How to Celebrate Easter on a Budget

As a child, I loved waking up on Easter morning and finding colored eggs all over the house, baskets and other little surprises my mother had placed around. With the current economy, these little extras are becoming harder to give to our children, but here are a few inexpensive things that you and your kids are sure to enjoy.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• creativity
• ribbon
• basket
• eggs
• food coloring
• chocolate and candies

1. Letter from the Easter Bunny…Every child loves to know that they are the center of attention on any given Holiday…how about going to your local library to use their PC or at home if you have one, and print out a letter written especially to your child from the Easter Bunny! There are a ton of free sites online that give sample letters. Just search for one, copy and paste and personalize it for your child! Watch their eyes light up when they see they got mail!!

2. Find the Rabbit… This was my favorite as a child. I would wake up, and on my floor, there would be a decorated egg or a piece of chocolate or candy. As I would reach it, I would notice another, and another, leading me out of the room, all around the house and ending up at a basket or some goody that the Bunny had left for me. Try buying some inexpensive ribbon that your kid(s) can follow (get different colors if you have more than one child), or wrapped candies (make sure they are wrapped so that they can be left on the floor and bugs wont get to them), and leave them in your child’s room, heading to the gift you got for them. You can make it as long or short of a path as you want. Seeing the kids get all tangled up and going after different colors of ribbon or candies is a lot of fun.

3. Decorate an Egg…When I got a little older, my family began the tradition of leaving colored hard boiled eggs for the Easter bunny. As I was told, the Bunny loved eggs! There are lots of ways to decorate an egg, but for a cheap, fun time with your kids, hard boil some eggs and let them cool. Keep them in the shell. Once they are cool, in a coffee mug or bowl, get some food coloring of your choice of color, and mix it with 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Fill the cup or bowl with water to the half way mark. Gently grab your egg and dip it half way or all the way into the mixture. Let the color sink in for just a few seconds and put to dry.

4. Another way of decorating an egg is to boil the egg and let cool. Some craft stores sell egg sleeves with scenes on them that wrap around the egg. You can get these as well and have your kids help wrap the egg!

5. Easter Baskets…Lastly, the Easter Basket. This is where the most money is spent. Kids are usually happy with some jelly beans and a chocolate bunny of some sort. Limit basket gifts to just a few items! Go to any craft store or flea market and buy an inexpensive basket. Decorate it with ribbons and play grass. Put a few gifts, chocolates, candies, and whatever else you want to get for your child and place it in the basket.

6. Once Easter is over, save the Basket! Take off any added decorations that you put on and use it again next year! Your kids won’t remember and it will save you a few bucks for years to come!

Tips & Warnings

• Enjoy the time spent with your family.
• Ensure eggs are cooled before allowing children to handle
• Wash hands thoroghly after using food coloring as this can stain hands and clothes.