EASTER EGG TREE

Good morning everyone! Everyone knows Easter is upon us and if your like me, you find yourself scrambling around at the last minute trying to dye eggs with the kids, find the perfect Easter dress clothes for the kids, attending school and church egg hunts with the kids, etc...Well, all this week I have been posting cute ideas, crafts and recipes to help you out a little. In Germany and Austria, it's customary to celebrate Easter by hanging hollow eggs from the branches of trees.Here is a sweet idea for bringing the season indoors and giving a room in your house some holiday cheer. This is a simple technique, and lends a beautiful addition to your mantle, a coffee table, or as a centerpiece on the dining room table for your Easter feast. You are sure to get lots of comments on this gorgeous display and not just from the grown ups!

Fill an Ice bucket (or pail) with floral foam, then insert grass and pussy willow branches. Or place pebbles and water into a vase, and make an arrangement using any type of branches, such as flowering quince, magnolia, forsythia, or cherry blossom.

To thread and hang the eggs, center a slipknot on a length of ribbon, and thread the ribbon ends through a large-eyed needle (or fashion a needle by folding a 12-inch length of 27-gauge wire in half; use the loop end to thread the ribbon). Gently pass the needle through both holes at the opposite ends of the eggs (you will need to take a pin and poke a small hole in each end of egg prior to this step and drain the inside out; these are raw eggs, not cooked) and pull ribbon through. Before inserting the needle, decide which end of the egg will be the bottom; the hole from which the ribbon ends protrude will be the top of your egg (see picture above). Double-knot the the ribbon above and below the egg, then tie the loose ends to a branch with a bow.

Have fun and even let the kids help out a little with this fun project! This may very well become your new Easter tradition. The kids will think of it as the Easter tree they get to decorate every year, just like the Christmas tree in December.
Also, use your imagination. Add some artificial little birds (found in any craft store), maybe paint the branches white or silver (easy to do with spray paint), or even hang some paper bunnies from the branches (just go to Martha Stewart living and download the templates free). The main thing is....HAVE FUN WITH IT!!

Erin