Homemade Gifts for Easter

Easter is a time of indulgence and celebration of new life. And what better way to mark this time of year than with a gorgeous homemade gift?

There are many Easter traditions across the globe, and it can be fun discovering and incorporating them into your own family festivities. In Sweden for example, they have an Easter tree which is beautifully decorated with feathers and little Easter ornaments; and in England, children have egg races, to see which hard boiled and beautifully painted egg reaches the bottom of the hill first and in tact.

If you have children, then this can be a wonderful time of year to get their creative fingers going and keep them entertained, whilst making homemade gifts for your friends and neighbours. Start with some simple egg painting (see Reader's Digest for pattern ideas, and Meyamo for tips on vegetable paints), and then perhaps watch Life of Brian, The Passion of the Christ, Charlie and The Chocolate Factory or All Dogs Go To Heaven - depending on your sense of humour and the ages of those watching! You can then use the finished eggs as decorations in your own home, swap with friends or take part in an egg race.

For Easter Sunday, set up an egg hunt. You can do this a few different ways... either:
a) Hide small foil wrapped chocolate eggs in the garden in a variety of places - the first child to find ten wins a big prize. You could even make special baskets with ribbon for everyone to collect them in.
b) Write a list of clues, and hide eggs around the house - with each set of gifts there should be a new clue for the next hiding place - make sure the kids take it in turns! Include gifts and ornamens from family in the hunt too.

     1. Send Easter Cookies in the Post!
Whatever shape and flavour you choose, make sure they are sturdy and non-crumbly. Traditional homemade Easter biscuits with spice and dried fruit are a great option, as are egg shaped butter biscuits with colored icing or chick shaped shortbread. Be inventive, and maybe dip them in chocolate for an extra little surprise! It will be a lovely surprise for all friends and family - how often do people receive cookies in the mail?

     2. Easter Tree Decorations
Just like the Germans and the Swedish do at this time of year, start this tradition in your own home. Simply get a few twisting branches, and hang petite wooden eggs, chicks or bunnies, and chocolates or satin bows or pompoms. An Easter tree is a beautiful reminder of the season and is a pretty, cheap and chic homemade decoration for your home. Do this at someone else's home to cheer them up, or give them decorations and instructions as a gift so that they can start their own! (See here, here and here for some beautiful Easter trees!)

     3. Embroidered Easter Fleece
A lovely gift to give someone at this still very cold time of year is a lovely Easter fleece blanket - perfect for Easter Sunday evening together with the family.  Simply get a section of fleece from your local fabric store, and some colored emroidery thread. Stitch on a little bird, or you could even create Easter napkins or a table runner with a similar design.

     4. Personalised Egg Cosies
A lovely thing to enjoy the few weeks around Easter (and into the whole year also!). Get a little felt, cut out two matching half oval shapes, and stitch together. To personalise it, stitch on a fabric initial cut-out, embroider on the names, and add a little loop for ease of use. Or try a cute sewn egg cosy design or some re-used chick and bunny egg cosies or even an owl egg cosy.

     5. Decorative Easter Garland
There's lots of different ways to make a pretty garland for this Spring, and they are a lovely gift to give someone to decorate their home with. There are many different ways to do this, but the simplest is to choose pastel colored paper and cut out tiny egg, daffodil and chick shapes, then glue them onto a long piece of ribbon or make a small hole, add a piece of wool/string and attach to a longer piece of colorful wool/string. Decorate with glitter glue, sparkles and extra ribbon. If you can, secretly go and put it up in the recipient's kitchen (or downstairs as a surprise for parents).

     6. Colorful Rice Krispie Easter Eggs
A lovely and edible gift are these colorful crispy treats, made from rice krispies and marshmallows. They are lovely given in a homemade decorated egg box, and also great half dipped in chocolate  and sprinkles. 

Here are a few more Easter baking ideas that will make the perfect homemade gift:
♥ Traditional English Hot Cross Bun Recipe - BBC give us an incredibly delicious British recipe, full of spice, zest and fruit. The perfect symbol and the perfect afternoon snack!
♥ Swedish Semla Recipe - This cardamom, marzipan and cream filled sweet roll is a wonderful treat for breakfast or after dinner, and is a slightly unusual gift for friends and family.
♥ Torta Di Riso Recipe - A traditional sweet recipe for breaking the fast of Lent, it's an orange-y, cheese-y, rice pudding in a phyllo crust - don't dismiss it till you've tried it. It's a great dish to take to an Easter dinner party.