If you are watching your children’s sugar intake, you can still give them awesome Easter baskets that they will cherish, even if they are not loaded with sugary treats! Here are some cheap and easy ideas for candy-free Easter baskets for kids.

Craft Easter Basket: Put some colored grass in the bottom of an Easter basket. Then stand a couple coloring books or activity books in the center of the basket. You can retain the coloring books in place by tying a ribbon around the books and the handle of the basket. Then fill the rest of the basket with craft supplies like a box of crayons, sheets of stickers, a glue stick, a mini stapler, some markers, or whatever else you can think up. Shop at your local dollar store for cheap craft supplies to save money. Instead of using a typical Easter basket as the container, you can always use a craft tote or craft caddy! Stand all the craft supplies in the caddy then wrap the entire gift in netting or colored plastic wrap and tie with lots of curling ribbon to make it look more like Easter.

Stuffed Toy Easter Basket: Put a soft baby blanket in the bottom of an Easter basket. Then absorb the basket with soft stuffed toys. If you sew, you can fabricate simple stuffed toys in different shapes like a star, a cat, a moon, then just lightly stuff them with poly-fil (or cotton balls for small toys). If you don’t sew, you can find lots of stuffed toys at your local dollar store. If you want a more creative basket, you can use a toy doll bed as the basket and put all the stuffed animals inside the bed!

Easter Egg Easter Basket: Buy two or three dozen plastic Easter eggs. Then win petite trinkets that can fit into each egg. The trinkets do not have to cost mighty! You can cut individual stickers and put stickers inside some eggs. You can do coins in some eggs. You can also tuck individual temporary tattoos in some eggs. Costume jewelry, such as rings or beaded bracelets or even some watches, will fit in the eggs. And you can always hide a few chenille chicks in the eggs as seen in the photo. The kids will love opening each egg to gawk what’s inside! If you don’t have an Easter basket, you can always save and use empty egg cartons to hold the Easter eggs.

If you need some Easter photos to make Easter party invitations or Easter greeting cards please check out the photos in these slideshows:
Printable Easter Image – Easter Bunny Egg
Printable Easter Image – White Bunny Rabbit – Close Up Face
Printable Easter Image – Chenille Chick in Egg in Grass
Printable Easter Image – Easter Basket with Decorative Eggs
Printable Easter Image – Easter Candy – Chocolate Bunny – Chocolate Eggs

My basement storage room holds boxes of decorations for Easter, Halloween, and, of course, Christmas. I treasure to pull out the tablecloths, centerpieces, lights, and lawn ornaments to celebrate each season. There’s nothing like a festive holiday atmosphere in your home. Don’t you wish you could consume it on the road? Well, you can! Consider dressing up your car to spread some holiday cheer wherever you go. Let me tell you about Car Get-Ups, costumes for your car.

Car Get-Ups transform your car for holidays. You can turn your car into a reindeer for Christmas, a bunny for Easter, or a bat for Halloween. Each get-up consists of three pieces: a 6-inch nose to put on the grill of the car, and two matching 16-inch pieces for the driver and passenger side windows. The reindeer has a red nose and brown antlers with jingle bells; the Easter bunny has a pink nose and long white and pink ears; and the bat has a black nose and black wings.

I decided to dress up our new family mini-van as a reindeer for Christmas this year. We hadn’t had a new vehicle in terminate to ten years, and I had been pining for a mini-van since the birth of our first son five years ago. It was a landmark year as my husband and I both turned forty–time to become full-fledged grown-up parents with a “family car”. Although I knew the kids would love a Rudolph-mobile, I have to admit that I was the one who was excited by the fun accessories for my new toy. (Okay, maybe I’m not such a full-fledged grown-up after all!)

The costume was simple to install, and no tools are necessary. You simply hook a brown, plush antler to each front window, and attach a plush red nose to the grill with twisty-wires. The pieces finish firmly in place, but highway driving is not recommended. I once forgot about my antlers at a drive-thru restaurant, but when I opened the window the antler fell inside the car, not outside. If I had remembered to put the window just halfway down it would have stayed in place. All of the pieces are weather-resistant. My costume has weathered both snow and rain.

Car Get-Ups are available at www.cargetups.com for $20.95. You can also find them at a variety of specialty stores and web sites, usually for $15-20.

With Car Get-Ups, I can easily find my vehicle in the sea of mini-vans here in suburbia. I can’t wait to dress it up as a bunny for Easter and a batmobile for Halloween. I love the cheery jingle my reindeer antlers make as I get in my car to drive during the Christmas season. Obvious, it’s silly, but my car costume makes me and my kids smile.

I faded to love Halloween as a child, but over the years I became paralyzed about the number of violent, creepy, and downright disgusting costumes I came across. What was wrong with dressing up like a princess or a mermaid or a bunny rabbit? Why did all the costumes have to glorify vampires, monsters, and witches?

I decided to focus on the more innocent aspects of Halloween as a fun holiday of dressing up and getting candy, rather than using it as an excuse to scare myself. Here are some decorations and costumes kids can make themselves with adult help; these costumes represent a more child-friendly flavor and don’t focus on the dark and sometimes exceedingly scary aspect of the season.

Here are some costume ideas that are sweet and humorous and could work for any dress-up party, not just Halloween:

(1) A princess. It’s not very original, but it’s fun and easy to make. Any long dress, preferably one with lace, ribbons, or other accents, will do. Add a tiara (you can either accomplish one from cardboard and/or construction paper, glitter glue, etc., or buy one cheap), some pretty shoes, and perhaps a cape or shawl made from an used dress or a sheet, and you’re ready to play princess. If you bought a princess gown or other “girly” costume in the past, considering revamping it with homemade decorations and accents.

Objective by using a more knowing dress and adding bows and fluttering sashes, you can create a really splendid girls’ gypsy costume from the same materials.

(2) Animals. These are fun to make but are a little bit harder. Have any animal-print sheets, clothing, or material you’re not using anymore? Turn them into Halloween costumes! Also, a white sheet can be painted with child-safe paints that will work on material. Paint on zebra stripes, leopard spots, or whatever your child’s heart desires. Animal masks can either be bought or made. If you want to make one, cut out a mask shape using his or her face as a guide, then paint or marker it and use glitter glue or glitter markers to make fun, original accents. Stickers would work too.

If you’re looking for a non-jungle animal Halloween costume, a cow costume could be made by spray-painting a sheet murky and white or using a black and white material. You can also sew black patches onto a white background. A cat costume is easy to create. Get some “fuzzy” material (many stores now sell material that comes in a very soft, plush, almost fur-like material) and make a simple pull-over garment . . . add a cat mask and face-painted whiskers for a fun look. A dog costume can be made in the same way.

(3) A ghost. If your child *must* go trick-or-treating as the stereotypical Halloween ghost, make sure it’s not a scary-looking ghost. Old sheets, white dresses, or a garment made from a solid-color cloth can all make convincing ghost costumes. Paint on (or crop out) a funny or child-like smile instead of a scary-looking grimace. Dimples might be cute.

(4) A robot. This is a unique Halloween costume idea that isn’t as hard to make as it sounds. Simply hollow out some cardboard boxes and fit them together over the child in such a way that he or she resembles a “robot.” The fun part comes after the costume is assembled and the “detailing,” painting on a “face”, buttons, and gears, can begin. Children will adore helping with this part of the costume.

You can also make your own Halloween treat bag. Use a large brown paper bag and paint or glue on designs, or jazz up an old Easter basket by adding Halloween stickers or decals or spray-painting it black and orange.

Making Halloween decorations is exquisite easy, too. Use posterboard, construction paper, and/or regular paper and draw your own designs. You can utilize Halloween coloring pages; impartial print them out, tape or glue to a heavier paper to make them more durable, and color them in! Get creative; buy orange and sad glitter pens, glitter glue, markers, etc. Kids can make decorations, banners, and even table settings by hand. With some “fall” colored construction paper you can make some stout Halloween decorations by making paper rings and intermatching the orange and black, then hanging the finished creation from the ceiling or table. Have fun and get creative! If you choose to use fall colors for your Halloween decorations, some items can actually be reused for Thanksgiving decor.

I used to love Halloween as a child, but over the years I became disturbed about the number of violent, creepy, and downright disgusting costumes I came across. What was wrong with dressing up like a princess or a mermaid or a bunny rabbit? Why did all the costumes have to glorify vampires, monsters, and witches?

I decided to focus on the more innocent aspects of Halloween as a fun holiday of dressing up and getting candy, rather than using it as an excuse to scare myself. Here are some decorations and costumes kids can fabricate themselves with adult help; these costumes represent a more child-friendly flavor and don’t focus on the dismal and sometimes exceedingly scary aspect of the season.

Here are some costume ideas that are sweet and funny and could work for any dress-up party, not just Halloween:

(1) A princess. It’s not very modern, but it’s fun and easy to effect. Any long dress, preferably one with lace, ribbons, or other accents, will do. Add a tiara (you can either make one from cardboard and/or construction paper, glitter glue, etc., or buy one cheap), some graceful shoes, and perhaps a cape or shawl made from an old dress or a sheet, and you’re ready to play princess. If you bought a princess gown or other “girly” costume in the past, considering revamping it with homemade decorations and accents.

Just by using a more colorful dress and adding bows and fluttering sashes, you can produce a really pretty girls’ gypsy costume from the same materials.

(2) Animals. These are fun to make but are a little bit harder. Have any animal-print sheets, clothing, or material you’re not using anymore? Turn them into Halloween costumes! Also, a white sheet can be painted with child-safe paints that will work on material. Paint on zebra stripes, leopard spots, or whatever your child’s heart desires. Animal masks can either be bought or made. If you want to make one, cut out a mask shape using his or her face as a guide, then paint or marker it and use glitter glue or glitter markers to make fun, original accents. Stickers would work too.

If you’re looking for a non-jungle animal Halloween costume, a cow costume could be made by spray-painting a sheet black and white or using a black and white material. You can also sew black patches onto a white background. A cat costume is easy to create. Get some “fuzzy” material (many stores now sell material that comes in a very soft, plush, almost fur-like material) and make a simple pull-over garment . . . add a cat camouflage and face-painted whiskers for a fun look. A dog costume can be made in the same way.

(3) A ghost. If your child *must* go trick-or-treating as the stereotypical Halloween ghost, make sure it’s not a scary-looking ghost. Used sheets, white dresses, or a garment made from a solid-color cloth can all make convincing ghost costumes. Paint on (or cut out) a funny or child-like smile instead of a scary-looking grimace. Dimples might be cute.

(4) A robot. This is a unique Halloween costume idea that isn’t as hard to make as it sounds. Simply hollow out some cardboard boxes and fit them together over the child in such a way that he or she resembles a “robot.” The fun part comes after the costume is assembled and the “detailing,” painting on a “face”, buttons, and gears, can begin. Children will love helping with this part of the costume.

You can also make your own Halloween treat bag. Use a large brown paper bag and paint or glue on designs, or jazz up an old Easter basket by adding Halloween stickers or decals or spray-painting it sad and orange.

Making Halloween decorations is pretty easy, too. Use posterboard, construction paper, and/or regular paper and draw your own designs. You can use Halloween coloring pages; just print them out, tape or glue to a heavier paper to invent them more durable, and color them in! Get creative; buy orange and murky glitter pens, glitter glue, markers, etc. Kids can make decorations, banners, and even table settings by hand. With some “tumble” colored construction paper you can make some great Halloween decorations by making paper rings and intermatching the orange and dismal, then hanging the finished creation from the ceiling or table. Have fun and gather creative! If you choose to exercise fall colors for your Halloween decorations, some items can actually be reused for Thanksgiving decor.

If you are watching your children’s sugar intake, you can still give them awesome Easter baskets that they will love, even if they are not loaded with sugary treats! Here are some cheap and easy ideas for candy-free Easter baskets for kids.

Craft Easter Basket: Put some colored grass in the bottom of an Easter basket. Then stand a couple coloring books or activity books in the center of the basket. You can keep the coloring books in place by tying a ribbon around the books and the handle of the basket. Then fill the rest of the basket with craft supplies like a box of crayons, sheets of stickers, a glue stick, a mini stapler, some markers, or whatever else you can think up. Shop at your local dollar store for cheap craft supplies to build money. Instead of using a typical Easter basket as the container, you can always use a craft tote or craft caddy! Stand all the craft supplies in the caddy then wrap the entire gift in netting or colored plastic wrap and tie with lots of curling ribbon to originate it look more like Easter.

Stuffed Toy Easter Basket: Put a soft baby blanket in the bottom of an Easter basket. Then fill the basket with soft stuffed toys. If you sew, you can make simple stuffed toys in different shapes like a star, a cat, a moon, then just lightly stuff them with poly-fil (or cotton balls for puny toys). If you don’t sew, you can find lots of stuffed toys at your local dollar store. If you want a more creative basket, you can use a toy doll bed as the basket and put all the stuffed animals inside the bed!

Easter Egg Easter Basket: Buy two or three dozen plastic Easter eggs. Then buy diminutive trinkets that can fit into each egg. The trinkets do not have to cost much! You can cut individual stickers and put stickers inside some eggs. You can do coins in some eggs. You can also tuck individual temporary tattoos in some eggs. Costume jewelry, such as rings or beaded bracelets or even some watches, will fit in the eggs. And you can always hide a few chenille chicks in the eggs as seen in the photo. The kids will fancy opening each egg to see what’s inside! If you don’t have an Easter basket, you can always save and use empty egg cartons to fill the Easter eggs.

If you need some Easter photos to make Easter party invitations or Easter greeting cards please check out the photos in these slideshows:
Printable Easter Image – Easter Bunny Egg
Printable Easter Image – White Bunny Rabbit – Close Up Face
Printable Easter Image – Chenille Chick in Egg in Grass
Printable Easter Image – Easter Basket with Decorative Eggs
Printable Easter Image – Easter Candy – Chocolate Bunny – Chocolate Eggs