Easter and baskets go hand-in-hand.  Instead of buying a new Easter basket for your child or as an Easter gift, why don’t you make one together?  It is easy, the results are fantastic, and you will have fun doing it.

You will need:

• Half gallon milk or juice carton
• Stapler
• Scissors or craft knife
• Glue
• Hole punch
• Pipe cleaners
• Googly eyes

To make:

Remove the panel of the juice/milk carton that is on the side with the spout.  Set this aside; it will be used to make the handle.  Staple the spout shut.  Using glue, cover the sides of the carton with construction paper (any color you like). Trim it so it fits neatly.  In the center of the spout ridge (the top of the carton) punch a hole and insert pipe cleaners.  These are the bunny’s whiskers.  Glue the googly eyes just above.

Cut out paper ears in the same color as the bunny’s body, and then cut smaller pink ear shapes to fit inside.  Staple the ears to the base of the bunny so they stand up.  Almost done.  All you need now is handle.  Take the panel you’ve cut and trim it to the correct size.  Cover it with construction paper (to match the body, if you want. Otherwise, in a color of your choice).  Staple this to the basket.  You now have a colorful, homemade basket to fill with goodies.

If you decorate eggs at Eastertime, you likely have a few empty egg cartons lying around the house.  This next craft can help you put those to good use.  You will make a grass-sprouting caterpillar  A week or two before Easter, mix ¾ cup of potting soil with 2 tablespoons of grass seed in a bowl.  Moisten it with water.

Prepare your egg carton by cutting out a section of three cups in a row (or four, or five, or even six).  Trim it so it is even on both sides.  At the front of the section, draw on a cute caterpillar face.  You could get crafty and decorate it with googly eyes, pompoms, or pipe cleaners or paint the egg carton.  Either way; simple is just as good.  Put the soil mixture into the egg cups.  Find a sunny spot for your “grassapillar” and keep the soil moist.  In a week or so, the grass will spout, and you will have a cute, living, centerpiece.

It’s not Easter without Easter eggs.  If you have an older child, try making an egg still life.  You will need blown-out eggs, grass, glue, and a miniature baby chick (a candy chick will do if you can’t find a plastic or ceramic one).  Start by dying a blown-out egg a simple solid color.  When dry, use a knife point to chip a hole in the side of the egg.  It should be about one inch in diameter.  (If your child can’t do this, step in and he/she can do the rest.)  Inside the egg, make your still life.  Put grass and your little chick inside and glue in place.  You have a simple, fun centerpiece that guests will love.  Your child will be proud that she made such a unique egg!

Coloring pages and card templates are great for children of all ages, and this can be a good table craft to occupy the kids before dinner.  Disney’s FamilyFun site has a variety of great pages to print and color.

Your kids will enjoy these Easter crafts – and so will you!

First, search online or in a hobby and craft store for a bunny-shaped cake pan. Many online retailers sell bunny pans. You can use a traditional flat pan with a bunny shape, or one that has more raised surfaces and details. Just be sure that you prepare the pan by greasing and flouring it so the cake won’t stick when you unmold it.

Follow the directions below for making the batter and the icing. But add your own flair when it comes to decorating your Easter bunny cake. Use coconut for fur by sprinkling it all over the frosting. Then do a ribbon out of licorice and eyes out of jelly beans. You can make the bunny appear to be sitting on grass by coloring coconut with green food coloring, or by placing shredded wheat across the bottom of the plate after you frost the cake to make it look like he’s in a hay field. Use pink frosting for the inside of the bunny’s ears and cute little bunny nose. It depends on how fancy you want to get, but you can bake a 3D version as well. Wilton is one company that offers a 3D bunny pan. It’s less than $15 and worth a try if you’re creative. When working with a 3D cake, you’ll need to pipe the icing on with a bag and icing tip to get the fully decorated effect.

Make it a tradition each year to bake up a tasty bunny carrot cake. It’s one that’s sure to please young and old folks alike.

Carrot Cake III (courtesy of Allrecipes.com)

Prep Time: 30 Minutes

Cook Time: 1 Hour

Ready In: 2 Hours

Servings: 18

INGREDIENTS:

4 eggs

1 1/4 cups vegetable oil

2 cups white sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup butter, softened

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans

DIRECTIONS:

1.            Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour pan.

2.            In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Fold in pecans. Pour into prepared pan.

3.            Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

4.            To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners' sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

Rubber Band Tye Dyed Eggs

Wrap several rubber bands around a hard-boiled egg (careful to not crack the egg!) Dip the egg into a bowl containing the mixture of food color, vinegar and water. Let it sit for a while for the color to intensify. Remove the egg, pat it dry and take off the rubber bands. The areas covered by rubber bands will still have the original egg shell color and have a tye-dye effect.

You can dye the eggs a solid color before applying the rubber bands, or leave the eggs their natural color.

Tape or Sticker Designs

Use simple shape paper punches to punch out shapes from masking tape (or cut out your own design), then stick tape to egg. Dye the eggs with the tape on, let them dry, then remove the tape to reveal great designs!

Other ways to get fun designs is to use white crayon or clear nail polish. Color designs, names or anything else, then dye the egg. Wherever you applied the crayon or polish the dye won't stick.

Check out this Squidoo lens for even more ideas....Easter Egg Decorating.

To create a "Marbled" look to your Easter eggs, add 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil to your cup of egg dye.

You can start with a white egg, or one that has already been dyed a base color.

Quickly dip your egg in and out of the dye. The oil causes only some areas of the egg to get the dye, creating the marble design. Keep dipping for more intense colors. You can also let the egg dry and re-dip in a second color. Repeat as many times as you wish. When the egg is dry, blot with a paper towel to remove the excess oil.

Different amounts of oil will result in more or less marbling. Experiment to find the mixture that you like best. Remember you can always add more, so start conservatively.

Curious to know what other cultures do for Easter eggs around the world?  Some cultures decorate hollow eggs, some dye eggs like Americans, but many celebrate in other ways.  Get the scoop on this Easter Eggs From Around The World article!

P.S. If you don't have time to make your own Easter eggs, don't worry, you can buy a beautiful Easter gift basket at Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets that is filled with foiled chocolate eggs....pretty sure no one will complain!

The first step to a great Easter egg is boiling the egg. You don't want your eggs to crack, because then they don't look as nice, and aren't as appealing to eat when the dye seeps into the egg. Try to avoid picking the "Extra Large" or "Jumbo" sized eggs.  The shell tend to be thinner on larger eggs, with a better chance of cracking while cooking or dying.

Egg Boiling Instructions
Put a single layer of eggs in a large pot, and cover with COLD water (about 1-2 inches above eggs). Turn the heat on under the eggs and as soon as they come to a full boil, remove them from the heat and let them sit in the hot water for about 15-20 minutes.

After the 15-20 minutes, either remove eggs with a slotted spoon and place in a colander, or drain hot water from pot then rinse eggs with cool water until eggs feel cool. Place on paper towels to dry.

Wait until eggs feel room temperature before dying.

Basic Dye Instructions

There are many kits out there with creative ways to dye your Easter Eggs.  They may be convenient, but they're not the most economical choice out there.  Here is a basic dye recipe.

In small cups or bowls (that can withstand boiling water) use 1 cup boiling water, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and a few drops of food coloring.  The more coloring you use, the more vibrant the eggs will be.

For a basic colored egg, place an egg in the dye mixture and let sit for 1-2 minutes.  The longer you let the egg soak, the more vibrant the color will be.

Remove the egg and place on a paper towel, plate, or in an egg carton to dry.

In the following weeks I'll show you some of my favorite dying techniques for creating unique Easter eggs.  If you want to decorate the eggs today, you can find some great Easter egg decorating tips on this All About Easter lens at Squidoo.  You can find all kinds of craft ideas for kids as well as tips for making your own kids Easter baskets as well!

With spring arrives a special Holiday and a special friend, the Easter Bunny. Children everywhere are not only looking forward to spring vacation and a long-awaited break from school schedules, but to the arrival of the Easter Bunny and the treats that are left for them on Easter morning.

My daughter, who is 3, has grasped the concept of Santa Claus, however, she hasn't learned about the Easter Bunny yet. But it won't be long! My almost 2-year old son doesn't know either but I presume it will not be long for him either.

Looking back on my childhood, Easter was special and an occasion that stays in my heart and mind. And it is with these memories that I want my children to remember their holidays with love and happiness.

With less than three weeks away, it is time to plan traditions and fun activities for the children. So what can we as parents, teachers and guardians do to make Easter a memorable occasion for our children?

• 1) Take a visit to the Easter Bunny. Seeing the well-known icon of Easter is an exciting time for most young children.
• 2) Have your child write a letter to the Easter Bunny.
• 3) Build creativity and family time with Easter craft ideas, from printing coloring pages off of the internet to making Easter cards to dying eggs for Easter. Or making an Easter basket for their best friend. Children love to be creative and this will surely bring much joy.
• 4) Read the story of Easter to the children. This will introduce them to the true story of Easter and will help them learn about the meaning of this special holiday.
• 5) Plan a Easter party for the little ones.
• 6) Start a tradition and plan an Easter egg hunt. Children love surprises and will have so much fun, and I guarantee that they will always remember the Easter egg hunt.

Are you out of Easter ideas or need fresh new ideas? The internet is a wonderful place to search and there are hundreds of ideas, crafts, recipes and coloring pages all themed around Easter.

Looking for a gift to send to a loved one or family member? On the internet is a wonderful store called Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets featuring gift baskets for any reason and season. Send Easter greetings across the miles!

Build fond Easter memories for your children and family and make the holiday one to remember. Happy Easter and Happy Spring!

• 1 ready made graham cracker pie crust
• 1 package cream cheese, softened
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 3/4 cup of cold water
• 1 package instant vanilla flavored pudding and pie filling
• 1 1/2 cups non-dairy whipped topping, thawed
• 16 mini chocolate eggs

In a large bowl, beat cheese until fluffy. Beat in milk until smooth. Add water and pudding filling; mix on low speed until smooth. Gently stir in whipped topping. Spoon 1/2 of filling into crust. Place candies evenly over filling. Top with the remainder of filling. Chill for 3 hours. Garnish with Spring themed egg or dessert candies on top.

Prefer cake to pie?  You can always serve up a batch of Easy Easter Cupcakes!

Although the Easter Bunny is a major symbol used in advertising Easter, the Easter Bunny is certainly not a modern invention of commercialization.

Historically, the rabbit, hare, and eggs in folklore have their basis as pagan fertility symbols, signifying spring and new life, and the worship of the goddess Oestre or Eastre.

Easter is named for a Saxon goddess who was known by the names of Oestre or Eastre, and in Germany by the name of Ostara. She was believed to be the goddess of the dawn and the spring, and a fertility goddess.

The Goddess Ostara, it is believed, saved the life of a bird whose wings had been frozen by the snow and she made him her pet. She had compassion for him since he could no longer fly and turned him into a snow hare and named him Lepus. Goddess Ostara gave him the ability to run with incredible speed to protect himself from hunters, and also gave him the ability to lay eggs one day out of each year.

Eventually Lepus managed to anger the goddess Ostara, and she cast him into the skies where he would remain as the constellation Lepus (The Hare). He was allowed to return to earth once a year to give away his eggs to the children attending the Ostara festivals that were held each spring.

The bunny as an Easter symbol also has its origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500's. The Easter Bunny was introduced to America by the German settlers in 1700 when they brought with them the legend of "Oschter Haws", the white Easter Hare.

Believing that if they were good, children believed that Oschter Haws would lay colorful eggs for them in a nest the children had provided, usually their hat or bonnet placed in a barn.

By the 19th Century, the Easter Hare became the Easter Rabbit. American families would later adapt the nest tradition, using baskets, chocolate, and money. However Easter itself was not widely celebrated until after the Civil War.

"Here comes Peter Cottontail

Hoppin' down the bunny trail,

Hippity hoppity,

Easter's on its way."

Our little furry friend, the Easter Bunny, will soon be on it's way! Celebrate Easter on this year. And be sure to check out our cheerful and charming selection of Easter gift baskets! A perfect way to send Easter greetings across the miles to family, friends and loved ones.

Like interesting Easter Bunny Facts?  Check out this article about the Easter Bilby in Australia!

Back in 1859, a hunter with one of his great ideas released twenty four exotic rabbits in Australia. Keeping in mind that the rabbit is not native to Australia, one can understand why the population of rabbits has literally exploded causing vegetation and food shortages for indigenous Australian species. Australia had no natural rabbit predators and the rabbit’s infamous ability to breed caused the rabbit population to exceed millions within just 10 years. Despite numerous attempts to get the rabbit population under control, the rabbits continue to cause an estimated $600 million (AU) in damages to vegetation every year (which also results in significant problems with soil erosion). Understandably, the Australians are fed up with the rabbit and they don’t exactly view it as a warm, fuzzy and fun creature like most Americans do. In fact in most parts of Australia, rabbits cannot legally be owned as pets.

Thus back in the 1970’s, the concept of the ‘Easter Bilby’ instead of the ‘Easter Bunny’ was born. The bilby is a native Australian marsupial that is a member of the bandicoot family. It is about the same size as a traditional bunny and has soft grey fur with a black and white tail. Most notably, the bilby has very long ears and a long snout-like nose. However, recently, the bilby was named an endangered species because only about 600 of them now exist in the wild. So as the bilby’s population has decreased, their popularity has increased and the ‘Easter Bilby’ movement has picked up steam amongst many Aussies. Just like the traditional American Easter Bunny, the Aussie version known as the Easter Bilby totes around candy gift baskets full of chocolate, eggs and more that he delivers to the children of Australia on Easter morning each year. From stuffed plush bilbies to chocolate-shaped bilby treats to bilby greeting cards, the Easter Bilby is a phenomenon with traction in Australia. So if you happen to be on holiday in Australia on Easter Sunday, remember not to mention the Easter Bunny!

Russia – Likely the most famous eggs in the world, Faberge eggs were originally created for the Russian Imperial Court. These exquisite eggs are gold and precious stone jewelry that are designed in the shape of an egg. Named after the company that created them, the Faberge eggs can be worth big money. In fact, an American business man paid a reported $5.5 million dollars for the Faberge Winter Egg in 1994.  

Poland – The fragile Polish egg called the pisanka is created by dipping an eggshell in wax and then meticulously carving it to form a delicate pattern. After carving is complete, the egg is dyed. These gorgeous pisanka eggs are then exchanged on Easter Saturday as gifts between family members.

Ukraine – Like the Polish pisanka, Ukrainian Easter eggs are also dipped in wax and carved to form what they call a pysanky. Traditionally, these eggs have geometric designs such as diamonds or squares and are custom-colored especially for the intended gift recipient. The Ukrainian culture looks upon the receipt of a pysanky as a great honor and recipients often display their egg as a showpiece in their home.

Greece – The symbol of the redeeming blood of Jesus, red dye is used to color Greek Easter eggs completely red. Just take red dye and add it to a water and vinegar solution where the eggs will be boiled to obtain their red color.

British Isles – Looking at British Easter traditions will give you a clue as to where the White House Easter Egg Roll comes from. Like the U.S., the British decorate their eggs in many styles and colors. They then hold Easter egg roll contests to see who can roll their egg down a hill the quickest, without breaking the egg of course.

 Visit Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets for many great Easter gift ideas!