日本語
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Wreaths are not just for Christmas. Dress them in pastel colors with flowers and eggs, and they will be perfect for Easter. These wreaths and flowers were all purchased at hundred yen stores. The Easter eggs were made from a sturdy, lightweight modeling clay such as Hearty. Once it air dries you can easily poke a needle through to hang them by thread, or a wire to pile them up as if they are in a basket with a handle.
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Bookshelves are a great place to put seasonal decorations. Here a cross is combined with a purple cloth to represent the royal robe the soldiers mockingly put on Jesus, and the stone disc represents the stone that was rolled away to show that Jesus rose from the dead. This stone is actually a stone planter stand sold at a hundred yen store. If you can think outside the box, you can find all kinds of inexpensive Easter decorations. The cloth can be changed to black to represent Jesus death on Good Friday, and white on Easter morning, to represent the cloth Jesus’ body was wrapped in.
A basket of eggs decorates the space between the books on the next shelf down. These eggs are made from a sturdy, light weight modeling clay like “Hearty.” Real blown eggs, or plastic eggs would look just as nice.
On the shelf below that is a purple frame with potpourri and flowers, purchased at a 100 yen store. I added cross necklaces that were also sold at the 100 yen store.
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There are many ways to decorate real eggs, both hard boiled and blown. The advantage of blown eggs is that they can be kept year after year. Decorate eggs a different way each year, and watch your collection grow. The eggs above are Faberge style--varnished with paper napkins as a base, and embellished with “jewels,” ribbon, and lace. We also made Pysanky eggs a technique that originated in the Ukraine. A special tool enables you to draw a design on the egg with wax, then the egg is dyed in the lightest color, and another layer of design is added with wax and another dye bath. The process continues, with the final layer being black. Finally the wax is melted off to reveal the colorful design. My own specialty is to cut a door in the egg, add a hinge, then make a scene inside the egg, such as tiny sheep or a grave with 3 crosses in the background. These are rather complicated ways to decorate eggs--I only included them to show you the possibilities But egg decorating doesn’t have to be complicated--it can be as simple as drawing designs with markers. Even a careful toddler can do that.
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This is a good arrangement for the home or for the church. It combines a cross, a crown of thorns, a scourge, purple fabric to represent the robe put on Jesus during his trial, and the woven fabric that represents the temple curtain that was tore when Jesus died on the cross. When the temple curtain tore from top to bottom, it showed the world that a mediator was no longer needed for people to meet God.
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A glass cross, globe, and risen Jesus represent Jesus dying for the sins of the world. These objects are combined with figures representing the suffering people that Jesus died for, and Christians who are reaching out to pray for and help. These figures were made by my daughter from the light weight modeling compound like “Hearty.”
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Bead flowers and cross necklaces strung on pastel ribbons combine for a sparkly window decoration for Easter. The flowers and crosses were purchased at 100 yen stores. Dressing up a frosted window for spring is especially nice, since there is not view otherwise.
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Banners are a great way to decorate the home or church because they decorate big areas with very little effort. There are lots of inexpensive banners or flags sold at garden centers and some Christian book stores.
Christian Books has a website that sells a large variety of flags, as well as a huge variety of Easter items for all ages.
Christian Books: http://www.christianbook.com/easter
Terry’s village sells a few banners as well as quite a few nice Easter decorations for the home that are quite reasonably priced. They do ship to other countries, but you have to call in your order, or order by mail--you cannot order on line-- but you can look on line for what you want.