FOLIO LINE FOLIO LINE M c C l a t c h y - Tr i b u n e

BY MERRIE LEININGER
McClatchy-Tribune

Kids soon will be clamoring for baskets overflowing with

jelly beans, chocolate bunnies and Robin Eggs candies — not to
mention that plastic green grass that immediately goes in the
garbage (if it’s not all over the carpet first). And, while fun, it all
seems a little less than environmentally friendly. Fortunately
there are some other options.
Jenn Savedge, author of “The Green Parent: A Kid-Friendly
Guide to Earth-Friendly Living,” and blogger at www.
thegreenparent.com and www.mnn.com, says greening our
Tips and ideas for an Easter baskets is not only good for the Earth, it’s a great chance
to be creative and bond with our kids, too.
Here are her tips for creating a fun and green Easter:
environmentally friendly 1. Keep it small. “It is all new stuff to them,” Savedge
said. “So when they come down the stairs in the morning,
holiday celebration they’re like, ‘Whoo-hoo!’ So my first tip is to reign yourself in.
If you can keep it small, that’s one of the best things you can do
to go a little greener.”
She said she understands the pressure that parents are under,
but says it is of little consequence.
“My kids see all that same stuff in the stores — the giant
bunny baskets filled to the brim with chocolate,” Savedge said.
“I want them to be excited and have a lot of stuff, but I have
found when I make it small, they’re just as excited; they’ve
never once complained.”

2. DIY baskets. Savedge suggests rifling through

the recycling bin to come up with materials for your
Easter basket. Milk gallon jugs are great places
to start. With some cutting and pasting, you can
make an orange juice carton into a cute pink bunny.
(See instructions from Disney FamilyFun magazine,
http://familyfun.go.com/easter/easter-crafts/
easter-baskets/bunny-basket-665124/.)
Savedge said she also scavenges
the containers already in use around
the house.
“I have several pretty baskets with
napkins or whatnot, and I just empty
them for a week or so. Then you don’t
have to keep track of where the Easter
baskets are stored from year to year.”

3. Grow your own grass.

Instead of using plastic grass, grow
your own grass from seed that is found
at most nurseries and hardware stores.
Just sprinkle the seeds into a couple of
inches of potting soil in a shallow dish.
Keep it in the sun and water daily for
two or three weeks. Put the whole thing
into the basket your kids made, or use a
terra cotta pot that they have painted.
If you don’t have a green thumb, use
your shredder to carve up newspaper, mag-
azines or tissue paper. You can even com-
post it after the holiday.

P H OTO I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y E R I C G O O DW I N / M C T
4. Use natural foods to dye the
eggs. Savedge said she feels more com-
fortable letting her family eat the eggs
when she skips chemical dyes and colors MCT

WEAVE YOUR OWN BASKET

Easter eggs with red cabbage leaves (blue);
Natural foods
yellow onions (earthy brown), beets (pink),
can be used to
spinach (light green) and turmeric (bright
dye eggs
yellow). Find help coloring your eggs the
different colors
Embroidery Hoop Basket natural way at www.
including green
instructables.com.
From Disney FamilyFun magazine, (spinach),
“The kids love it even better (than using
http://familyfun.go.com/ yellow (tumeric),
the kits) because it’s just so cool; they think
blue (red
it’s the craziest thing to dye an egg pink
Recycle old T-shirts and make these color- cabbage) or
with a beet,” Savedge said.
ful baskets. Before you begin, some terms you brown (onions).
You also can use up the crayon nubs by
need to know: the warp is the material you drawing designs on the eggs when they are still warm from
string on the hoop, the weft is the material you being boiled.
weave with. And, skip the plastic eggs entirely. Instead, decorate old
MATERIALS: Altoids tins and fill with candy.
■ Sleeves from 2 or 3 adult large T-shirts
■ Tacky glue 5. Fill the baskets with something more than
junk. Sure, kids love candy, and who doesn’t? To ease your
■ Scissors
mind a bit, you can find locally produced chocolates, and there
■ 12-inch round embroidery hoop. Make large are organic lollipops or all-natural jelly beans you can find
baskets on a hula hoop by weaving a base online. But you also can make sure the basket is largely filled
(ours are 8 inches in diameter) then pulling with things that they will use more than once, and will encour-
the weft tight to create sides. age them to go outside.
DIRECTIONS: Here are a few ideas:
1. Turn the shirts or ■ Books or activity books
just shirt sleeves ■ Homemade bubbles made with dishwashing soap and a little
inside out and lay P H OTO S F R O M D I S N E Y FA M I LY F U N M AG A Z I N E bit of glycerin
them flat on your
work surface. Run a
Turn old T-shirts into colorful Easter ■ Art supplies or stickers
baskets with this weaving craft. ■ A jump rope, kite or ball
line of glue along the
seam of each sleeve. If each strand instead of going over or under the ■ A starter kit for gardening with kid-sized gloves, a trowel and
you’re using adult T- doubled spoke. This increases the number of seeds
shirts, glue the body seams the same way. This warp spokes, improving the structure of the ■ Something they need anyway, such as new sunglasses or
is so that the seam stitching doesn’t come project. When you get to the two warp spokes flip-flops for the warmer months
undone when you cut them. that you pushed together at the top of the
2. When the glue is loom, separate them.
dry, cut 1/2-inch-wide Treat one of the spokes as two individual
loops from the strips, but continue to treat the other as a sin-
sleeves. Discard the gle spoke. This maintains the odd number of
hems. You’ll need nine warp spokes.
sleeve loops for the 7. To form the sides of your basket, begin
warp. For the weft, stretching the weft material tightly and pulling
you’ll need about 50 it snugly against the weaving as you work.
loops. If you’re using shirt-body loops, you’ll The sides should start to bend up.
need far fewer (depending on the size of the 8. When the basket is the size you want,
shirt). snip open your weft loop. Tie the ends around HANDOUT
3. Stretch one sleeve warp loop over the a warp spoke. The Teenie Greenies’ “Eco People on the Go!” and
embroidery hoop. Add and secure a second 9. Cut the warp spokes off the hoop one at “The Little Composter” books are both printed on
loop, perpendicular to the first. a time. Tie the ends in pairs, then trim them to 80 percent recycled paper and use soy inks.
4. Repeat, filling in the spaces, until all make a fringe or tuck them back into the bas-
nine loops are in place. ket.
5. Push together two warp loops at the top
of hoop. This creates an odd number of warp
spokes in your wheel, which allows the ■ “Eco People on the Go!” and “The Little Composter” from
over/under pattern of the weft to alternate with the Teenie Greenies series by Jan Gerardi. These board books
each new row. are printed on 80 percent recycled paper with soy inks and
6. Then begin weaving. When your weav- water-based varnish.
ing is about 4 inches across, begin treating
■ “Garden Crafts for Kids: 50 Great Reasons to Get Your Hands
each warp spoke as two individual strips
Dirty,” by Diane Rhoades, ages 9-12.
instead of a single unit, weaving over or under
■ “The Secret Garden,” by Frances Hodgson Burnett, ages 9-12.
■ “Bunnicula,” by Deborah and James Howe, ages 9-12.

GREEN EASTER
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE