Our Easter Seasonal Display

The mysteries of Easter are easier to explain to Children in a Myriad of ways and these ways reflect all the change around us, therefore a seasonal table such as this not only has relevance to Christians celebrating Easter but also people of any faith or no faith who want to share in the joy of the changing seasons and the very beautiful transformations happening all around us in the natural world.

This is our current Easter/Spring Seasonal Table, full of symbolism of new life, Birds nests and eggs, spring flowers which have blossomed in the garden, bees and flowers. Of course our rainbow of solidarity and support, and of thanks for all the key workers keeping our country running in such uncertain times is also there.

I hope everyone manages to find some peace and comfort amongst the chaos this Easter, whatever your faith and wherever you are.

Love from our home to yours

Kelly x

Hand Painted Watercolour Easter Eggs

Today we had so much fun, making some beautiful hand painted eggs for our Easter tree. These are beautiful decorations that are so easy to make and if cared for and stored properly will make wonderful treasured decorations year after year.

What you will need:

-An egg each, any colour will do, white shells are great as they show colour better.

-A lonce needle/ thin skewer

-A drawing pin

- Egg cups

-A bowl

-White Vinegar

-Watercolour paints

-Clear Nail Varnish

-Thin ribbon

How to make them

First you need to ‘blow’ your eggs. Over a bowl gently use a drawing pin to make a hole in the top of your egg, holding the egg gently chip away around the hole you made at the shell with the sharp bit of the pin, until you have a hole a good few mm wide. Repeat the process on the bottom of the egg, make this hole a little larger if you wish.

Turn the egg back around and insert the long needle into the egg, in an attempt to break the yoke, then comes the fun part.

Wipe any egg which has come out of the shell on the top and holding the egg firmly but gently blow as hard as you can to force the egg out of the hole at the bottom and into the bowl, once done repeat with all the eggs, and then submerge and wash them in a solution of one part vinegar and one part water, rinsing under the tap through the holes. Gently dry the empty shell with a tea towel.

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Set up your paints, we used half pans as they gave a strong colour and not too much water, which would take a long time to dry, stand your eggs in egg cups for ease, once finished let them dry.

Once dry paint them in a couple of coats of clear nail varnish, then comes the fiddly bit.

Adding the Ribbon . There are a few ways...If you need to make the holes bigger at this point, just use the drawing pin to make the holes bigger as earlier, little by little. I like to push my ribbon all the way through so it knots on the bottom.

1. Take a length of ribbon about four times as long as your egg and fold it in half, using a skewer that will fit through the bottom hole, push the ribbon folded edge first through the hole you made, being sure to keep the tension on the ribbon and skewer so it does not come off push the ribbon gently through the egg, to the other side, pull it through and knot it.

Or

2. Use a long doll making needle, attatch the ribbon to the needle and pass it through the egg, knotting at the bottom

or

3. Tie half a matchstick (used one) to the end of the ribbon, gently push the matchstick through the hole and into the egg, and there you go!

To store you eggs after use safe the egg box they came in and gently pad with tissue. Finally, don't forget to cook up something delicious with the eggs you blew!

K x

Sweet Little Spring Snails for the Seasonal Table

So we have been studying snails as part of our Spring nature study and found the most beautiful shells (without an owner I may add) in the garden. I thought it was the perfect opportunity for some craft, a very simple one which my 18 month old little one absolutely loved!

I bought some Stockmar modelling beeswax and the children worked on warming it in their hands. There is something so warm, nourishing and sensory about the stockmar modelling wax, as it warms the scent is wonderful! We then simply modelled it into snail bodies for the shells we had. The lovely thing to see was the different personalities that each snail taken on, the children willing their own thoughts and feelings into their own little creatures. We placed them pride of place on the seasonal table but they often come down and become part of the little ones play.

Its a funny thing, our garden is usually filled with snails by now and I am usually battling them off my newly sprouted greens, but I have hardly seen any about!

Have a look in your garden and see what colour snail shells you can find, and if they haven’t got an occupant make a wonderful snail for your seasonal table!

K x