Counting Down To Easter With Kids: Grow Your Own Easter Grass

You know when you look on Pinterest or in a magazine and you see beautiful Easer displays with lush-looking, thick grass? And you think, doesn't that loook gorgeous? And then you look outside and see the miserable excuse for a lawn that your children have trodden to bits? And you sigh and flick to the next page, looking for inspiration for decorations you are more likely to be able to reproduce for Easter Sunday and that you could maybe involve the kids in?

Well stop right there. Here is how you can grow your own lush and juicy looking grass in just two weeks with very little effort. In fact, you can get your children to do it for you, it is that simple. And it grows so quickly, they will love how they can almost watch it grow, hour by hour.

Here's  what you need:

Water

Wheat grains (the kind brown bread is made from, but whole not shredded. You should be able to get them in a wholefood shop or a garden center)

A flat-bottomed container, preferably shallow or made of glass (I'll explain why further on)

Wheat grains like these are what you need to start your grass off. Don't be concerned that they are dry. So are cress seeds or any other seeds you buy. The wheat grains I used were bought in October and, in our house at least, usually get milled and and added to brown bread when I bake it. They have worked perfectly for grass.

Day 1: Place a layer of grains into a wide, flat-bottomed dish. Water the grains with just enough water to dampen them. Keep the dish somewhere where it gets lots of light. I keep ours on the landing under the skylight.

The reason you need a shallow or glass dish is to allow plenty of light to get to the grains to allow them to germinate and grow.

It doesn't have to be the dish that you intend using to display the grass in when it is grown. Once the grains extend roots, the roots intertwine and form a base beneath the grass stems.

Day 2-3: Water with just enough water to dampen the grains. Keep an eye on them to make sure that they don't dry out completely. The first of the grains will start to sprout. 

Day 4-7: By now most of the grains should have sprouted and the blades of grass will grow quite rapidly. Keep watering the grass daily with a small amount of water.

Day 8-10: By this stage the grass should look something like the photos below. Keep watering.

Day 11-14: By the time two weeks have passed, your Easter grass should be looking long and thick, and be a nice bright shade of green.

All that remains to be done is decide on how to decorate. Adding little chicks, foil-wrapped chocolate bunnies, painted or dyed eggs, snowdrops or miniature daffodils are some pretty ideas you could try.

I'll be posting more photos as and when I set up my own decorations. But for now here's a sneak peak at a version I was working on the other day. 

It's Not So Bad Really, Gardening

This weekend we've done a big clear up in the garden. During Autumn all our time was taken up with raking leaves and picking up fallen walnuts, so we never got round to tidying the garden before the weather got bad. 

The combination of a dry weekend and having no plans led to us deciding yesterday morning that we would attack the garden. Literally attack it. We have been hacking away at bushes and trees as well as burning off-cuts of heather and sage. 

I am no garden expert. I wouldn't even say that I particularly like gardening, but I do love being in the garden. And the work does give me feeling of having done something good and useful. 

Breaking for a cup of coffee to be drunk outdoors while reviewing the work done and to be done. Holding an impromptu picnic by the pond, wrapped up in our wellies and fleeces. It feels so good. It tastes so good.

The nest Number One built with bits
and pieces found in the garden today.

Yesterday while cutting back lavender and sage and ripping out dried up marjoram, I enjoyed the scent they gave off and left on my hands. Raking up walnut shells and leaves revealed vibrant green moss beneath. The clumps that got stuck in the prongs of the rake got set aside for decorating with and for the children to play with. 

That's another one of the things about the garden that makes me happy - us all being together, but doing our own thing. Working, playing, getting creative or just sitting down for a snack outside. Easy, unforced, old-fashioned family time.

As the Bavarian chopped branches off the kiwi tree in an attempt to tame it (it grows 4m long tentacles in summer), I gathered up the ones that had become intwined in one another and separated them, carefully twisting them apart and ending up with curly wurly lengths of branch, perfect for a wreath or some Easter decorations. 

Ah, full days outdoors, at last.  

I suppose it is not so bad after all, gardening. 

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Easy Peasy Easter Art for Toddlers

Toddlers love sticking their fingers into stuff and making a mess, so why not let them at it and make a bit of Easter art out of it? This is how easy it is.

You will need:
Paper
Paint
A small amount of water
At least one child
A waterproof fine point black marker pen

Step 1: Get out some paints (poster paints are good but even those little watercolur sets work too) and a little plastic cup of water. Put an apron or bib on your child to avoid them getting paint on their clothes when they inevitably wipe their hands on what they are wearing.

Step 2: Lay a few sheets of paper on the table. White or pastel colours show up the paint best, I find. 

Step 3: Have your child dip their index fingertip into the water then into the paint. If you are using poster paints it is a good idea to put a small amount onto a plate. If you are using watercolours, get the child to rub their wet finger on their chosen colour of paint until it is well coated with colour.

Step 4: Make fingerprints scattered all over the pages, reloading the fingers with fresh paint as needed.

Step 5: Leave the paint to dry. Wash the child's hands and put away the water and paints. 

Step 6:  For chicks - draw eyes, beaks and wings on the fingerprints
For bunnies - draw eyes, nose, mouth, ears and a fluffy tail on the fingerprints

Step 7: Now you can decide what to do with your little works of art. The ideas I like are:
- Hang the pages up as they are

- Cut out the best creatures and make Easter cards

 - Cut out some of your favourites and glue them to little paper bags. You can then fill these with chocolate eggs and give them as gifts at Easter. As an alternative, you can do the fingerprints straight onto the bag, as we did here:

Heitmann Egg Decorating Set Giveaway

I woke up this morning feeling generous and decided I would hold a little Easter giveaway today! 

Having spent the past week thinking about Easter crafts and what new things to try this year, I thought I would share my favourite egg dye brand with you, because I will definitely be using it again this year. I have already bought several packs in preparation.

We have used Heitmann egg dye for years and years now and have always been really pleased with the results, not to mention the fun we have had deciding on the colours and techniques to use.

The set contains five dyes. All you need to do is dissolve the dye tabs in water and vinegar (the instructions are on the back of the pack in several languages) and then the fun starts. You can create all kinds of patterns and designs on your eggs using simple techniques.

So here is your chance to win! 

Just enter a comment on this post, letting me know your favourite Easter craft and you'll be in with a chance to win one of these little sets. Feel free to share the giveaway details on Facebook, Twitter, etc. 

If you want to leave a link to your own craft ideas, please do. 

I'll choose a winner on Monday 22nd. Good luck everyone! I am excited to hear about your crafts. 

Some of our favourites from last year

Click here for all our Easter posts.

[Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I bought and paid for the Heitmann set myself and the idea of the giveaway is all my own. All words, opinions and photos are my own too. I am just in a generous mood today.]

50 Things That Make Me Happy

In one of my very eary posts on this blog, I mentioned that I was never one for soul-searching. That said, it doesn't hurt now and again to take a step back and look at your life. But, be warned, it can go either way, depending on the mood you are in or the day you've had. You can end up slumped on the sofa, tissues in one hand and a drink in the other wondering how you managed to get into this mess. Or you can find yourself brimming over with enthusiasm for life, wondering how you got to be so lucky. 

When Lisa from the beautiful blog Into The Glade tagged me for the 50 Things That Make Me Happy list, I was honoured that she thought of me. But I had my doubts about finding 50 things that really make me happy. To be honest, I had visions of reaching no. 31 and then having to resort to cliches, really scraping the bottom of the barrel to make the list up to 50. 

When I sat down during a spare five minutes to put a few thoughts on a page recently, I was surprised to make it to 37 absolutely effortlessly. I only stopped writing because my brief window of peace and quiet ended (see no. 38. Brief windows of peace and quite in which to do my own thing, guilt-free). In the end, I didn't have to resort to my bottom-of-barrel, generic, greeting-card-happiness list at all. For the ultra-curious among you, this list would include:
Rainbows
Sunsets
Sunrise
Babies' feet (incredibly cute, I admit, but not top 50 material for me)
Chocolate
The smell of cut grass on a sunny day (the preceeding drone of a lawnmower kind of ruins it for me).

So here, in all its glory and in no particular order, is my list of 50 things that make me happy.

1. My husband, The Bavarian, (most of the time)
2. My children, by their very existence
3. Cherry blossom, apple blossom or any other blossom apprearing in Spring.

4. Removing the teatowel from a mixing bowl and seeing that my yeast dough has risen nicely
5. Being in France
6. Being in Holland
7. Enjoying a beer with The Bavarian on the patio on a sunny evening
8. Going to the outdoor pool after work with the kids
9. Chatting to my mother
10. Having a pint of Guinness with my dad in Bennets Pub, Ardcath, Ireland
11. Being in the Alps on a sunny day
12. Being home in Ireland

13. Turkish delight
14. Walking into the bathroom and seeing all three laundry baskets empty (a rare ocurrence, but not unheard of during a bout of good weather)
15. How my windows look after they have been cleaned. (The actual cleaning of said windows is  not one of my favourite activities)
16. Waking up feeling rested and ready to get up (again, this seldom happens but I love it when it does)
17. Easter


18. Bookshops
19. Salvaging furniture from skips or rubbish collections

20. Reading books on social history
21. The fact that my children eat most fruits and a good selection of vegetables by choice
22. Cheese (buying, eating and cooking with)
23. Snowdrops, bluebells and tulips appearing
24. Crisp autumn leaves in the sunlight 


25. Hearing son number 2 say "skoo-il" (school) and "fil-im" (film) as if he was born and raised in Ireland.
26. The fact that son number 1 picks up on Irish turns of phrase and uses them in the right context, for example "left, right and centre", "that yoke" or "I'm only after...".
27. Arriving in Dublin airport to be greeted by my father and hearing the boys ask "Grandad, will you buy us some Tayto?"
28. Marzipan fruits and animals
29. People being nice when there is nothing to be gained from it for them, like someone offering you their day pass for the tram when you are in the queue for the ticket machine and they are not using their ticket any more
30. Windy walks on the beach in Ireland

31. Watching The Bavarian pet and play with every dog he meets
32. The fact that my parents get on as well as many a married couple despite being separated for the past 16 years
33. Spending time with my nieces and nephew
34. Spending time with my siblings
35. Going to the theatre, especially The Gate in Dublin
36. Pre-theatre drinks
37. Sparkling wine
38. Brief windows of peace and quite in which to do my own thing, guilt-free
39. The Smiths (my wonderful extended family, not the band)
40. Having a garden full  of herbs, fruit trees and a small supply of summer vegetables 
41. Sincere praise for something done well
42. Weekends away with The Bavarian, my sister or my friends
43. Cooking and baking
44. The fact that certain school and uni friendships that have stood the test of time and survived my living in a different country
45. Hearing that someone I know is engaged, pregnant or has just had a baby
46. Shopping in foreign supermarkets while on holiday or a business trip

47. Learning a new craft or discovering one I used to know well (current favourites are crochet and sewing machine embroidery)

48. Being comforted by The Bavarian when things go wrong
49. Planning holidays and short trips
50. Writing, even if it is just a to do list





What would feature on your list? Would you have trouble making it to fifty? Now that I've started, I feel I could go on and on. 

A few photos of this year's egg decorating with the kids

Here are a few more details and photos of our preparations for Easter over the last week or so. 

These are white eggs, hard boiled and then submerged in IRIS dyes for various lenghts of time. We made the pale green by mixing some of the yellow and blue dyes. The white stars were created by placing stickers on the eggs after boiling but before dyeing. More on this method below. 

The pink stars were created by dyeing an egg pink and leaving it to dry. Then we placed some star stickers on it and submerged it in the blue dye. This turned the pink  shell purple but the areas covered with stickers remained pink. The white star is the original egg shell colour.

Preparing beetroot for making a natural dye.

Beetroot is a brilliant natural dye, as anyone who has ever accidentally dropped beetroot juice in their clothing will know. To make a dye from it, chop fresh beetroot into chunks (you can leave the skin on) and boil it in enough water to cover it. Turn off the heat and leave the beetroot to infuse the water. After a few hours, strain and jar the water, You can place hard boiled eggs or just egg shells into the dye and leave them there for several hours to take on the colour. 

The same method can ebe used to make a dye with onion skins. You need to use quite a lot of onion skins but the results are pretty, eypecially if you use stickers on white eggs.

Beetroot dye

Take an egg.

Stick star-shaped stickers onto it.

Place it in the dye and leave it until the desired colour has been reached.

Dyed with a mixture of red and brown onion skins.

Brown egg shells dyed with homemade onion skin dye.

 

White egg shells dyed with homemade beetroot dye. I love the shade that the inside of the eggs has taken on here.

Our cloth Easter bunnies made of scraps of fabric and stuffed with teddybear filler.  I had planned to make several of these as gifts but unfortunately just didn't have the time to make more than this.

Easter Crafts with Kids #2 - Decorated Eggs

As I mentioned in my previous egg-dying post, painting or dyeing hard-boiled eggs is a really big thing here in Germany. Even though my children absolutely detest eggs, except in cakes, pancakes or waffles, they love decorating them. The Bavarian and I are then left to consume vast quantities of boiled eggs. Last year we tried out blown eggs or the lazier version, emptied out eggs. 

Emptied out eggs are my name for egg shells that have had a fingertip-sized hole made in them and the contents literally emptied out. I am not a big fan of blowing eggs, so in the run to to Easter last year and this I used the emptying method whenever I was using eggs for baking or scrambled eggs, etc. After a quick rinse out, I put the shells to one side and when the time came to start decorating, we had a nice pile of almost-intact shells to work with. 

Here are a few photos of how we got on last year.

All the paraphernalia you need: deep bowls for the dye, a pot for boiling the eggs and plenty of eggs or eggshells. We use IRIS egg dyeing tablets. They are everywhere here in Germany. You dissolve them in cold water and add a few drops of vinegar then drop in the eggs. You can find similar egg dye here.

Various shades of blue attained by leaving the eggs in the dye for different lengths of time.

Pretty pastel pinks and purples arranged together in an egg carton.

We used strips of patterned paper to weave little Easter baskets and then filled them with shredded paper and coloured straw. These make very pretty Easter egg gifts.

While the boys fiddled about with colours, I tried out some bird stamps I bought in Waterstones on the white eggs. After a few practice goes I got the hang of how much pressure to apply and I was quite pleased with the simplicity of the end result.

I was surprised to find that the inside of the egg shells often took on a much more interesting shade of colour than the outside. Eggshells in blues and purples scattered around a little vase of bluebells made a dainty litte centrepiece on the kitchen table last Easter.