Day Two Fashionably Easter - Dyed Eggs

O kay so the kids and I thought we would dye some eggs for some Easter fun and I was fortunate enough to find an Egg Dying Kit. White eggs are a little hard to come by but we found some duck eggs which were beautiful and white. I blew a couple of them out by piercing a hole top and bottom and blowing with a straw. If you haven't done this before it is a little hard. The key is to make sure you pierce and break up the yolk and that the membrane of the egg doesn't seal over the hole.

Sir Tp put some rubber bands around one of his and Little B and I used a white crayon to write Happy Easter (B tried spots too)In a cup I placed a dye tablet with 1 tablespoon of vinegar and some warm waterThen we placed our eggs in the dyeHere are some of our eggs drying - we all loved the rubber band effect although the Happy Easters also came up well As well as dying eggs our kit also came with some little dyes for painting eggs so the children are also having a go at that I will post some photos of our painted eggs using dyes this afternoon. We are just doing stripes dots and flowers and they are looking great

Cheers

Fashionably Easter Day One - Bunny Chocolates

Welcome to Day One of our Easter Crafts for children and the young at heart. Today we are making some chocolates for friends and families. I have been making little chocolates now with the children for birthdays and occasions for a couple of years it is a great way to theme an occasion and provide a little thoughtful sweet treat for children without overloading them with a giant egg or lolly bag. All our lolly bags at parties have a homemade chocolate instead of loads of chewy hard lollies. To make these bunny chocolates all the requirements can be found at Spotlight or specialty party shops, cake making supplies shops or My local Bread Making Shop now stocks a lot of Wiltons and other supplies also.

One Chocolate Bunny Lollipop Mould - Makes 10 bunnies at a time

Milk and white chocolate melting buttons (you cannot use baking buttons as they are too soft when set.

Lollipop sticks

Powder colours .

Rinse the Mold with warm water and polish it with a clean cloth Melt your chocolate as per bag instructions - I use small containers and heat for 20 sec in microwave -stir and then heat again in increments of 10 sec stirring in between until the chocolate is a nice runny consistency. Using the powdered colours and a toothpick blend the colour in with the chocolate until you get the colours you like. Using a pristine (not used for paint) paint brush paint any details you like in the mould (we did the bow ties). Fill the remainder of the mold with contrasting choclate -tap to settle the chocolate and release any air bubbles. Insert the lollipop stick and turn it around in the chocolate so it is covered Allow to set (Fortunately this doesnt take long!!) Turn the mould over and gently tap to release it is easy if they are fully set. We then wrapp them as prettily as you can think as gifts for friend and family. Or you can poke them into the top of pretty cupcakes as decoration. Cheers PS Tomorrow we are going to dye some eggs.

Fashionably Easter - the Countdown

Ok tomorrow is the day I will post my first little Tutorial - I promise everything is basic and easy, most supplies can be bought at Spotlight and found around a crafty home. For tomorrow we will be working with Chocolate - of course it is Easter after all and chocolate never goes out of fashion I will try to post early in the morning if you are watching out or in case you want to hit the shops before the children get home from school - Please join along I'd love to see what Easter fun is fashionablei n your home too. Miss B spent some time this weekend putting out our few little Easter ornaments(I had to wait till after her birthday so I could take down her cards!) We don't have a lot. A little montage of various eggs on our very messy coffee table and some hanging on our celebration tree which is ready for replacing soon. But it helps us get ready for Easter. Excuse the messy house and the child reading on the floor We are having an indoor moocing day as the weather is not great and we are all tired and fluey (is that a word) Catch you tomorrow

Cheers

Happy Mail

This week I have had a bit of happy mail which I wanted to share - but I have also had heaps and heaps of other stuff to share - I am a bit worried you will all be sick of me. Firstly I finally got mt Homespun Magazine last night which I had been waiting and waiting for Then I got a little parcel from the delightful Kyoto General store which is closing so I quickly grabbed a couple of miffy pens, some hello kitty stationary and some matrioshka deco tape (all bound to be useful). Then I got my first of Lynette Anderson's xmas button club -and a fabric and thread pack from Quilt Fabric delight.

Sarah always picks nice bright colours -although I am not going to start this for a while i have other things on the go. So on what is a cold gloomy day here I am going to make coffee, read my mag and do some craft with the children - they have big plans(Sir TP wants his handcraft badge)

Then it will be homemade fish and chips with the fish the boys bought back from the fishing trip (thankfully Grandad fillets and freezes up packs for us of all these little delicious tommy ruff fillets) and the kids have started learning songs from Annie for their mid year theatre production ao we might see if we can get the movie for them to watch.

Cheers

Lenten Update

Just a quick update on our lent sacrifices full marks to Sir TP and Little Miss B who have been very diligent in remembering their sacrifice (and I dont think they want to give money to charity either). Darling Hubby is a stinker but hasn't given in to temptation to watch Top Gear(although he did miss the same special he has missed twice before and did suggest he would be prepared to donate $20 to watch it). I have to confess I have failed - with going to parties, staying up too late and having parties here the temptation of a little pick me up from a caffeinated soft drink cold and refreshing and open in the fridge was too much - I am back on track but will be a few dollars short this month on craft supplies (I am sure Lutheran Community Care will be glad of it) Cheers

Fashionably Easter Almost here

Monday is the day when it all starts here at Lavender Green our Fashionably Easter(in our opinion) preparations and celebrations. We will have tutorials and craft and gift ideas for Easter. Please pop by, leave a comment or let us know if you try out our ideas we are always on the look out for new blog friends or Pen pals or visitors Hop to see you then Cheers

Special Birthday Books

Angel is here modelling another special little gift Miss B received for her Birthday. Belle and Boo Bubbles Before Bed. This is an activity and story book and I can't wait to explore it with Little Missy. We have made reading with B our focus for this year as she seems to be a little behind in this area and she needs a boost of confidence. Finding stimulating books (without the barbie and fairy influence) can be challenging sometimes especially with a child who has not discovered the purpose of reading fully. So this book lets her do handcrafts (she loves) colour(she loves) has some reading and Paper dolls(she loves) almost perfect for my Little B. It is available here and on Etsy and is a small printing project for the artist which makes it nearly handmade in my book Cheers PS Belle is a girl and Boo is a rabbit - speaking of rabbits dont forget to drop by next week and share some Easter Preparations and Crafts with us here at Lavender Green