Easter Egg Traditions

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When my oldest was just a peanut and we began dying Easter eggs he didn't like hard boiled eggs.  So I would dye raw eggs and use the eggs in cooking or baking.


Then I remembered a really fun tradition I saw a lot of when we lived in South Texas.  Cascarones!  Cascarones are egg shells filled with confetti and broken over people's heads for good luck on Easter morning.  


So I began cutting a  hole in the bottoms of the eggs (each time I needed an egg for baking) and then the kids fill the shells with bird seed using a funnel.   Cover the hole with tissue paper and glue when the egg is done.  You can buy Cascarones at stores like Walmart but I figured, hey, I have the eggs, why not?


As you can tell from the glorious picture below we used to use the traditional confetti but trust me it makes a gawd awful mess, and with bird seed the birdies are happy too.  

As the kids got older I was forced to come up with a second activity (never a dull moment), because each kiddo always has their "favorite" egg that they can't bear to turn into a Cascarone.
So we began turning our favorites  into a diorama egg to display every year.  Here is how:


Step one:
Agonizingly decide which egg is the favorite

Step two:
Spray the dyed egg with a sealant to protect the color, because your fingerprints will lift the color right off the egg.  I use Aleene's sealer (bought it at Michael's), but I'm sure any will do. Oh, and I don't cook with this egg. Because of the sealant this egg just goes down the drain.

Step three:
Cut a hole in the front of the egg.  I have found that a pair of sharp embroidery scissors work best.

Step four: 
Agonizingly choose how to decorate the inside.  We have glitter, glitter glue, little glass animals, flocked Easter bunnies, you name it.  Sister choose these cuties:

Step five:
Hot glue your fingers to egg sustaining multiple burns chicks into egg.  Carefully.


Step six:
Glue ribbon around egg opening.

Step seven:
I always glue a flat bottomed "guy" with a string to the top of the egg as the hanger.  They usually come in a package (I think they are for mini trees) at Michael's or Hobby Lobby.


My mom uses ribbon tied with a knot inside the egg.  That is just more than my blistered fingers can handle.

The kids love going through all their old eggs.  And remembering what their "favorites" were each year

Happy Easter egg dying!

P.S. 
I'm linking up to these awesome parties:


project queen-turning the daunting into the do able #27
skip to my lou- made by you monday #93
savvy southern style-wow us wednesdays #59
home stories a to z-tutorials tip link party #54

I Made That!

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Here is the scenario...It is 8 o'clock and time for bed.  All of a sudden one of two things happen.  


1)  The stars align and all three kids begin playing beautifully together.  This is not normal around this joint.  At any given moment one child (or many) has wronged the other(s) and screaming and general mayhem ensues.  But when the clock strikes eight they become the best of friends.  GRRRRRR....how can I put you monsters into bed when you are finally (probably pretending) to enjoy each other.  


The second thing that occurs quite frequently is the "I FORGOT ___________".  Fill in the blank with any nonsense that would make an exhausted woman yank her own hair out.  


Does this happen to anybody else?


Last night fell into the second category.  Mister 10 realized that he had told ALL his friends that he was going to wear a Hunger Games shirt to school tomorrow.  We don't have  school on Friday- We are officially calling it Hunger Games Day.   


Seriously.  Child.  You are lucky I love you.  


I had bought Heat Transfer stuff (probably not the official name) for my Silhouette so I shakily got out all of my materials.  I Gotta be honest here, my Silhouette scares the beejeesus outa me! Irrationally so. I can't figure it out.  Expensive equipment will do that to me.  


But it worked!  I am singing it to the heavens y'all!  30 minutes and those little monkeys were tucked up into bed wearing their new shirts.  HA, take that!

And just for fun...I'll give you one guess as to what kind of lovely mood mister 8 was in this morning.

Oh well, at least that nasty attitude has a cute shirt on it.  MADE BY ME!!! 

P.S. I'm linking up to these awesome parties

no minimalist here-open house party #21

A Little Morning Swim

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I hate cleaning.  There I said it.  
At any given moment my house looks like it has been ransacked. 


Picking up after the ruffians that reside in this house is exhausting.  


Yes, I referred to my children as ruffians.  Anyone who can't manage to pick up their own underwear or those choosing to wipe their noses on the couch pillows will hereby be known as such.


I especially hate cleaning bathrooms.  Yeech...there must be some scientific reason for my spawn's lack of aim.  
I frequently try to assure myself that it simply cannot be that they are that disgustingly lazy. But, I know a lie when I hear one (especially one that comes out of my mouth).


Not only do I have to go around flushing toilets (when did we forget the golden rule: If it's brown flush it down?) but there are always toys in the sinks.


Today is was a herd of cattle.

*sigh*
Wuz up cows?  
Are you clean yet?

Look clean to me.

Good 'ol Erma, she sure had our number.  Maybe our house does look like an episode of hoarders but at least we have some damn clean cows!

linking up to these awesome parties:
skip to my lou - made by you monday #92
project queen- turning the daunting into the do able #26
my life and kids- finding the funny #9

Prettied up the Garage Door

 We have had some crazy nice March weather this week.  Which of course means the kids are outside playing.  I like to leave the garage door open so I can hear them fighting frolicking nicely in the sunshine. Plus it creates a great cross breeze through the house.  The only problem is that my garage door is right in my entry way.  It is one of those heavy steel numbers.

Shuddering as I look at this.  This is what you see when you look to the right after coming into our house. 
Apparently one of the boys took a hammer to it at some point.   
Why?  
Who knows.  
Because they are boys.  
Nuff said.  
Look how gross and dirty it is.  Bleeeech... 
So I got out some paint left over from this project and mixed it with some cream paint leftover from who knows what and got to work.


I wanted to do something besides just the paint. 'Cause that door is U.G.L.Y.


Here is what I ended up with. 

What do you think?   All the hubsters said was "It's a lot of words".  What is wrong with that man?
I used a simple transfer method.
All you do is print off the words in whatever font you choose and flip the paper over.  Color with pencil over the letters (on the back of the paper).

I used a level and some chalk to draw lines  onto the door.   If you have read any of my entries you know I am notorious for crooked writing.  

Then flip the paper back onto the printed side (not the side with pencil) and trace over the letters.  You will be left with the outline.

Then just fill in with paint using  a steady hand.  I only did one coat, I kinda liked the chalky painted look of it after one coat.

At least I don't have to look at that dirty metal door anymore.  Now if someone could just come clean up that garage...

P.S  I'm linking up to these great parties:

skip to my lou - made-by-you-monday 92

project queen link-turning the daunting into the do able #26

home stories a to z - tutorials tips link party #52

savvy southern style - wow us wednesdays #58

no minimalist here-open house party #21

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