#imstayingathome – Ideas for DIY Easter Decorations

This year’s Easter will surely be unusual. We will be spending it at home only with our closest ones, without guests, without family walks and picnics outside the city. Even though it won’t be easy for anyone, we strongly believe that this state of things will very soon become a mere memory, thanks to which we’ll appreciate the closeness of our loved ones even more.

And despite the difficult circumstances, it’s worth trying to make this holiday retain its warmhearted and hopeful spirit. Appropriate decorations will help you create a joyous Pascha atmosphere in your home. In this post, we would like to show you four ornaments that you can make by yourself (or with your kids!); and don’t worry, we’re sure that you’ll find all the necessary materials at your home.

1. Eco dyeing!

We can bet that most of you know this way of egg dyeing from your parents or grandparents. It often turns out that old recipes are not only the best but also the most environmentally-friendly methods! Here’s what you’ll need to create naturally colorful Easter eggs with herbal patterns:

• 250 ml water,
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar,
• 10 g turmeric powder (for yellow dye),
• 1 cup crushed blueberries (for blue dye),
• one part blue dye and one part yellow dye (for green dye),
• onion skins from 6 onions (for orange dye),
• 1 big chopped beetroot (for dark pink dye),
• 1 teaspoon salt,
• flat-petal flowers or plant and herbal leaves,
• stockings or pantyhose,
• scissors,
• paintbrush,
• egg white,
• rubber bands.

To obtain natural dye solution, mix water and vinegar in a saucepan and leave on medium heat. Next, add one of the above mentioned substances (of course, you can add more or less of a given ingredient depending on the effect you want to achieve), and cook for about 20 minutes. Add salt. Pour each solution into separate bowls.

Now prepare eggs with floral motifs. If you prefer Easter eggs without patterns, just skip this step. Use a paintbrush to cover chosen flat-petal flowers and leaves with egg white. Place them on the eggs wherever you like and leave for a few minutes to let the egg white set. Cut the pantyhose or stockings into 10-cm-long pieces, then gently place eggs inside and secure ends with rubber bands.

Next, gently put the eggs into containers filled with solutions and leave for minimum 30 minutes. Some dyes (for example, yellow) may need more time to stain the eggs – if you think that the color isn’t saturated enough, let the eggs sit in the solution for a few hours or overnight. After taking out the eggs from the solutions, remove rubber bands from pantyhose pieces. Carefully unwrap the eggs and gently take off the leaves and flowers. Delicately rinse the eggs and pat dry them with a soft cloth. If you want to make them shiny, just rub the eggs with some vegetable oil.

2. Cotton wool lamb

Our next proposition will certainly make the youngest ones happy. To create a cute, fluffy lamb, you’ll need:

1. paper plate,
2. cotton wool (preferably cotton balls),
3. googly eyes (optionally),
4. black Bristol board,
5. pencil,
6. scissors,
7. glue (preferably glue gun or Super Glue tube).

Cut out the lamb’s legs (2 pieces) and head from black Bristol board – you can first draw outlines of the shapes to make cutting out easier. In our version, the lamb is facing forward, so its rear legs and tail aren’t visible. Glue googly eyes (in case you don’t have them, you can cut them out from a white piece of paper and draw pupils with a gel pen) onto the lamb’s head.

Next, take a paper plate and glue cotton balls side by side onto it to obtain full coverage of the paper plate. You have now created your lamb’s fluffy body.

Finally, attach the head and legs. And… it’s ready!

3. Marbling Easter eggs with… nail polish!

Are you looking for a way to decorate your Easter eggs using things which you can find at home? Try painting them with a nail polish! But don’t use a paintbrush (that’s not original at all), instead, try a marbling method, thanks to which you’ll be able to create small, colorful pieces of art!

Here’s what you’ll need:

• container with water,
• nail polishes in your favorite colors,
• toothpick,
• teaspoon,
• egg cups.

Drip a few drops of nail polish onto the surface of the water. The amount and order of colors will influence the final effect of your marble pattern. Use a toothpick to spread the nail polish around the surface of the water – you can make even lines or wild squiggles. Next, quickly, but carefully submerge the egg and quickly pull it out. Set the egg on the egg cup to dry.

After pulling out every egg, scoop nail polish out of the water with a teaspoon.

4. Sock bunny

Do you have a pair of socks (colorful ones will be perfect) in your drawer that you’re no longer wearing? Instead of throwing them away, try to use them to create an adorable Easter bunny! For this project, you'll need the following:

• sock,
• rice,
• few colors of felt (or any other material you prefer),
• googly eyes (optional),
• small rubber bands (clear or in the same color as your sock),
• ribbon,
• glue or needle and thread,
•  

Fill the sock with rice (leave the cuff empty) and use two rubber bands to tie it in two places to create bunny’s body and head.

Next, cut an oval shape out of felt and glue it (or sew it) onto the front of bunny’s body – it will be his belly. Cut teeth and nose out of felt; if you don’t have googly eyes, just cut them out of felt, too (bigger circles for the eyes and smaller ones for the pupils). This way you’ll receive your bunny’s muzzle. Don’t forget about his tail! Glue a cotton ball onto the back of bunny’s body, and he’ll be almost ready to hop around.

Tie a ribbon in a bow around your bunny’s neck (try to hide the rubber band as best as you can).

There’s one last thing to do – your bunny’s ears! Cut the sock length (the part that isn’t stuffed with rice) in half vertically, and shape the ends by trimming the material to make it look like bunny ears.

And that’s it – your very own cute Easter bunny is finished!

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We hope you enjoyed the above ideas for Easter decorations, and that thanks to them your homes will be filled with a colorful, joyful, festive spirit!