Allergy-Friendly Easter
Hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday weekend! We shared on Instagram stories what our allergy-friendly baskets included and our experience using Eggnots, so I thought I'd share our photos here on the blog as well.
My daughters and I also had the opportunity to decorate Eggnots. If you have egg allergies, know someone that does, or are vegan, Eggnots are the perfect alternative for safe, egg-free, decorating activities. They honestly were so adorable in the carton, I didn't want to decorate them!
In recent years, we've adopted having a theme as a new tradition for our Easter baskets. The girls are older; gone are the days of filling last minute plastic eggs with trinkets and stickers in the wee hours of the the night. We've ditched giving all the random cheap basket fillers of "stuff", along with the overwhelming amounts of candy, with the thought of gifts being more intentional. I was surprised how many people shared their love for this idea, hoping to do something like this in future years. The idea came from a childhood friend of mine. It's so sweet that her mother still surprises her with a newly-themed basket every Easter. Loving this idea, I eagerly waited for the year this would work for my family.
Our theme for this year's baskets: BAKING. Why not add some fun accessories to something we already do! The girls really loved these and it's something that was fun to assemble. In addition to the baking items, there was a small amount of candy. I purchase chocolate from Vermont Nut Free Chocolates a few times a year... admittedly I got these chocolate coins for St. Patrick's day and forgot to give them to the girls. They had plenty of baked sweets when I came to realize and decided to save them for Easter. They're Easter-y enough... right? Anyways, I choose to not go bonkers with candy. (Ain't nobody got time for a teenage sugar crash.)
My youngest daughter's basket had a mini cake pan, baking cups (something we can never have enough of), candy from Enjoy Life and Vermont Nut Free Chocolates (they received the same amount of candy in each basket), and baking utensils from World Market. Aren't the ceramic kitty measuring spoons and cups so darling? I do believe they would mix up some No Nuts Beauty Face Mask purrfectly. ;)
Being small business myself, I'm always on the hunt for local artists to support. When I saw 2 of these two-toned bowls (artist: Jim Parks) at a local art show, I eagery snagged them for my young ladies. At the time, I didn't know when I'd gift them, so I'm glad I waited. The pop of color complimented the baskets nicely!
My oldest daughter isn't so much into the cutesy stuff-- she's pretty straightforward. These fun rectangular measuring spoons paired well with traditional stainless measuring cups. She's a fan of quick breads and pies so this mini-bread pan and pastry guide from World Market were perfect. As a secondary purpose, my teen is a few years shy of potentially leaving the nest, so I often think about what household items we can start accruing for her now, so that when she does really need her own kitchen gear, we won't be starting from scratch.
The treat of our day was decorating these ceramic eggs by Eggnots. We found eco-friendly egg dye by Natural Earth Paint at our local Natural Grocers. My food-allergic daughter actually has some food allergies to ingredients that are often used as natural food coloring (another story for another day) so I was pleased to see that Natural Earth Paint addresses allergies clearly on their FAQ page.
Mixing the Natural Earth Paint was easy. Adding very hot water and a touch of vinegar, we enjoyed playing around with color combinations. (Kid's found some traditional food color in the depths of our pantry leftover from homeschool science and art projects.)
I even left some Eggnots white. Seriously, they're totally charming and SO REAL looking.
We were so impressed with how these high-quality ceramic eggs turned out. The way the natural dye absorbed into the ceramic left a deep, rich, appealing matte appearance.
We absolutely loved decorating Eggnots. Not only are they a safe and inclusive activity for everyone, they are a gorgeous keepsakes we can use year after year. We even have ideas to reuse some our Eggnots next year and try a different coloring method. There's so many ways to decorate these! Check out Eggnots on Instagram and Facebook to see how other people decorated their eggs. Thank you Eggnots, Enjoy Life, and Vermont Nut Free Chocolates for the dedication you put into making allergy-friendly products.
