Egg-cellent Art


With Easter weekend quickly approaching I thought it would be fun to share some awesome art activities that can be done using eggs and other household items. For most of these projects we used blown out eggs. I had never blown out an egg before in my life, so the first thing I had to do was learn how. Blowing out eggs is super easy, although we did have a few casualties. The first thing you need to do is get your eggs and make a small whole in one end of the egg (I used a thumb tack) and a larger hole (but still relatively small) in the other end. Next, bring the side of the egg with the smaller hole up to your lips and blow. Once you have blown all the eggs insides out wash with warm soapy water (I also let my blown eggs sit in vinegar for about 15 minutes to make sure they were good and clean). Super simple, right? After the eggs are washed set them to the side to dry, and check out these incredible and egg-cellent ideas.

Dragon Eggs- 
One of the first art/science activities we did was transform our plain chicken eggs into dragon eggs. To do this I took four of our blown out eggs and cut a slit into the shell, to make a small opening. Next, I got a glass jar for each of my kiddos and let them pick their food coloring. I then let them put a few drops into their jars. Next, I boiled a pot of water and added in some borax (I added 3 Tablespoons of borax for each cup of water), once the borax was dissolved I poured the boiling water into the jars, and added our eggs (I used a butter knife to gently push the eggs down so they would fill with water and sink). I let the eggs sit for about 24 hours before taking them out. When we removed the eggs we had beautiful crystallized dragon eggs.


Splat-tastic Eggs- 
We also filled a dozen of our blown out eggs with paint (I made the hole in our eggs a little bigger so I could pour the paint in). Next, we took our eggs and a large board (I would recommend a large canvas but we used what we had on hand) outside. Once we were outside I had my kiddos take turns picking an egg and tossing it at the board. The end result was as messy as it was stunning. 



Nail Polish Marbled Eggs-
Using the remainder of our blown eggs my daughter and I tried making the marbled eggs using nail polish that we had seen on pinterest. It was simple enough and they did turn out pretty well (I think I would have liked them better if I had purchased nail polish just for this and had more control over the color combos). All you need for this project is some new or old nail polish (we cleaned out or nail polish drawer), a glass or tuber-ware dish (that you do not mind getting ruined), and room temperature water. Fill your dish or cup with water, drizzle your nail polish onto the waters surface, and then dunk the egg (I would recommend using a glove for this). That is it three simple steps to an egg-excellent work of art.




Shaving Cream Marbled Eggs- 
For this activity we used store bought plastic eggs. You could easily use blown eggs, but I did not trust my three kiddos to be easy with the fragile eggs. All you need to do is fill a bowl, pan, or cookie tray with shaving cream and then drizzle some paint onto it (we used acrylic paint in springy colors). Next, roll your egg in the shaving cream and paint. When you take the egg out it will still be covered in shaving cream do not wipe it off yet, instead, let the egg sit for about 10 minutes and then wipe it off. Once you wipe off the egg you should be left with a beautiful marbled egg. 






So there you have it four fun ways to use eggs this Easter. If you try any of these activities I would love to hear about it or see the pictures.


Wait! Here's a special Easter Bonus... Just because I love holidays and crafting!!!
Easter Egg Hunting Tote-
I might be the only person on the planet who feels this way but I absolutely hate pails, buckets, and baskets for Easter Egg Hunts. They spill easy which results in frustration for my kiddos. I like how well shopping bags work but hate how they look, especially in pictures. So last week while shopping in my local Target I stumbled across a solution. I found canvas totes knew they would be perfect once I added a cute Eastery image to them. So I purchased four and hurried home. As soon as I got home I searched the interenet for the perfect image, copied it into word, enlarged it, printed it, and finally cut it out. Then, I traced the image onto the tote bag. Finally, I hand painted the images and personalized them. And that is all there is to it. So simple and so cute.

Piece of advice- Do not craft around cats, my daughters cat is responsible for the green splotch on the peeps bag. Darn Cats.









Egg-cellent Easter Baskets


With Easter right around the corner you might be wondering what to fill your baskets with, but wonder no more, the Accents of the South have you covered. We have compiled ideas for the perfect Easter basket for everyone in your life, from babies to teens and even your furry family members.

First up on our list... Babies. Some great basket fillers for babies are
1. Bunny Ears
2. "My First Easter" bib or shirt
3. Baby's Favorite Treat (think yogurt melts and puffs)
4. Teething toys
5. Pacifiers
6. Socks
7. Books
8. Bath toys
9. Hair accessories for girls and/or new summer hat for boys.
10. Feeding Utensils/Plates/Sippy Cups
11. Stuffed bunny/chicken/lamb

Next on the list we have ideas for your favorite kiddos. These ideas are geared more for toddlers, preschoolers, and elementary aged kids. Some great basket (truck, boot, or umbrella) fillers for this age group are 
1. Books
2. Coloring books
3. Art supplies
4. Bubbles
5. Hair Accessories 
6. Hats (they also make great baskets for older boys)
7. Sunglasses
8. Puzzles
9. Play-doh 
10. Socks
11. Hot Wheels and other small toys
12. Balls
13. Legos
14. Flashlights 
15. Mr. Potatoe Head
16. Stuffed bunny/lamb/chicken

Character themed baskets are also fun for this age group.






Next up something for the tweens and teens in your life. Some great Easter basket fillers for this difficult age are
  
Girls:
1. Makeup (nail-polish and lip products can typically fit inside of an Easter egg).
2. Socks 
3. Flip Flops
4. Body Spray
5. Journals 
6. Colored Ink Pens
7. Sunglasses
8. Gift Cards
9. Books
10. Chocolate 
11. Hair Accessories

Instead of a typical basket fill a cute beach tote, new purse, umbrella, or new pair of rain-boots.

Boys:
1. Socks
2. Flip Flops
3. Gift Cards
4. Books 
5. Snacks (chips, beef jerky, etc)
6.Sunglasses
7. A new Watch
8. New Wallet 
9, Cologne
10. Hair Products 
11. Body Wash
12. Sports Equipment (balls, bats, fishing lures/poles, etc)

Instead of a basket fill a new gym bag, umbrella, tackle box, or a hat.

We are not done yet, now its time to piece together the perfect Easter surprise for your significant other. Some great ideas for basket fillers for adult women are...

1. Makeup
2. Body Sprays/Perfume 
3. Body Lotion 
4. Gift Cards
5. Socks
6. Books
7. Chocolate
8. Flowers
9. Jewelry 
10. Coffee
11. Magazines
12. Flip Flops
13. Sunglasses

Instead of a basket use a cute pail, bag, or umbrella.

Now for the adult men in your life. Some awesome manly Easter fillers are
1. Fishing lures
2. Tools
3. Socks
4. Snacks
5. Gift Cards
6. Beer/ Alcohol (if he enjoys the occasional drink)
7. Car care products
8. Hair products 
9. Body Wash 
10. Cologne/Body Spray

Instead of a traditional basket fill a hat, cooler, small tool box, or a tackle box,

Have a fur baby that means the world to you? Well we have you covered, here are a few Easter treat ideas for your four legged friends.

Dogs:
1. A stuffed bunny/chicken/lamb
2. Bunny ears (if he/she will wear them)
3. Chew toys 
4. Balls
5. Grooming Products 
6. Treats
7. New collar and/or leash

Cats:
1. Plastic Easter eggs filled with catnip
2. Toys
3. Treats
4. Grooming Products
5. New collar

Instead of a basket use a new bed or food dish.


Here are some more fun Easter basket ideas just in case you did not see anything that you liked above...










Go Green!

St. Patrick's day is looming right around the corner and we all know what that means, we need to figure out how to rock something green. Working green into your wardrobe in honor of this festive day can seem daunting but I promise its not. One of my favorite ways to sport green is on my nails or my eyes...
 My all time favorite way to incorporate green into my wardrobe is by making a green tie dye shirt. This is probably my favorite for two reasons 1. You get to be creative and make a mess. 2. I can do it with the whole family. My kids love tie dye. The best thing about tie dye is that it is so easy to do and you can't do it wrong. All you need are a few supplies.

Supplies:
1. White cotton shirts.
2. Rubber bands.
3. Dye bottles or condiment bottles.
4. A bucket (if you are planning on using a dye bath)
5. Dye (for our St. Paddy's shirts we used an emerald green and a yellow)

Once you have you supplies you need to decide what type of pattern you want for you tie dye.  Once you know the pattern you want just start banding your shirt/shirts. I personally like a more haphazard pattern so I just put rubber bands all over without any rhyme or reason. 
Once your shirts are banded your are ready to dye. I wanted my kids to be able to participate so I used dye bottles and a liquid dye. I poured a little green dye into the bottles and filled the rest of the bottle with tap water. Next, I gave each of my kids a bottle and a shirt and let them dye until their little hearts were content (or they used all their dye, whichever came first).





Once, the shirts were dyed with the green, I tossed all the shirts into a dye bath. The dye bath was yellow, which mixed well with the emerald green and filled in any white spaces with a more vibrant green. I let the shirts sit in the dye bath for about 15 minutes before tossing them into the wash.

After the shirts were washed I removed the bands revealing our beautiful, green masterpieces. I really do love our end results and the kiddos have something fun and festive to wear. 





I would recommend wearing gloves because the dye will stain. I neglected to do so and now have festive hands. Also, do not trust your husband with the dye, I now have festive legs thanks to mine.


I hope everyone has fun this St. Patrick's Day, and remember to Rock your Green!