3 Fun Ideas to Spice Up Easter Crafts

Whether you have kids, or just have the spirit of one, Easter is one of those holidays that just has a warm, fun and inviting feel to it. However, if you are tired of the typical egg-hunt and Cadbury eggs, here are a few new spins on some old Easter crafts.

Tiger eggs

Dying eggs is always one of the most fun - and messiest - parts of Easter. Sadly, however, sometimes the same old mono-color or speckled design becomes humdrum. If you want something that will make your Easter eggs unique, try making a few tiger striped eggs! All you need is a pair of scissors and black electrical tape. Cut pieces of the tape into long, thin strips that are tapered to a point at one end and flat on the other. Starting at the top of the egg, wrap the tape around the egg, "spiraling" as you go towards the bottom of the egg; we don't want the two ends of the tape to meet! Use as much or as little tape as you wish to achieve the "tiger" effect. Now that your tape is on the egg, dip the egg in the color of your choice for as long as you desire and voila! You have a tiger-striped egg.

Another variation on this would be to wait until the egg is dry, and then to remove the tape. This will leave you white tiger-stripes, also a very cool effect!

Still a third variation on this fun project: Dip your egg into the dye of your choice before you apply the tape. Only let the egg sit in the dye for about 30 seconds, giving a medium shade to the egg. Then, wait for it to dry and apply the tiger-stripe tape. Now, dip your egg back into dye again, whichever color your choose. The effect is a multicolored tiger effect; colorful stripes and a colorful egg!

Chick eggs

Now, if tigers aren't your thing you may want to give these cute chick eggs a try! All you need are cardboard egg holders (which usually come with egg kits, if not they can be made easily), a package of googly eyes or a black sharpie marker, and an orange marker or colored pencil.

Decide how many chick eggs you would like (I like to make them in little "families" of about 2 or 3), and dye those eggs a bright yellow. Remember, the longer you leave the eggs in the dye, the bolder the color! For "bolder" chicks, let the eggs sit in the dye for about 1 minute and 30 seconds. For lighter chicks, remove the eggs from the dye after about 30 seconds or less. Let the eggs dry. Once they are, glue two googly eyes to each on, or take your sharpie marker and draw two small dots; I like to make the right eye look like a 6 that has been tilted 90 degrees to the right, and then draw the left eye to mirror that. Use your orange marker or colored pencil to draw a small upside down triangle for a beak, and to draw two small chicken feet onto the cardboard egg holder strips. Finally, place the eggs on top of the holders and voila, you're finished!

Now, if you do not have the cardboard holders, here is a simple solution: if you have paper plates, cut the rim off of them. Then, cut them into 1/2 inch strips. Cut a slit on one end of the strips that goes about half way through it from top to bottom. On the other side, cut a slit in the same way, but this time make the cut go about half way up starting at the bottom. Take both ends and wrap them towards each other so that a circle is formed, and secure the circle by slipping the slits through one another.

Bunny cake

This is an adorable treat for an after Easter-dinner special! The steps are actually quite simple. All you need is the cake batter flavor of your choice, vanilla or buttercreme frosting, 2 packages of coconut shavings, and a round cake-tin as well as a thin rectangular one. Simply pour an even level of batter into the round tin as you pour into the rectangular tin. Bake for the appropriate amount of time, and let them cool. Here comes the only tricky part!: When you remove the rectangular cake from the tin, set it down so that it is set up "portrait" style for you (meaning the long way set down on the table, don't lift it up!). Take a sharp knife and from the top left corner, cut diagonally down to the center of the cake. STOP! Now, do the same to the top right corner, stopping when you meet your first cut. You should have, essentially, cut a triangle out of one of the short sides of the cake. What is left, will be your ears! Do whatever you wish with the triangle that you have cut out, it is extra cake, but don't be wasteful and throw it out. Now, frost the round cake and the "ears," with the white frosting of your choice, decorate the face however you wish (everyone does it a little bit differently; I use candy!), connect the two separate cakes to look like a bunny's head and ears. Now, dust with the coconut shavings and you are finished! An adorable, tasty Easter cake.

I hope that some of these fun projects will satisfy your children, or even just your inner child!

Happy Easter to all!