Thrifty Easter Ideas

Request From 3/17/2000

I am curious if anyone has any thrifty Easter ideas. For
baskets, presents, meals, games for kids, crafts, etc. Any ideas
would be appreciated.

Linda

Answer

When my kids were younger, for Easter morning, we liked to fill
and hide those colored plastic eggs that you can take apart, (we

reused them year after year), and fill them with inexpensive
Easter candy bought in the bulk food section of the grocery
store. We also put coins or very samll gifts in them, like little
erasers that look like animals (bunnies are nice!), or those
fuzzy little yellow chenille chicks. I think even a "coupon" or
"gift certificate" for a later treat, such as an outing for ice
cream cones, or a trip to a park to fly kites would be a nice
idea, too.

We used the same Easter baskets and Easter grass over year after
year, and did not buy the expensive, highly-decorated Easter
chocolates (the ones that look pretty but don't always taste so
good). We mostly bought bulk candy/chocolates to put in the
Easter baskets. We also tried to put something other than candy

in the baskets, usually new inexpensive kites and string, or
maybe balsa wood airplanes, to encourage the kids to go outside
and enjoy the day.

Ness

Answer

When my son was in Kindergarten (many moons ago) several of us
would meet at the school and make Easter baskets out of gallon
bleach bottles. Draw an outline of a bunny face, including the
ears, on the front of a clean bleach bottle. Then take scissors
or a craft knife and cut out the ears and around to the back of
the bottle, leaving the handle for the basket handle. Use markers
or paint to paint the face and inside the ears. These turned out
really cute.

When I was young, my mother had an Easter party for my brother's
birthday. Instead of the conventional Easter egg hunt she came
up with the idea of a treasure hunt. She hid small prizes in the
plastic eggs as well as regular dyed eggs and some that were

marked for special prizes. She provided each child with a
different "map" that included riddles of where the special eggs
were hidden. This way each child would find the same amount of eggs.
It was a lot of fun. We also played pin the cotton ball tail on a
bunny.

And finally, when my son was young he was as much a fisherman
then as he is now, so one year I filled a tackle box with the
conventional Easter grass and included fishing tackle and gear in
it instead of all the candy and bunnies. I think you could do
something similar using other things that might interest the
child. I can imagine filling a sewing basket with the items for a
young girl to learn to sew or some other craft. Or a makeup box
filled with toiletries and makeup for a teenage girl. And a

bucket filled with car washing supplies for a teenage boy who has
his own car or for your husband. Or a file crate filled with
books or games.

Hope this helps.

Ann

Answer

Saving on Easter Baskets: Go to any thrift store and purchase
Easter baskets very cheap, then go to the Dollar Store or any
Walgreen store and purchase the candy much cheaper. Also these
places have the grass that you can put into the basket and
stuffed animals. You can go to yard sales, garage sales, moving
sales and church rummage sales. Most of these places have new
stuffed animals for Easter and Christmas, I have purchase new
stuffed animals that I give away to the kids that I work with.

The also have the Easter eggs, that you can purchase and put
candy inside of them. Just check out your Goodwill and Salvation
Army Stores or any thrift shop.

Answers:

Thrifty Easter Ideas

Here's a fun Easter game. Have the parent and the child stand facing each other toe to toe. Take a hard boiled Easter egg and toss it to the other. With each toss, both take a step back. Finally, one of them misses the catch and the egg breaks all over. (02/02/2005)

By Emmie in CA

Thrifty Easter Ideas

I bought a bunny costume and dressed up as the Easter Bunny with candy. I hid behind a tree and went back and forth until the kids spotted me. It is something my dad did and I'll remember it forever! You can have the kids take a picture with you instead of taking them to the mall. (03/12/2005)

By Karen

edible altermatives to candy

When my nieces and nephew were small, I would stuff their Easter baskets with the small bags of cookies you get at the gas station. I would also buy a four pack of pudding and a box of juices and split them among the baskets. (03/31/2007)

By Rhonda

Thrifty Easter Ideas

Easter Egg Pinatas: These take about two days, but they're cheap and awesome!

First, blow up a balloon. Then, cover it with newspaper using a flour and water paste (you are pretty much doing paper mache here). Try to cover with several overlapping layers, wait about 12 hours for those layers to dry, and then add another couple of layers.

When that dries about 12 hours later (you can speed up the process by putting the eggs near a space heater or fan if you want), pop the balloon and pull it out. Inside the egg, put Easter grass (that plastic stuff) and tons of candy. Then close the hole back up using the newspaper and paste (that at this point, you're all too familiar with).

After that, you can paint the egg so it looks all Easter-y. I just finished mine and they look great! I actually made them for my young adult friends. I'll tell them to "crack" the egg open when I present them with their gifts. I spent $11 on paint and paintbrushes, no money on flour (I had it in the house), and $12 on candy and Easter grass. What a bargain! (04/05/2007)

By Sara

Thrifty Easter Ideas

Have an egg hunt at night and use flashlights. Older kids, even adults and teenagers enjoy this (02/07/2008)