happy easter

i love traditions. as i get older, i realize this more and more. maybe part of the reason is a deep down longing for things to be in order, to progress according to plan (for all my apparent cavalier wandering here and there, i am a tiny bit neurotic). i especially love holiday traditions, the idea of doing a certain thing on a certain day, and of course there should be a craft project involved! in my family, we always dyed eggs using the ukrainian wax resist method, pysanky. the photo above is this traditional style from learn pysanky, where you can also, you guessed it, learn how to make your own.

last month, design sponge featured this technique too with simple directions from the bbb craft sisters.

i am not sure where my mom picked up this craft (perhaps her two crafty aunts who featured prominently in many crafting tales? some local european?) but it was our tradition as long as i can remember, along with hanging the eggs on a pussy willow 'egg tree', and hunting for boiled eggs dyed with paas. and making and wearing bunny ears headbands/crowns.

here is a brilliant project of felted eggs on stitch/craft via whip up. holly's clever idea was to make felted eggs by wrapping wool roving around a plastic egg, which leaves the inside hollow. smart. probably many feltmakers have tried making felt eggs; last year i made them, and tried dying them along with regular eggs. the dye worked fine, but it took forever for them to dry, since they were solid felt balls! holly used roving which was already dyed, but someday i want to try this with white wool, but put a little weight inside the plastic eggs, and then dye the felt eggs.

last year i also created this woven felt basket, with was designed for a flower girl basket but would be perfect for easter. i really enjoyed that project, and not just because it was for my friend's wedding, and an adorable flower girl, but also because it's so fun to work with craft felt.
but these easter baskets are the best ever! sweet things grew her own easter grass right in the baskets. wonderful.

this morning, after sleeping in and waking up late to a beautiful sunny warm sunday, i sat for a moment in the doorway to my balcony. i missed one of my most favorite traditions--lazy sunday mornings, friends gathering for breakfast, sitting on the porch in the sun, sharing sections of the sunday paper, and drinking lots of coffee.

i hope you enjoy the day, whatever big or little traditions you have, or just a lovely sunday.