This is a quick Easter craft that you can do with stuff you probably already have around the house!

You will need:

-embroidery thread, thin elastic, or dental floss
-scissors
-a tapestry needle (the kind with the big eye)
-peeps, jelly beans, any other seasonal candy your heart desires

Directions: Using the needle, thread (carefully) the candy on the floss/thread/elastic in whatever pattern you wish. Tie (carefully) around your neck. EAT!



Anouk needed a little help with the needle but mostly was able to complete this craft herself. Gus helped by sampling the jellybeans and throwing all the black ones onto the floor where the dog also refused to eat them. I DON'T GET IT EITHER.

Little Bunny Foo Foo bout to get his.

Forest Lawn is the newest of Norfolk's public cemeteries, established in 1906, and is known for its beautiful art deco architecture (the community mausoleum features stained glass by Frank Lloyd Wright). Points of interest in the cemetery include the 111th Field Artillery Batallion and the 29th Infantry Division Memorial, erected in honor of fallen WWII soldiers in Europe, and the Seaman's Friend Lot, which serves as a final resting place for foreign soldiers who passed away at sea or upon arrival in Norfolk. Forest Lawn is also a natural arboreturm featuring dogwoods, crape myrtles, magnolias and holly trees and is absolutely meticulously cared for by staff.

As for the egg hunt -- it was the first year this event was held and it ended up being a little crazier than the organizers expected, with hundreds more people showing up than registered online. The result was that there were vastly more kids hunting for eggs than there were eggs to find. Anouk and her friends ended up scoring two or three each but that may have been largely due to parental involvement (I will say nothing further on this point for fear of incrimination -- but let's just say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that I can still outrun a gaggle of six-year-olds). Nonetheless, they had a blast just being there (except when the Easter Bunny popped up -- Anouk was having none of that and I'm not sure I blame her).

Before we left we walked around the graves (wouldn't these ones with Chinese calligraphy make AWESOME grave rubbings?) and found some amazing names (I think Iola was my favorite, never come across that one before) and even visited some of our family that was buried there.

All in all, it was definitely the most interesting egg hunt we've been to yet, and despite the kinks, we hope it will become an annual thing. To read more about how to donate to the Norfolk Society for Cemetery Conservation, which the hunt today benefitted, click here.

Have you hit up any egg hunts yet this season? How'd you make out?

When I was a little girl, my mom used to let me pick out a brand new Easter outfit every year, and they almost always came with hats. I still remember how fancy it felt to go to Easter dinner with my new frilly bonnet on, the elastic tucked firmly under my chin.

Kids' clothiers don't really do Easter hats as much anymore as they did when I was small, so I thought it would be fun to make DIY Easter bonnets with Anne, inspired by our tissue paper bowl craft from last year (which I'm also planning on using to make A.'s Easter basket this year). The technique is similar, with only a few tweaks, and the results are pretty fun and surprisingly wearable.

You'll need: balloons, a large bowl, tissue paper in at least two colors, Elmer's glue, a paintbrush, and trimmings (if you want them).

Here's how to do it: Blow up the balloon until it's roughly the same circumference as your child's head. Place the balloon in the bowl, knotted side down, so that it stands up on its own.

Place a sheet of tissue paper over the balloon (this will be the innermost layer of your hat). You can cover the balloon in Saran-Wrap to make removal easier later (we didn't and it still came off pretty easily). With the paintbrush, cover the top half of the tissue that touches the balloon with watered down glue until you have the basic hat shape (you'll want to leave a good-sized "brim" untouched).







Place another layer of tissue on top of the first layer, and cover with glue. Repeat this step until you have your desired thickness (we used four sheets of tissue per bonnet, varying colors by layer).

Wait a few hours. When the top of the bonnet is dry and hard to the touch, pop the balloon and peel it gently away from the tissue. Fold back/fluff the brim of the bonnet to show all of the colors underneath. Trim with all kinds of festive decorations! We used tissue paper flowers, pom-poms, and crepe paper for ribbon.



Voila! Now you're ready to be the grandest lady in the Easter parade.