Easter egg decorating: Homemade egg dyes, Easter baskets, Easter eggs recipes

Waited till the last minute to color Easter eggs, did you? Need to pull a rabbit out of a hat (pun intended) and come up with your own Easter egg decorating stuff? Take it from this parent of four--

been there, done that. Never fear--last-minute Louise is also super DIY mom! Here are for Easter eggs recipes and homemade egg dyes. These Easter egg decorations use recycled and on-hand materials. And best of all--homemade egg coloring is cheaper and safer than store-bought Easter egg decorating kits!

Easter egg recipes

Do you need to do Easter egg coloring on a time crunch? Then skip blowing eggs out and do Easter egg coloring on hard-boiled eggs. Blowing eggs is a tedious, messy, unsanitary exercise in frustration. Easter egg coloring on hard-boiled eggs is less wasteful, plus these Easter eggs recipes may be eaten. Cook eggs in boiling water for 15 minutes (about six eggs per child). No matter how you prepare Easter eggs recipes, follow USDA Food Safety Guidelines for tips on handling, storage and expiration of eggs.

Homemade egg dyes

If you have no egg dyeing kits for Easter eggs, don't worry. They don't work very well

anyway. Here are safer homemade egg dyes. Food coloring and vinegar make great homemade egg

dyes. Write on Easter eggs using food markers and cake decorator pens. Dip eggs in Kool-Aid or

colored soda like orange or red pop, Baja Blast Mountain Dew for blue, Mountain Dew for green.

Make homemade egg dyes with colored gelatin or dissolved colored candies. Use natural food

coloring for homemade egg dyes. Soak an onion skin for yellow, blueberries or purple cabbage for

purple, beets for red, use juice from spinach for green.

Easter egg decorating supplies

Unless you're blowing eggs out, skip egg glitter or swirl coloring kits. They're sticky, messy and

contain chemicals that render Easter eggs unfit to eat. Instead, use non-toxic markers or crayons and

watercolor paint, but check ACMI (Arts and Crafts Materials Institute) guidelines for craft product

safety. Write messages and draw designs with white crayon or food-grade paraffin wax. Then dip

Easter eggs in egg dye. Wax will resist food coloring and show design.

Recycled decorations for Easter eggs

Make your own Shrinky-dink egg wraps. Draw pictures on plastic food wrap or recycled food-grade

clear plastic (from produce). Cut strips the width of the egg. Wrap around egg and dip in boiling water.

This shrinks plastic wrap to fit Easter eggs, just like store-bought Easter egg decorating kits. Plastic

can be removed and eggs eaten using shrink wrap. Use free printable egg decorations printed on

recycled paper. Here are free printable Easter egg decorating patterns, stencils, templates, and

stand-up egg holders. Ukrainian pysanky egg patterns are included.

Easter grass

No Easter grass? No problem--it's not good for kids or pets. Shred construction or colored paper.

Make crepe paper egg nests. Use green colored shredded coconut. Snip recycled green paper and

cardboard scraps. Use cloth scraps or make a "bed" with a reusable towel or washcloth. Use leaves

from safe non-toxic plants or trees. Have children trace and cut handprints from green construction

paper and arrange to resemble grass.

Repurposed Easter baskets:

There's no need to buy Easter baskets, if you haven't already. Here are free printable Easter baskets

kids can make. Or make homemade Easter baskets from a sand pail, tote bag, craft basket, jewelry

box or gardening bucket. These double duty baskets serve as useful containers after Easter. Or make Easter baskets from a recycled plastic milk jugs and decorate. Here are free printable Easter egg basket templates from Made for Mums. 

Don't leave Easter eggs unrefrigerated for more than two hours if you're going to eat them. Don't eat

eggs you've hidden outside. Hide plastic ones outside. Before coloring eggs, check the FDA website for recalled egg dye kits or products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission lists safety warnings and recalled Easter decorations, too. But the best practice is to use homemade egg dyes and egg decorating supplies and household products listed. Your kids won't ever go back to bought decorations, promise!

The cute  little bunny image is from Marilyn the Toymaker. You can find lots more free printable holiday crafts at her website. 

Valentine's Day recipes, homemade decorations, heart-shaped cupcakes, cookies

Arrgh! Your child did it again. She volunteered you to make three dozen cupcakes (pink, heart

shaped, with sprinkles, please) for her class Valentine's Day party--tomorrow! And when does Lil Miss

Cupid spring this news? 9 p.m.--no time to go to the store for supplies. Well, have no fear, Mama

Been-There-Done-That has super-fast, last-minute, homemade treat recipes made with on-hand

ingredients. You get bonus DIY heart-shaped snacks and improvised frosting, sprinkles and

decoration tips. 

DIY heart-shaped cookie cutter--Murphy's Law will have it that if you need heart-shaped cookies you

won't be able to find your heart-shaped cookie cutter. If you ever had one. So, here are quick,

homemade ones. Bend a coat hanger or large paper clip into a heart shape. Or draw a half-heart on

the folded edge of a piece of sturdy paper. Cut out the heart and place on rolled out cookie dough.

Trace around it with a butter knife, toothpick or metal skewer. Or just freehand it! The kiddies will

never know!

Heart-shaped cupcakes--Make paper cupcake holders shaped like hearts by folding in half. Open

and fold top point inward to form rounded sides of heart. Place folded cupcake paper in cupcake tin

with three marbles: one between the halves of the heart to keep it open and one on each side to

support the point.

Homemade pink frosting. Mix three parts red and one part blue food coloring and dye vanilla

frosting. No food coloring? Use these mix-ins: red juice (grape, cherry, cranberry or beet), red pop,

strawberry jam; strawberry ice cream syrup or red gelatin dissolved in a little hot water. Or melt red

hard candy in the microwave. No frosting? Blend a stick (or 8 ounces) of margarine with powdered

sugar and milk to desired consistency. Add a dash of salt and vanilla or almond flavoring. For

chocolate, add baking cocoa, melted baker's chocolate or melted chocolate chips. No powdered

sugar? Heat granulated sugar in sauce pan to make glaze? No margarine? Use milk for icing.

Homemade Valentine decorations. Fresh out of requested sprinkles? Shave chocolate pieces. Crush

hard candies in the blender. Form heart shapes with tiny candies: M&Ms, Runts, Nerds or other small

candy. Use mini-marshmallows, pretzels, chocolate, cherry or vanilla chips, Snip fruit snacks, jelly

beans, gum drops, red licorice into small pieces. Cut letters from gum strips or Fruit Roll-Ups. Kid's

favorite: decorate with breakfast cereal: Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, Trix, Fruity Pebbles.

DIY Valentine decorative frosting. To make icing you can write with, place frosting in small plastic

bag. Squeeze frosting into corner, tie end closed and snip the tip off the corner. Use like decorator

icing to write Valentine messages, like "These cookies brought to you by a creative mom who's kid

forget to tell her till the last minute!" (Probs too long, but tempting).

DIY Valentine sentiments. Add messages to cookies and cupcakes with valentine conversation

hearts. Write valentine words with Alpha-Bits cereal or letter-shaped pretzels. Cut letters from Fruit

Rollups. Write on cookies with diluted gelatin water in a turkey baster. Form letters from thin cut strips

from licorice or use string licorice, also called licorice laces.

Let little last-minute Lucy help and you'll get some fun bonding time, too. Your emergency Valentine

treats may turn out to be the most popular yet