With Easter around the corner it is easy to get caught up in the spending spree that tends to happen around the holidays. This year, instead of spending money that could be used elsewhere, follow these ten tips and you will find a joy in the holiday that you might have lost years ago. These ten tips will not only help you save money, but will bring you closer together with the friends and family that you will love the most. When money isn’t involved in the holiday tradition it allows you to grasp the full meaning of the season, without letting corporate temptations get in the way. These ten tips will even bring your kids in on the holiday events, so they will feel the warmth of the holiday and learn that presents aren’t always needed to have a great Easter.
1. Create Your Own Treats
Easter is wildly known for the delicious treats that the Easter Bunny brings to all of the good boys and girls. Instead of spending large amounts of money are prepackaged treats, that your children can buy all year round, it might be a great idea to give your kids special treats that you make yourself. Kids love baked goods and one of the best ways to surprise them is to turn their favorite treats into an Easter design. You can easily bake cookies or a cake and give them a great Easter flair with pastel colors that will excite the kids. You can even go as far as to add your own cake design skills into the cake and draw a bunny onto the baked goods. Rice Crispy treats and Jell-O are easy to mold into Easter egg shapes that will go perfectly in your child’s Easter basket. For even more fun, bring the kids into the kitchen so they can create their own Easter creations to share with loved ones.
2. Egg Dye and Decorations from household items
Dying eggs is one of the most iconic traditions for the Easter holiday. There are many different dyes and decorations on the market for this holiday, but if you’re looking to save some money this holiday you won’t have spend over $1 to get a full spectrum of colors. Cool-Aid and other powered mixes are a great way to dye your kid’s Easter eggs without having to waste money on kits. Simply dissolve the powered into a bit of water and watch your eggs come out with a vibrancy you have never seen before. Kids will love using the Cool-Aid instead of the dye kits because, let’s face it, Cool-Aid smells much better than many of the Vinegary kits on the market. If you’re looking to add a little something extra to your eggs then pull out a crayon set! Kids can draw designs onto the egg before they dye it, for a cute look that is unique to each child. You can all use mod-podge to add kids drawing onto eggs for a special look they won’t forget.
3.Homemade Baskets and Grass
Every year kids love showing off their Easter Baskets to all of their friends. Easter baskets can be pricey though and if you end up buying a new one every year then you can end up spending hundreds on baskets alone. There are many unique ways you can create your own basket that will suit your child’s changing personality from items at home. For instance, a great woven basket can be created with paper or light wood that is found at home. You can also paper mache’ different shapes to add on to a basket, so your child’s interest can always be shown. Baskets can also be made out of a common household pail. Simply create a bunny face, or one of your child’s favorite cartoons, and place it on the front of the pail for an exciting look your child will adore. You can also create beautiful basket grass from construction paper or other colored paper. Use a shredder to get the paper thin enough for grass, or use the task as a cutting exercise for you children!
4. Look for Candy Sales
Of course, being a careful shopper is always a great way to save a little money around the holidays. Often, there are many different sales on candy that doesnt involve Easter around the holiday. If you can find a great price on candy that you love then the candy can always be taken out of the original wrapper and given an Easter flair. You will have funny creating Easter Bunny and Egg wrappers to add to your child’s Easter basket and the unique wrappers will make your children feel as if the Easter Bunny brought the candy himself. You can also take a bag of M&Ms or Jelly Beans and add all of the lighter colors to a small bag for a cute Easter treat.
5. Re-use Eggs
Although coloring eggs is great fun, most kids tend to long for the plastic eggs that hold treats inside of them. Although these plastic eggs tend to run at a low cost each year you will always save money by not throwing them out. Plastic Easter eggs are easy to store because they can be stacked in a way that they take up very little space. You can throw these plastic eggs in a bag or box and put them in storage so next year they are on less thing you need to buy during the holiday season. Plastic eggs tend to last a long time and many brands can even withstand being stepped on during the Easter hunt, so when you put them away you will know that you won’t have to replace them at all next season. This is also a great way to help the environment, so you are doing yourself and Mother Nature a favor.
6. Kid Coupons
Many households tend to add special treats and gifts to Easter baskets that tend to add a Christmas feel to the holiday. Although it is nice to treat your children there is no need to spend a small fortune on toys. Many kids are often pleased with simple treats, which makes Kid coupons a great way to give them a gift that can last all year. Kid coupons are great in the fact that they can be customized to suit your child’s personality. For instance, you can give your older children a free pass on chores, or a night to stay up later than usual. Your younger children might enjoy a free sundae coupon, or an extra half an hour of playtime. The best thing is the coupons cost next to nothing to make. You can create them with paper cut outs and give them a special look that makes them seem as if they came from the Easter Bunny. There are even coupons that you can print from the internet if you are in a rush. If you don’t want to put these in your kid’s basket then you can always add them to the plastic eggs for the big hunt.
7. Seasonal Foods for Easter Feast
The Easter feast is a huge part of the holiday that often eats up a lot of the budget. One of the easiest ways to save money on this meal is to use fresh ingredients that are already in season. Spring is when the weather typically begins to warm up a bit, so meals don’t need to be as hearty as they were in winter. Luckily, many of the vegetables that are in season during the spring is a large selection of greens that offer you endless opportunities to discover new recipes to play with. Your Easter feast will look complete with your asparagus dishes, or different salads that are filled with lettuce, radishes and green onions. Carrots are another seasonal item that goes well with many different types meats. For dessert try a rhubarb or strawberry that will certainly delight anyone. Of course, after the Easter egg hunt there is also plenty of of boiled eggs that will work perfectly as deviled eggs, or part of an egg salad!
8. Make Your Own Cards/Invitations
Whether you’re planning a big Easter party or will be spending the holiday away from your friends and family then you will surely be looking for the perfect Easter invitation or greeting card. There are many ways to skip out on the cost of these items. For starters, the internet is filled with online cards that are easy to print out and send off to your loved one. You can easily choose the perfect card for each loved one and customize it with your own special message. This will make your cards feels more personal and the recipient will feel your love. If you aren’t interesting in printing out cards then you can always surf the net for the perfect digital card to email each of your loved ones. If you want to be a bit more creative then you can always sit down and create your own cards from paper and other craft supplies you have around the house. These task can also be repeated for anyone looking to create the perfect invitation for their Easter party. Of course, if you really want to just purchase your cards there are always bulk options that will save you lots of money.
9. Spice Up Classic Games
Entertainment is a great part of all parties, but can be pricey when it comes down to finding new games for each holiday. One of the best ways to turn your Easter festivities into a money saving bash is to take classic games and add an Easter twist to them. Kids will love playing leap frog when you switch up the roles and turn the frogs into eggs and the leaper into a bunny. For an added touch you can even give the kids Easter Bunny ears as a price. You can also turn Pin the Tail on the Donkey into Pin the Tale on the Bunny, which would take little more than a picture of a button and some cotton balls glued together. There are also many card games that can be changed into an Easter inspired pass time. If you’re looking to add prizes to these games you can always use the homemade treats. Even an Easter cake walk will surely bring a crowd to your party!
10. Less Decor is More
Part of the holiday season seems to demand that you decorate until your drop. Easter, however, is a great holiday that allows you to show off the beauty of the season rather than forcing you to purchase decorations. Spring is a great season for admiring flowers and with any luck your yard will be filled with plenty ready to be plucked for your beautiful center piece. Easter is also a great holiday to bring in your kid’s artwork. Most kids have Spring Break around Easter time, which will make coloring paper eggs and Easter bunnies a great activity for your children. You can put these up in the windows of your home for a cute festive look that will go far. If you really want to add more decoration to your home then you can certainly add a pastel look to your paper lamps for a spring decoration that can be left up even after the holiday is over.
With these ten tips your Easter holiday will be a less stressful even that will help you bond with those you love more so than other commercial oriented holidays. You will love the wonderful savings that these tips provide which will also change the way you look at holiday shopping from now on!
