How I Explain the Easter Bunny!

This year is going to be the toughest to get ready for!  With my sons getting older and the oldest getting to the age of not caring about Holiday fun and trinkets, I found myself at a bit of a lose.  My daughter, thankfully, still believes in the magic and connects to God with the holidays.  Don't get me wrong, my boys understand the meaning of Easter quite well....I am talking more specifically about how the Easter Bunny relates to God, Jesus and the stories.  Growing up, one of the things I found the hardest to wrap my head around was how the Easter Bunny, Santa Clause and the rest of the fairytale creatures we use to create mystery in the lives of children connected to the holidays we were celebrating.  As my children grew themselves, I created ways to connect these things so that they made sense.  Santa Clause was one of the three wise men who loved the feeling of giving to Jesus on his day of birth so much that he set out to do it every year for all the children.  This is his way of celebrating that great day.  We remember the gift of the wise men to baby Jesus when we gift to one another.  The Easter Bunny was and still is a hard one to sell.  Santa as a Wise man was so easy to thread together....

Here's my Easter Bunny story....on the day that Jesus died a bunny was present and saw the whole thing.  He followed Jesus to his grave, and saddened by the events he witness stood near the tomb for the days that followed.  When God brought Jesus back to life, the bunny was there and some of his magic and power touched that little bunny.  To celebrate the return of Jesus the little bunny set out to celebrate.  It started with sharing the news with all of his animal friends, mainly chickens!  To show the humans how grateful they were for Jesus's resurrection, the animals left treats and...well...eggs...at the doors of the humans they knew.

(Look I know I am reaching here....but when you want a holiday to make sense to children who ask a LOT of questions...this is what you end up with)

As time passed the Bunny continued to live, from that Godly power that splashed over him.  Every year on the anniversary of Jesus's Resurrection, he would set out to deliver treats and goodies to all who believed.  He realized over the years that he could slow down time....just like Santa...so he could reach all the Christian children of the world.

I found it my duty to ensure my children didn't get bogged down with the commercial views of holidays.  Telling stories like this one allow us to celebrate with all the fun and still remember and understand why we are celebrating in the first place!

What stories do you tell your children??

A Black Heart Valentine's Collection Box

Yesterday, we had our 2nd snow day in a row.  So I decided we were going to get some things accomplished.  One of those things was the younger kids' valentine collection boxes.  This is my daughter's first year getting to make one and pass out valentine's so I assumed she would go all super girl on me.

I bought the boys heart shaped boxes last year and painted them to appear like Minecraft Hearts (there is a link at the end of this post to find those).

So, I bought the princess and sweet little girl that calls me Mommy a heart shaped box I found at Hobby Lobby, because I knew how much she wanted one last year.  I pulled it out and said "What colors do you want to paint your heart box?" fully expecting to hear pink or purple.  Nope.  This girl shouts with a massive grin BLACK!  I tried to talk her out of it.  No luck.  I did get her convinced that the hearts there were molded into the sides of the box can be red and pink.

And you can bet your butt I did all I could do to make this dark and evil looking heart look awesome...I sprayed that thing with gold glitter!

She is happy with it and really at the end of the day, that is what matters.  Children are really good at throwing us for a loop and stopping us right where we stand.  My daughter is a bit of an expert in that.

Check out the other Valetine's Projects we've completed so far:

Bubble Stick Valentines -->  HERE!

Star Legos Valentines -->  HERE!

Minecraft Heart Collection Valentine Box -->  HERE!

Have a Ball Valentines -->  HERE!

Star Wars Lego Glow Stick Valentines!

My oldest son was easy when it came to Valentine's Day.  I could make whatever I wanted, he would pass them out, didn't care what people thought, he gets candy, I get to craft...win/win!

Son #2....yea, not so much!  He's my show off.  Everything has to be "cool" and not "girly" and blah blah blah!

Coming up with a Valentine was difficult, but buddy, Pinterest was here for the rescue!!

I found a blogger who has a son that loves Star Wars Legos as much as Son #2 and she has saved my rear!!

HERE is the link to the printables!  She made them with a white background and colored background.  Whatever tickles your fancy...I chose the white background.

I am OUT of white cardstock and since I just bought a ridiculous amount of colored cardstock, I decided to not tip the boat of insane Micheal's shopping and give the fiance a heart attack.  I printed on regular printer paper.

Then I took a sheet of 8.5 x 11 in red cardstock and cut each sheet into fours.  I then ran the printables, cut out of course, through my sticker machine.

Once that was done, I placed my new stickers on the red card stock sheets.

Next, I cut a slit, well technically three slits on the lightsaber area of the picture.

I slide my glow stick downward (so from the front to the back) through the slits I cut.

To hold the glow stick in place, keeping it's "cool" factor alive, I placed a piece of tape on the back.

Son #2 is raving about these and very excited to pass them out!

Check out my other Valentine's Posts:

Bouncy Ball Valentines--> HERE

Bubble Stick Valentines -->HERE

Minecraft Heart Collection Boxes --> HERE

And watch for more posts this week.  I still have one more kiddo looking for a Valentine and three boxes to make....not to mention the Mantel (that's coming tomorrow!).

~Happy Crafting!!

Brandie

Bubble Valentine's

This year is my daughter's first year to pass out Valentine's.  I was so over the fold in half cards years ago! (Her oldest brother turns 12 this year).

She got to pick out an item to pass out and I made matching tags.

She chose Bubble sticks we found at Micheal's Craft Store.

I printed off a full sheet of of the phrase "You 'blow' me away, Valentine!" on colored card stock.

I cut them out with my straight cutter and ran them through the sticker maker.  I found some patterned scrapbook paper, and cut each sheet into fours.

I determined the layout I wanted and then cut two slits on the left hand side of the paper.  I slide a piece of ribbon through these slits and tied the bubble stick on the paper.

I then placed the sticker onto the right hand side of the paper.  I will have the daughter sign her pretty John Hancock to it and then they will be ready for her Valentine's party!

Watch for two more Valentine's that we will doing this year and also check out the Valentine's we did last year, here!