Easter Cards, Eggs and Online Celebrations
With Easter just days away, this year will be different in many ways but you can still celebrate with do-it-yourself Easter cards, dyed and bedazzled eggs and online Easter services. Here are a few ideas to get you to and through the weekend.
One way to both craft and celebrate the holiday is with DIY Easter cards. You can give them to whoever’s in your household, pop them in the mail to let someone know you’re thinking about them. Or you can leave them on neighbors’ porches knowing that everyone loves an upbeat surprise! The Spruce curated nine free printable cards last year, and while you might want to add your own message to the images, they’ll be fun for kids to print and stuff into an envelope to remember their favorite people.
For DIY-ing your own religious Easter cards, here’s a YouTube tutorial from Stamptastic Designs. You’ll need to have a few art supplies on hand, if not expect both craft store online orders and Amazon orders to be delayed due to COVID.
The YouTube tutorial from Red Ted Art, walks through the how tos for a pop-up chick card. It’s easy and both fun to make and fun to get.
Also, check out these pins from Pinterest – not all have directions, but you’ll find plenty of inspiration here to put your own spin on an Easter greeting. For light-hearted ideas meant to be check-in nudges to your closest socially distanced friends — check out the Bored Panda’s creations. And for message ideas, click to The Sun for traditional, religious, and humorous rhymes.
Dyed & Chocolate Easter Eggs
Better Homes and Gardens has everything you need to know about decorating Easter eggs – from blinging with sparkles and coloring with food dyes to blowing out an egg for Easter crafts. Want more than a subtle pastel patina? Here are 35 ways to decorate Easter eggs that take not only a smidge of imagination but also supplies like washable tempera paint, glitter, gold leaf and – wait for it – colorful paper napkins. One easy method for decorating eggs is the marble effect with nail polish. Another is a bejeweled eggs effect using faux gemstones.
HGTV has easy Easter egg décor ideas, too, like a marbleized egg method using shaving cream, tinting with tea or painting with watercolors.
A British dad challenged his youngest daughter (aged 10) to a make-our-own chocolate egg-off this year with whatever they could find in the cupboards. Turns out they had dark chocolate squares which they melted, and some leftover birthday party balloons to use as molds. Together they killed a couple of hours in fits and starts dipping their own eggs. The trickiest part, according to dad Tom, is getting the balloon out, then repairing the “egg” with some extra melted chocolate.
Commemorating the Resurrection
Churches have discontinued services in their buildings but thanks to technology, leaders are providing spiritual nourishment online with music and timely messages. You can log onto a number of local, regional, and national non-denominational and denominational church websites for a service that can nurture and feed your soul during a spring of uncertainty.
Plum Creek Church, right down the street, will hold both Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning services at 4:30 p.m., and 8:30, 10:00 and 11:30 a.m., respectively. St. Francis Catholic Church in Castle Rock is live streaming mass at 7:30 a.m. in English and 9:00 a.m. in Spanish and offers a variety of other spiritual resources for its distanced flock.
Ridgeline Community Church, also in Castle Rock will live stream its celebration of Jesus’ resurrection at 9:00 a.m. and 10:45 a.m. and Southeast Christian Church in Parker will offer multiple service times on Good Friday, at 7:00 p.m. with four options on Sunday, including two in the afternoon at 2:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Easter Meals in Crystal Valley
If you’re looking for a meal to mark the Easter holiday, Tony’s Market in Castle Pines has an Easter menu with grilled leg of lamb and turkey breast and Union Bistro has an abbreviated menu for curbside pickup. Castle Rock’s Crystal Valley features a variety of beautiful new homes to fall in love with from Richmond American Homes, Kauffman Homes, Century Communities and D.R. Horton. Nestled in natural surroundings with easy access to nearby amenities, there’s a floor plan to fit every home buyer — in ranch and two-story designs, priced from the $300s. Contact the builders’ sales associates for a private tour, and ask about virtual tours for the models you’re curious about.
