I really love crafts where you don’t have to shell out a gazillion dollars in order to reach the finished product. This is especially true when the kids are involved; there’s no telling whether the craft is going to be a huge bust and end up with tears and paint splattered all over the table.

Not a totally uncommon happening when a 4 and 2 year old are trying to “share” (and I use that term loosely) while accessing their creative juices.

I was thinking of Easter-y things to try out with the girls, when I remembered the lost art of papier-mache. At least, it’s lost to me. I haven’t tried to manipulate soaking-wet paper into some sort of art since I was in high school. The girls will love it! I thought. How can they not love making a mess?

And awesomely enough, there is a very fun step before you start making that gloopy mess: Cutting paper!

You can cut the paper into manageable strips…

Oh, Pyjama Lucy.

Heigh-ho! Heigh-ho! Newspaper-cutting-is-kind-of-slow!

I resisted the urge to cut all of the paper in 30 seconds and then move onto the next step. I had to remember: the process! The process! 

The girls were both very excited when I mixed up the “paste”. I could have make the flour-and-water concoction, but my lazypants got in the way. I opted for the 2/3 Elmer’s glue with 1/3 water. Sometimes, a sure thing is just too enticing to pass up.

The blue eggs – which happened to match the ribbon, coincidentally enough – were Lucy’s eggs. She declared them off-limits from the craft, nabbed them from the table and then kept them next to her as she played in the playroom.

Halfway through the second egg, Lila decided she had had enough of egg-painting. There were toys to play with and this was “good ’nuff”.

Well okay then.

They dried, and one of the eggs crackled a bit. And Lila loves them.

That’s a good enough reason for me to give them pride-of place. They sit in our little glass “nest” on the  cabinet with their cousins, waiting for the Easter Bunny.

I am happy to report that this Dollar Store craft was a success! We have a wonderful little display that has the girls’ fingerprints all over it (even if Lucy only wanted to participate in the paper-cutting and egg-theiving portion of the craft).

And maybe one day Lucy will want to stay for a whole craft. And maybe she won’t. I get the feeling that she’s going to be the kid who steals all of the frogs from the Biology lab so that they don’t have to dissect them. That child knows her mind. And those around her will know it sooner than later.

Spring hasn’t quite “sprung” yet, but it’s getting there! Now all we need is a bit of sunshine!