The No Mess Easter Evening Event

My grandchildren will be coloring eggs and decorating their Easter baskets at my house next year. And while I plan to make an evening around the fun I am also dreading the mess. Believe me, I want the kids to have a great time but I anticipate egg color being spilled and splattered and Easter grass being spread throughout my home. Well, let me back up – I was anticipating those unpleasant outcomes. But here are my solutions to avoiding the mess and to insuring that the kids will remember the time as a fun and creative experience.

Of course this will involve my craft box. I will be needing craft tissue paper in various colors. I will also want to use green ‘stuff’ from my box. If I have any pieces of green wrapping paper from another holiday or event, that will be perfect.
Okay, my plan is that on the evening the kids come over for this Easter Event I have already boiled the Easter Eggs. I generally provide 6 per child. The eggs will be cooling and ready for color. Now I know people’s idea of the perfect grandmother is one that does a lot of cooking and baking – but that really doesn’t describe me. Don’t get me wrong – I love to cook, I just hate the mess!

Anyway, I have decided that we will have a quick and easy meal of tacos. The kids always like to help me gather the ingredients and then make their own tacos their way. We simply place the shredded lettuce, cheese, salsa, taco sauce, refried beans, beef and chicken in their own bowls and everyone digs in. I will also cook some rice and purchase a large bag of tortilla chips.

After we eat that meal I will get out the craft box and the real fun begins. To start, the kids will all write a letter to The Easter Bunny. This is one tradition that I really enjoy. It’s mess free and lots of fun for everyone. As the kids are entertained with their letter writing activity I will throw some brownies in the oven.

Next we will color the eggs with a no mess method. Here’s how: The kids will shred the beautifully colored tissue paper – we’ll keep the colors separated in bowls. Next we will use wet washcloths to get the eggs wet enough so that the tissue paper will stick to them. As the paper is applied the eggs will begin to take on that Easterly appearance. And some magic begins to happen. The color from the paper transfers to the eggs. When the paper is dry the kids can remove it to reveal the pastel colors. The entire process is quick and easy, and there’s no mess.

Of course the kids want a beautiful basket to place their eggs in so we will use ribbon, lace, miniature flowers and other odds and ends to decorate those. But no Easter basket is complete without some grass, right? The good news is there are creative alternatives that can be used instead of that messy plastic grass that seems to find its way all over the house.

Here are some ideas that I have found. First, if you have any gift wrap that has a lot of green in it, use it. Just crinkle the paper and place in the bottom of the basket. Then cut small pieces of green ribbon and cut up any green bows you have. This can be added on top of the green paper to give a ‘grass like’ look. This is the method I will be using, but I found a few others that also sound fun.

You could use green licorice (apple flavor is usually green) for grass. Or you could use green fabric. One option here is to purchase green bandanas or even green socks that can be used for something else after the holiday.

You can also purchase various types of green candy to use in place of grass. Or you could use long strands of green beads.

I read a couple of suggestions about using green marbles or spray painting small pebbles green for this purpose. My only problem with this is that some smaller children may put those items in their mouth.

Okay, there you go – a fun filled evening with your kids or grandkids that is virtually mess free. You will build memories for everyone involved. Give it a try!