Dinosaurs, Bunnies, and Eggs, Oh My!

The idea that bunnies lay eggs is pretty hilarious. But for some reason we as a society have come up with an idea that a bunny hops around on Easter hiding eggs for children to find. I mean, if you think about it, it's a pretty hilariously crazy idea. But it's a big part of Easter celebrations in the States (and here in Germany as well). Of course the main reason for Easter is Jesus rising from the dead, buuut bunnies are much more fluffy and adorable that a crown of thorns, so society focuses on the bunny and his egg deliveries.

Bunnies are of course adorable, but I don't have a bunny. So when it comes to Easter I focus on eggs (and Jesus duhh. But this post shall be all about eggs). I love and hate them. They can be so delicious, but often if I eat too many within a couple months I can't eat them for several months after. Obviously Easter is a time were my belly sees a lot of eggs. And this year was no different. My friend Nacha and I did two different egg related crafts this Easter weekend, so we ate around 30 eggs collectively (with help from friends). But needless to say, I will be happy to not see any eggs for quite some time.

A very typical craft in the U.S. (and in Germany from what I've seen) is the dying and decorating of eggs. I can't remember an Easter that didn't involve said tradition of hard boiling eggs, dying them, and then adding various decorations like stickers. I loved getting dye all over my fingers and creating strange hybrid colors and patterns. I still do. So Nacha and I decided to dye 10 eggs one afternoon. She was super excited because she had never dyed eggs back home in Chile. Her boyfriend Bernie on the other hand, who is also from Chile, had dyed eggs before. So we set out the typical tools of the trade: hard boiled eggs, bowls filled with water, vinegar, and food dye tablets. Then we began dipping the eggs in the bowls; Nacha going for the tradition colors (yellow, green, blue, purple, pink/red), and I mixing and matching as usual. We set our newly dyed eggs on paper towels to dry. Once they were completely dry, we proceeded to draw on them with Sharpies. Which is something I have never done before, but it was extremely fun. We made designs, wrote things, drew pretty pictures; I even made one a dinosaur egg. Once finished, we decided that we had so much fun that we needed to decorate more eggs. So we decided to meet up the next day to be even more creative and try a craft that I've always done with my grandma for Easter.

Nacha dying an egg pink.

Me drawing on an egg while Nacha shows off another of my creations.

Nacha and her finished eggs!

Nacha's polka dot egg.

Me and my finished eggs.

My dinosaur egg.

Our egg-tastic creations!

 My grandma is a creative genius. She is the one who fostered my love for all things artsy. So it's no surprise that she has a craft that we have done every Easter since I can remember. It involves eggs (surprise, surprise) and is quite simple, yet requires some skill for it turn out beautiful. Nacha and I felt up to the challenge, so we gathered the needed supplies and got to work.

Supplies:
1. Various types of paper napkins with cute patterns cut into medium sized squares (we got three different types)
2. Watered down white glue
3. White glitter (make sure it isn't too fine)
4. Ribbons (optional)
5. Something sharp to poke holes in eggs (we used a thumb tack)
6. Bowls to hold napkin pieces, glitter, and glue
7. As many eggs as you desire (just make sure to get proportional amount of other supplies, we made 20 eggs)

Our work station.

Directions:
1. Poke small hole in each end of egg.

Nacha poking holes in egg.

Eggs with holes.

 2. Blow egg white and egg yoke out of egg shell. Then rinse off with water and pat dry with paper towel.

Me blowing the egg white and egg yolk out of egg shell.

3. Apply watered down glue onto the egg with your finger. Then take a piece of napkin and gently place the napkin on the egg, smoothing it to be flush with the egg. Then repeat until the whole egg is covered with napkin.

Applying napkin squares onto egg.

 4. Once egg is covered, roll egg around in the bowl full of glitter. You can also just sprinkle the glitter on.

Our now very glittery eggs.

 5. Let egg dry. Once dry you have two options. With a hot glue gun you can add on a bow and create a little ribbon loop so you are able to hang the egg, or you can just leave it as is. Since we didn't have a hot glue gun, we opted for the second option.

A great place to let them dry is in their original egg carton.

 6. Display in a bowl somewhere (preferably with fake grass) so that all your friends will see your awesome craft skills.

See how awesome a basket makes these lil guys look?!

Ta-da! You have just created one of my favorite Easter memories. Yes, it's slightly a gluey glittery mess of a craft, but what's a good craft without a little mess? Nacha and I are very proud of our eggs. Of course they come no where near to how awesome my grandma makes them look, but that's okay. Hopefully someday I will be just as awesome, telling my grandkiddos how to make these eggs.

So that is all I have to say about eggs. I am egged out. My dear reader, I hope that you and your family and friends had a wonderful Easter. Frohe Ostern!

And remember... He is risen! He is risen indeed.

I Blame HGTV

Growing up my Mom and I would watch HGTV together in the evenings. This was usually after everyone had gone to bed, because otherwise the TV was taken over by my Step dad or little sisters.

My mom and I loved watching all the shows on HGTV. Our favorite show had to be House Hunters. It was so fun guessing what house the family would choose and then groaning and telling them they should have picked one of the other houses because of x, y, and z. Other shows we favored were the ones (there were several types) that would renovate a family's house, room, backyard etc. My mom and I would discuss and talk with each other and the TV about the good choices or terribly tacky decisions the home owners and the designers would make. We would even talk about how we would make our backyard look or what we would change about the house if we could.

I loved those evenings with my mom. It put my already creative mind into overdrive. I hoped that one day I would become an interior designer (still kind of a secret wish). I'm sure I annoyed the heck out of my parents by begging to redecorate my room every time my interests or style changed (which was frequently). They were gracious enough to let me change it up several times. My last room redesign was vintage Hawaiian, which I still adore and plan to use it some how when I get an apartment. But that won't be for a bit since I will be out of the country for a year. But recently I have found myself in an exciting situation: I get to design my Germany room. I just about died in a fit of excited giggles when I found out that I was free to design away. I'm still giggling in fact...

My German parents are moving within the next two weeks from Freiburg to Karlsruhe and thus have found a new place to live. Their (our!) new apartment is absolutely fabulous. Huge rooms, nice hardwood, and it's on the top floor of this super neat looking building. I fell in love when they showed me pictures of it, and I'm sure it's going to look even more amazing once furniture and such is moved in.

My room is kind of like its own apartment. It's apart of the main apartment but you can't access it from the main apartment unless you walk out the front door and go through my front door. My mini apartment is essentially mother-in-law quarters: I have a nice sized room and then my own bathroom. Its really funky shaped because of being on the top floor of a building with a really interesting roof. But I think it gives the room character and it lends to the feeling that it is my own little place.

My German fam told me that they would by me furniture and then when I got there we could go shopping at Ikea so I could personalize the space. I was on German Ikea till like four a.m. last night avoiding sleep because I was so absorbed in researching what items I wanted for the room. I am such a goober! There is just something so delightful about taking an empty room and filling it with items that I selected and look fabulous together. And since it's a blank slate I could run anywhere with this design. But I decided not to go with something wild and crazy and not me, just because I could do whatever I wanted. I want this room to be very me, with a German twist. It is going to look lovely and I can't wait to get over there and start decorating.

That's all I have got for now. I could give you a nice philosophical thought on people and decorating, but I am in a planning frenzy and must get back to German Ikea.