Celebrating Easter can be expensive! But you know what a cheapskate I am, already, so I don't have to go through the homemade (excuse me, hand crafted) baskets and homemade candy and the lack of bright shiny plastic toys my kids got.
I'm happy they're older now and I don't worry so much about Easter baskets, but still, I enjoy giving them containers with a little special candy in it and they've come to expect it. (The oldest is... well, I'd better not say, but she lives out of state with her family and I don't make a "basket" for her any more.)
Anyway, for the two that I still do Easter up for, I try to find containers they can use after the holiday. In the past, these have been colored glass baking pans, boxes meant for dresser top storage and funky, plastic storage cubes. This year I'm visiting the local Goodwill, Salvation Army and ARK in search of appropriate containers.
Just for fun, I'm setting a limit of one dollar each. The hunt ought to be fun.
I look forward to hearing how you achieve this goal. This reminds me of some of Amy Dacyczyn's very creative, very low budget birthday parties.
ReplyDeleteIf you go into any store these days, you'll see that "Easter Basket" doesn't necessary mean "Basket." There are a zillion different versions now. See, you were ahead of your time with your funky storage cubes!
ReplyDeleteOur Easter tradition is more in line with Thanksgiving. The lack of colored eggs, baskets, and candy were never missed by the kids, and I appreciated the reduced stress for myself. My in-laws did have an egg hunt for all the grandchildren. While we did not "do" Easter in the sense that others did, many inexpensive gifts would definitely work for this season. Pat, you are so right in your approach! My eldest daughter and her family are currently in Finland. I try to send little goodies for the grandchildren ages 1.5 and 3. I found discount classic Little Golden Books for "Easter." I thought I did very nicely at $1.99 each! I also sent thin spiral notebooks. I have a collection of rubber stamps from my teaching days and I stamped the corner all of the pages. I wrote a letter on the inside of the front cover. My daughter tells me that they are a big hit! I think they cost me $.25 each in September. Our society gets so caught up with "stuff" that we forget that sometimes simple is just fine. Sometimes simple is better. I have found that teens and young adults love their own bag of candy, purchased on sale of course, with money taped to it. After all, a little gas money doesn't hurt!
ReplyDeleteOk, here's what I found: A funky, cool, huge wineglass type of something or other with a curlicue stem and a ruby red cup which holds about two cups. I could just see it with a little green grass and a chocolate bunny peeping over the edge. It was priced at 69 cents AND half off of that.
ReplyDeleteThen I found a small white teapot in perfect shape. The lid was taped to the side and the pot just begged to be filled with goodies. $1.00 even. (Plus tax!)
I think you have done well! I would love to see a picture when you are finished!
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