Since Easter seems to be celebrated so early this year, those of us who like to craft really need some ideas that will work up quickly and easily to help decorate for this holiday. I don’t know about you, but celebrating and decorating for Easter really gets me into the mood for spring.

One cute craft for Easter is made with cardboard egg cartons. Take one strip of six and overlap it with another. Decorate it with flowers and ribbons and you have a beautiful cross to display. My youngest daughter gave one to her kindergarten teacher two years ago and it is still hanging up in the school's hallway! You can find directions and a picture here:

http://www.makingfriends.com/recycle/egg_carton_cross.htm

If you don’t mind getting messy, I have seen many cute ideas that you could do using paper mache and/or yarn to create baskets. Simply blow up a balloon, any size you choose, and cover the bottom with the paper mache or criss cross yarn across the bottom to form the bottom of your basket. You can make this as large or small as you want. Once the basket has dried, you can make the handle from any medium you choose. It could be formed from the paper mache or yarn, or use cardboard, crochet one or just use the basket without a handle. Have fun coming up with clever ideas to fill these baskets.

What do you do with all those egg shells? Most people will simply crack their egg and throw away the shells. If you want to try something different, here are a few simple ideas. If your egg shells are colorful, crack them into very small pieces and use them as mosaic pieces. Draw a simple picture onto white paper and let your child fill in the different spaces with the egg shells. Or, you could challenge some of your older children to try to peel the egg so that at least half of it will be intact. Take your half shell, fill it with dirt and plant your seeds for your garden into them. Once the plants are large enough, take the whole thing and plant it. The egg shell will compost and you have recycled something and helped create some “natural” crafts as well. Save your egg cartons to put the egg shells into-they make the best holders for your egg shell flower pots.

Remember decorating those green strawberry baskets as a kid? All you need is one of those green baskets and then whatever you choose to weave into it. You can try decorating with strips of construction paper, ribbons, yarn, pipe cleaners or wireless chenille. The combinations and possibilities are endless! Let me know some of the ways you may have used by visiting the forum.