I know that Easter is over and that all of your Easter decorations are tucked safely away in storage waiting for next year.  (Mine aren’t!)  But I just came across the idea of dying Easter eggs using silk fabric — silk ties to be specific.  They are absolutely beautiful!!!  (The eggs — not the ties!)

Here is a link to the Crafting Green World that shows her dyed eggs (the picture posted here).

Here is a link to see the video on Martha Stewart’s show that demonstrates how to make them.

I absolutely love this idea!  Absolutely!  I want to make some right now — even if Easter is over.  (I can’t wait ’till next year . . .)  However, when next Easter rolls around, I will make a link to these sites again.  I promise.  (That way, you don’t have to worry about remebering this post.)

Grandma Jeanne in Logan, Utah, gathers all of her chickabiddies and grandchickabiddies (and other assorted folks) and has a kite fest in the springtime.  I think that is wonderful!  It sounds like that most of the time there is wind.  Sometimes there isn’t.  Guess you could always plunk the kids in the back of a pick up and go driving around if you’re wind challenged . . .

Grandma Jeanne has a swarm of kits on hand for these kite fests.  She’s purchased some from the Fun With Wind site. Kites there range in price from $6 or $7 clear up to $800.  (Would you let a little grandchild fly an $800 dollar kite?  Me thinks not!)  I think that these nylon kites will probably last a little bit longer than the paper kites you get at Wal-Mart.

It would be fun to give a kite as a birthday present or a Christmas present.  Or tuck one beside an Easter basket. Or maybe give as a just-because-I-love-you present.

Here’s a picture of Grandma Jeanne’s kite gang.

One of the blessings of the Internet is ‘finding’ new friends. Sally Wendkos Olds is one of those great Internet finds for me.  I ‘met’ her quite a few months ago and have enjoyed our occasional e-mail exchange and reading her blog.  She’s a remarkable woman!

Sally has three daughters, Nancy, Jennifer, and Dorrie.  She has five grandchildren: Anna and Nina (who live only 2 hours away from her in New Jersey) and Stefan, Maika, and Lisa (who live far, far away in Germany).  And, Sally and her husband have been married for 52 years!  What a great example that is to us.

Sally has written 12 books and a plethora of articles.  She has conducted numerous interviews of Holocaust survivors and of men and women who served in the Allied forces during World War II. She worked with the Oral History Department at Columbia University and interviewed people affected by the attacks on the World Trade Center.

She recently published the book Super Granny and sent me a copy.  I wrote notes to myself in the margins.  I underlined things.  I circled things.  I highlighted things.  I put exclamation marks in the margins.  (How can a person read a book without a pen . . .?)  Now, I have a whole new arsenal of ideas of activities to do with my grandchildren.  (I just can’t wait for Spencer to get big enough — and for our daughter to have her baby and for THAT grandbaby to grow up . . . )

Reading Super Granny felt like I was sitting at the kitchen table having a warm and personal conversation with Sally.  By the end of the book, I felt that not only did I know Sally better but I also became friends with the grannies that were highlighted in the book.

After reading the book, I wanted to interview Sally and post the interview here.  The other night, we chatted via Skype.  She shared a little about herself, her background, how she decided to write the book, and some experiences that she has had with her grandchildren.  (I’m amazed that she ran a marathon at age 60 and one New Year’s Eve she jogged around Central Park with her grandson, Stefan.  Like I said, she’s remarkable!)

So, without further audieu, here’s the interview.  It lasts about 20 minutes.  It might take a moment or two to load so have patience.  (I say that tongue-in-cheeck becuase I’m not a patient person . . .)  Because I used Skype, Sally sounds like she’s far away.  Next time, I’ll try another technology to record the interviews to see if I can get better quality sound!

Click here to listen to the interview: Super Granny by Sally Wendkos Olds

		Just as the Easter Bunny stealthily hides Easter eggs, time has crept up and Easter is almost here.  And, I haven’t posted any Easter ideas.  Yikes!  Since I haven’t had a chance to come up with my own Easter ideas, here are some links to different Easter crafts and activities that young grandchildren can do.

Plastic Egg Bunny

Bad Hair Day Easter Chick

Chenille Chick

Easter Bingo

Easter Word Searches

Easter Crossword Puzzle and here are the answers to the crossword puzzle

I also came across the ideas of making a Rock Salt Mosaic.  I think this would be a different and fun activity to do.

Materials Needed

• Large rock salt (like for water softeners)
• Assorted variety of food coloring
• Rubbing alcohol

Process

1. Pour 1 cup of rock salt into a mixing bowl. Add a few drops of food coloring and 1/8th cup of rubbing alcohol. Mix well and let sit for 5 minutes. Then drain the liquid off and put the rock salt on a paper towel.  Let dry. Repeat this process until you have all of your desired colors.
2. On a piece of card stock or construction paper, draw an Easter egg.  Be sure to include a simple pattern like zigzags or stripes or simple flowers on the egg.
3. Spread glue on the paper.  Press the colored rock salt into the glue.  Let dry.

Have a great Easter!

Digi-Gram