Easter decorations haven’t ever been big in our house. Probably because we as a married couple didn’t do an annual Easter basket exchange (Fun Fact : Jeremy’s first gift to me was an Easter basket filled with goodies and a tshirt that said “I’m dating Mr. Right”) or do an easter egg hunt (although the my boyfriend does hunt every nook and cranny of the house for hidden candy that I stash) or a big pork dinner…there’s only enough room in this house for one ham I tell ya 🙂
So I just never invested the time or the money in Easter decorations. But now? Well, now it makes more sense to me. With Will in the mix, I want him to not only be excited about Easter but understand what it is all about. And yes, it gives me an excuse to decorate with all those girly things (hello baby birds!).
Our family fun Easter stuff started with the very common egg dying. We didn’t do anything special.
No rubber bands or crayons or anything out of the ordinary…just food coloring, vinegar and hardboiled eggs.
I think Will was excited because it was obvious that we were doing something out of the ordinary. And since dye + babies = one big mess, I decided that Will could have one egg (which he promptly threw on the floor) and I would show him what we were doing (totally uninteresting to a 1 year old) and then I would let him play with stickers. This is actually the first time he’s ever gotten to play with stickers…so he didn’t quite grasp the concept right away.
I tried to show him that putting them on the paper was fun…he wasn’t having it. BUT he did like ripping them off the paper…or banging the ones that I already had down. Boys.
And I don’t know why…but if something can stick to his nose…I will try it.
His first easter art…one for the scrapbook!
All the while, Jeremy & I dyed eggs…including all the ones that Will cracked.
And Jeremy got the prize for the best dye job….don’t let that go to your head honey…haha…dye…head…ridiculous.
Since dying takes a little longer than stickers, the bad mom side of me decided that Will deserved a little sugar for being so patient. Enter mini marshmellows. Also known as bunny tails 🙂
He gave me this look after the first one that was all like “WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN HOLDING OUT ON ME WOMAN!?!”
Our finished eggs made their way onto our table. (and in another place I’ll have to tell you about in part two!)
We actually dyed the eggs with colors inspired by this tablecloth. It was my grandmother’s and I inherited it (along with some other cute vintage ones).
And the centerpiece is just a glass bowl with a few eggs sitting on a bed of split green peas. They were the only thing I could find…did I mention my house is still a wreck? Oh and in the center is the little chick bank I picked up at Target in their dollar section. I constantly find pennies and random dimes and I am terrified that Will will try to eat them…so this is a great solution to my problem. If only I owned more ceramic animals that were piggy banks!
So there is the little tradition that we started with Will… have more to come…but so far, the easter fun is flyin’ high here at the Bower house. What kinda easter fun have you been up to? Or maybe there is something that you did as a kid that you want to continue for Easter? I’m sure no matter what the tradition…it was eggcellent 🙂
Cute centerpiece! Love the picture of Will with the marshmallow on his nose.
Hey, has anyone ever told you that you look a little like Kate Middleton??
Have a hoppy Easter! 😉
Its usually too cold here to do an outdoor egg hunt, unless Easter falls late like this year, so my parents always hit those plastic eggs with candy etc around the house. They also hid our easter baskets which I will do for my kids too. Inevitably, though my parents always counted how many eggs were hidden, One would go unfound for a few weeks. Itd be Memorial day, and wed open a random cabinet and find a plastic egg left over that no one found on Easter. I havent dyes eggs in FOREVER. My daughter is just 8 weeks so she cant partake in the fun yet…but maybe I’ll have to pick up some PAAS this year just for us grownups!
um no.
I’ve heard a lot of different people…but not Kate Middleton. I think I must have a pretty generic looking face or something.
xo – kb
I never decorated for Easter either. I probably didn’t because my parents never did. We got Easter baskets, and dyed Easter eggs when I was younger. I tried to convince my hubby to do it this year but since we don’t have kids he thought it would be silly… I guess so. 🙂 But I did get an Easter wreath from Pier 1 that I love!
http://www.portugalponderings.blogspot.com
So cute! I’m going to be dying Easter eggs tonight with my fiancee and I can’t wait. I have done them every year since I can remember!
My kids are twins…grown up 25 yr olds now and living in NYC. It’s the first Easter I willl NOT spend with them since they were born! I mailed them goodie packages, though- cards, old family pix, Easter recipes, peeps, nutella, and sprinkles-yum.
I always was the one who made the family Easter dinner-so I went always went all Martha on it…uber decor, fab dyed eggs, and etc. My kids used the same Easter baskets every year, and I used to color code the plastic eggs we hid so both kids would find an even amount of treasure . I put fun spring things in their baskets-kiddie garden stuff, etc-so I could keep the chocolate to a minimum, therefore keeping it off MY hips 😛
Holiday+kids=fab memories. Enjoy!
Ah yes, hide the coins in ceramic… that way when the kids smash it, they get to swallow pennies AND cut themselves on shards of dead-piggy-bank! 😉
That being said, I am all for many many more “piggy” banks. Add more!!!
Also, I share a similar compulsion for sticking items on people… the other night I found stickers promoting my college town & proceeded to put all 6 on my boyfriend. He didn’t find the last one (on the back of his head) until I took a picture of it…. I. Am. Hilarious.
Holy shoot, Will is cute!
The fiance and I are 100% intent on waiting at least 4-5 years for kids (Lord willing! PUH-LEASE!), since things like our trip to China a few months ago and our upcoming honeymoon exploring Scotland definitely will become a lot trickier when we have little ones, but MAN, Will makes my ovaries hurt! Is that too personal?!
That looks like so much fun! 🙂
How fun! We haven’t dyed eggs yet, but we will this weekend. We did dress the table for Easter breakfast. – http://ourfifthhouse.blogspot.com/2011/04/and-visions-of-jelly-beans-danced-in.html
hey that comment up their about that girls ovaries hurting. uh-huh. me too. and ya her and I are in same boat! Hubs and I want to pay off our loan ( 2 years yet) we took out to buy our business before we have kids! and take a wild and wooly vacation to a beachy country and come home and find out we are pg;) lol.
but really that boy is lookin.good.!!!
this looks like a wonderful Easter for you guys:) we got married on Good Friday eve. so its always kind of a second anniversary for us!!! Happy Easter to a wonderful lil family:)
I am so impressed that Will didn’t yank that tablecloth right off the table with all those mugs of dye on it! (My baby boy would have! He’s usually very well behaved – except in the presence of tablecloths…)
Oh and is that a little wood highchair that looks like a little wood regular chair that you have Will sitting in?? I’m loving on it.
It sure is…it’s an Ikea highchair that I got at Goodwill for $16. It was probably more than I normally would want to pay but everytime we have friends over, we run out of highchairs….and I like the fact that he feels part of the table with this one.
xo – kb
Things in this post that I find adorable:
1. Will (duh!).
2. Will with stuff stuck to his nose. (I’ve always done that to my boys too!)
3. The braid in your hair.
4. Jeremy’s awesome egg skillz.
5. That chick.
6. Your centerpiece!
It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!
xo
We will be dying eggs tomorrow…nothing like waiting until the last minute! On Sunday, we’ll do an Easter egg hunt after church with some really cute candy filled eggs that I picked up from Sam’s and Target (cars, footballs, and baseballs – so perfect for my three boys). The dyed eggs will become deviled eggs (seems somewhat ironic on Easter, no?).
I printed out some super cute Easter subway art (http://eighteen25.blogspot.com/2011/03/spring-subway-art.html) from eighteen25 that I have framed in our kitchen, but that’s pretty much it as far as decor. I do have the same little chick bank from Target that you have in your kitchen – so adorable for a dollar!
Aww such a cute post. Your so pretty Katie Bower! I love the braid in your hair 🙂
I also love that your talking about the REAL reason and meaning of Easter.
Its not about the bunny.
I have 2 preschoolers and searched high and low for some Easter crafts with biblical meaning. The two we will try this year are
1) a dozens eggs with something meaningful instead that relates to Jesus’ death on the cross, burial, and resurrection (i.e. bread or crackers for his broken body, a toothpick for a spear that pierced His side, cloth that they wrapped Him in, a nail, a small cross, and so on, with the last one being empty..to represent that He is Risen! and the tomb is empty!
I was so excited to find something to convey biblical meaning to my little ones. I grew doing the eggs and bunny thing, and just wanted to be more intentional in sharing the gospel related to Resurrection with our kids.
2) the other is a baking activity…basically you bake something (I’m using crescent rolls and marshmallows) with something on the inside that will disappear. You can also do this with meringues and pecans, I’ve been told the pecans dissolve. Again, this disappearing act of the marshmallows, etc. represents the awe and wonder of Jesus conquering death (resurrecting), and thus no longer being in the empty tomb. The friend who shared this craft with me said her kids even put tape all across the oven door (as if blocking a tomb) and are so surprised when the open the oven or the rolls (depends on which recipe you use) to find it empty! love it!
i bet britney spears is one..her younger years.
btw, will makes the cutest faces.. hes just fun to look at!
Love this post! Will is too darn cute with a sticker on his nose!
Yup…Britbrit is a fav 🙂
xo – kb