Resurrection Eggs

 Easter is here.  I love it. 

The Easter Bunny.  Eggs hunts.  Those sugary bunnies that taste like circus peanuts that I may or may not have already sampled while hiding in the pantry where my kids couldn't see. 

However, Easter is so much more than a holiday.  It is a holy day.  I want my kids to experience all of the fun things listed above (even the sugar). But more than anything, I want to teach them about the true meaning of Easter. 

Jesus died for us.  He rose again on the third day.  He is our Hope.

I want their hearts to be filled with truth more than I want their baskets to be filled with eggs. 

So, I decided to start a special tradition with Resurrection Eggs.  This is not my original idea, by any means.  I have seen these at Christian book stores.  I really wanted some, but didn't want to pay $20 for an egg carton and some plastic eggs. 

I made my own!  It was easy, FREE (I already had everything I needed), and even more special to know that each year, between Palm Sunday and Easter, we will use the eggs made by my own hands. 

Here's what I did, in case you feel inspired to do your own:

1.  I googled "Resurrection Eggs".  There are lots of different versions.  I went through several and picked the 12 symbols/verses that I thought would work best.

2.  I typed the verses (one for each egg) and printed them on cardstock. 

3.  I went through our Easter eggs and picked 12.  Then I sharpied them up. 

4.  Next I got my egg carton.  I didn't like all the print on it, so I decided to spray paint it.  DO NOT DO THIS.  I learned a valuable crafting lesson-spray paint doesn't stick to egg carton foam.  It kinda melts it. 

Well, when paint wouldn't do, I decided to cover that thing up with paper and stickers. 

5.  I gathered/made the symbols to go inside each egg.  I did bread, coins, purple cloth, thorns, rope, a cross, a sign, sponge, spear, rock, spices, and the last egg is empty.  I had everything at home and only had to work on a couple-the sign, the cross, and the spices.

I made the cross with a wooden bbq skewer, twine, and hot glue.  I put the spices in a baggie, cut off the baggie to make it smaller, and tied it up. 

6.  Finally, I stuffed each egg with the symbol and verse. 

We have been doing two a night with Bella during her story time before bed.  She looks forward to it and is learning about the true meaning of Easter.

Happy Easter!

He is not here, he has risen!  Matthew 28:6