My Children's Easter Decorations from 2017

Coral colored floral bouquet with baby's breath. Speckled lavender, white and yellow Easter
 eggs, on top of a pale yellow table cloth.

The Easter cake decorated with just bit of splatter, edible Easter grass and chocolate eggs.

A close-up of the Easter basket, bisque porcelain egg box and milk glass vase.

The girls used a bit of butterfly figured wrapping paper to create a table runner.

Close-up photo of our Easter flowers.

A fake feathered chic and speckled eggs resting in pink and lavender Easter grass.

More Spring flowers at the guest tables.

"He Is Risen" Easter, strawberry baskets loaded with candy eggs and chocolate shaped carrots.

Vintage Digital Papers in Shades of Green

       Visitors here may craft many lovely cards, scrapbook pages and other paper creations from the following digital printed papers. I have restored five green designs including all sorts of floral and fauna motifs from 1953. Enjoy! For personal use only.

"Field of Flowers" digital paper

Sampler for pinning only.

Visitors here may craft many lovely cards, scrapbook pages and other paper creations from the following digital printed papers. I designed five color variations from an vintage print of flowers. Enjoy! For personal use only.

"Field of Flowers" in green.

"Field of Flowers" in lavender.

"Field of Flowers" in mango.

"Field of Flowers" in raspberry.

"Field of Flowers" in teal.

Easter-Tide

Easter-Tide

by Mary Lowe Dickinson

"Life for us is in His dying !" 

So our humbled souls keep crying;
While the Lenten tears fall faster
At the grave that shrouds the Master,
Till within that gloomy garden
Shines His presence and His pardon -
Glimpse of Easter glory giving -
Then, " Our life is in His living!"

While He, patient, waits the voicing
Of our triumph and rejoicing;
Filled with our own hearts' devices,
Still we bring our burial spices.
Yet the Love whose taking hallows
Our poor gifts of myrrh and aloes,
Rainbows e'en our tears, and raises
Broken, trembling prayers to praises.

Watcher where His grave glooms darken,
Lift thy shadowed soul, and harken!
Hear the strong, triumphant singing
Of the risen Christ, loud ringing
In glad anthems from the portals
Of the home of the Immortals!
" Sealed no longer death's dark prison -
Christ, the Conqueror, is risen!" 

Tarry not to place thy finger
In the wounds where nail-prints linger;
Leave the linen clothes that bound Him;
Sing, with Mary, "I have found Him!"
Be thy mighty love the token
That for thee His heart was broken.
Whom the living Christ hath shriven.
Knows, e'en here, the peace of Heaven. 

Death in Christ is dawning gladness;

Life in Christ is robbed of sadness;

Faith in Christ that will not falter

Crowns with Easter bloom His altar,

Decks His shrine in sweetness vernal,

Lives with Christ the life eternal.

Tells in song and chime and story,

All a risen Savior's glory.

• The Tears of Lent
• From Tears To Laughter

The Crescent And The Cross

THE CRESCENT AND THE CROSS

BY THOMAS BAILEY ALDRICH

Kind was my friend who, in the Eastern land,

Remembered me with such a gracious hand,

And sent this Moorish Crescent, which has been

Worn on the haughty bosom of a queen.

No more it sinks and rises in unrest

To the soft music of her heathen breast;

No barbarous chief shall bow before it more,

No turban'd slave shall envy and adore.

I place beside this relic of the Sun

A Cross of cedar brought from Lebanon,

Once borne, perchance, by some pale monk who trod

The desert to Jerusalem - and his God !

Here do they lie, two symbols of two creeds,

Each meaning something to our human needs;

Both stained with blood, and sacred made by faith,

By tears and prayers, and martyrdom and death.

That for the Moslem is, but this for me!

The waning Crescent lacks divinity:

It gives me dreams of battles, and the woes

Of women shut in dim seraglios.

But when this Cross of simple wood I see,

The Star of Bethlehem shines again for me,

And glorious visions break upon my gloom -

The patient Christ, and Mary at the tomb.

• ihopeministries - مَمَرّ
• Jesus calling Muslims from the passage to the garden of paradise.

The Easter Message

THE EASTER MESSAGE
BY CHARLES E. HESSELGRAVE

       Less than a century ago there were growing up in some of the cultured Christian homes of New England many children who later realized with regret that during their childhood days they had never known the symbolism or ever heard the name of Easter. Yet no more significant, spontaneous, or universally attractive festival has ever been instituted than that which celebrates the return of spring, the budding of leaves and flowers, and the triumphant hope that eternally beckons forward the human race.

"See! The winter is past; the rains are over and gone."
Song of Solomon 2:11

       Older than Christianity and deeply rooted in the love of life itself, the spirit of Easter finds its most perfect expression in the Resurrection story of Jesus, There is, indeed, good cheer in the sight of flowers lifting their faces once more toward the sunlight, after the frosts and storms of winter have spent their force. The swelling seeds and changing tints of green give promise of the coming harvests and assure us of nature's ready response to our physical needs. The songs of the birds and the humming of the bees remind us of the rising tide of life that surrounds us and through countless channels is rushing onward with the pulse beat of recurring years. In all this stir of creative energy, this bursting of winter's fetters and the renewal of life's struggle for undisputed supremacy, we feel a kindling interest and secret joy, which carry us outside the old limitations and broaden the horizons of our purposes and hopes.

       But did the springtime come and go with no other message of inspiration, the world of mankind would grow old and weary and discouraged with its toil and disappointment, its wasting wars and ceaseless oppressions, its heroic attempts and saddening failures, and the oft recurring sight of its shining ideals cast to the earth and trampled upon by the gross feet of selfishness and indifference. Humanity knows but too well its own weakness and defects. Memory as well as science reminds us that one spring is like another, that man's life too is but a coming and a going, as the budding spring bursts into summer and comes at last to rest beneath winter's snow. But Easter adds the everlasting crown to man's hope and inspiration in the Resurrection story. Therein we pass from intimations of nature into the realm of human struggle and aspiration where the organizing forces of life surge to and fro with tragic consequence and man more often questions the worth of the final result.

       Back to the Gospel source go those whose faith in human possibilities and courage for unmeasured tasks must needs be renewed in some lifegiving stream. Not only in the buds and blossoms may we see the victory of life, but also in the story of Calvary and the Garden, where we find goodness and righteousness eternally triumphant over villainy and injustice, non-resistence over aggression, humility over pride, holiness over sin, love over hate. We are assured that though evil may hold the reins for a season, dominion and power belong ultimately to justice and right. However complete may be the temporary defeat of truth, error shall not always abide.

       Easter proclaims that man shall overcome all his foes, including death itself. His pathway may lead him through the sorrows of Gethsemane, the pain and darkness of Calvary, nevertheless his winter of distress will yet turn to the spring of delight, defeat will be forgotten in the joy of final victory, and the life of the spirit will rise in glory from the shadows of the grave.

• God's Life-Giving Waters 
• Streams of Water In The Desert 
• What gives you life?
• Stream, flood and spring

The Soul Does Not Sleep.

       I cannot agree with some people, that Paul has been sleeping in the grave, and is still there, after the storms of eighteen hundred years. I cannot believe that he who loved the Master, who had such a burning zeal for Him, has been separated from Him in an unconscious state, "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which Thou has given me." This is Christ's prayer. Moody

Coloring page of Christ In Glory

Description of Coloring Page:  from a Belgian MS, four gospel symbols: the winged man, an eagle, a winged lion and a winged ox. The blessing of Jesus, second person of the Holy Trinity makes his sign with two fingers lifted, seated in the throne room of Heaven

• Learn to draw, in just three steps, the hidden nests of Easter! 

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Color The Passion Flower

Description of Coloring Page:  Passiflora, known also as the passion flowers or passion vines, is a genus of about 550 species of flowering plants, the type genus of the family Passifloraceae.They are mostly tendril-bearing vines, with some being shrubs or trees. They can be woody or herbaceous. Passion flowers produce regular and usually showy flowers with a distinctive corona.

       The flower was named after the Passion of Christ by Catholic priests during the 15th Century, The five sepals and five petals symbolize the 10 apostles faithful to Christ during his persecution (holy week) and the corona filament represent the crown of thorns that Jesus wore as he hung on the cross.

A photograph of a passion flower, most are purple to blue in color.

• Color a Passion Flower combined with scripture
• Complex mandala design with a passionflower from Cynthia Emerlye 
• Passionflower (Passiflora caerulea) - free sample page from Dover 
• The carrot-feasters of our children's Easter paint and play
  

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

Heart's Flower

"Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord." Psalms 150:6

Heart's Flower

by Marion Mosbie

There grew a little flower once

That blossomed in a day;

Some said it would ever bloom,

And some, 'twould fade away.

Some said it was happiness,

And some said it was Spring,

Some said it was grief and tears

And many such a thing.

But still the little flower bloomed

And still it lived and throve,

Men do call it "Summer Growth,"

But angels call it "Love."

• Prayer for Inner Healing
• How Prayer Can Change a Man's Heart

An Easter Offering

AN EASTER OFFERING

Ada Stewart Shelton

"Neither will I offer unto the Lord my God that which doth cost me nothing.'"

Within a crowded dwelling-place,
Climbing its narrow stair,
A little maid is toiling slow,
Who in her hand doth bear
A jug of water, which she guards
And holds with anxious care.

Slowly she climbs the stairway dim,
So narrow, steep, and high,
To where her little window looks
Out on a patch of sky;
And o'er a flower upon its ledge
She bends with loving eye.

The only treasure that is hers!
She dreams of it by night,
Guards it by day; the blue eyes watch
Its opening to the light.
Was ever lily seen before
So pure, so fair, so white?

Soon, very soon, is drawing near
The blessed Easter Day,
When from a grateful, loving heart
We give our best away.
What offering could the dear child make?
She ponders day by day.

Such scanty earnings naught could yield,
From them she fears to take ;
But there upon the window-ledge-
Oh! can she, can she make
Such sacrifice, and give her flower
For Easter - and His sake ?

The glad-voiced bells are chiming clear,
The dim-lit church is sweet
With font and chancel filled with flowers,
This Easter morn to greet,
When up the silent aisle there comes
A child with faltering feet.

Softly the notes from organ grand
Are stealing through the air;
Beneath the Altar's gleaming cross
She lays the lily fair,
And then all timidly she kneels,
And clasps her hands in prayer.
 

'Tis all I have," she murmurs low,
"Dear Lord, to give to Thee,
And so I bring this flower I love.
An offering from me;
For on this holy Easter Day
Thy child I pray to be."

Amid the throng at service hour,
In anthem, chant, and hymn,
One sweet voice rang, until it made
The older eyes grow dim;
They did not know what filled her heart
With gladness to the brim.

The best that it was hers to give,
That she had given away;
Not "that which cost her nothing," but
What nearest her heart lay.
Lord, grant that we may also give
Our best on Easter Day.

Easter Song

Easter Song

by Louisa Parsons Hopkins

THE song of the sap
From its mother's lap
Springing to welcome the Easter Day;
The song of the wood
That groweth good
With the sap that riseth and will not stay;

Clear harmonies
Of the fluted trees, -
The organ-pipes of the bird and bee ;
The voice that wells
From the leaflet-cells, -
A hidden murmur of melody!

The opening sheath
Of the willow's wreath;
Chorus of birds, high carolling;
The cymballed psalm
Of the air's soft palm
Closing after the cleaving wing;

The patter of showers,
The waving flowers,
The symphony of the south wind free;
The vibrant harp
Of the ice-clad scarp,
Struck to the chord of the sounding sea;

The whir of wings,
The bubbling springs,
The bursting ice and the melting snow;
The rapid's roar
And the rippling shore,
The unchained brooks and the rivers' flow;

The nestling broods,
The interludes
Of chirp and trill, of coo and call;
The loosening hold
Of the leaf-bud's fold,
And the resurrection of each and all!

Let the paean rise
In the eastern skies,
While planets sing on their mystic ways;
With heart and voice
Earth and heaven rejoice,
And the song of life be a song of praise!

With Palm Branches

With Palm Branches

by Lucy Larcom

MY soul hastens forth with hosannas,
To wave for the Victor her palm;
Every hope presses forward to meet Him,
Every thought rises up with a psalm.

The stones of the roadside sing praises;
Praise ripples the brook by the way;
The dumb heart of Nature rejoices;
Even silence is vocal to-day.

He goeth to cruel betrayal, -
The thorns and the spear-thrust to meet:
He refuseth no drop of death's anguish, -
The bitterness Love shall make sweet.

We would taste Thy cup with Thee, O Master!
We would share in Thy life, through Thy death!
For Thy sacrifice makes us immortal,
And we live but in breathing Thy breath.

Ride onward, O King of the lowly,
And trample our pride in Thy path!
Let us follow Thee, asking no honor
Save the blessing humility hath!

Ride on, and release us from evil!
Ride on, and redeem us from sin!
Every gate of our being flies open:
Ride on, to Thy Kingdom within!

Thine Easter Day

Restored die cut of kissing children and pansies.

 Thine Easter Day

by Mary Lowe Dickinson

Within thy heart is there an opened tomb?
Have God's strong angels rolled the stone
away?
Rises thy dead self from its bonds of clay?
Breaks Heaven's sweet light across the dark and
gloom?
Then is this day in truth thine Easter day!

If broken down are stony gates of pride,
If shrouding bands of earth are torn away,
If sin and wrath and scorn in thee have died,
Mourn not the past. The folded shroud beside
Angels will watch; - it is thine Easter day.

Rise, new-born soul, and put thine armor on;
Clasp round thy breast the garment of the light;
Gird up thy loins for battle. In the fight
He leads who upward from our sight has gone;
It is His day; there's no more death nor night,

No dark, no hurt, no more sharp shame nor loss;
All buried, hidden 'neath the grave's dark sod;
All ways forgotten, save the road He trod;
All burdens naught in sight of His - the cross;
All joy, alive and safe with Christ in God!

Easter Day

Easter Day 

by Sara Henderson Smith

Over the solemn night

Quivers the first dim light,

Sent forth to herald in the Christian Sabbath birth;

And like that feeble ray,

Scarce chasing gloom away.

Flickers the dawn of Faith, o'er the sin-darkened earth.

Faintly the morning beam,

By Cedron's cooling stream,

And dark Gethsemane, piercing the misty veil.

Reveals the sepulchre,

And its lone watcher - her

Who lingering still, pours forth her grief in low, deep

wail.

Mary, why weepest thou?"

Forgiven, sinless, now;

So soon the echo lost, that bade thee "go in peace."

Still in the cold, damp air,

Rises the grief-taught prayer.

Her Lord is taken hence, nor may her mourning cease.

"Mary, why weepest thou?"

Forgiven, sinless now!

Bowed to the earth, not then her Master's voice she

hears;

"Mary!" the thrilling tone

Now to her heart has gone.

Love taught her first to weep; Love has dried up her

tears.

Disciple of the Lord,

Who trembles at His word,

Be strong, like hers, thy love, tho' faith be dimmed

and weak.

Go wait, and watch, and pray, -

Turn not, if He delay, -

He knows thee by thy name, and to thy heart will speak.

E'en now the angel band

In light around thee stand -

Repentant and forgiven, asking, "Why weepest thou?"

But not till He appears

To gather up thy tears

They gem the love-wrought crown that glitters on

His brow.

Ring, Happy Bells!

Ring, Happy Bells!

by Lucy Larcom

RING, happy bells of Easter time!

The world is glad to hear your chime;

Across wide fields of melting snow

The winds of summer softly blow,

And birds and streams repeat the chime

Of Easter time.

Ring, happy bells of Easter time!

The world takes up your chant sublime,

"The Lord is risen! "The night of fear

Has passed away, and heaven draws near:

We breathe the air of that blest clime,

At Easter time.

Ring, happy bells of Easter time!

Our happy hearts give back your chime!

The Lord is risen ! We die no more:

He opens wide the heavenly door;

He meets us, while to Him we climb,

At Easter time.

One Easter Lily's Mission

ONE EASTER LILY'S MISSION

by Ada Stewart Shelton

The first faint flush of the fair Easter

dawn

Touched with its tender light a lily's

face,

So pure and fair that one would scarce

believe

It could find life in such a dreary

place.

High up amid the roof-tops crowded

close

Of wretched dwellings, stairways lead-

ing in

To darkened alleys, there the fair flower

grew,

O'erlooking want and misery and sin.

"My sisters sweet and fair will hail this

morn;

Within the churches' walls, with win-

ning grace,

They will proclaim to-day the Easter

joy;

E'en on the altar they will find a

place.

"What part is given to me this Easter

Day?

In all its gladness I can have no

share;

For even those who watch my leaves

unfold

Do scarcely know the day whose name

I bear."

Soon one drew near whose touch was

coarse and rough,

Withal the heart that guided it was

kind;

"The child that moans below shall have

my flower,

Maybe 'twill bring some comfort to

her mind."

Down the steep stairway, through the

alley dark,

Was the white lily carried, oh, so fair!

It seemed in passing through the dreary

place

To leave a benediction on the air.

Within a wretched, comfortless, dim

room,

Moaning with pain, with fever's vague

unrest,

A young child lay; with smile of radiant

joy

She clasped the Easter lily to her breast.

"Oh! is it really mine?" she mur-

mured low,

"It almost takes the pain; " the fair

flower lay

Close, closer pressed within that burning

hand,

Until at night both lives had ebbed

away.

Sweet was the life that the fair lily gave,

Though in the church's beauty she had

borne no share;

Lowly the work that waits in many a

path,

Rich are the blessings that lie hidden

there.

He Is Risen

He Is Risen

by Louisa Parsons Hopkins

He is risen He is not here!" 

Come the dark grave anear
And see the angel of light
In his robe of dazzling white
To your longing eyes appear!

Listen ! Be of good cheer!
Love shall dispel all fear;
Fled is the sad, lone night;
" He is risen!"

O Lord and Savior dear!
Make the truth shine so clear
Unto our grief-dimmed sight,
Make the glad word so bright,
As to dry every tear:
" He is risen ! "

The Easter Guest

 The Easter Guest 
by Mary Lowe Dickinson

I Knew Thou wert coming, O Lord Divine, 

I felt in the sunlight a softened shine,
And a murmur of welcome I thought I heard,
In the ripple of brooks and the chirp of bird;
And the bursting buds and the springing grass
Seemed to be waiting to see Thee pass;
And the sky, and the sea, and the throbbing sod
Pulsed and thrilled to the touch of God.

I knew Thou wert coming, O Love Divine,
To gather the world's heart up to Thine;
I knew the bonds of the rock-hewn grave
Were riven, that living Thy life might save.
But blind and wayward I could not see
Thou wert coming to dwell with nie^ e'en me ;
And my heart o'erburdened with care and sin.
Had no fair chambers to take Thee in :

Not one clean spot for Thy foot to tread,
Not one pure pillow to rest Thy head;
There was nothing to offer, no bread, no wine, 

No oil of joy in this heart of mine;

And yet the light of Thy kingly face

Illumed for Thyself a small dark place,

And I crept to the spot by Thy smile made sweet,

And the tears came ready to wash Thy feet.

Now let me come nearer, O Lord Divine,

Make in my soul for Thyself a shrine;

Cleanse, till the desolate place shall be

Fit for a dwelling, dear Lord, for Thee.

Rear, if Thou wilt, a throne in my breast,

Reign, I will worship and serve my guest.

While Thou art in me - and in Thee I abide -

No end can come to the Easter-tide.

Book end paper by Walter Crane

 Description of Printable Paper: restored bookend paper, Easter flowers, Spring garden, flowers, for your personal crafts only, field of drawn rabbits, colors: peach, blue and yellow, very vintage, Read Terms of Use folks, end paper is designed by Walter Crane

• Coloring pages by Walter Crane
• Restored Walter Crane coloring and Silhouettes at Thrifty Scissors
• Guardian angels by Crane here and here

Vintage Easter Basket End Paper

Description of Printable Paper: restored bookend paper, Easter baskets, Spring baskets, flowers, for your personal crafts only, field of drawn rabbits, colors: peach, blue and yellow, very vintage, Read Terms of Use folks

A Cross for Coloring Easter Morning

Description of Coloring Page: a Christian cross by kathy grimm, shapes, patterns, spirals, swirls, hearts etc...

• "Raise Up The Cross!" from Color The Bible
• And Another Cross from Crayon Palace 
• Color sharing flowers with an Easter friend...
  

Don't forget to drag the png. or jpg into a Word Document and enlarge the image as much as possible before printing it folks. If you have a question about this coloring page, just type into the comment box located directly below this post and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

The Wonderful Cross Medley by Taryn Harbridge

The poor and anxious, plod their dreary ways...

       "Poor, anxious, over thoughtful man ! He plods his dreary way - bowed down with earthly care - borrowing sorrow from the days to come - forgetful of the Heavenly Provider.

       Sweet flowers! Do you breathe of hope to his dim faith - whisper to his sinking heart of Him who so clothes the grass of the fields from day to day. Wherefore taketh he thought for the morrow? His Father knoweth his need. He will provide out of His own rich fullness. He will lift the shadow of care that smothers him like a pall. Oh! that he would but consider the Lilies!

       Has all pleasure faded out of your life? Do the clouds of disappointment shroud your sky? It is  better for you to die than to live, think you? Nay - consider the Lilies, with which God so clothes the grass of the fields. Life is not all a barren waste. Ah! through blinding tears, you can see no loveliness; but it is there - all around you still. Let your gracious Father wipe the tears away, that you may see clearly. He waits to be gracious - to do all you need - to comfort you, exceeding abundantly above all you can ask or think, for His own good pleasure. He giveth not according to desert; He measureth not His gifts by desire; out of His own rich fullness in Christ the Lord, He bestoweth to the full measure of the need, heaped up and running over - He giveth without measure, to the sons of His love in Jesus. If His face be hid for a moment, His kindness is everlasting. Ah! would you but consider the Lilies, and turn to Him for comfort and consolation!" A. Buchanan.

 "Consider the lilies...

Our Burial Places Sacred.

       How we linger around the cold remains of a friend till absolutely driven from it! How we care for it, as for some precious gem not always to be trodden in the dust! How reverently we commit it to the keeping of its mother earth; bidding it good night as if in attendance on the councils of royalty!

       How sacred is the spot where he lies! How often do we retire not alone to weep but to hold sweet communion with the departed, and say, "We shall meet again." - Rev. McClelland, D. D.

Craft a Bird In a Nest Box

The Nesting Bird's Box by kathy grimm as seen from above.

       Although the assembly of this little box may be a bit challenging in at first, most of you will get the gist of it after a few seconds of trial and error. 

       Just imagine how different my box might look if I were to use paper or paint to decorate it? I loved the soft, tactile surface of this box. And the neutral brown shades gave it a bit of a modern twist in the finish, I think. It makes for an unusual Easter surprise!

Supply List:

• small empty, clean carton with a screw top spout
• paper or plastic bowl
• cardstock or cardboard
• masking tape
• white school glue
• plastic or styrofoam eggs
• yarn for nest, eggs and bird
• feathers
• scissors
• tissue paper 
• Sculpey clay (just a small amount)
• hot glue

Step-by-Step Directions:

1. Clean with warm warm water and soap a screw top spouted cream carton. Then cut the top off including a generous piece of cardboard surrounding it. (see photo below)
2. Cover the bowl's surface with masking tape on all sides.
3. Take the paper or plastic bowl and turn it upside down on a piece of cardboard and draw around the edge to estimate the circumference of it's opening. Cut around this circle leaving about a half inch in excess from the drawn circle. 
4. Remove the plastic lid from the carton piece and trace around it on top of the cardstock where ever you plan to have the box open. If your making a nest similar to mine, put it roughly in the middle.
5. Punch a whole in the center of this smaller outline with the tip of your scissors and cut the small whole out. Make sure that the lid top fits neatly through the hole.
6. Cover the top with masking tape. Cut out the hole shape if you cover this with the tape.
7. Now push the lid opening and it's attached backing through one side of the container's lid. (see photograph below)
8. Tape this secure and flip it over to screw on the plastic lid top.
9. Notch around the half inch cut so that the edge may be turned under  or up slightly and then squeeze glue around this edge and nestle it on to the top of the bowl. Mask the top edge firmly to the bowl top. Let this form dry.
10. Use glue and making tape to position and secure the plastic egg shells around the inside of the nest.
11. Now unscrew the lid from the top of the box. Crush the tissue into the shape of a small baby bird and glue this to the lid's top. Be careful not to get tape, glue or paper on the inside of the lid so that it will continue to screw on and off of it's lip properly. 
12. Mask this tiny bird with the tape.
13. Sculpt a bit of clay into a open beak for the bird. Fit it onto the small bird's head to make sure that it looks the way you want before baking it into it's permanent shape.
14. After baking this according to directions, let cool and then hot glue it to your baby bird.
15. Now use the white school glue to cover your nest with yarns of your own choosing. This will need to be done in stages, the bottom first and so on...  Let the glued surfaces dry between stages over several days. (see detailed photos below)
16. Include a secret letter and perhaps a bit of money inside your bird's nest box to give as a special gift for Easter or a child's birthday.

Left, "Clean with warm warm water and soap a screw top spouted cream carton. Then cut the top off including
 a generous piece of cardboard surrounding it." Right, you can see that I have cut a whole measuring the
 same size of the lid into the top of the cardboard "nest."

Left and Center, "Now push the lid opening and it's attached backing through one side of the container's lid.
Right, the opening of my Nest Box is neat, clean, and ready for decorating.

Left, "Now unscrew the lid from the top of the box. Crush the tissue into the shape of a small baby bird and glue
 this to the lid's top. Be careful not to get tape, glue or paper on the inside of the lid so that it will continue to screw
 on and off of it's lip properly." Right, "Use glue and making tape to position and secure the plastic egg shells around
the inside of the nest."

       Above is the top of the screw top lid covered with furry brown yarn, a Sculpey beak and real feathers, made to look like a baby bird. I went for a simpler look and opted to leave the beak unpainted this time. In the photographs below you can see the yarn covered box from different points of view as well as a close up shot of the box with the led unscrewed.

More Bird Crafts:

• Crayon Resist Parrots by Children
• How to draw a peacock, an ostrich and a blue jay, step-by-step
• Audubon's Legacy Lesson
• Free Jigsaw Transfer of A Parrot

Easter-Tide by Mary Lowe Dickinson

Easter-Tide

"Life for us is in His dying!"

So our humbled souls keep crying;

While the Lenten tears fall faster

At the grave that shrouds the Master,

Till within that gloomy garden

Shines His presence and His pardon -

Glimpse of Easter glory giving -

Then, "Our life is in His living!"

While He, patient, waits the voicing

Of our triumph and rejoicing;

Filled with our own hearts' devices,

Still we bring our burial spices.

Yet the Love whose taking hallows

Our poor gifts of myrrh and aloes,

Rainbows e'en our tears, and raises

Broken, trembling prayers to praises.

Watcher where His grave glooms darken,

Lift thy shadowed soul, and harken!

Hear the strong, triumphant singing

Of the risen Christ, loud ringing

In glad anthems from the portals

Of the home of the Immortals!

" Sealed no longer death's dark prison -

Christ, the Conqueror, is risen!"

Tarry not to place thy finger

In the wounds where nail-prints linger;

Leave the linen clothes that bound Him;

Sing, with Mary, "I have found Him!"

Be thy mighty love the token

That for thee His heart was broken.

Whom the living Christ hath shriven.

Knows, e'en here, the peace of Heaven.

Death in Christ is dawning gladness;

Life in Christ is robbed of sadness;

Faith in Christ that will not falter

Crowns with Easter bloom His altar,

Decks His shrine in sweetness vernal,

Lives with Christ the life eternal.

Tells in song and chime and story,

All a risen Savior's glory.

An Easter Song

An Easter Song

by Susan Coolidge

A song of sunshine through the rain,

Of spring across the snow,

A balm to heal the hurts of pain,

A peace surpassing woe.

Lift up your heads, ye sorrowing ones,

And be ye glad of heart.

For Calvary and Easter Day,

Earth's saddest day and gladdest day.

Were just one day apart!

With shudder of despair and loss

The world's deep heart was wrung.

As lifted high upon his cross

The Lord of Glory hung,

When rocks were rent, ghostly forms

Stole forth in street and mart;

But Calvary and Easter day.

Earth's blackest day and whitest day,

Were just one day apart!

No hint or whisper stirred the air

To tell what joy should be;

The sad disciples, grieving there.

Nor help nor hope could see.

Yet all the while the glad, near sun

Made ready its swift dart,

And Calvary and Easter Day,

The darkest day and brightest day,

Were just one day apart!

Oh, when the strife of tongues is loud,

And the heart of hope beats low.

When the prophets prophesy of ill.

And the mourners come and go,

In this sure thought let us abide.

And keep and stay our heart,

That Calvary and Easter Day

Earth's heaviest day and happiest day.

Were but one day apart!

While It Is Yet Still Dark...

       Amid the confusion of the early records which tell about the great event which Easter celebrates one thing stands out very clear. No human eye saw the resurrection of Jesus or watched the inscrutable process. The Christian witnesses bore testimony only to the accomplished fact. The change from death to life culminated in the obscurity of the tomb. " While it was yet dark," there came, according to the most philosophical of the Gospels, anxious watchers who found the transformation already complete and the tomb empty. The darkness which shrouded the event is paralleled by the confusion and uncertainty of the conflicting testimony that has reached us. In fact the whole course of Christian beginnings lies shrouded in the mystery of indefiniteness and the shadows of the unknown.

       But all great beginnings are thus conditioned and surrounded. Man becomes conscious of the result long after the causes have apparently ceased to operate. He sees the product after the early stages of the process have receded into the dim past. Only the scantiest remains mark the pathway of early developments, and the highest intelligence is necessary to descry the scraps of evidence and by comparison and imagination reconstruct the methods and movements of these living forces.

       Nestled in the darkness of mother earth the seed takes on the new life which is first observed springing in vigor from the soil. Out of the mothering womb of time has come forth the human race through its various stages, progressing through barbarism, primitive civilization, and the historic era.

"Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark..."
Empty Tomb drawing from Christian Clip Art Review.

       Since man began to think upon the past he has evolved unnumbered theories of his beginning, and still to the most instructed the early stages in each onward course of development must be approached through a twilight that ends in darkness. The rude beginnings of his culture are buried beneath the rubbish heaps of time. The institutions of religion, home and government we know only in their higher forms. Language, art and thought can be studied in their monuments alone. The keenest and most critical investigations have only partially revealed the successive steps of Hebraism and the founding of Christianity. Those centuries in which directive forces were forming the incipient movements which have culminated in what we call western civilization are often termed the Dark Ages. On the whole we must conclude that the great forces operating in society and in life conceal their most significant phases, those phases which carry the greatest import for the future, from the contemporary eyes of men. We cannot " look into the seeds of time, and say which grain will grow and which will not." While it is yet dark the great movements of the future are being planned and the first steps toward the realization of the plans are being taken.

       Around us at this Easter time the darkness and confusion of human affairs are almost beyond parallel. A crisis in history has, no doubt, been reached. We seem to see not only the disruption of international and national life, but the clashing ideals of races, the spread and deepening of hatred and strife, the failure of human capacity for organization to hold in check the elemental passions and aspirations of mankind, and even the breakdown of Christianity itself.

       Nevertheless, the seeds of a new and grander future have doubtless been already sown. The ways of nature and human development lead us to expect that this is so. Life is positive, death is negative. The breakup and sloughing off of the old and outworn may appear as the darkness of dissolution, but the stirrings of a new life to result in a higher order are scarcely to be apprehended until the growth directed by the Unseen Mind has brought some reorganization out of the old chaos." Out of the cradle endlessly rocking " come the strength and wisdom that shape and advance the world's destinies. The patient, brooding spirit of man, inspired by hope and faith in the Divine Order, will yet bring to power and dominion the living principles of international brotherhood and service now obscured in the bitterness and darkness of war and racial strife. Future generations will surely say: "While it was yet dark" we discerned the birth throes of a new world order. by Charles E. Hesselgrave

• From The Village Church -  Racial Reconciliation - Matt Chandler, Racial Reconciliation - Anthony Moore,  Racial Reconciliation - Beau Hughes

I loved them so,

That when the Elder Shepherd of the fold

Came, covered with the storm, and pale and cold,

And begged for one of my sweet lambs to hold.

I bad Him go.

He claimed the pet-

A little fondling thing, that to my breast

Clung always, either in quiet or unrest-

I thought of all my lambs I loved him best,

And yet- and yet-

I laid him down

In those white, shrouded arms, with bitter tears;

For some voice told me that, in after years,

He should know naught of passion, grief or fears,

As I had known.

The Boy and The Angel

The Boy and The Angel 

by Robert Browning

Morning, evening, noon, and night,
" Praise God ! " sang Theocrite.

Then to his poor trade he turned,
Whereby the daily meal was earned.

Hard he labored, long and well;
O'er his work the boy's curls fell.

But ever, at each period,
He stopped and sang, " Praise God!"

Then back again his curls he threw,
And cheerful turned to work anew.

Said Blaise, the listening monk, "Well done;"
I doubt not thou art heard my son :

" As well as if thy voice to-day
Were praising God, the Pope's great way.

" This Easter Day, the Pope at Rome
Praises God from Peter's dome."

Said Theocrite, " Would God that I
Might praise him that great way, and die!"

Night passed, day shone,
And Theocrite was gone.

With God a day endures alway,
A thousand years are but a day.

God said in heaven, " Nor day nor night
Now brings the voice of my delight."

Then Gabriel, like a rainbow's birth.
Spread his wings and sank to earth;

Entered, in flesh, the empty cell.
Lived there, and played the craftsman well;

And morning, evening, noon and night.
Praised God in place of Theocrite.

And from a boy to youth he grew:
The man put off the stripling's hue:

The man matured and fell away
Into the season of decay:

And ever o'er the trade he bent.
And ever lived on earth content.

(He did God's will; to him, all one
If on the earth or in the sun.)

God said, " A praise is in mine ear;
There is no doubt in it, no fear:

"So sing old worlds, and so
New worlds that from my footstool go.

"Clearer loves sound other ways:
I miss my little human praise."

Then forth sprang Gabriel's wings, off fell
The flesh disguise, remained the cell.

'Twas Easter Day: he flew to Rome,
And paused above Saint Peter's dome.

In the tiring-room close by
The greater outer gallery,

With his holy vestments, dight.
Stood the new Pope, Theocrite:

And all his past career
Came back upon him clear,

Since when, a boy, he plied his trade,
Till on his life the sickness weighed;

And in his cell, when death drew near,
An angel in a dream brought cheer:

And rising from the sickness drear,
He grew a priest, and now stood here.

To the East with praise he turned.
And on his sight the angel burned.

"I bore thee from thy craftsman's cell,
I set thee here; I did not well.

"Vainly I left my angel-sphere.
Vain was thy dream of many a year.

" Thy voice's praise seemed weak; it dropped,
Creation's chorus stopped!

" Go back and praise again
The early way while I remain. 

" With that weak voice of our disdain,
Take up creation's pausing strain.

Back to the cell and poor employ:
Resume the craftsman and the boy!"

Theocrite grew old at home;
Gabriel dwelt in Peter's dome.

One vanished as the other died:
They sought God side by side.

Egg Rolling In Washington Over 100 Years Ago...

       March and April in Washington spell for the adult the perfection of a climate which at its best no capital on earth can surpass. Color, fragrance, and an almost indefinable sense that the appropriate necessary mood is one of languid leisure are pervasive. The spring odors and flowers seem suddenly to flood the gardens and lawns. In the tiny six-by-two bed under a bay-window and in the stretches of living green by the river the daffodils have succeeded the crocus; hyacinths and flaring tulips fill the borders, and even the stems in the hedges are full of color. Over every tree there is a smoky veil where the swelling leaf-buds have blurred the winter tracery of bare twigs against the sky, but are not yet heavy enough to cast a shade.

       Only the children seem energetic, especially on Easter  Monday, the great day for Washington babies. Along Pennsylvania Avenue they stream‚ well dressed, nurse-attended darlings mingling with the raggedest little poor children that ever snatched an egg from a market-basket. The wide street looks as if baby-blossom time had come, for there are hundreds of children who on this special afternoon storm the grounds of the White House for their annual egg-rolling. Long ago the sport took place on the terraces below the Capitol, and a visitor to the city then wrote:

       "At first the children sit sedately in long rows; each has brought a basket of gay-colored hard-boiled eggs, and those on the upper terrace send them rolling to the line on the next below, and these pass on the ribbon-like streams to other hundreds at the foot, who scramble for the hopping eggs and hurry panting to the top to start them down again. And as the sport warms those on top who have rolled all the eggs they brought finally roll themselves, shrieking with laughter. Now comes a swirl of curls and ribbons and furbelows, somebody's dainty maid indifferent to bumps and grass stains. A set of boys who started in a line of six with joined hands are trying to come down in somersaults without breaking the chain. On all sides the older folk stand by to watch the games of this infant Carnival which comes to an end only when the children are forced away by fatigue to the point of exhaustion, or by parental order."

       When the games proved too hard a test for the grass on the Capitol terraces. Congress stopped the practice, and the President opened the slope back of the White House. No grown person is admitted unless accompanied by a child, but even under this restriction the annual crowd is great enough to threaten the survival of the event.

This film of babies tossing eggs for Easter was made 

by Thomas Edison, over 100 years ago!

• A Unusual White House Tradition
• The Easter Egg Roll
• More Egg Rolling footage at Thrifty Scissors and see twins at White House egg roll from years gone by...

To Violets

To Violets

by Robbert Herrick

Welcome, maids of honor,

You do bring

In the Spring,

And wait upon her.

She has virgins many.

Fresh and fair ;

Yet you are

More sweet than any.

Y' are the Maiden Posies,

And so graced.

To be placed,

'Fore damask roses.

Yet though thus respected.

By and by

Ye do lie,

Poor girls, neglected.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever." 1 Chronicles 16:54

May

MAY

by James Gates Percival

I FEEL a newer life in every gale;

The winds, that fan the flowers,

And with their welcome breathings fill the

sail,

Tell of serener hours, --

Of hours that glide unfelt away

Beneath the sky of May.

The spirit of the gentle south- wind calls

From his blue throne of air,

And where his whispering voice in music falls,

Beauty is budding there;

The bright ones of the valley break

Their slumbers, and awake.

The waving verdure rolls along the plain,

And the wide forest weaves.

To welcome back its playful mates again,

A canopy of leaves;

And from its darkening shadow floats

A gush of trembling notes.