Thinking Outside the Basket

I love finding new, creative and "outside the basket" ideas to celebrate our Easter festivities. Today I am going to share two ways to dye eggs, and how to make your own homemade marshmallow peeps.

Silk Tie Dye Eggs

Last year I found a tutorial on how to dye eggs using old silk ties. I thought this looked wild, but was totally willing to give it a try. After a quick visit to the second-hand store we had an arm full of silk ties. At 49 cents a piece, they were a steal! When preparing to silk dye your eggs, the uglier the tie, the better.

Directions

Wrap each unboiled egg in the "right side of the silk, completely covering it. Place a band around the ends and cover with a cotton rag material, then band those ends together as well. Boil for about 25 minutes with 1/2 cup vinegar. Onceboiled, cool in cold water, remove the fabric and be amazed at your awesomeness! I

feel this is a great activity for ages 3 and up, supervised of course! Here are our eggs.

Onion Peel Eggs

This next organic idea comes from using dried onion peels to dye your eggs. No artificial anything, and you and your little ones get the benefits of this all natural experience. All you need are some eggs and dried onion peels. I used red and yellow onion peels to create our eggs.

Directions

Just boil your water, throw in your peels, and gently place both white and brown eggs in your pot. Twenty five minutes later you have nature's perfect dyed egg! We decided to get creative and use green leaves in one batch, too.

For fun you could try paprika, it doesn't seem to dissolve in the water while boiling and results in speckling. Try turmeric for a striking yellow color, or even cranberry juice.

Homemade Marshmallow Peeps

Lastly, everyone has seen those marshmallow peeps in purple, blue, pink and yellow--begging you to buy them, then nibble off their ear. They pop up all over, at all stores, in a quiet signal that Easter is almost here. Now I am personally not a big fan of marshmallow anything. With that being said, when I found a recipe for homemade marshmallow peeps from Martha Stewart, I knew I had to try them. Let me say this, if you love peeps, your will devour these soft marshmallow creatures. If you happen to be like me... You, too, will devour these homemade morsels! They are soft, light and won't leave you with a headache or toothache.

Here is what you'll need!

Unflavored gelatin (2 1/2 teaspoons)

1/3 cup cold water, for gelatin, plus 1/4 cup for syrup

1 cup sugar

Directions

In the bowl of an electric mixer, sprinkle gelatin over 1/3 cup cold water. Allow gelatin to soften, about 5 minutes. In a small saucepan, combine 1/4 cup water and sugar, and stir over medium-high heat until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring, and place a candy thermometer into sugar water; wipe sides of pan with a wet brush if sugar crystals have splattered up. Boil sugar until temperature reaches the soft-ball stage (238 degrees). Remove syrup from heat; add to softened gelatin. Using the whisk attachment of an electric mixer, hand-stir the mixture a few minutes to cool; place bowl on the mixer stand. Beat on medium high with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form and the marshmallow mixture holds shape, 8 to 10 minutes. Quickly place your marshmallow in a piping bag with your favorite tip to create your own creatures or sugar pillow designs. (Fast like a bunny, no joke.) Place on parchment or foil and coat with super fine sugar. Once you have piped your design, sprinkle with more sugar and decorate with royal icing or sprinkles.

Here are our bunnies, that kind of look like Easter mice.

Store in an airtight container for about two weeks! Have a Happy, hoppy Easter!