating the cupcakes with the sprinkles and the chocolate bunnies.

Family's Favorite Potato Salad

Ingredients

2 lb small red potatoes, unpeeled
6 eggs
3 celery stalks
1/4 cup finely diced red onion

For Dressing:

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 green onion, including the tender green tops, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dry mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Boil the potatoes and eggs. I always put them in the fridge overnight to prevent the potato salad from turning out mushy. Peel the potatoes and the eggs and cut into small chunks and toss them into a large bowl. Add the celery and red onion and toss briefly to mix. Set aside.

For Dressing: In a small bowl and using a fork, stir together the mayonnaise, mustard seeds, green onion, parsley, dry mustard, salt and pepper, mixing well. Pour the dressing over the potato and egg mixture and mix well.

For best flavor, cover and chill for up to 2 hours before serving. Sprinkle the parsley over the top and serve.

Extra Family Activity

With today's global economic conditions...there are many children and families in need. Why not make up some special baskets that you can donate? This is something that kids can help with as well. You will be putting smiles on many faces. Share the joy of giving this Easter.

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Easter's Secret History

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As a child I remember sitting through service on Easter Sunday. The longest sermon of the year, although for some reason I was intrigued. Maybe it was because I knew that when I got home a big Easter basket, a few new toys and so much chocolate candy that half of it would see the following Easter was waiting for me at home.

In all of my gluttony on Easter Sunday I never failed to question where my chocolate Jesus was. Where were my chocolate burrow, or palm tree and crucifix? This is what Pastor Bob talked about in his sermon every year. He never mentioned an Easter bunny, or an Easter basket. He never alluded to a biblical Easter egg hunt.

As I would come down from my sugar high and smile proudly at my bounty of found plastic Easter Eggs filled with money and chocolate I no longer cared why, I was just happy it was all mine.

Now I'm thirty years old, with two little boys of my own running around the yard searching for their share of the Easter bounty, and I have to ask myself why all over again.

Have you ever wondered why the celebration of Jesus Christ's crucifixion and resurrection is celebrated with an Easter bunny and colored Easter eggs? Well, the answers may surprise you. They surprised me.
Like many holidays, including Christmas, Halloween and Mayday, Easter's roots lie deep in the pagan religion, dating back centuries before Christianity.

Paganism is the earliest known religion. Although there are many facades of worship encompassed in the pagan religion the most relevant description of pagan belief is the worship of the Goddess, otherwise known as Mother Nature. Despite popular belief pagans do not worship Satan, practice human sacrifice or conjure up black magic.

While most of us know Easter as the celebration of Christ's resurrection it was first a pagan celebration known as Eastre and celebrated in central and northern Europe. It was, and still is for some, the celebration of the Vernal (Spring) Equinox and the Fertility Goddess, Eastre.

The Christian church converted many pagans by infusing the Christian God and customs with already existing pagan tradition and celebration rituals. Easter is one of many examples. Some may say it was an evil trick while others may say it was genius marketing. In order to convert the pagans, Christians chose to celebrate on or around the dates of pagan celebrations, keeping most of the rituals and traditions intact and only substituting their God, their names and their religion.

It is no coincidence that Easter and Eastre are nearly identical in spelling. Nor is it a coincidence that Easter takes place around the same time as the spring equinox. Easter celebrates the resurrection of Christ while Eastre celebrates the resurrection of spring.

I know what you're thinking. None of this answers the original question of 'Why the celebration of Jesus Christ's crucifixion and resurrection is celebrated with an Easter bunny and colored Easter eggs?'

It's easy to believe that the Easter bunny is a creation of commercial America. Well, that's wrong. At the celebration of the pagan festival of Eastre, pagan's worshiped a rabbit, the earthly symbol of the Goddess, Eastre. Thus, Peter Cotton Tail. Eastre was also symbolized with an egg. The egg symbolized fertility in nature and the season's rebirth from the long winter months. Eggs were used in these celebrations as well. The eggs were painted with bright colors and, again they represented the resurrection of spring.

They were then given as gifts to fellow pagans.
Although I now know why my children eat chocolate bunnies and search for colored eggs on Easter Sunday, and I have a pretty good idea why Pastor Bob has never mentioned paganism and the Fertility Goddess, Eastre in his sermon, I have to wonder is my family really better off knowing that the Easter bunny originated from another religion. I don't think so. The holidays are hectic enough without the thought of ancient religions dueling for our time and allegiance, besides there is something magical about the mystery of the Easter Bunny and his Easter Eggs.
But I am a man of equality so I would like to be the first, maybe ever, to wish you a happy Eastre, and it's more famous by product, Easter.
Happy Easter.

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History of Easter Gifts

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Easter gifts have a long and fascinating history. Gifting is tied to the holiday known as Easter, and ancient Pagan rituals focused at this time of year upon the renewal of the earth, the upcoming green new growth that the emerging sunlight and warmer weather encouraged, and the idea of birth and rebirth. The egg is a symbol of all of these ideas, and was adopted by and still is used in Christian Easter celebrations to this day.

To start, eggs were painted and decorated and used as gifts. They were given as a romantic gift to admirers, as well as to servants and children. People of Eastern Orthodox faiths made this tradition their own by dying their eggs red to symbolize Christ's blood, and on Easter day they would crack the eggs, to represent Christ breaking out of the tomb. As technology improved, there were hollow eggs crafted from cardboard that were filled with smaller gifts, typically food items. Hollow eggs were also formed from sugar, and were decorated with sugar royal icings. Perhaps the ultimate gift egg was the Fabergé egg, which was studded with real jewels and was given originally as a gift for the Czar of Russia. Around this time chocolate easter eggs were created, and soon became a favorite holiday tradition. As an extension of the egg, the chick was also associated with Easter, and today children will often find marshmallow chicks as a gift that was linked to the original prominence of the egg in the Easter celebration.

Another type of gift you will likely find in modern Easter baskets are rabbits, usually in the form of a toy stuffed rabbit or rabbit-shaped candies and chocolates. This tradition also traces back to early Pagan traditions. Rabbits are known for their ability to reproduce, and this idea of birth, especially in early spring when rabbits tend to give birth to their young, helped to tie them as yet another symbol of this holiday season.

Clothing was sometimes associated as an Easter gift. In the early Catholic tradition, if the faithful were baptized the night before Easter Sunday, they wore white robes for Easter week. If they were baptized before this night, then they got to wear new clothes. Everyone wearing their robes or new clothes could then take part in an Easter parade, which was a walk after mass on Easter Day.

Because of the association with a new growth cycle, gifts from the garden are also connected to Easter. Easter lilies are often given as gifts because they bloom around the time Easter is celebrated.

Easter baskets in early times contained gifts to the goddess Oestre in the hopes that she would grant a good harvest. Eggs were often collected in baskets as well. German legend of an Easter hare, later changed to rabbit, which would bring a basket filled with sweets and colored eggs to children on Easter morning, was brought to America by early German settlers, and the practice continues to this day.

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Decorating Easter Eggs

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Decorating an Easter egg is a very popular tradition, which is practiced all over. In many families, it is an activity where everybody takes part; and all of them have lots of fun doing it, especially kids. This is a great activity to keep the kids engaged; they do not like to sit idle, more so during any festival time. Encourage the child to use his/her talents and come up with an attractive design in their eggs, which they are decorating. Any bird egg is good to decorate the Easter eggs; but the large eggs with strong shells are ideal for this.

While many people prefer to decorate the eggs at home, some buy it from the stores. The stores have a huge collection of eggs in various patterns, prints and deigns. Buying the decorated egg, is the best option for you, if you are really short on time and yet do not miss out on using the eggs during the celebrations.

Tips to decorate Easter eggs

The simplest tip is to dip the eggs in colored dye. If you are hard pressed for time or you have not been able to arrange anything else, this is the way you should go. Working with real eggs can be pretty challenging, so arrange some artificial eggs for the kids. Keep all the materials that you will need for the decoration handy; you do not want to be running around to get them once you get going. Use lots of sequins and rhinestones to give the egg a pleasant dazzling look. Make sure, that kids do the decoration under adult supervision.

Ways to decorate the Easter egg

A simple way to do this can be to just use markers and make some attractive patterns on the shells.
Glittering stickers can be put all around the egg; it can also be put up in attractive patterns.
After dyeing the egg in color, put cooking spray all over it for an attractive look
Feather, fur and cloth pieces can easily be used to give a unique look to your Easter eggs
Attach miniature flowers and other beautiful patterns to the eggs with the help of craft glue
If you have it, flaunt it; use some precious gems and stones on your eggs!
Use fabric color with paint to make some designs on your Easter egg
Crayons are also a good choice, when it comes to decorating the eggs

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What Do Bunnies and Eggs Have to Do With Easter?

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The commercials with the Easter bunny and chocolate eggs have started again this year bringing in the Easter season. Talk about confusing! It makes me think back to when my children were younger, they were raised on a farm where we raised chickens and rabbits and they knew that bunnies had nothing to do with eggs no matter what the Cadbury bunny commercials say. With all the confusion I wanted to make sure that my children understood what the Easter season was really about and to assure them that they were correct, bunnies had nothing to do with eggs.

Since my children have been old enough to toddle about in Sunday school they had been introduced to the season by the making of palm branches and crying hosanna as they walked up the church aisles or across the platform at the front being a part of the junior church proclaiming the news that Jesus was coming. As modern day children get excited and giggle about their part of the service, is how I explained how the people of Jesus' day must have felt with the thought of Jesus coming into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

And then just five days later on Good Friday the cries of the people changed from hosanna to chants of crucify him. God had a plan and Jesus had to die on the cross so that we would be able to go to heaven to live with God when we died. Although it is a sad thought that Jesus had to die we need to remember that he was willing to do this for us and take the time to thank him for loving us enough to do this for us. So Good Friday is a day that Christians can use to remember what Jesus did for us and to be thankful for his love for us.

Three days after Jesus died he rose from the dead and that is a day we call Easter. Easter is so important to us as Christians because our Savior is alive and in heaven living with God and interceding on our behalf. On Easter Sunday the church service starts the celebration of that day with special services such as sunrise service, church wide breakfasts and then an Easter message and special music. Afterwards many families gather together and celebrate at home with a special meal and family time.

So how did the Easter bunny and chocolate eggs come apart of this religious holiday? It is thought that in the 1700's German immigrants brought the tradition which includes the egg laying hare, representing fertility and new life. Slowly, this became a part of the Easter celebration. We enjoyed making this part of our Easter tradition as well just making sure that our children understood the true meaning of the Easter season.

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How to Choose Easter Themed Wedding Favours

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Firstly, you should think about ways in which you can bring the spring into your wedding theme. Think of seasonal flowers such as daffodils, lily of the valley, tulips, snowdrops and pansies. A great way to style floral arrangements is in cute Easter baskets or in egg cups. Scatter tables with spring petals and use fresh seasonal blooms in button holes and on top of your wedding cake.

If you want to keep your wedding theme a floral one, then your Easter wedding favours should come in the form of Lily of the Valley personalised tea bags or favours boxes matching your flower of choice. In other words, if you are having pansy arrangements, team the deep purple tones with purple square favour boxes and lemon yellow square favour boxes. These will have a striking appeal at place settings. Alternatively, tulips are a typical spring bloom and these can inject some colour to your floral arrangements. Tie the tulip theme into your favours by giving guests tulip mini gift bags filled with confectionery of your choice. Equally, if your flower of choice is going to be daffodils, present guests with yellow, orange or green favour boxes and finish them with daffodil head toppers. Due to the sturdy nature of daffodil stems, this bloom is an ideal choice for tying to napkins with coordinating ribbon.

You can easily get stylish Easter wedding favours is by using the Easter egg as your theme. Fill cute raffia birds' nests with yummy mini Chocolate Eggs as the ideal favour, guaranteed to impress even the most discerning of guests! Top hat favour boxes are a great idea too and once tied with seasonal spring coloured ribbons take on the appearance of the Easter bonnet. Shop bought Easter eggs also make great guest favours; simply present each guest with a shop bought Easter egg and finish it with some bright yellow organza ribbon and a handwritten 'Happy Easter' tag! The Easter egg theme can be continued with your place settings with a blown egg shell hand-painted with the guests' names. This is a cost effective option and although it takes a little time, guests will really appreciate the personal touch of such an idea.

Stuck for kids' favours? An ideal favour for the little ones would be a favour box featuring a chick, bunny or lamb. These can be filled with anything seasonal although Easter eggs of some form will usually go down well with younger guests. Alternatively, mini Easter cupcakes and miniature simnel cakes are a great enclosure for a co-ordinating favour box. You could present these to younger guests in ribbon clad Easter baskets passed round by your bridesmaids.

Finish the Easter feel of your tables with yellow gingham table linen, inviting guests to go on an Easter egg hunt and ensuring table centrepieces feature seasonal blooms and eggs!

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Bunny Bites and Egg Delights - Kids No Bake Easter Recipes

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Kids love Easter and decorating eggs but they also love to get in on the fun of making all the yummy treats. These kids Easter recipes are the perfect way to let them participate in the fun and make some delicious bunny bites and egg delights. The instructions for each of these are no-bake methods. You can bake your own items if you wish or just buy them store bought and then add the decorations to turn them into fun treats for this coming holiday.

Kids Easter Recipe #1

Easter Bonnet Cookies

These bonnets are made for eating and not for wearing even though they look so pretty.

Ingredients

Sugar Cookies
Vanilla Wafers
Frosting
Decorating Gel
Fruit Roll Ups
Directions

Take a vanilla wafer and spread frosting on the bottom of the wafer.
Place it in the center of a larger sugar cookie frosting side down.
Now frost the entire thing (both cookies).
Wrap some fruit roll-ups around the center (where the wafer is) and gently tie it into a bow.
Finish it off with some fun designs using the decorating gel.
If you want different colors for your bonnets simply add some food coloring to the frosting before you cover the cookies.

Kids Easter Recipes #2

Easter Egg Spinach Dip

This traditional bread and dip recipe is perfect for your party this coming holiday.

Ingredients

Large Oval Shaped Loaf of Bread (Rye or Pumpernickel)
Spinach Dip (store bought or make your own)
Yellow Food Coloring
Directions

Cut the loaf in half lengthwise.
Hollow out the middle of both halves.
Take half the spinach dip and place in a bowl.
Add yellow food coloring and blend in until you have the desired color.
Place the yellow colored spinach dip directly in the middle of the bread bowl.
Place the remaining spinach dip all around the center.
With the bread pieces taken from the middle, tear into small pieces and place all around the bread and serve.
Tip: Add some cheese amongst the bread by using a small scoop and block cheese. These will look like jelly beans placed in with the bread pieces. If you want you can decorate the outside of the bread (egg) using a spray cheese.

Kids Easter Recipe #3

Easter Bunny Cupcakes

These adorable bunnies won't last long once the kids see them. With their floppy ears and whisker noses, they look so cute and cuddly.

Ingredients

Cupcakes (store bought or make your own)
White Frosting
Black and Red Licorice strings
Nutter Butter Cookies
Brown and Red M & Ms
Directions

Frost the cupcakes (if not already bought that way) with white frosting.
Place 2 Nutter Butters on each side of the cupcake at the back (these are the ears). You can add some pink frosting to highlight the bunny ears.
Place 2 brown M & Ms in the cupcake for eyes and a red one for the nose.
Add some whiskers using the black licorice.
Finish this yummy bunny of with a smile using the red licorice.
Kids Easter Recipe # 4

Rice Krispie Easter Baskets

Rice Krispie treats make the perfect ingredient for shaping into fun designs. These Easter baskets are so fun to make and decorate.

Ingredients

Rice Krispies
Marshmallows
White Frosting
Green Food Coloring
Jelly beans or Oval Shaped candies
Directions

Make the Rice Krispie treats as directed on the box.
Use a small bowl and place up side down.
Spray with cooking spray.
Press the Rice Krispies treat onto the bowl to shape it into a basket. Let it cool before removing.
On a sheet of waxed paper press some Rice Krispie treats into the shape of a handle. You may need to measure the bowl to make sure you make this long enough.
Turn it right side up and place on waxed paper.
In a mixing bowl combine the frosting and green food coloring.
Spread the frosting on the inside of the bowl to make it look like Easter grass. You can use other colors if you want.
Press the candies into the frosting to fill the basket with eggs.
Take your Rice Krispie handle and place frosting on both ends. Press on each side of the basket to hold in place.
To brighten up this kids Easter recipe you can use fruit roll-ups and wrap it around the handle for some added decorations.

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Easter Fun for Kids

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Let's have some fun with the kids for Easter! I have a couple of delicious ideas that you can make with ingredients you already have on hand. The best part of these recipes is that your children will have as much fun making them as they do eating them. It will be smiles all around as you make these fun Easter treats with your family.

Let's hop to it! We will start with decorated Jell-o jigglers and then make some cute egg shaped cookies. Your imagination is the only limit here. Easter is a great time for making and decorating fun things to eat! Decorating them with the pinks and greens of spring plus all the delightful sprinkles that are available in the stores now make them especially attractive this time of year.

Decorated Jell-o jigglers

4 small pkgs. or 2 large pkgs. Jell-o any flavor

2 1/2 cups boiling water or juice (apple or pineapple are good choices)

To make jigglers:

Completely dissolve gelatin in boiling water or juice.

Pour into 13 X 9 inch pan and/or molds.

Chill until firm, about 3 hours.

To remove jigglers from pan:

Dip bottom of pan in warm water about 15 seconds.

Cut with cookie cutters or cut into 1 inch squares.

Moisten fingers with water and gently lift jigglers from pan.

To remove jigglers from molds:

Dip bottom of molds in warm water about 15 seconds.

Moisten fingers with water and gently lift jigglers from mold.

You can decorate the jigglers for extra fun!

Whipped topping, sprinkles, and gels are wonderful options for decorating your jigglers.

The fun is the limit to the variations for your jigglers!

Egg Shaped Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder

Cream butter and sugar until fluffy in a large mixing bowl.

Add egg and vanilla extract and mix until just combined.

Combine flour and baking powder in a separate bowl.

Add flour mixture to butter mixture gradually.

Cover and refrigerate dough for at least one hour to make handling dough much easier.

Set oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness.

Cut dough into egg shapes or any shape desired. Plastic eggs make nice cutters.

Place 1 inch apart on greased baking sheet.

Make a hole for the ribbon by piercing a hole near top of cookie with a toothpick.

Bake in 375 degree oven for 8 - 10 minutes.

Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 1 minute before removing from baking sheet.

Allow cookies to cool completely before decorating.

Cookie Decorations

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup warm water

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Liquid food coloring

Sprinkles

Gels

Colored ribbon

Pour confectioners' sugar in a mixing bowl.

Add water gradually until it becomes a thick spreading consistency.

Add almond extract.

Add food coloring. Separate icing into different bowls if more colors are desired.

Using a spoon or pastry brush, cover the top of the cookies with the icing.

Add sprinkles to the wet icing.

Store unused icing in airtight container for decorating cookies later.

Allow the icing on the cookies to dry several hours or overnight.

Use gels or remaining icing in a pastry bag to decorate cookies.

Thread a ribbon through the cookie holes.

You are all set to enjoy the cookies by hanging them on an Easter tree or eating them!

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Cadburys Easter Eggs

Cadburys Easter eggs are made at their factory in Minford, Sutton Coldfield in the Midlands, the centre of England. They have been made there since 1993. Easter eggs have been produced by Cadburys since 1875. They had no patterns or carvings on them and were made of dark chocolate and filled with sugar coated chocolate drops.

The first eggs to be decorated were decorated with chocolate piping and marzipan flowers. It didn't take long for many more products to be added to the Cadbury Easter range, and by 1893 nineteen Easter products were in the Cadbury inventory. Richard Cadbury was an artist and was inspired by French, Dutch and German designs though he did adapt his designs on his eggs to something more acceptable to the Victorians.

The first cardboard packaging - filled with assorted chocolates - first appeared in 1906. These were to have a couple of decades in the market and were also exported with great success until the 1950s. 1924 saw Cadbury run a special Easter egg service train so customers in popular resorts in Britain would get their Easter eggs on time.

In 1925 Cadbury were selling 14 Easter lines, including a large egg wrapped in foil and decorated with a bow. Cadbury merged with Fry in 1919 so in reality the product lines were even greater as Fry sold 50 lines including chocolate cream bears, lions and other animals as well as small cream eggs and hollow eggs. Cadbury Crème Eggs are a direct decedent of these and are enjoyed to this day. Cadbury remains the most popular chocolate maker in the UK.

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Fun Games For Kids to Play on Easter

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Easter is the day when you and your family celebrate life, enjoy the brunch and eat lots of chocolates. However, spend the day with family is so much fun than being alone. To cheer up the situation, you can prepare games for the kids and let them enjoy the moment. If you are confused which kind of games you can have, try to use these ideas to make the Easter day more pleasurable.

Hop, Hop Easter Bunny

It is a relay race for two or three groups of children. First of all, divide the children into the groups, and ask them to jump with a plastic, or maybe Styrofoam egg between their knees. They have to reach the certain distance to become a winner. Once a team comes to finish line, they are the winner.

Easter Bowling

Use hard boiled eggs, some colored and one plain. Give the colored eggs to the participants, one person gets one. Then, roll the white one in the center of the room. Take turns to discover who is able to roll the egg closest to the plain one. The shape maybe the vital problems, so you can play it outside the house, perhaps in the backyard. But, you can do it in the living room when the weather doesn't cooperate.

Easter Bunny, Where's Your Egg?

For playing this game, you need large paper egg. Set the players to form a circle with a kid sit in the middle. He will be the bunny. Next, the bunny has to close and cover his eyes at the same time as a player chosen to sit on the egg. After that, all the players say, "Easter Bunny, Easter Bunny, where's your egg? Somebody stole it from your home!"

Subsequently, the Easter bunny has to open the eyes and guess who sit on the egg. If the bunny is successfully answer it, the child who sit on it has to become the new bunny and sit in the middle.

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Easter Egg Decorating

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Easter is fast approaching and if you're trying to get ready, there are probably many things on your To-Do list. Whether you have children or not, Easter egg decorating can be a fun activity and also a wonderful way to decorate your home. You might not realize that there are actually many different ways to decorate Easter eggs. In addition to the eggs themselves, there are many different ways you can display them and decorate them around your home.

For example, you may create an Easter centerpiece for your table. Some people use decorated eggs in an outdoor Easter holiday display. You can create eggs to be given in Easter baskets or given as gifts and you can create Easter eggs that will last for future years and make great home décor.

Now that you know some of the things you can do with your eggs, what are some ways you can decorate them?

Crayon colors
Stickers
Stencils
Sailing ships
Rubber banded eggs
Tie-dyed eggs
Leaf print eggs
Fingerprint eggs
Marbleized eggs
Dots and lines
Tape and paint
And many more

Feel free to be as creative as you'd like with your Easter egg decorating for this is part of the fun and appeal. It can be very exciting to see what types of designs and styles you can come up with.

Here are some additional ideas:

Create Easter eggs with personality- make an Easter egg family (mom, dad, children, grandparents, etc) or Dr and Nurse Egg, etc
Create blown eggs so that they can be kept for many years and not go bad
Create planter pots out of your painted eggshells by breaking the top and putting a small plant inside

Did you know that you can even decorate your Easter eggs with common things you see and find around your home? Before your next egg-decorating session, search your home and try to round up:

Bubble packaging
Aluminum foil
Rubber bands
String and ribbon
Tissue paper
Light bulb sleeves
Glitter
Sequins

You may even come up with some ideas of your own when you start collecting these things. Remember when you work with real eggs that you should boil them for about 15 minutes and then allow them to cool completely before getting started. Always protect your work area and your clothing if you will be working with paints. Never eat an egg that was painted with acrylics or non-food grade dyes.

We hope you enjoy these ideas and have a wonderful, safe Easter holiday!

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Easter Egg Decor

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Instead of buying Easter Eggs from the market, won't it be great if you could create your own "funky designs" at home? Sounds great, doesn't it! Every year, going to the same store and succumbing YOUR ingenuity to THEIR creativity is not such a cool idea. Not for me at least. So this year, create your own funky designer Easter eggs.

The very first step for Easter egg preparation is Boiling the Egg.

Before that, check if the eggs are fresh using a simple cold water test. Put the egg in a glassful of water. If it sinks at the bottom, it is fresh. However, if it sinks with its smaller side up, it can be used. Otherwise, try getting fresher eggs. This is important as otherwise you will end up with a greenish yolk.

Now put the fresh eggs in a large bowl (for bowling) and pour cold water over them. The water level should be such that it completely immerses all the eggs. Make sure you use as many eggs as your bowl can support. Do not let the eggs be over each other.

Give them a boil, and let them stay in the hot water for about 15 minutes.

For painting the eggs, you can use any food colors, liquid or paste and any decorative items like glitter according to your wish.

Once you have the right eggs boiled for the right amount of time, rest is all your imagination.

The significance of eggs is different for different people.

Some believe that the egg symbolizes the Resurrection of Christ and its shell, His tomb.

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The Golden Egg (Templar)

The Golden Egg (Templar) Review

The Golden Egg (Templar) Feature

• ISBN13: 9780811828376
• Condition: USED - Very Good
• Notes:

The Golden Egg (Templar) Specifications

Imagine waking Easter morning to find a basket with jelly beans, chocolate bunnies, marshmallow chicks... and a pretty, sparkly lift-the-flap Easter book! The Golden Egg, while no literary gem, is sure to be appealing to young readers with an eye for all that glitters. Simple rhyming verse tracks Little Duck as she searches high and low for a very special golden Easter egg. Along the way, she elicits the help of a fluffy chick, darling lambs, an elegant swan, and a bevy of bunnies. "They stop beside a babbling brook,/ and Duck lets out a 'Quack!'/ Swan is swimming down the stream,/ and cradled on her back,/ there is an egg so dazzling,/ so bright it makes them blink./ But is it gold? 'Oh, no,'/ says Swan..." (lift the flap) "'My egg is rosy pink!'" Alas, although the eager crew finds dazzling purple, green, blue, silver, and pink decorated eggs, there's nary a golden egg to be found. But the Goose upon her nest reveals something even better--a chocolate egg!

The conclusion is a trifle bewildering (could the moral really be all that glitters is not gold, but sometimes is chocolate instead?), but this book is appealing and attractive with plenty of shiny allure and interactive fun. Children will love participating in the page-turning Easter egg hunt, peering behind potted plants and cattails to see if they can find the elusive golden egg. (Baby to preschool)

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Cake Decorating Ideas For All Occasions

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You really don't need a special occasion to decorate a cake, but some events that can be made unforgettable and extra special with a decorated treat are holidays, birthdays, graduations, religious occasions, showers, weddings, and other personal special events.

Here are some cake decorating ideas that will help you make any occasion special:

New Year's Champagne Toast

Bake one 9-in. round and one 9x12-in. rectangle cake.

Cut the round in half. Use one half for the top of the champagne glass.

Cut a 2 or 3-inch long strip for the stem of the glass and a 2 x 4-inch section for the base of the glass. Piece them together to form the champagne glass. To be sure all the pieces stay together, lightly frost each piece separately before you piece them together.

Place the pieces on a cake board. Ice the top part (straight edge) of the half-round cake and the stem and base sections in white icing. Ice the bottom part (rounded edge) of the half-round cake in light yellow or light pink icing to resemble champagne.

Easter Egg Hunt (So easy kids can do it!)

Bake 6 large muffins. Cool and frost them with green icing. Generously sprinkle green shredded coconut* on top of the frosting to resemble grass. Place colored jelly beans within the coconut so they are half-hidden. Place small bunny toppers on the top of the muffins so they look as if they are finding the jelly beans.

*To tint shredded coconut, place coconut in a plastic bag. Add a few drops of food color. Knead color into coconut. Dry on waxed paper.

Spooky Halloween Brownies (Let the kids help!)

Bake your favorite brownies. When cooled, cut into 3-inch circles, using a cookie cutter or a pattern and sharp knife. Place a Halloween stencil (available in most stores) in the center of each brownie. Sprinkle the stencil with confectioner's (powdered) sugar. Remove the stencil. Edge the top and the bottom of brownie with tip 14 white icing stars.

Shiny Christmas Ornament

Bake a one or two-layer round cake. Ice the cake smooth with white icing. Pipe tip 5 white icing lines across the top at 1-inch intervals. Vary the shapes of the lines, making one straight, one zigzag, one curvy, etc. to resemble decorations on an ornament. Randomly pipe tip 5 icing balls and tip 16 stars between the lines also to resemble decorations.

ADULT BIRTHDAY / SPECIAL OCCASION

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

Bake a heart-shaped cake and a heart-shaped mini-cake. Ice the larger cake smooth with pink icing. Place the mini-cake in the center of the larger cake. Cover the mini cake in tip 16 red icing stars. Add a tip 14 red icing shell border at the bottom of the mini cake and a tip 16 red icing shell border at the top and the bottom of the large cake. Write your message in pink with tip 3 on the mini-cake.

KIDS BIRTHDAY

Rainbow Train

Bake four mini-loaf cakes. (about 3-1/2 x 4-1/2 inches each.)

Ice each one smooth - one with red icing, one with blue icing, one with green icing, and one with yellow icing. Use the cake iced in red as the engine: Make a smokestack for the engine with 2 large marshmallows. Frost them together with green icing. Attach the marshmallows to the top of engine with a toothpick. Using green icing, attach a piece of white curly ribbon or candy on the top of the smokestack for smoke and attach two white or yellow gum drops to the front of the engine for headlights. With a spatula, place a small mound of yellow icing on top of the yellow car; add small chocolate chips to resemble coal. Place two or three small plastic cars on top of the blue car. Stick small stick candies, such as licorice pieces on top of the green car to resemble metal parts. Decorate the sides of the cars with various small hard candies for decorations. For wheels: With icing the same color as the car, attach 4 large candy discs, such as peppermint swirls, to the bottom of each car. Connect the cars with one-inch licorice whips or pretzel sticks.

Up! Up! And Away

Bake two each: tulip, flower, butterfly and dragonfly cookies (eight total) and a 9x12-in. rectangle cake. Ice the cookies smooth in various pastel colors with thinned royal icing.** Decorate the iced butterfly cookie with tip 3 colored icing dots.

Ice the bottom half of the 9x12-in. cake smooth with green icing and the top half smooth with light blue icing to resemble grass and the sky. Place two small mounds of white icing on the blue half for clouds. Pat down "the clouds" with your fingers dipped in cornstarch. Place the tulip and flower cookies in the "grass" and pipe tip 3 green stems and leaves, if necessary. Place the one butterfly cookie near the flower cookie and the other butterfly cookie and the dragonfly cookies in the "sky." Write your message on the cake with tip 3 white icing.

**Royal Icing Recipe

2 cups sifted confectioner's sugar

2 scant tablespoons meringue powder

3 tablespoons water

Beat all the ingredients a low speed until the icing forms peaks.

(Makes about 1-1/2 cups)

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Awesome Cricut Card Ideas For Your Family

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Why spend another penny on a store bought greeting card now that you own a Cricut cutting machine. You paid a lot for that Cricut, so let's put it to work. Here are just a few Cricut Card Ideas that will get you started and allow you to use any of your cricut cartridges you choose.

The next holiday coming up on the calendar is Easter. When I think of what cricut card ideas I can come up with, I think of how your family and friends will react when they receive a handmade greeting card made by YOU. Now that you have your Cricut cutting machine and a variety of cricut cartridges, it is so easy to add your personal touch to a card.

If one of the cricut cartridges you have is the Cricut Doodlecharms cartridge, you can make a really cute handmade greeting card of the Easter Bunny or an Easter Basket filled with colored eggs. Or maybe another one of your cricut cartridges is the Cricut Wild Card cartridge so you can make a Filigree Easter Egg card. Another one of my Cricut Card ideas is if you have the Cricut Stretch your Imagination cartridge. You can make a card with a Bunny coloring Easter eggs or a bunny in a basket.

As far as all of the cricut card ideas I could come up with for Easter, not all of them need to have bunnies or eggs on them. Here is an example of using a different one of your cricut cartridges called A Walk in My Garden cartridge. With this cricut cartridge you can make beautiful daffodil, hyacinth, or tulip to be the theme of your card. You are the artist of this Easter card, show your creativity and have fun.

Then the next big card day is Mothers Day. Think of how your Mom will feel getting a handmade greeting card from her child. You will totally make her day. No matter what cricut cartridges you have you will be able to find some thing that will put a smile on her face, and of course you will do all of this with your magnificent cricut cutting machine. It could be as simple as a basic flower from the Plantin SchoolBook cartridge, that you cut into different sizes and layer on a card, and then add the words Happy Mothers Day, or to the Best Mommy in the World.

The great thing about your Cricut cutting machine and all the cricut cartridges that are available to you is that it gives you thousands of Cricut card ideas. You will see that your cards look so professional you will not be able to wait to send them out or start selling them. I'm going to get busy making my handmade greeting cards on my very own Cricut cutting machine, how about you?

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Different Styles of Russian Easter Eggs

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One of the loves of my life would have to be this lovely Russian Easter egg that my great grandmother left to my grandfather when she passed on. He didn't like it much of course - he wasn't the type who would, and I quote, "appreciate fancy frivolities". Naturally, its care was passed on to my grandmother, who simply adored it the moment it was placed into her hands. She immediately relocated the Russian Easter egg to a high place on her glass shelf - truly a place of honor, as far as my grandmother was concerned. And from there on its high perch, it would watch over us, like a promise.

I always admired that egg from afar. It looked nothing like the other Easter eggs that I used to see when I was a child; it was the most perfect shade of sky blue, with delicate brown-black lines painted on it to make it look like it was on the verge of hatching on top. It was held upright with this exquisite wooden stand that looked vaguely like the branches of a tree. My grandmother used to tell me that Russian Easter eggs were invented because the Russians used to run out of Easter eggs to give to each other - back then giving an Easter egg to a person meant that you are thankful for them, and you wish them a prosperous new life of possibilities. That being said, I was told that Russian Easter eggs are special because their promises are exquisite, and the will often last forever.

One day, that Russian Easter egg will be in my hand, and the symbol of prosperity of new beginnings and new life will stay with me for a very long time.

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Rolling Away Stones

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March did go out like a lamb, as it was supposed to. We know for sure that spring is here, according to the geese, gophers and crows. Guaranteed that the grass is going to turn green, trees will bud out, soil will be prepared for the 'new' growing season, the sun will be hotter, days get longer, bikes are out and people are shedding winter coats! So much is taken for granted as winters bleakness turns into the spring season of renewal and hope. It is no coincidence that Easter follows close behind. While spring is a time for nature renewal and indoor clean up, Easter is supposed to be a time for renewal of heart/soul/mind. But...is it? The weeks of Lent leading up to Easter are supposed to be a time of personal reflection. Is it? Or has this too been lost in our 'material world'?

It seems that human nature has become complacent with certain celebrations, as 'reasons for the seasons' have been lost along the way. We have all been raised with certain values, traditions and beliefs, which are normally passed to generations below. How often do we take time to stop, reflect and remember those reasons? I recently allowed myself some reflective time about Easter.

I feel double blessed because I got to celebrate Easter of both calendars. Being of Romanian decent and Greek Orthodox faith, we followed what is called the Julian calendar, so the date was different than the regular calendar. This year, for example, Easter falls on April 23, one week later than normal calendar. A lot of our celebrations focused around traditional food, both at church and at home. Certain ones stand out in my mind like, cozonac and colaci{fruit and braided breads}, plachinta{streudel} and coliva {wheat salad}.

Coliva is a wheat salad, where the wheat is cooked until it is swollen, sweetened with a honey type thickening like a tapioca. The wheat is very significant to resurrection and new life as the grain of wheat must die, fall to the ground and regrow. Everyone had a coloured egg to tap to their neighbours egg, while saying, 'Hristos a inviat'(Christ is risen). In response to that was, 'Adevarat a inviat'[indeed he is risen.] It was fun to see who would be left with an uncracked egg. This is simply one example of tradition in one culture. There is something phenomenal about the fact that no matter what our cultural background is, who we are, where we live and what our beliefs are, be that christian or not, Easter can be celebrated anywhere in the world.

The analytic part of me wanted answers as well; who, what, when, where and why's of this holiday, which is a season unto itself. One answer, in particular, that surprised me was that it was of pagan origin. A completely compressed version from the Encarta Encyclopedia says: "Easter, annual festival commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the principal feast of the Christian year." ... "it probably comes from Çastre, the Anglo-Saxon name of a Teutonic goddess of spring and fertility, to whom was dedicated a month corresponding to April. Her festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox; traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts."

As Christianity grew and spread, it adopted certain things from the non-Christian world. To the religious, it marks a time of miracles and faith. To the more secular world, it is a time of winter's end, summer's solstice and bright colours of summer. Bunnies, colored eggs, baskets, lilies, candles, chocolate, hot cross buns and baked ham are 'symbols' of the Easter season but actually, there is no connection between them and the resurrection of Christ.

Maybe the origin of Easter and it's symbols are really irrelevant. What does matter is what is in our hearts and souls. Sometimes our hearts are heavy as we carry burdens that weigh us down like stones. Whether they are the size of a pebble or boulder, their weight places great resistance upon our growth. New hope can easily be found if we consider the stone rolled away from Jesus' tomb. It not only allowed Jesus to rise but the disciples to enter.Do you remember the last time you rolled over a rock and there were tiny threads of grass trying to work their way out from under to see the sun. Who are we each keeping out or what gifts are being hidden when we hang onto the weight of our stones? Have we offered to help a neighbour roll away their stone? How many special people have we missed the chance to know while we were buried in stress? I bet we would all be pleasantly surprised at the good uncovered as we start Rolling Away Stones.

"Have a Happy Easter, Celebrate with cheer; Receive the Savior's love, as His spirit draws near; Enjoy this special day, smile on your face, As hearts are rejoicing all over the place; The grave is now empty, the stones rolled away, Miracles are happening, This Happy Easter Day."

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Rechenka's Eggs (Paperstar)

Rechenka's Eggs (Paperstar) Review

Rechenka's Eggs (Paperstar) Feature

• ISBN13: 9780698113855
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

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Easter Eggs, Bunnies and Costumes - Oh My!

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This year, Easter Sunday falls on April 12th. Easter Sunday activities include colorful Easter parades, Easter Sunday religious services and the always exciting Easter egg hunt! The anticipation in preparing for an Easter egg hunt can only be matched by the excitement many children experience leading up to and during the actual hunt itself.

Preparations for the Easter egg hunt include selecting a location, choosing decorative crafts and paints for the eggs, boiling the eggs, painting them and then hiding the eggs around the lawn or yard. Pastel colors work best for egg-dipping, as they are bright enough to see even through tall grass. On Easter Sunday, at least one parent will have to dress as the Easter Bunny during the hunt, requiring them to wear an oversized bunny costume.

As for the children, the fun usually begins at daybreak, when they awaken to find Easter baskets filled with Easter candies and chocolates. The madcap excitement continues as they get dressed in their favorite Easter Sunday costume.

Get a head start on the festivities. Pick an outfit for the kids from the following children's Easter costumes, such as:

1. Rabbit or bunny costume
2. Marshmallow Peep or other Easter candies like Jelly Beans
3. Religious or Biblical figure like Jesus, Joseph, or the Virgin Mary

And these ever-popular costumes that children always enjoy dressing in:
4. Fairy or Pixie such as Tinker Bell
5. Superhero
6. Fairytale Princess or Disney Princess like Aurora or Jasmine
7. Swashbuckling Pirate like Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean
8. Angel

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How To Make Easy Easter Invitations

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If you are planning to throw an Easter party this year. Why not make some cute invitations and make an ever lasting impression. All you need is a little bit creativity.

Cute Choco Candy Invitations: Easter and chocolates go hand in hand. Why not take it the traditional way this year and send out Invitations attached to a sweet chocolate Easter bunny. You can even send out invitations attached to a delicious candy bar.


Hand Made Easter Egg Invitations: This is an easy and fun craft that is also good to do with children. Cut out invitations into an egg shape from construction paper or card stock. Decorate the front of the invitation in pretty colors and designs, using glitter, jewels or ribbon to give it a finishing touch. One the reverse side you can write the Easter party details. Each invitation will be unique and your guests will appreciate the effort you put into making the invitations yourself.


Plastic Egg Invitations: Another simple idea to send out Easter invitations is to send the information inside plastic eggs. You can buy large colorful plastic eggs and then put a folded note with the event details inside. You can also add sweet candies and jelly beans for the little invitees can enjoy. To give the eggs a finishing touch, you can decorate them or tie a ribbon around them. These invitations can then be hand delivered or mailed to the invitees.


Online Invitations: Not up for the time and effort needed to make homemade invitations? Another great option is to send online invites to all your guests. This works great especially if you are inviting a large group of people and need to keep track of RSVPs. These online invitation sites have some beautiful Easter themes, and you are sure to find one that suits your event!
Note: If you are planning to have activities like egg dyeing or an Easter egg hunt, then ask your guests to wear older clothes or to bring along an apron with them. This will ensure that their nice Easter clothes won't be ruined if they get stained with dye or grass.

Be creative and plan a great Easter party!

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Say Happy Easter With a Smile

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While Easter has significant religious connotation, it's a perfect time to host local events, an egg hunt in your yard or nearby park, food festivals and family parties to welcome the spring in a grand way. It's the time to express the joy of renewed life and there is no better way of doing so than organizing a fabulous Easter party. No matter how you are and where you are, make sure you do something special on this holiday and make it a day to remember.

Especially kids love to enjoy all the fun associated with this special holiday and you will easily find wonderful ideas to plan your Easter party on the internet. Creating family fun at Easter is not too difficult when you have innumerable online event management companies to guide you and eventually make your Easter party truly special. You can also think of a good party theme which will provide the perfect framework from which the rest of the planning process can flow. Once the theme for your party is chosen, decisions about the kind of invitations, activities, food, drinks, and decorations become much clearer.

Filled with homemade decorations, Easter crafts, special treats, mouthwatering recipes, party games and fun filled activities, your Easter party can even fetch you lots of money if you intend to promote your event and sell tickets. The guests and invitees of your Easter party can get busy with the Easter egg hunt, enjoy the Easter Bonnet Cake, dance to the lively music, or just indulge in the delectable food.

April 12th (Easter Sunday) is not too far away and you have very little time to arrange for all the things required to host a lovely Easter event. So hurry, plan your Easter party immediately, send out invitations, sell loads of tickets and make your event a grand success. Welcome the spring and Celebrate Easter 2009 in an egg-cellent way!

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Not Your Average Egg - Easter Ideas Abound

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Depending on your personal belief system, Easter, April 4th, 2010, has a varied significance for people all over the world. One thing that that most people can rally around is that this is a fun-filled time of year to dye colored Easter eggs and start new craft projects.

This Easter some children are creating their own version of an Easter basket by painting Easter pots in lieu of the traditional Easter basket. With a variety of safe lead-free glazes on the market today, they can paint the full spectrum of the rainbow on any given pot. The Easter pot is sturdier than the traditional basket and can be used year after year.

Under adult supervision, low fire glazes is another way to take a child's pottery project to a new level of creativity. Children can make these Easter pots and then give them as gifts to grandparents or godparents. There are so many colors and types of glazes available that each child can express their own personality.

Making a picture frame is another great way to celebrate Easter. The sky is the limit where creativity is concerned. Take your favorite bunny stencils, stickers, paints and create your own personal Easter-themed picture frame. And when you're finished and ready to hang your picture frame, a nail hole filler will help complete the job. Add your favorite active shot from the Easter egg hunt and your picture frame is complete.

It certainly wouldn't be Easter without Easter candy. As soon as the Valentine's day cards and candy are removed from the shelves, chocolate Easter bunnies, marshmallow chicks and every type of candy you can imagine appears in Easter colors. For parents looking for ways to take the focus off the candy, creating arts projects with Balsa-Foam is a fun way to show your kids that there is more to Easter than sweets. This easy-to-use product can be cut with even a Popsicle stick to create non-edible Easter bunnies, eggs and chicks.

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Celebrating Easter Day 2010

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Easter Day is one of the important official annual festivals in western country, which is the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox. It is a religious holiday of Christian. They believed that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. For commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christian celebrate on that day called Easter Day or Easter Sunday. The 4th April is the Easter Day this year.

The Romans believed that "All life comes from an egg'', and Christian regarded eggs to be "the seed of life" which coordinates the resurrection of Jesus. That is why the Easter egg is its symbol.

At the secular spring holiday, most people will boil breakfast eggs in several pans which contains different vegetable dyes so that those eggs will be covered different colors. Instead of boiling them, some peoples will paint beautiful patterns, figures and pictures with bright colors on them to give them further meaning and decorate their houses. Chocolate eggs are children traditional gifts. By this way, they predict to bring joys and happiness; furthermore, they are the symbol of best wishes and sharing happiness of a new season.

Flying Kites is also a traditional celebrating game in some English-speaking country. It can be considered as the ascent of Christ.

On the holiday, people will prepare some delicious special food. Roast lamb is the main traditional dish. Easter pudding and the Simnel cake are the desserts.

Easter Sunday is knocking the door, have you prepared already? To celebrate this important feast at the lively and hopeful new spring means a lot for people. It may be the time to forget those annoying troubles and open a new page of life to see the energetic world. Painting eggs to enjoy the happiness or going out and take a journey with your families are good choices. Just lay down the burden to have a rest. I think this may be the its real meaning now.

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Fun With Foamies Easter Scrapbook Layout

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Kids love making craft projects out of foamies. You can find them for almost any holiday or occasion. Watch for them on sale after holidays, one container can last you for several years! Joann's and Walmart usually have good selections of them.

We had fun making crafts with our Easter foamies last year, and there were still enough left over to play with this year. I got out some Easter pictures from last year I hadn't scrapbooked yet, and came up with a couple of cute layouts using the Easter foamies.

For these scrapbook layouts, you will need a container of foamies that includes alphabet letters. The Easter set I found had a bunch of pastel letters to spell out the word "Easter", so that worked out perfectly.

Supplies:

Easter foamies
Eight family Easter photos
12x12 sheet of pastel, solid-colored scrapbook paper
2 12x12 sheets of coordinating spring or Easter patterned scrapbook paper
Scrap of white scrapbook paper
Paper cutter
Glue stick
Coordinating pastel brads (optional)

I created two different layouts for these sets of pictures. The background papers are the same color but a little bit different pattern, and then I used one sheet of solid-colored paper for matting for both layouts.

Easter Scrapbook Layout #1:

For the first layout, I cut a long, vertical piece of solid-colored scrapbook paper. It is about 2 inches wide, and is placed about an inch from the left edge of the patterned paper, and an inch from both the top and bottom of the page.

If you want you can attach pastel colored brads to the corners of this vertical piece to draw more attention to it. If you are going to use them, attach them to the four corners of the piece and then glue the entire piece centered about an inch from the left hand side of the patterned scrapbook paper.

This vertical piece will be used to showcase some of the Easter foamies. After I glued this piece in place I placed four foamies vertically on it, two Easter eggs and two bunnies.

I next cut out a white piece of scrapbook paper for the heading on the page. It is about 6 inches long and 3 inches high. I then matted this piece with solid-colored scrapbook paper. I then glued this piece approximately an inch from the top and an inch from the right hand side of the patterned scrapbook paper.

On this heading piece, I spelled out the word "Easter" with the foamies. I let my pieces go slightly over the left and right-hand edges of the matting, but if you want you can cut out a bigger caption piece to fit all the letters.

Lastly, I arranged and glued on four Easter family photographs. I arranged them so that they were slightly overlapping the solid piece on the left and slightly overlapping each other. For time's sake, I didn't mat these photos. If you want to, you can use the solid-colored paper to create mats for the photos.

Easter Scrapbook Layout #2:

For the second layout, I cut out and glued on the solid colored piece on the left the same as for the first layout. Instead of using the bunnies and Easter egg foamies, I vertically spelled out "Easter" with the foamies.

On this layout I did not include a caption at the top, but I did use the solid-colored scrapbook paper to create mats for the photos.

After I glued the solid colored piece on the left-hand side of the page, I arranged the four matted photos on the page and glued them in place. I then used Easter egg shaped foamies to fill in the spaces between the photos.

There you go, two easy Easter scrapbook layouts using Easter craft foamies!

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Easter Eggs and Mother Earth

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When Easter time comes rolling around, everyone enjoys the tradition of coloring eggs. Hard boiling eggs and then using your artistic touch is not only fun but can be a true learning experience for younger members of your family and their friends.

Waste not - want not is true even when coloring eggs for the Easter Basket. Scraps of food that you would otherwise just toss can and do produce some of the brilliant hues that make you "Ah" when placed in a basket for a centerpiece on the table or as part of your mealtime plans.

The deepness of the colors depend on your preferences and if you enjoy mixing and matching, then using rubber bands around the eggs, or wax will allow for that decorative touch that we all have hidden in our "creativity" file right there next to "holidays are special". These files while hidden deep in our minds do come out once in a while and when they do, beauty and elegance as well as remarkable can be used to describe our efforts.

In the "purple" family - ordinary bottled grape juice is a "natural". For lavender, a shorter soaking period will produce this "spring" color, while a deeper shade comes with prolonged "soaking." While red onions have red skins, they do produce the color red, but also shades of violet and deep blues. Using pomegranate juice is an interesting and tasty way to get shades of ruby. Remember to boil any "natural" coloring in water and allow it to cool. This brings out the "artistic" qualities of the natural products.

For brown or tan, try using dill seeds and if you like brown with a touch of orange then chili powder will give you that effect. Yellow which is a very popular color for Spring can be obtained with orange and lemon peels and you also get the aroma of these two citrus fruits which makes your whole kitchen smell like a breath of fresh air.

Deep brown or true chocolate brown - strong coffee and if you use instant coffee then vary the amount to reach the intensity you like. Orange comes with yellow onion skins and pink shines through with beet juice (and you have a vegetable for dinner) or use cranberry juice. In any of these products use only the "juice" and remove any solids from your bowl before placing the eggs in them.

Green is bright and can be obtained by using spinach leaves and a lighter lime green or yellow/green comes with apple peels, especially the Delicious variety.

Coloring eggs is not hard - it is well worth the extra effort and you can experiment on your own. While cooking vegetables or using a spice that your family enjoys, note the colors that it produces and try them with your egg coloring venture. It is all natural, with no chemicals or preservatives and it is time well spent. Imagine the truly stunning baskets you can create as well as watch the smiles if you use eggs as place setting "extras."

However you use Easter eggs, enjoy the moment, and enjoy the experience. Your creativity will bloom just like the lilies and tulips that are part and parcel of this Holiday. Something to think about ©Arleen M. Kaptur February, 2009

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Have an Egg-Ceptional Easter

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This week many families will color eggs to place
in baskets, or use as a centerpiece on your Easter
table. There are many commercial brands that you
can buy, but with this being a very "environmentally"
correct era of history, here are a few suggestions.
You can now color your eggs, enjoy the craft with
family and friends, and help in the "green" effort.

For a beautiful rich brown egg, coffee is the stain to
use. You can boil your eggs in 1 quart of strong coffee
and they can look like "chocolate" if you so desire. For
a pastel pink, then use cranberries, and if you prefer a
dark rose hue then beets it is. Quick tip, if you rinse
eggs that have been boiled with beets, then you get a
very earthy tan color. Just 3-4 tsps. of turmeric will
give you that special golden egg to place front and center
in any basket or setting. Sienna comes from onion skins
and blueberries add a dark shade of lavender, so special
next to white eggs or foil-wrapped candies. Red cabbage
will give you blue eggs not red. The blue is deep and
strong, depending on the amount of cabbage you boil
along with your eggs.

Eggs are a symbol of life and have always been used to
represent Easter. They add flavor to your Easter dinner
and can be used as a decoration item, which can also be
"crafty" as a place card by using wax to write your guest's
name on the egg before dyeing. You can use solid hue
eggs or even tie with rubber bands or kitchen string before
placing in the color of your choice and you will get designs
to suit your fancy.

If you share Easter with the little ones, then beg, steal or
borrow those old-fashioned jello egg molds and add a bit
of fun to your holiday. There is the standard recipe of
boiling water, and jello of your choice, but if you add
juice instead of the water, such as apple, orange, pine-
apple, or cranberry, then there is a "surprise" taste to each
egg. Taking this a step further, and in a very healthy way,
to your basic recipe of boiling water, gelatin of your choice,
cool your mixture for about 30 mins. place 1 cup cold milk,
and vanilla, pistachio, or butterscotch pudding in a bowl,
Stir into the gelatin mix with a whisk or you can place the
entire blended mixture into a pan and place in your
refrigerator overnight. The next day you can dip the bottom
of the pan into warm water to loosen. Using cookie cutters
of bunnies, flowers, or chicks, cut all the way through and
lift gently. Decorate with frosting, or whipped cream. Place on a bed of shredded lettuce.
Whichever method you use, this will become a family
tradition before long. Young and old appreciate the eye
appeal, taste of creamy, and the trouble you took to make
these.

Come next week, egg salad sandwiches, Cobb salads, and
creamed eggs will use up any extra if there are some.
Using eggs in your Easter plans is a perfect touch to a
holiday that brings family, friends, and faiths together.

Something to think about,

©Arleen M. Kaptur

March, 2008

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Craft Ideas For Easter - Candy Craft Project

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Step 1. Choose an Easter container (it can be a basket, mug, or box) that you want to use in your arrangement.
Note: The bigger the container, the more candy you will need to use to make a nice candy arrangement.
Step 2. Take a piece of floral foam and cut it so it fits snugly into the container. You can use hot glue to secure the floral foam to the bottom of the basket. The foam should be about an inch lower than the edge of the container.
Step 3. Prepare the decorative Easter grass; its color should go well with the container. Cover the foam with the Easter grass securing it with floral pins as necessary.
Step 4.
a) Take a packaged chocolate bunny. Using hot glue, secure two pieces of bamboo skewer to the back of the package.
b) Insert the packaged chocolate bunny in the middle of the arrangement.
Step 5.
a) Prepare Peeps you want to use in your candy arrangement, carefully separate the Peeps using a knife. Insert the sharp end of a skewer into each of the Peeps.
b) Tie a piece of curling ribbon of the corresponding color around each stick.
c) Insert the Peeps into the container to achieve the look you like.

Note: You should not sell this type of bouquet; if you want to make candy bouquets for sale, the candy wrappers must stay intact.

If you would like to see this Easter candy craft project with photos, go to this page

Happy Easter to you and your family!

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The Origins of Our Easter Traditions

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Every year, millions of people around the world celebrate the traditions of Easter. But do you know where those traditions came from? What do a bunny, eggs, and a basket have to do with Jesus? Why does the date vary so widely? Why is the holiday even named Easter? This article will help clear some of these questions up.

1. The Date

Did you know that prior to 325 A.D., Easter was celebrated on many different days? It might fall on Friday one year, and Saturday the next year. However, in 325 A.D., Emperor Constantine brought together the Council of Nicaea to determine a wide variety of Christian issues. One of the issues they resolved was to always place Easter celebrations on Sunday. They decreed that Easter shall fall on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. Since the spring equinox is on March 21st, this means that Easter will always fall on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25th.

2. The Name

What does "Easter" mean? It is actually a modern spelling of the pagan holiday Eastre, celebrated by the Germans. This in turn was a day which celebrated the goddess of fertility and springtime, Oestre (or Eostre).

3. Lent

Among Catholics and many other Christian denominations, Easter is the last day of Lent. During the 46-day period of Lent, Christians are expected to fast or make other sacrifices in recognition of the "ultimate sacrifice" that Jesus made. Mardi Gras is the day before this long period of fasting and sacrifice, hence the name "Fat Tuesday".

4. Easter Bunny

The Easter Bunny also dates back to the ancient pagan religions of the Anglo-Saxons. Since Easter is a time of rebirth and fertility, they usually used this day to pay tribute to their fertility goddesses. The bunny, rabbit, or hare was generally thought of as the earthly manifestation of fertility. Rabbits are able to reproduce extremely quickly, and humans wished to be blessed with some of that fertility. Although the Germans brought the Easter Bunny to America early in its history, it wasn't until after the Civil War that it was widely incorporated into America's Easter traditions.

5. Easter Egg

The egg has been a symbol of rebirth throughout history and within many mythological traditions. People of ancient cultures used to exchange colored eggs long before the practice was incorporated into our modern celebrations of Easter.

6. Easter Basket

The earliest Easter Baskets weren't baskets, but were actually nests. Dutch children would follow the tradition of filling their caps and bonnets with grass and leaving them out overnight. If they were good, the fertility goddess would lay brightly colored eggs in the nest. This tradition has since been adapted and modified to the modern Easter basket filled with fake grass.

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