Holly has a bit of pressure on her when it comes to this year's Easter Bonnet parade at nursery. For the last 4 years in a row, either Lara or Holly has won the annual Easter Bonnet competition and Holly would really like to win it again - this weekend she spent nearly a whole day creating things for her masterpiece this year.
I won't share our secret formula for winning the Easter Bonnet competition but I will say this - Holly is incredibly independent when it comes to homemade crafts. When she sees her older sister cutting, glueing, sewing, shaping, painting and sticking she wants to do all of the things that her older sibling does. Often I think she'll struggle with the concentration or dexterity required but she always surprises me. Holly's Easter Bonnet this year is entirely of her own making. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and told me what she needed. When she has struggled, she has asked for help but in many cases she has just needed some tips on how to approach a problem - such as how to hold her ha taught while she sticks things on it. I'm very proud of her, whether or not she is a winner!
Holly's hat has been created using craft kits and Easter themed craft materials from Yellow Moon - our one-stop shop for children's craft activities. I think this is one of my very favourite times of year for crafting with the girls because there are so many fun ideas of things you can make.
Lara and Holly have decorated our dining room with a string of foam rabbits, each of whom is dressed in a different outfit. One of these handsome rabbits has made it into Holly's Easter millinery!
My girls love working together in the front room - Lara helps with the more fiddly tasks such as peeling the backing off foam shapes. Holly barks instructions, for instance to tell Lara what colour paint to use.
Yellow Moon's range of Easter craft activities this year range from spring animals (we loved painting wooden chicks and lambs but it did get VERY messy) to everything you need to lay on your own Easter egg hunt. Lara and Holly have still got some special colour-your-own Easter egg presentation boxes to create, and some bunny rabbit mosaics. But the girls most fell in love with these beautiful paper baskets which they very creatively filled with other Easter-themed materials.
These little spring baskets come in a set of 8. The base folds and slides together (we used tape to make it sturdy enough to hold chocolate eggs!) and the handle is held in place using metal clips. Lara and Holly chose to fill their baskets with coloured shredded tissue paper (a Yellow Moon staple) and topped with tiny glittery decorative eggs which come in a pack of 100. The baskets look so cute that we have placed them in the window for everyone to see, alongside our daffodils and spring flowers.
We can't wait until Easter and I'm sure there will be lots more crafting to come!
