Recycled Easter

It's Easter time so the stores are full of pre-made baskets and individually wrapped candy and of course the plastic grass filler.  So I thought I would put in a few Easter ideas that were environmentally friendly in honor of Easter and Earth Day in the same month.

To make some eggs:

Tie Dye Egg Instructions from Country Woman Magazine

1. Check the tie label to make sure it’s silk. Remove the lining, cut it into strips and set aside.
2. Cut a piece of colored silk tie fabric large enough to fit around the entire egg.
3. Wet the silk with cold water and wrap tightly around the egg, with the right side of the fabric facing the egg. Twist the ends tightly so the fabric is touching the entire surface of the egg. Wrap thread around each end and knot to hold the fabric in place.
4. Wrap the lining strips around the entire egg. Hold them in place by wrapping and tying thread around the egg.
5. After wrapping several eggs, place them in a single layer in a large saucepan. Add enough water to cover by 1 inch. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 15 minutes. Place in ice water until completely cooled.
6. Remove lining and silk fabric.

Now the basket:

• Shredded paper can be used in place of the plastic grass, it can also be formed into a basket.  I found a handy tutorial for this project at The Junk Wave
• Shoe boxes or oatmeal containers that you cover with paper can make cute baskets.

Some gifts for the basket:

• Cute little bunny sachets from recycled fabric scraps: Bunny Sachets
• From all those magnets you get on the yellow pages and business cards can be turned into egg magnets with an egg punch, or if you have bunny punches those would work too.  Just punch out the magnet and cover with leftover scrap booking paper or magazine pages.  Craftside has a nice description.
• Take your old recycled clothes and turn them into stuffed critters.  A tutorial for a t-shirt bunny can be found at Chez Beeper Bebe.

Don't forget the chocolate (you have of course heard the latest news that chocolate helps you lose weight, don't know if true but I'm going with it.).

• Cadbury Eggheads are box less so less waste.
• Give preference to local and organic options.
• Natural Candy Store has a lot of eco-friendly candies.

Once Easter is over don't forget to reuse what you can for next year for other crafts.  This is our only planet, please take care of it.