Here are a couple of quick and relatively easy ways to decorate hand-blown eggs for Easter. I really wanted to avoid dyeing the eggs because I didn’t want to fuss around with all the colour, and I also wanted to experiment with confetti.
Have you noticed that confetti is everywhere at the moment? I’ve actually got a “wee trends” draft post about confetti that’s been sitting in my folder for over 12 months. So it’s a trend that’s not going away any time soon. In the meantime, head over to gorgeous Sydney shop Little Paper Lane‘s new blog and read their post about confetti – and while you’re there, have a look at the delightful collection of stationery and paper-y goodness in the new online shop.
But back to the eggs. Blowing the innards out of an egg is actually pretty disgusting (but mildly satisfying in manner similar to popping a pimple), and I had to rethink my good intentions of using the yolk for scrambled eggs (spittle-infused eggs isn’t particularly desirable). But once you’ve got your eggs blown (check out this good how-to over on Kidspot), decorating them with confetti and washi-tape is a cinch.
How to make confetti Easter eggs
(1) There are a few confetti eggs doing the rounds over on Pinterest. Have a look here and here. But they’re all eggs with confetti inside the eggs, ready for smashing on Easter Sunday. I wanted to see if I could decorate the outside of the egg with confetti. And the results weren’t too bad. It was ridiculously easy, too, as far as Easter egg crafts are concerned.
(2) You will need:
* Blown, rinsed and dried eggs
* Mod Podge (a water-based glue and sealant that’s available from art/craft stores)
* Confetti. Good GOD it’s near impossible to find a box of the traditional stuff in Sydney. Nobody stocks it. Only fancy-pants foil confetti in various shapes and colours. But I finally managed to find boxes of the stuff at the little newsagent in Haberfield, which doubles as an excellent party supplies shop. Check it out if you’re ever in need of pinatas, themed party-ware or party hats. Of course, you can always make your own confetti with a hole-punch and coloured tissue paper.
* Medium-fine paint brush
(3) Here’s how:
* Dip your paint brush in the mod podge and apply a thin layer to the outside of the egg. You might like to steady your egg on a skewer that’s shoved into something secure – I used the holes in the toothpick jar.
* Stick one piece of confetti at a time to your egg. Press down lightly to get rid of air bubbles and creases. Overlap some of the circles for a genuine confetti look – otherwise space them out for a polka-dots look. You can also paint over the confetti with the mod-podge to seal it, but some colours like red might run a little.
* Leave to dry and then arrange in a bowl, or stuff them with glitter or confetti and smash them on Easter Day. If you want to hang them on an Easter tree, thread ribbon through the holes and tie a knot on the bottom of the egg. Here’s a good tutorial on how to hang an Easter egg over on Kidspot.
How to make washi tape eggs
You will find a good tutorial on making washi tape eggs over on Family Circle. But here’s my quick how-to:
(1) You will need:
* Blown, rinsed and dried eggs
* Selection of washi tape (Japanese decorative masking tape)
* Scissors
(2) Here’s how:
* Cut small lengths of washi tape (no more than 2cm) and stick them on to the egg. Some patterns lend themselves to being placed at angles for a patchwork/herringbone effect. You could do a single layer of washi tape (3), but I went nuts and did several layers (4).
I don’t know if I recommend this or not. I was half-happy with the results. They’re a tad rustic for my taste. But it’s an easy way to decorate eggs and kids might enjoy it too.
Are you decorating Easter eggs this year? What are you doing? And do you also find blowing out the contents of a raw egg disgustingly satisfying?
After some edible Easter goodies? Check out the five new things I’m loving for Easter this year.
Plus:
The Top 10 design-led presents for Easter.
The Top 10 Easter books for children.
The best Easter presents for babies and kids.
Want more Wee Birdy? You can find me most days on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.
Here’s a global round-up of some of my favourite non-chocolate Easter presents for babies and kids this year:
1. The World of Peter Rabbit – The Complete Collection of Original Tales 1-23 by Beatrix Potter, £85.40 from my UK Amazon shop.
2. Rocking rabbit white by Bjorn Dahlstrom for Playsam, AU$297 from Top 3 by Design.
3. Wooden eco-friendly easter bunny toy, US$14 from Imagination Kids’ Etsy shop.
4. Liberty Bashful Bunny, AU$21.95 from Lark.
5. A Bunny in a Teapot print, US$24 from Make it Awesome’s Etsy shop.
6. Kid’s rabbit bib in mint, AU$29, from Lark.
7. Desk bunny scissors & clip holder white, AU$30 from Papier D’Amore.
8. Good Bunny temporary tattoo by Lisa Congdon for Tattly Designy Temporary Tattoos, US$5 from Tattly.
9. Woodland Bunnies Icy Pole Makers, AU$12.95 from Lark.
10. Breakfast express bone china eggcup, toast rack and salt&pepper shakers, £19.95 from Blank London.
11. V&A ‘Rabbits’ Childrens Dress, £20 from the V&A shop.
Do you give babies and kids presents for Easter? What are your favourite gifts?
Click here to check out my top 10 Easter books for babies and children.
Want more Wee Birdy? You can find me most days on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.
I’ve been building an Easter book collection for Harry, and along with a few Easter-themed books, I’ve thrown in a few books about seasons (it’s Autumn in Australia right now, but when he’s older we’ll talk about the Spring Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere), as well as some books about bunnies and chicks (why not?).
I’m actually rather frustrated by the lack of good Easter-themed books around – you know, books with fabulous illustrations as well as a good narrative. So I’ve included a few vintage books into the mix, as well as ones that aren’t strictly ‘Easter’. Most of the books are from my UK Amazon book shop and my US Amazon book shop – but rest assured that I wasn’t influenced by my selection – to be honest, I’ve been quite desperate to find quality books, especially for older children. (And the grand sum of $1.20 in total Amazon earnings definitely doesn’t hold sway). So without further ado, here are my top 10 children’s books for Easter (a note: they are very light on the traditional Christian story, but you can find more books in my Amazon shops).
1. The Easter Egg by Jan Brett, £8.44 from my UK Amazon book shop and $11.74 from my US Amazon book shop.
There are few Easter-themed books that are as beautifully illustrated as Jan Brett’s exquisitely detailed watercolours. Kids will love this tale about decorating Easter eggs, friendship and love. It might inspire them to get creative with their own eggs, too.
Click here to buy it from UK Amazon book shop.
Click here to buy from my US Amazon book shop.
2. Happy Easter, Peter from Frederick Warne and Company, £4.98 from my UK Amazon book shop and US$7.99 from my US Amazon shop.
Beatrix Potter purists may be horrified by this simplified and stylised Peter, but it’s a sweet little book for babies and toddlers, who’ll enjoy all the colourful illustrations of easter eggs while they open and close the tabs.
Click here to buy it from my UK Amazon book shop.
Click here to buy it from my US Amazon book shop.
3. Seasons by Blexbolex, £11.25 from my UK Amazon book shop and $13.57 from my US Amazon book shop.
A hands-down winner. If you haven’t already got this incredibly beautiful book for your child, use Easter as the perfect excuse to buy it. It’s not an Easter-themed book but it’s the perfect starting point to discuss the changing seasons and the life cycle, whether you’re based in the Northern hemisphere or down-under. It was the New York Times Best Illustrated Book of 2010 and can be enjoyed by kids of all ages, starting from zero.
Click here to buy it from my UK Amazon book shop.
Click here to buy it from my US Amazon book shop.
4. The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by Du Bose Heyward and illustrations by Marjorie Flack, £5.63 from my UK Amazon book shop and $9.99 from my US Amazon book shop.
A classic Easter tale written in 1939, this special edition comes with a golden shoes charm. No Easter book collection would be complete without it – and it’s got a surprisingly feminist theme, as well, as mother bunny sets out to challenge the patriarchal order of male Easter Bunnies. Go mother bunny!
Click here to buy it from my UK Amazon book shop.
Click here to buy it from my US Amazon book shop.
5. Holidays Around the World: Celebrate Easter: With Colored Eggs, Flowers, and Prayer
by Deborah Heiligman, £4.99 from my UK Amazon shop and $6.95 from my US Amazon shop.
I had a terrific book when I was young about all the different cultural and religious Easter traditions around the world, so I’ve been looking for something similar for Harry. This is a good starting point but it is limited to Christian traditions.
Click here to buy it from my UK Amazon shop.
Click here to buy it from my US Amazon shop.
6. Rechenka’s Eggs by Patricia Polacco, £5.39 from my UK Amazon shop and $7.99 from my US Amazon book shop.
Pre-schoolers and children up to eight years will adore this gentle story about an old Ukrainian woman Babushka, who paints the most incredible easter eggs. But she gets more than she bargained for when she adopts a wounded goose. Amazingly vivid illustrations of traditional hand-painted Ukrainian Easter eggs.
Click here to buy it from my UK Amazon shop.
Click here to buy it from my US Amazon shop.
7. The Golden Egg Book by Margaret Wise Brown and illustrated by Leonard Weisgard, £4.43 from my UK Amazon book shop and $8.99 from the US Amazon book shop.
Another vintage Golden Book classic with beautiful illustrations by Leonard Weisgard of the sweetest little bunny and a newly-hatched chick. It’s not strictly Easter, but your child will love the charming story, playful illustrations and theme of friendship.
Click here to buy it from my UK Amazon book shop.
Click here to buy it from my US Amazon book shop.
8. I am a Bunny by Ole Risom. Illustrations by Richard Scarry, £3.79 from my UK Amazon book shop and US$5.99 from my US Amazon book shop.
This book is a personal favourite and if you like mid-century illustrations and Richard Scarry, you’ll dig it too. Written in 1964, the book follows the changing seasons, as seen through the eyes of a little rabbit called Nicholas. It’s not an Easter-themed book, but it’s too beautiful to ignore (and the double-page of daffodils, dogwood and jonquils is sublime). Harry has loved reading it since he was eight months’ old.
Click here to buy it from my UK Amazon book shop.
Click here to buy it from my US Amazon book shop.
9. Where are Baby’s Easter eggs? By Karen Katz, £4.59 from my UK Amazon book shop and $7.99 from the US Amazon book shop.
For some reason, babies never tire of lifting flaps in books, and this one is a beauty because the flaps are big, making it super-easy for little hands. A great first Easter book.
Click here to buy it from my UK Amazon book shop.
Click here to buy it from my US Amazon book shop.
10. Chick by Ed Vere, AUD$9.05 from the Book Depository.
I bought this book for Harry’s first Easter last year, and it’s his current obsession – I must have read it to him eight times today. It’s a very basic story – a chick hatches, eats, poos and sleeps – but the graphically simple illustrations that pop-up are rather striking. And it’s very cute, too. Toilet-trained toddlers will love the poo bit.
Click here to buy it from the Book Depository.
What about you? Do you have an Easter book collection? What’s your favourite Easter book?
Photography of Harry’s book shelves by Wee Birdy. And yes, they are those IKEA Spice racks.
Want more Wee Birdy? You can find me most days on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.
It was Harry’s first birthday a couple of weeks ago, so we planned a celebration for our family and friends, which co-incided with my birthday (we’re only two days apart). Now, I’m in my element planning parties. I have wasted many an hour marvelling in awe at creative kids’ parties on Pinterest. Like many other Pinterest members, I have a board dedicated to parties. I dig awesomely creative concepts and superb attention to detail.
BUT there’s a BIG part of me that’s ambivalent about elaborate kids’ parties, which are so carefully art-directed they look like they’ve stepped out of an editorial spread. And as much as I love all the decorations and insane attention to detail, part of me thinks that it’s all a wee bit gauche, and I mourn for the days of cheezels and fairy bread and pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.
And I have to confess: I’m a bit over cupcake towers and candy bar buffets (seriously, do we need that much sugar?). But at the same time I wanted a fitting celebration for my wee son, to celebrate his first year with our family and friends. It’s a significant milestone, and as much as my husband and I wanted to celebrate surviving our first year as parents, we wanted to thank our families and friends who have supported us along the way. Finally, it was my birthday, too. Last year’s birthday was spent in hospital, drifting in and out on waves of morphine. It was time to celebrate.
So… what started out as ‘let’s have cake in the backyard’ morphed into something a little more complicated. There were some art-directed details (I couldn’t help myself – I’m an ex-magazine editor and my husband is a graphic designer, we have mad skillz!). There was a bloody cupcake tower. And yes, there were even three glass jars of sugary treats (dangerously straying into candy bar buffet territory). Oh dear.
But you know what? It ended up being a pretty good day. It was an Aussie backyard party. We hung my hand-made party hats from the rusty old hills hoist. The babies splashed around in the $12 shell wading pool from Bunnings (the best buy of the day). The jug of Pimm’s and the platter of fruit went down a treat on the hot summer’s afternoon. And by the end of the day, the birthday boy ended up completely naked, eating birthday cake for dinner. As all good parties should end.
The details…
Party hats
I loved the idea of handmade party hats – so old-school – and I was inspired by these gorgeous hats by The Sweetest Occasion (via Pinterest). They were made using this clever tutorial. I found some giant ric-rac in my mum’s trimmings collection, and I pimped out the rest of the hats with mini pom-poms. I cut out a felt number one for the birthday boy’s hat, and stuck it all together using craft glue and double-sided tape. Just a word of warning about fastening hat elastic – I used staples and sticky tape to secure them to the hat, but unfortunately most of them broke as soon as the kids put them on. Hat Fail. So I reckon you’d be better off using a hole punch and threading through ribbon so they can be tied on. But that’s more expense and time. Lesson learnt? Unless you’re up for hours of faffing around and maybe spending more than you’d like on something that will probably end up trashed, buy a $1.99 packet of hats from the supermarket. But they did look sweet, don’t you think?
Theme
We didn’t have a theme for the party, but I just chose three colours – a melon red, pale yellow and pale blue to tie it all together. I pinched this cute cupcake topper idea by Stacey from Elle Belle Blog (via Hostess Blog on Pinterest) and used it as a recurring motif on the invitations and party bags. I love that it has that ‘80s UK Smash Hits cut-out head look.
Party bags
We designed a label, folded it in two, and stapled it on to a glassine bag. I filled the bag with sweets, a balloon and some scratch-and-sniff stickers.
Birthday cake
The birthday cake was the numeral one from the original Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake Book (there was no way I wasn’t making a cake from my favourite childhood book), but instead of smarties I decorated it with my own mix of ‘edible confetti’, including a mix of small and large sprinkles, edible gold stars and sprinkle hearts.
Decorations
I decorated the backyard with a mix of paper lantern decorations, white bunting, and hung the paper hats with wooden pegs from the old Hills Hoist clothesline. I also filled a rainbow pinata with sweets and handmade confetti, which the older kids enjoyed smashing up. I also decorated Harry’s highchair with multicoloured streamers and balloons, which he loved pulling on.
Music
I loaded up the iPod with a cracking play list including Harry’s favourite albums:
Too Many Cookes’ Down at the Zoo
Teddy Rock’s Nursery-wave Party
Elizabeth Mitchell’s You are my Little Bird and You are my Sunshine;
as well as tunes by the likes of The Beatles, The Beach Boys, The Jacksons, The Supremes and The Monkees. There might have been some Belle and Sebastian, too. Sadly, someone forgot to press ‘play’ in all the madness…
{Photography by Lucas Boyd and Wee Birdy}
p.s. want more Wee Birdy? You can find me most days on Instagram and Facebook.
It’s been a busy week here at the Wee Birdy nest. I’ve been reading my favourite childhood Christmas books to Harry (can you spot the Raymond Briggs and Dick Bruna?), putting the finishing touches on the tree and decorating the house with Australian summer flowers (the brilliant red blossoms of the Flowering Gum and Christmas Bush look a treat in my vintage Bitossi and Holmegaard vases). Then there has been all the festive eating: my Mum’s stained glass Christmas Cake, the zingiest pineapple, lemon and mint frappe from Cafe Mint in Surry Hills, and a special Christmas afternoon tea at Patisse (the very pretty Bouche de Noel was decorated with fresh flowers and tiny red meringue mushrooms).
What’s been happening at your place? Are you ready for Christmas?
Ho ho hummm… got Christmas toy catalogue fatigue? Here are some fresh picks for kids that have made it to the top of my list:
1. Mike He Pinnochio Pencil Sharpener, £12 from the V&A. It’s also available instore at Ariel Books in Sydney.
2. Lego Sort & Store Head, £39.95 from John Lewis. Click here to buy.
3. When I was born by Isabel Minhos Martins, £5.59 from Wee Birdy’s UK Amazon book shop and US$10.36 from Wee Birdy’s US Amazon shop.
4. Harry Potter Knight Bus, £29.99 from Selfridges. Click here to buy.
5. Hannah rag doll, AU$99 and Barnacle Boris rag doll, AU$95, from Raggidy Rag Dolls.
6. Pattern Play, US$29.95 from Module-R.
7. Kovap Cable Car, £31 from Theo.
8. Iconic toy Melbourne tram, AU$90 from Make me Iconic.
9. Iconic toy Sydney ferry, AU$95 from Make me Iconic.
10. Sylvanian Families Beekeeper set, £14.99 from Selfridges. Click here to buy.
Want more present ideas? Check out last year’s gift guide.
And there are more goodies for children in my Amazon book shops (click here for my pick of the best children’s books in the U.S. Amazon shop or click here for my pick of the best children’s books in my U.K. Amazon store).
Have you seen Puffin Classics books? They make wonderful presents at any age.
I’ve also got some lovely Very Hungry Caterpillar presents in my Amazon book shop here.
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