Looking for some simple Easter hat ideas?
I have 4 for you that make use of the simple old paper cup.
#truestory
Miss 5 is currently designing and making her hat for her first ever Easter hat parade at school.
I had to “gently” convince her that maybe she should rethink her idea about basing it around Christmas trees.
Do your kiddo’s school hold an Easter hat parade?
I’m always looking for ways to repurpose kiddy artwork.
We made these flowers from painted paper for my sister’s Baby Shower.
I first posted about them over on Red Ted’s blog.
We still have bouquets of them all over the house.
The first step for all these Easter hats involves painting the paper cup in a colour of your choice.
Punch a hole on either side of the hat. String through some yarn and this is how you will hold your hat in place.
Miss 5 also determined that we should pull her hair into a bun so that the hat can sit snugly over the bun. The kid is a genius.
For the flower tower, we glued some of our paper flowers to craft sticks.
We then used hot glue to fix these flowers to the back of the hat. (ADULT SUPERVISION, YO!)
Secure with tape if you feel it needs it. Cover these sticks and tape with more painted paper flowers. Glue painted flowers around the hat. Voila! Doneskis.
We posted about our Eric Carle-inspired eggs here.
We hot glued one to the base of the paper cup. Then use toothpicks to connect the eggs into a tower.
It’s a Leaning Tower of Eggs!
Is it okay to Eric Carle ALL THE THINGS?*
That’s a rhetorical question. Yes. Yes it is.
This egg decorating idea is inspired by the technique Eric Carle uses to illustrate his iconic picture books.
*2019 is the 50th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar and also Mr Carle’s 90th birthday.
I feel like it is the perfect year to be Carle-ifying everything. #youhavebeenwarned
Want to try egg decorating inspired by Eric Carle?
Here’s what you will need:
Tissue paper
Cardboard scraps
Acrylic paints
A variety of painting implements
Craft glue
Foam eggs
How to:
Eric Carle paints tissue paper which he then collages with to create his illustrations.
We are no strangers to this process- you can check out our painted tissue paper art here.
In that project, we painted big sheets of tissue paper.
For this project, we scaled down.
We painted smaller rectangles and squares of tissue paper- a much more manageable process!
Tape your tissue paper to cardboard scraps for a DIY easel. The paint will bleed through the tissue paper.
Tissue paper is obviously quite delicate.
This is a great exercise for mini artists to experiment with mark making and pressure. Too much paint, too much pressure and the paper will tear.
Decide on your paint colours and provide your little artists with different painting implements.
As you apply paint, you need to keep gently lifting your tissue paper up off the cardboard to prevent it sticking.
Pull out all your Eric Carle books and pore over his illustrations.
A great prompt to use with the kids is: “How do you think Eric Carle made those marks?”
If you’re looking for a cool effect, pull out the bubble wrap!
Slather some paint onto the bubble wrap and then place your tissue paper on top. Press lightly, lift and voila!
If you have a bit of paint overload happening, simply lay another piece of tissue paper on top of your design.
It’s a simple printmaking exercise that quickly increases the sheets of painted tissue paper that you have. (And trust me, you’ll want loads of the stuff!)
Once your tissue paper is all dried, here comes my favourite part!
Tear the paper into little strips, ready for collage.
Then you simply cover your foam eggs with your tissue paper pieces.
A thin layer of glue will keep corners down- just keep gently pressing down as you glue your tissue paper around the egg.
This step can get messy, so keep a wet towel nearby for your fingers.
You can use any craft glue. We were recently sent some Bostik products to trial. This is not a sponsored post!
I’m wondering how I survived this long without the Bostik Fine and Wide glue stick in my life.
It has two applicators for ease of use, a non-drip pen applicator that flows in a fine clean line as well as a spreader, for larger applications. It made the collage process super speedy.
Once your foam eggs have dried, decide what you are going to do with them.
You could use them as a table display. Or turn them into a mobile. (My sleep-deprived brain just couldn’t quite figure that one out today. But I’m sure you’ll have better luck!)
We decided to turn them into a door wreath. Because our postman deserves some Eric Carle Easter in his life too.
I simply used the hot glue gun on the eggs to affix them to an embroidery hoop. Simple!
I love seeing when people try my projects! If you try this egg decorating inspired by Eric Carle, tag me on social media! @ohcreativeday on Instagram or Facebook.
Did you have any egg decorating traditions growing up?
We didn’t.
Every Easter, I’m determined to nail the whole egg decorating business and never quite succeed.
Well, by golly, by gosh, this year I think I’ve nailed it. #modest
We had a go at egg decorating with floating chalk and the results were pretty rad.
My kids are partial to falling asleep in the car after a morning outing.
They are not of the variety who transfer from car to bed.
(Was I meant to tick a box on a form to get a kid that does that?)
It’s pretty amazing what you can achieve on your driveway whilst the kids nap in the air-conditioned comfort of the car.
A felt bilby with a wardrobe full of bow ties, for example.
(Not from Australia, and wondering what on Earth is this bilby-malarkey of which I speak?
Read this article.)
I present an Easter craft to you, completed in about 25 minutes on my front doorstep in the driveway.
#keepingitreal
My kids are still a bit too little for us to embrace chocolate-giving at Easter.
(Because let’s face it, when they are given Easter eggs, I end up eating most of them.
I’m totally selfless like that. Don’t want them getting cavities or anything like that.)
They definitely get books as Easter gifts. Gotta love books for their cavity-free nature.
Here are 8 of my favourite books featuring bunnies or bilbies, perfect for Easter gifts.
Only one of them is specifically an Easter book.
The other 7 feature bunnies or bilbies in many varied forms.
