Happy Easter from the whole EtsyKids Team!!
Showing posts with label easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label easter. Show all posts
Tutorial:: Onion Skin Dyed Eggs
Posted Wednesday, March 27, 2013
I hope you’ll indulge me for a bit as I share an Easter activity of my childhood. This came from my father and I’m realizing now, that I’m not sure of it’s origin to him … meaning I don’t know if his mother did this technique or if he learned about it and started the tradition with us. But each year he dyes eggs with onion skins. My mother saves skins in a plastic bag all year long for this ritual. As teens we rolled our eyes at the bag of skins collecting in the back corner of the pantry, periodically trying to sneak the eye sore into the trash. Now I understand just how long it takes to collect a bag of onion skins AND how many it takes to dye just a few eggs.
Isn’t the result beautiful! Stunning and no two are a like. If you like, you can then drop these into traditional dyes and see what you come up with. My favorites were green and blue.
You start with a collection of onion skins … the dry crackly brown skins that surround regular onions, raw eggs, and a leg from old pantyhose, a trouser sock, or even the netting onions are sold in works.
Carefully and completely surround each egg in layers of onion skins. Place in the toe of your stocking/bottom of your net. Make sure the egg is completely surrounded by a couple of layers of skins, and tightly packed in the toe. Tie a knot in the stocking, or use a small rubber band to tightly tie off the net. The skins need to be held firmly to the egg while the water to saturates the skins and dyes the eggs. Repeat these steps until you run out of stocking/net, onion skins or eggs.
The water will go from clear to yellow, to orange and then red … it’s working!!
Once you’re pretty sure the eggs are cooked, remove your link of eggs from the pot and place on paper toweling to cool. Once they are cool enough to touch you can cut apart the stocking (unless you have the patience of Job to undo each knot) or undo your rubber bands to remove each onion skin egg bundle.
And this is what you’ll find inside:
Isn’t the result beautiful! Stunning and no two are a like. If you like, you can then drop these into traditional dyes and see what you come up with. My favorites were green and blue.
You start with a collection of onion skins … the dry crackly brown skins that surround regular onions, raw eggs, and a leg from old pantyhose, a trouser sock, or even the netting onions are sold in works.
Place in a pan of cool water, submerge a few times to start to saturate the stocking and skins. Set on stove and turn on the heat. Bring to a boil and simmer 1 minute. Rotate the link of eggs, turning them over part way through the process.
The water will go from clear to yellow, to orange and then red … it’s working!!
Once you’re pretty sure the eggs are cooked, remove your link of eggs from the pot and place on paper toweling to cool. Once they are cool enough to touch you can cut apart the stocking (unless you have the patience of Job to undo each knot) or undo your rubber bands to remove each onion skin egg bundle.
And this is what you’ll find inside:
So beautiful and unique! They catch everyone’s eye and make a lovey addition to an Easter or Spring centerpiece given their rich, earthy colors. So start saving your onion skins and pin this for next year!
By the way, an old homemaking tip from our grandmothers … my mother-in-law said they would add a couple onion skins to the water when they hard boiling eggs to dye. Apparently, it helps the color dye adhere to the eggs.
Kathleen is a regular contributor to the EtsyKids blog and can be found on Etsy, Facebook, Twitter, at her blog TinyStitches.
Let's Get Dressed Up! EK SpringSale Feature
Posted Friday, March 22, 2013
Melting snow and longer days meant one thing to me as a child; time to break out the summer dresses!
After spending the winter bundled in humiliating snow suits, dreaming of warmer days and flip flops, the day Mom replaced the wool sweaters in my dresser with parfait colored shorts and light dresses was a magical one. Spring has been a long time coming this year, making shopping for this wished for season a great way to melt away the winter blues.
Check out these shops for great sales and a spring preview.
After spending the winter bundled in humiliating snow suits, dreaming of warmer days and flip flops, the day Mom replaced the wool sweaters in my dresser with parfait colored shorts and light dresses was a magical one. Spring has been a long time coming this year, making shopping for this wished for season a great way to melt away the winter blues.
Check out these shops for great sales and a spring preview.
Sugar Bunny Cookies
Posted Monday, February 25, 2013
Spring is nearly here! And with that comes Easter yay!!
I love Easter! So many happy bright colours, and chocolate and playing outside in the sunshine again! Happy times : )
Getting all excited for Easter I wanted to make some cookies for the weekend, so made bunny cookies!
I used a basic sugar cookie recipe to make them, then added white icing and chocolate sprinkles. So super easy, and if you don't have a rabbit cookie cutter, why not make flowers with coloured sprinkles?
Ingredients:
Put the butter into a bowl, (if like me you forgot to take it out of the fridge to soften, zap it on a very low heat in the microwave so its soft but not melting). Add the sugar to the butter and mix together until it is light and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla essence and mix it up well again.
Slowly add the flour to the mixture, it works best to mix in with a spoon and not electric mixer I find.
Once the flour is mixed in, knead the mixture into a smooth dough. This bit is important for a nice texture and for rolling!
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 15-30 mins.
Preheat the oven to 180*C. While the oven is heating sprinkle a surface with some flour and a rolling pin and roll out the dough to about 1cm thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out your cookies and place them on a lightly greased baking tin. You can place them close together as the cookies will not grow in the oven.
Bake the cookies for 10 mins in the oven, until the edges are starting to turn golden brown. Leave them to cool on a wire rack before eating/decorating.
For the icing I used Brown Eyed Baker's tutorial, and managed to do it, although I have never been very good at icing!!
And then you add the sprinkles while the icing is still wet. And thats it! Enjoy your spring cookies!
I love Easter! So many happy bright colours, and chocolate and playing outside in the sunshine again! Happy times : )
Getting all excited for Easter I wanted to make some cookies for the weekend, so made bunny cookies!
I used a basic sugar cookie recipe to make them, then added white icing and chocolate sprinkles. So super easy, and if you don't have a rabbit cookie cutter, why not make flowers with coloured sprinkles?
Ingredients:
- 100g Butter
- 100g Caster Sugar
- 1 Egg
- Splash of vanilla essence
- 225g Plain flour
Put the butter into a bowl, (if like me you forgot to take it out of the fridge to soften, zap it on a very low heat in the microwave so its soft but not melting). Add the sugar to the butter and mix together until it is light and fluffy.
Add the egg and vanilla essence and mix it up well again.
Slowly add the flour to the mixture, it works best to mix in with a spoon and not electric mixer I find.
Once the flour is mixed in, knead the mixture into a smooth dough. This bit is important for a nice texture and for rolling!
Wrap the dough in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 15-30 mins.
Preheat the oven to 180*C. While the oven is heating sprinkle a surface with some flour and a rolling pin and roll out the dough to about 1cm thick. Use cookie cutters to cut out your cookies and place them on a lightly greased baking tin. You can place them close together as the cookies will not grow in the oven.
Bake the cookies for 10 mins in the oven, until the edges are starting to turn golden brown. Leave them to cool on a wire rack before eating/decorating.
For the icing I used Brown Eyed Baker's tutorial, and managed to do it, although I have never been very good at icing!!
And then you add the sprinkles while the icing is still wet. And thats it! Enjoy your spring cookies!
Though the Weather Outside is Frightful
Posted Saturday, February 23, 2013
This was what my road looked like last week after 3 feet of snow fell in Connecticut. I love the way the trees look in their winter white, but it's getting a little old. The snow, that is. It's pretty at first, but now a week later, melting and refreezing, dirt thrown from the snowblower, the picture postcard charm is gone.
If I can't look outside for signs of spring, I'll try inside instead. In my studio, I pulled out 50 yards of pastel and floral prints that I bought in the Garment District in New York, last year. Why I haven't done anything with them yet, I can't imagine. But I was very glad to have their cheery prints flung over my table. I am going to sew up a spring.
If you can't wait for April showers or May flowers either right, now is a great time to check out these Etsykids Shops on Etsy. Here are a few signs of early spring, delivered right to your door.
Leilas Flower Garden has everything you need to grow a garden on a bedroom wall. You don't even need dirt or a shovel. Never mind my daughter's room, I want these for my studio right now.
Crochet Village sells every pattern you could need to whip up your own bit of warm whimsy. The flamingos make me want to book my Florida plane tickets, right now!
Tutorial:: Bunny & Egg Garland
Posted Tuesday, April 03, 2012
[This craft makes an excellent after school activity for older children .]
Your crafty decorator is baaaaaaack….. with another fun project to replace those adorable Shamrocks that hung from your windows for St. Patrick’s Day. Today we’re making bunnies and eggs! The concept is the same as the Shamrocks, so go gather up a few simple items and we’ll be hopping down the bunny trail.
Materials needed:
- Bunny and Egg clip art or draw your own to suit your taste.
- 2 sheets of paper or cardstock. Cardstock works better.
- Scissors. For this project I used pinking shears because it looks cuter.
- Hole punch or awl. I have a punch with a very small hole, which is better than your average hole punch.
- Glue
- Fabric marker or permanent marker
- Yarn – white
- Felt or Craft Foam. I like the “natural” look of felt over foam. I chose pastels and ecru. Darker colors don’t show up as well from the street as pastels.
- Craft pompoms, large and small sizes. Coordinating colors for your bunny nose and tail.
- Tape
Now, let’s get started:
1) Copy or trace the Bunny & Egg shape onto the paper/card stock. Cut them out. I have 2 sizes of bunnies on mine.
2) Trace bunnies & egg onto Felt or Foam. If your bunny shape is symmetrical, you can fold the shape in half, fold the felt and place the shape on the fold before cutting it out – see picture on right, below. Don’t cut the fold.
3) Cut them out. Pinking shears give a more festive look to these shapes instead of straight-edge scissors.
4) Glue a pompom on one side for the bunny tail. I used small pompoms for my little bunnies and large ones for the big bunnies.
5) Glue small pompom on the OPPOSITE side for bunny nose.
6) Cut TWO very SMALL holes with hole punch or awl, evenly
spaced about an inch from the top and bottom of shape. I chose
to make them right at the tail and nose of bunny shapes.
7) Cut yarn to desired length for windows or doors. I wrap a piece of tape on the end of the yarn so it doesn't fray and is easier to slip through the holes.
8) Slip yarn thru holes in bunnies & eggs. Tie a knot at the bottom so the bunny doesn’t slip off.
9) Hang with tape on windows or doors. TA DA!
If you are REALLY creative, add glitter or other adornments to your “egg” shapes. You can cut circles or other shapes from the felt and glue onto the eggs. I think I’ll be embellishing mine for next year!
So now you have these for St. Patrick’s Day and Easter. I’ll be back with another one soon. I’m considering creating a kit to sell and/or taking orders for completed decorations. Let me know what you think. Would you rather go the craft store to buy all the materials and make this yourself (with your kids), or open up a box with a set for your favorite holiday?
Now I’m going to break into the speckled eggs and celebrate a little early! Happy Easter!!
Keep up with ComfyCozyKeepsakes on facebook and at her Etsy Shop:
Tutorial: Spring Chick
Posted Tuesday, March 20, 2012
From Steph of NewMillie of This Homemade Life.
Has your weather been as crazy as it has been in Texas? Last week we had a few days of high 70's, low 80's with humidity and now for the last 3 days it has been pouring rain and 50 degrees. It's confusing, and I decided we needed a bit of Spring in our lives, and I want to share with you this little Spring Chick tutorial!!
1. Yarn. I used yellow, pink, black and orange, but you could make your little chick whatever color your little heart desires.
2. Hook. I used a 4.25 mm, but once again it's whatever you want.
3. Felt.
4. Hot glue
5. Hair clip or headband
Stitches used:
ch- chain
sl st- slip stitch
sc- single crochet-
hdc- half double crochet
dc- double stitch
tr- treble- Yarn over hook twice, then insert hook into next stitch. Yarn over hook, then draw yarn through the stitch (there will be four loops on your hook) *Yarn over and pull through two loops (three loop remaining), yarn over and pull through two loop,(two loops remaining) yarn over and pull through last two loops.
dbl tr- double treble- Same process as the treble, except yarn over hook three times to start the stitch
trp tr- triple treble- Same process as the double treble, except yarn over hook four times to start the stitch
Are you thoroughly
Chick Body
Chain 4, sl st to form ring
Round 1- 10 sc into the ring
Round 2- 2 sc in first st, sc in 2nd st, 1 hdc and 1 dc in 3rd st, 2 dc in the 4th st,
2 dc in 5th st, 2 sc in 6th st, 1 sc and 1 dc in 7th st, 2 tr in 8th st, 2 dbl tr in 9th st,
2 dbl tr in 10th st.
2 dc in 5th st, 2 sc in 6th st, 1 sc and 1 dc in 7th st, 2 tr in 8th st, 2 dbl tr in 9th st,
2 dbl tr in 10th st.
Round 3- starting in the first stitch of the previous round, 2 dbl tr and 1 trp tr in st,
ch1 and sl st in same st (this is your tail). I also pulled my starting string to close up the hole.
ch1 and sl st in same st (this is your tail). I also pulled my starting string to close up the hole.
Wing
Chain 4, sl st to form ring
Round 1- (crocheting into the ring)- sc, hdc, dc, 2 tr, dc, hdc, 2 sc, hdc, dc,
2 tr, dc, hdc, sc, sl sp into next stitch.
2 tr, dc, hdc, sc, sl sp into next stitch.
Finishing
1. Sew wing onto chick
2. Use black yarn to make a little eye
3. Use orange yarn to make a little beak. (I just found the stitch I wanted to be the beak and attached yarn, sc, ch 1, sc, ch1, sl st all in the same stitch.)
4. Finish and weave in all your ends
School Days with AveryLane
Posted Saturday, September 24, 2011
Guest post from AveryLane.
For parents, the start of a new school year usually prompts shopping trips for crayons, pencils, and notebook paper. For many it stirs memories of their own feelings of anticipation and excitement: first day of school outfits, lunchboxes, and backpacks. For me, one family tradition was our special trip for new school shoes. Every year the kids would scramble into our VW Microbus and head out to the Stride Rite shoe store, a thirty minute car ride. It was usually hot, but this was a trip no one ever seemed to fuss about.
Red shoes, so unpractical, but for our special new school shoes, we were given much liberty in our choice. The signature oblong shaped balloon completed the transaction and mesmerized me all the way home. Exultantly, I would save my shoes for the anticipated day, for when the group of neighborhood kids gathered on the sidewalk and walked in groups of twos, threes, or more toward the school building 3 blocks away. Ecstatic was I to discover no one else had shoes like mine. The feeling of bounding in new school shoes has never been forgotten or too distant in my long term memory.Traditions are a big deal to my kids today. Among the many traditions we have, we do the new school shoes thing, but I fear it does not hold the same special distinction that it once held. We usually go to Nordstom, where my little one is treated as though the multitude of other shoppers do not exist (once our number is called). Waited on by a courteous attendant, she tries on anything her heart desires and chooses her shoes according to her fancy. The balloon may or may not come at the conclusion of the event, but she does wait eagerly until the first day of school to feel the shoes on her feet again.
Things have indeed changed. Bargains supersede quality. No longer does a parent need to physically go to a store to shop. Online shopping has taken away the burden, or merriment, depending on how you look at things. Adaptation is invention’s twin sister.
Since hand-me-downs are the bulk of our new school clothes wardrobe, a tradition I have created with my little girl is to pick one or two special outfits. She is my biggest fan and helps design a dress or outfit for me to sew for her. She chooses the fabric and style. She watches as my hands cut and stitch together her mind’s creation. As the clothing comes together, I can feel a part of her going into it. I think about her as I work the seams and topstitch the details. Trying on the partially completed new designs to personally fit them to her unique shape, I can see these are special to her. She asks questions and remarks about her excitement for the first day of school; she wonders who will be in her class, or who her teacher will be. It’s clear we are both personally and emotionally invested in her new garb, making it more special. You can’t buy that and it’s not possible to mass produce this.
A sweet pink backpack (right) from ChildishThoughts is sure to help build fond memories this fall season that will last. Or if monsters are the thing that drives them wild, this backpack (left) from TheSewingLoft will have them doing flips.Accessories for little girls are plentiful on Etsy and EtsyKids sellers have some of the best quality and styles available, from bows to jewelry. I allow my daughters to browse the EtsyKids shops and select their own. We sit together and enjoy reading about the designers and artisans. We love it when we find a seller in our home state of Oregon, so we can do our part to boost the local economy. Help teach your kids about the ethical and helpful choice of shopping local the EtsyKids way, by using the shop local feature on etsy and then use the key words: “EtsyKids Team.”
AveryLane the Blog.
For parents, the start of a new school year usually prompts shopping trips for crayons, pencils, and notebook paper. For many it stirs memories of their own feelings of anticipation and excitement: first day of school outfits, lunchboxes, and backpacks. For me, one family tradition was our special trip for new school shoes. Every year the kids would scramble into our VW Microbus and head out to the Stride Rite shoe store, a thirty minute car ride. It was usually hot, but this was a trip no one ever seemed to fuss about.
Red shoes, so unpractical, but for our special new school shoes, we were given much liberty in our choice. The signature oblong shaped balloon completed the transaction and mesmerized me all the way home. Exultantly, I would save my shoes for the anticipated day, for when the group of neighborhood kids gathered on the sidewalk and walked in groups of twos, threes, or more toward the school building 3 blocks away. Ecstatic was I to discover no one else had shoes like mine. The feeling of bounding in new school shoes has never been forgotten or too distant in my long term memory.Things have indeed changed. Bargains supersede quality. No longer does a parent need to physically go to a store to shop. Online shopping has taken away the burden, or merriment, depending on how you look at things. Adaptation is invention’s twin sister.
Since hand-me-downs are the bulk of our new school clothes wardrobe, a tradition I have created with my little girl is to pick one or two special outfits. She is my biggest fan and helps design a dress or outfit for me to sew for her. She chooses the fabric and style. She watches as my hands cut and stitch together her mind’s creation. As the clothing comes together, I can feel a part of her going into it. I think about her as I work the seams and topstitch the details. Trying on the partially completed new designs to personally fit them to her unique shape, I can see these are special to her. She asks questions and remarks about her excitement for the first day of school; she wonders who will be in her class, or who her teacher will be. It’s clear we are both personally and emotionally invested in her new garb, making it more special. You can’t buy that and it’s not possible to mass produce this.We've carried this ideal into other traditions, like buying handmade school supplies. I feel strongly that thoughtfulness and caring goes into the product from those hands that personally create the product, something worth supporting. As a little part of the creator goes into the creation, the creator shares herself with others. Here are some thoughtful choices for ethical back to school shopping from some talented and caring Etsykids members:
A sweet pink backpack (right) from ChildishThoughts is sure to help build fond memories this fall season that will last. Or if monsters are the thing that drives them wild, this backpack (left) from TheSewingLoft will have them doing flips.Here are some of our favorite shops for bows and hats:
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I have learned many EtsyKids Team members will happily take special requests for modifications and specific fabrics.
BrooksBoutique offers a beautiful collection of reusable sandwich bags and snack bags from which to choose. Love this baseball print reusable snack bag from GrannyZann, or a Yogi Bear print. MamaMade has an enormous selection of eco-friendly products, including large and sandwich sized reusable bags. And NanaBrowns offers a custom design listing for a zipper topped lunch tote.
The coolest thing in the modern lunch box has got to be the crochet apple sack. Perfect for the teacher on the first day of school! IrishHooksAndYarn has one listed that she can ship out in about a week.
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If you are like me and create handmade wardrobe or supplies for your young ones, there are many supplies to be had on Etsy. From fabric to patterns, DIY can be a snap with the help of Etsykids sellers. MonkeyAndFriends offers fabric and patterns at great prices, and you'll find a wonderful hat patterns at palomiux.
AveryLane the Blog.
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