Easter Archives - Palmettos and Pigtails

Attack of the Bunny Haters

April 10, 2012 posted by Shara

So I was perusing my bloggy friends’ sites last night and came across Jon Acuff’s posting about Easter. Now, I’m a bit biased since he is my BFF from Blissdom, but I really do enjoy reading his stuff. He just has a way of grabbing your attention, and pulling you in to get a really great message. In this case, here’s what grabbed my attention…and made me go to his site.

So at first, I was really afraid that this was Jon’s opinion about the Easter Bunny. But, as I read on, it turns out a friend of his had gotten this picture as a POSTCARD from a CHURCH as an INVITATION to their EASTER service. Hmmmm…as Jon pointed out, I really hope that the kids didn’t check the mail that day!

As a mom, I struggle with this concept as well. I mean, I would never wish ill-will to any four-legged friend (especially a bunny….because they are just so stinkin’ cute!!). However, how to integrate Jesus’ resurrection AND the Easter Bunny into one fun-filled holiday is a challenge. Especially when you have a precocious three-year old who has a lot of questions. Jayna and I had a little date yesterday afternoon.

We went to the playground and talked about Jesus. She asked me about his life, what he looked like and who he played with. We talked about how Easter is the celebration of Jesus going up to Heaven to live with God and how much he loves us. I told her that is the biggest reason we celebrate Easter, but that we honor Jesus’s life by celebrating all new life. Which would include all things spring….flowers blooming, baby animals, etc. We listed some baby animals, and she was able to make the connection between the baby chicks and eggs. So hopefully I did a good job at trying to integrate both Jesus and the Easter Bunny while still keeping the emphasis on Jesus. We’ll see, and I’m sure that with every year will come new questions!

But for now, Jayna knows how much Jesus loves her (which is the most important thing for her to know right now, I think) and we can continue to be Bunny Lovers in this house too!

How do you deal with Easter Bunny confusion each year??

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Filed Under: Faith

Spring in our Step

April 9, 2012 posted by Shara

Happy Easter! What a wonderful week we’ve had in preparation for Easter. My parents came in late last week to enjoy the Flowertown Festival and the beach with us. Luckily, the weather has been beautiful (some showers, but mostly cloudless skies and 80 degree weather), so we were able to spend a lot of time outside. Jayna has always loved the beach, and I think Amelia will end up being a fan as well!

Although we don’t usually decorate for Easter, we di add a few Spring touches around the house. Of course, there was the paper wreath I made, but I also added a Hydrangea and Easter Egg centerpiece in our dining room.

And despite our diet, I also made Zucchini Cookies (without the frosting, so they are healthier!!) And some chocolate covered strawberries for Jayna’s Easter party at school. Jayna did her part by bringing home some lovely Spring-themed crafts, including dyeing eggs at school!

I also have been busy finishing the bowling ball for Jayna’s Easter Bunny Bowling Set, and making a taggy pillow for Amelia.

And of course, the true reason for the season….Although they mostly just cover Jesus rising and the celebration in school, Jayna had a lot of questions about the cross this year. I didn’t really think I needed to go into too much detail yet, as she is so little and so sensitive. But I did tell her that the cross is a symbol of Jesus’ gift to us. He died so that we could live and be forgiven. She seemed to kind of get that….she said, “like when I am bad and then I say sorry, you forgive me and God forgives me.” So I left it at that. We went to the playground and got some sticks to make these little crosses.

But, little girls will be little girls…she was still really excited to see the Easter Bunny too! Jayna got to participate in three different egg hunts….one with her class at school, one with the church and one in our backyard. The church’s celebration also included a visit from the Mr. Bunny himself, and a delicious spread of cookies!

Jayna was very concerned about all of the gum and other choking hazards, so I assured her we would leave them for the Easter Bunny, who would swap them out for kid friendly candy. And sure enough, he left eggs filled with jelly beans all over our yard! He also left tracks all over our house!

After a heavy scrutinizing, we discovered the tracks lead to the girls’ Easter Basket! Filled with Bunny Bowling, Easter Veggie Tales, a taggy pillow, and a couple of Reese’s Peanut Butter Bunnies. Jackpot!!

What was in your Easter Basket?

Happy Easter!!

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Filed Under: Faith, Life

Easter Bunny Bowling

March 29, 2012 posted by Shara

Well, aren’t I the crafty one lately!! I told you I have been working on lots of things…. I think it must be my daily schedule. I seem to be more on track lately and better able to manage my time (which gives me more ME TIME!). You know that we have put ourselves on a budget, but did you know we are also on a diet? I’ll have to post more about that another time (just know we have lost almost 10 pounds each within the last month!!). Because of these two factors, I have been searching for some creative, cheap Easter basket stuffers. I didn’t want to fill the girls’ baskets with tons of candy and junk, and didn’t want to spend a ton on little Easter-themed junk either. So what did I do? I turned to Pinterest, of course!

I found a free pattern for these cute little guys on etsy….free! courtesy of The Long Thread . Hers were solid colors with patterned ear-insides. But I had some beautiful spring scraps that I decided to use instead.

And I had the hardest time finding a hard wooden ball to serve as the bowling ball. I finally found one at A.C. Moore….but it’s actually a doll head, and a little flat on one side. So I plan on sanding it down a little more so it rolls better, and then painting it brown and modge podging something cute on….TBD. I just have to find a naptime when both girls are down to break out the paint and glue!

I chose six fabrics, but made sure that they were grouped in pairs that matched, because I wanted the ears to coordinate with the bodies.

If you try this project, here are a couple of hints: Although I loved the darker, busier patterns (my reds!)….it’s much harder to see the embroidered faces because of this. However, the lighter fabrics made the dark embroidery floss show through….so make sure to trim if you use lighter fabric. I had planned to add a little something for a tail, but I forgot…so let me know if you try this and add one-I’d love to see your ideas! Also, I did use a 1/2 cup of rice like the directions stated, but I filled the bunnies up with a little more stuffing than she prescribed….to about an inch from the bottom. And finally, I don’t really like my ears. I was worried about them being too short, so I was stingy on the seams….when actually the opposite happened and I think they are a little long (they have a hard time standing up!). So feel free to extend their seam allowance a little (maybe to 1/2″)…and maybe your bunnies’ ears will be perkier!