Ask the readers: Easter money-saving ideas
![[ easter egg image ]](http://www.thebargainqueen.org/images/easter_egg.gif "[ easter egg image ]")
Easter’s coming up, and I must admit that I’m flummoxed.
Usually, I love a special occasion. It doesn’t matter what the occasion is, but if there are gifts and/or I get to dress up, I’m in.
But Easter? I’m not religious, so it’s always just seemed like the annual chocolate-giving festivity… which admittedly has its merits. I’ve never been inspired to come up with my own ideas of how it should be celebrated though.
So I’d like to ask everyone reading this: do you have any great easter traditions? If so, please share!
Add to del.icio.us
Stumble this
Share on Facebook
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
Make your own hot cross buns on Friday. Save the chocolate for Sunday - nice anticipation! We buy one deluxe egg (or equivalent) each for our family of four. In New Zealand, most places are shut on the Friday and Sunday (or if they’re open, you often get hit with a “surcharge” because the staff get paid higher rates for working on a holiday). So it’s nice just to chill and take it easy, instead of racing around to farm shows, airshows, cultural festivals etc that are all on offer in February and March when the weather is sunny.
Something I plan to try this year is coloring coconut cupcakes easter egg colors. The coconut on top will look like that grass stuff, and the cupcakes are the BEST!
Well, for a lot of folks it is a family holiday that involves going to church (which you admitted isn’t a thing for you) followed by a big meal, sort of thanksgiving style. Here in the US for reasons I am not completely clear on Easter is most commonly associated (at least in the NE) with a Ham Dinner. You could use it as an occasion to do a celebratory type meal and break out the nice dishes, table linens etc, spend some time enjoying being together, or having some friends over for a nice family style meal.
This is going to sound like sort of a bummer way to spend Easter, but this is what my family and I do. I happen to have had several relatives pass away on or close to Easter, so the holiday has a certain poignancy for my family. We celebrate by spending the day together and appreciating each other while remembering the relatives we have lost. I think those sorts of “appreciate the family” times are usually relegated to Thanksgiving or Christmas, but way too much is going on during both holidays to really enjoy each other’s company. Easter is a day when we don’t have to worry about presents and giant meals, we can simply spend time together. I think it embodies the spirit of rebirth nicely.
I used to participate in the Easter Egg, hot cross bun stuff but now just ignore it. I feel bad for not participating but all the hoop-la around these holidays has just turned me off. Am more interested in their real meaning.
I have kids and nephews so we do the easter egg hunt thing. I usually hit up a nearby Dollar Store to buy the plastic eggs I hide around my house for them to hunt. $ store is also the best place in my opinions to buy the candies and any kinds of treats for the egg hunters. That’s the place I pretty much go to when it comes to sugar loaded holidays geared for kids. Definitely a bargain tip. :)
Thank you all for your great ideas!
It seems like Easter is a really personal holiday — no two people do exactly the same thing.
I feel a lot better about out ‘ritual’ now: chilling out and eating chocolate ;)
Easter for me is way more important than Christmas, simply because it was my beloved Nan’s favourite time of year.
I have revived the holiday in my family by creating an annual theme and holding a brunch (brunch is always more fun because you can have croissants and bellinis as well as savoury things…)
Last year’s theme was Mexican Catholicism and involved lots of bright paper flowers, skeletons (yes, a traditional Mexican symbol!) and my everyone in the garden bashing pinatas and wearing sombreros.
This year is yet to be decided…
PS Get well soon, Sara!
That’s a brilliant idea! Thanks for sharing, Harriet!
Easter for me means the tradition of …work. The way I see it is that people finally have a few days to unwind and get stuff done, so why not get your hair done and be pampered?
E ntertained
A t
S alon
T o
E licit
R elaxation.
I should try that… my hair’s at the ‘pony tail only’ stage of neglect (as in, I’m keeping it tied back all the time so I don’t have to wrestle with it. ugh!)
i go to the beach cuz when i was younger i had a strange loved adopted mother who always took us and now she is dead and it stuck and now has added meaning .. MUch LOVE Delia we miss you!!!!!!!!! easter baskets always have a beach theme and lunch n just a day in the sand
Hi There! My husband and I were both brought up Catholic, however we choose not to “instill” any beliefs into our children until they are old enough to understand and choose for themselves. So Easter & Christmas, etc… are all looked at as family fun time.
For Easter I usually stay up until @3-4AM planning the mornings events. The children are so separated in age that to let them run wild would be unfair to the younger, so I make individual scavenger hunts for each of 4 children (1 more soon) Inside each egg (envelope/gift) is a specific clue that will take them to their next egg if they can solve it. A basket is at the last clue… Last year I took a different color string for each child and made a complete mess out of the house!! It was a blast to do. When they woke up, they needed to follow the string that was attached to their bedroom door to find everything. They went upstairs, downstairs, outside; crawling under things, standing on chairs… I usually try to make the morning activities last for about an hour.
Then my family comes over with more gifts for the kids and we have a humungous breakfast (whole ham and all). I make french toast, pancakes, ‘dippy’ eggs, scrambled eggs, sausage, toast, bagels…. YUMMY!!!
Hope you can make your own traditions this year!!
It all started one year because we were low on funds. The week before Easter we head to the river, gather a variety of twigs from willows and dogwoods. We then make our own easter baskets. We find many other fun things to put into the contruction of our baskets, grasses, ribbons, even cool drift wood. My oldest son was 3 when we started this adventure, I’m sure that this will stay in the family for generations to come.
Wow Heather, that sounds amazing. You’ve got to be in line for a ‘best Mum ever’ award!
Sherri, I wouldn’t know where to begin with basket weaving… is it very difficult?
I love it… I don’t work, so the kids are my world. With 5 of them, how could it not be (3 are step-children). If you need any ideas for anything… I’m the WomaN!!! That includes bridal and baby showers, etc…. Fun Fun Fun. Toodles
~~Heather~~
hi,
sorry to be off topic here, but can i please be put in contact with heather (the post above mine). i am getting married if the next few years and would love to talk to her about a bridal shower. also, can we maybe have a wedding special (you know, where to get cheap dresses, suits, catering etc).
thanks,
cathy
Hi Cathy, I don’t have Heather’s email address, so can’t help you there — sorry! But I will run a wedding special soon, I promise.
Hi Cathy! I haven’t had much time to sit in front of the computer with the baby crawling now (yikes!). This June will be my 2nd wedding anniversary, so all that craziness is still fresh in my head. I’m am so excited for you! I would do it all again in a heartbeat. E-Mail me @ The4Ants@adelphia.net and I’ll help you out with whatever I can. Make sure to let me know its you in the subject, or I may delete it…
~~Heather~~
I’m in Buffalo by the way, You anywhere close by?