The Easter long weekend offers the chance to celebrate the arrival of spring while spending time with family at the cottage. Here are some eco-friendly craft ideas to enjoy this Easter as we hop into spring.
Easter Baskets
Reduce waste by choosing an Easter basket that can be reused year after year. Visit a local thrift store to score hidden gems like hand-woven wicker baskets that will stand the test of time and can be repurposed to hold other cottage items when the Easter weekend is over. For kids who want a personalized Easter basket, craft materials like ribbons, yarn, and paint are great options to give their baskets a stylish spring makeover.
Easter Grass
Skip the plastic Easter grass and instead line your basket with biodegradable materials. While paper Easter grass is available to purchase in stores, this is a perfect opportunity to clear out any old magazines and newspapers cluttering up your cottage and shred them to make home-made basket fillers. For a reusable option, soft blankets, scarves, and towels can be used as basket liners while also doubling as an Easter gift for the basket’s owner.
Decorating Eggs
Dyeing and decorating eggs is a time-honoured Easter tradition. Eggs can be prepped for decorating in two ways: by hard-boiling in a saucepan, or for the less squeamish, by pricking two holes in opposite ends of the egg and blowing out the liquid. Once the eggs are ready for decorating, there are plenty of natural dyes made from fruits and vegetables that create beautiful, rustic-looking Easter eggs. Blueberries and red cabbage produce dyes that are violet, turmeric yields yellow, and beets and carrots bring about bright orange and red. Teas produce different dye colours depending on their ingredients, so take the time to experiment with a variety of herbal teas to produce unique hues.
The general formula for creating a natural egg dye is to boil your chosen ingredient in a saucepan of water for around 20 minutes before removing the pot from heat and allowing the mixture to completely cool. Use a mesh strainer to separate out the liquid and then add one tablespoon of vinegar for every cup of dye. Natural dyes need extra time to take hold, so for best results leave the eggs submerged in the natural dye overnight in the refrigerator.
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