Saturday, March 30, 2013

My Childhood Easter

Little Me

I have very fond memories of Easter growing up. Having an American Mum meant that Easter was always bigger than Ben Hur - ditto with Christmas and Thanksgiving. This is absolutely great from a child's perspective. Our house was decorated, Eggs were painted or dyed, in the morning there was a basket full of goodies left by the Easter Bunny and a huge Easter Egg hunt then took place. So much fun! I was always the envy of my friends who, by comparison, generally only received a few token chocolate eggs, as was the way for most Australian children in the 70's and early 80's. It seems that my childhood experience is more and more the norm these days though as the powers of Commercialism have worked their magic into the sentiments of us parents.

The above photo was one of my earliest Easter memories. We traditionally received pyjamas and I distinctly remember receiving these red silky chinese pyjamas. I've kept the pyjama tradition because the Kids are well and truly due for some Winter pyjamas by the time Easter rolls around so I hold off buying any and put them in their Easter baskets instead. In the above photo you can see a basket of chocolate eggs and a little toy, both traditions I have kept. 


There was the ceremonial dying and painting of eggs and I remember Mum getting other Easter-y things like transfers sent from our Grandmother in the States as they weren't available here at the time.


Which brings to me to the School Easter Hat Parade and what prompted me to do this Post in the first place. Our kids don't know what the Easter Hat Parade is - a thing called Harmony Day seems to have taken it's place down here. Do you still have it in your part of the world? So I dusted off my box of childhood photos to show the kids what the Easter Hat Parade is all about.

My first Easter Hat Parade was a huge success and I remember it like it was yesterday. Mum picked beautiful fresh flowers from the garden and pinned them onto a linen cloth and then onto a hat. I felt like a princess and also got to wear my favourite outfit - a white and blue apron skirt and a top with peter pan collar teamed with tan Saltwater Sandals. I was so much more fashionable back then!

Do: Fresh Flowers on a bonnet

Sadly, it all went downhill from there as Mum got more and more 'creative'. Instead of a pretty little bonnet, one year I was the Egg itself. Look!!!

Don't: Dress Child as an Egg

Please laugh freely - the kids haven''t stopped since I showed them the photo so I hope it brings a smile to your face too. 

Would you like to see how I appeared in the Parade? 


I wonder where the Egg is?!! 

We try to keep things simple here but the benefit of having a keen baker in the household means we get  freshly bakes Hot Cross Buns. The Pianoman whipped up these rustic ones today while Eleanor baked a cake.


And whilst there was a flurry of activity in the kitchen downstairs I was upstairs on bed rest from the Surgery (yawn!) and managed to finish making the Zombie Bunnies for the boys that I mentioned in my last post. They are loosely based on this pattern but I added ears, a nose and pompom bunny tail.

The Ringleader "Johnny"



His twin sidekicks "Zak" and "Ned"



And Baby Bunny for my little baby boy. This pattern is an adaptation of the Owls I made the kids earlier this year.



And here is a portrait of my whole gang - I mean my 5 bunnies for my gang :-)




Wishing you all a very Happy Easter from my family to yours!!!

Mel x



44 comments :

  1. You were so cute, especially when dressed as an Easter egg!
    My kids always got pyjamas for Easter from their grandmother too.
    Happy Easter to you and your family Mel x

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  2. These are beautiful Mel thank you for sharing these snapshots of you when you were little (you were so cute), Eleanor looks so much like you. We still have the Easter bonnet parade although for Miss 9 they don't seem to do it rather it's just for the little ones sadly but she did do it at her old school which she enjoyed. It's a shame that your little ones don't get to have a parade at school you could always make a bonnet at home if you feel like being crafty, not quite the same but would surely be equally as fun:) Have a very happy easter, love all of your creations I bet it will be a wonderful morning in your house tomorrow. xx

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    1. It really is a shame, isn't it? It really sticks out as a nice childhood memory. Hope you have a lovely Easter too Catherine :-)

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  3. When I was younger Easter was just church and chocolate - being the only child in the extended family (and having an Aunt & Uncle who owned a sweet shop) I had more chocolate eggs than I could count! We never had a parade but my kids have always had Easter bonnet competitions at school (I'll be posting a photo of this years effort) & we'll be on an egg hunt tomorrow.
    The zombie bunnies are fab, my boys would have loved them a few years ago! Have a very Happy Easter Mel. x

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    1. A Sweet Shop in the family - now that's a bit wonderful!

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  4. Lol! I did laugh when I saw the egg pic - sorry! You were suh a cutie!
    Happy Easter to you and your gorgeous family!
    Sarah xox

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  5. Love the pics - the egg costume definitely brought a smile to my face :) Wonderful! The things mums put their kids through... We didn't have that many easter traditions, but we always had an easter tree that the Easter Bunny would deliver our eggs to. I've just finished decorating ours for this year! Happy Easter, and glad you're recovering well. Meredith x

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    1. Ooo an Easter Tree. Lovely. That's something I haven't heard of before. Recovering well thanks Meredith :-)

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  6. Well that's just made me laugh out loud - your mum was a treat!! It reminds me of when my daughter was on a float with the guides for the town carnival . The theme was Harry Potter so as you can imagine there were a lot of kids dressed as wizards and witches. Not my Charlotte. We decided to dress her as the Whomping Willow which was basically made up of my forsythia bush attached to a hatand a T shirt with lots of safety pins. It looked fantastic to begin with but as the day wore on it wilted and shed quite freely. By the time it came to the parade around the park she looked like she had just stumbled out of the recycling bin! Great memories! Jane x

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  7. I was once dressed as a teabag for an Easter fancy dress parade ... as daft as your egg and far less pretty!

    Every boy should have a zombie bunny ... what a perfect Easter gift!

    Brilliant post Mel ... and goodness young Eleanor is the spit of her Mum!

    Happy Easter to you all x

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    1. A tea bag? That's hilarious-would love to see a photo of that :-)

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  8. I've enjoyed reading your 'newsy' post today especially about your childhood Easters. At least the egg costume would have hidden any embarrassment you felt and she actually did a pretty good job of it really. You have excelled yourself with your Easter craft this year Mel, I'm sure you're kids will love them. We used to make an Easter nest each year that the Easter bunny would be sure to leave eggs in.

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    1. Thanks Carol. Recovery has at least provided lots of time to craft :-)

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  9. Oh my goodness, the photos of you dressed an an egg had me laughing out loud :-D Great post - thanks for sharing! x

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  10. Oh my goodness, I'm visiting at my sister's and squished in a room with my three sleeping babes reading blogs on my phone and trying to stifle laughter at those photos of you as an egg. Priceless x

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    1. Your bonnets are probably the best ones I've seen Greer :-)

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  11. Just wonderful.. Pictures full of love and happy memories xx

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  12. Thank you for my morning laugh! That picture of you dressed up as an egg is hilarious! I love all you bunnies. Have a very Happy Easter.

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  13. Oh my goodness! I laughed out loud when I saw you fancy dressed as an egg!! I have a similar picture of myself dressed as a fairy for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977. All I can say is that my face said it all!!

    Leanne xx

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  14. I did actually snort when I saw that photo of you dressed as an egg. Brilliant! Lovely photos of you as a child, Mel. Easter bonnet parades are still going strong here.

    I like your Australian tradition of giving pyjamas at Easter, ready for the coming winter. Lot of people do give new jammies at Christmas here, but not Easter. Otherwise, my English Easter traditions were very like yours. xx

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  15. Love you as an egg ... brilliant ... and your bunny gang are so cool ... Bee xx

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  16. ha! thanks for the giggle....what a cutie. hope recovery is going well...I had same op 6 months ago. just a tip.....you will feel better soon but take it easy for a couple more weeks. I started doing silly things like hanging out washing and sweeping floors cause I thought it was time to get moving....bad idea. No doubt you are a lot more sensible than me!....happy easter x

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  17. you are CUTE!!! I had the same chines silk pjs when i was little.

    happy easter to you and your people.

    rachel xo

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  18. How cute were you!!! Even dressed as a ridiculous looking egg! Happy easter x

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  19. Hehe! How fun. The whole egg costume made me smile. I have some fond (and not so fond!) memories of Easter hat parades from my childhood too. Some years it was a hit and some years I was sooo embarrassed by the hat my mum would make me wear. I had completely forgotten about that tradition, thanks for the reminder.

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  20. Love all those beautiful, lovingly handmade bunnies lined up for the family photo.
    Hope you had a wonderful day.
    x

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  21. Wow your Easter memories are very similar to mine here in New York. I have done the smae with my children. Easter Egg hunts and baskets of gifts and sweets. Your bunnies are very cute. Happy Easter!!!

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  22. What a little cutie you were! Especially dressed as an egg! Thanks for sharing these memories and photos! xx

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  23. Hope you're recovering well Mel and a very happy Easter to you all. Loved the trip down memory lane.

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  24. You are a brave woman to not only open yourself to ridicule from your own kids, but to publish such a hilarious photo of you as an Egg. You were a very good Egg :) The things our parents put us through! I believe there are still Easter Bonnet parades in England (someone blogged about attending one this weekend). We have never had such a thing here in Canada (that I know of). My dad always said they received a new Easter outfit when he grew up in England, but he didn't continue that in our family. We never received gifts at Easter except for chocolates ... and I still like to keep it simple like that. Oh, and Hot Cross Buns are always baked here too. Thanks for sharing your wonderful memories. Wendy

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  25. Love the dressed as an egg photo :-) I completely understand the Easter Hat Parade and might even be able to push your 'egg' a little further. About the same age, I "apparently" told my mum I would love to wear a large hot cross bun on my head as a hat. Yep, that would be a large lump of dough...on my head. An old school friend can still remember the hilarity of the whole scene, my mum is still scared and I seem to have blocked it all out.

    (For the hat parade, it seems to depend on the school these days whether they do a hat parade and/or harmony day. Our school doesn't but my niece does. I miss it.)

    Hope you've had a lovely relaxing weekend and recovering beautifully Mel.

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  26. Love the zombie bunnies - you have been busy. As for the lovely Easter history, I think your egg outfit is the cutest thing I have ever seen!

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  27. I cannot stop laughing!
    This has to be my favourite post ever!

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  28. Zak and Ned are soooooo cute!
    xoxoxo

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  29. The pictures of you dressed as an egg got me giggling!!! That's so funny and cute. Your Easter celebrations sound wonderful.

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  30. So funny, you made me laugh. I notice the other mums just did not work as hard as your mum when making their kids look like eggs.

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  31. Oh gosh..how funny is that egg!! We had our Easter hat parade last week, and I think it can get quite stressful for the parents on top of all to do for Easter. Thank goodness Daniel lent a helping hand with hat creating! I am just no good at all with creating hats :(
    LOVE the little toys you've created. Very clever! You've successfully made them quite boyish which can be difficult.
    And what a pretty little girl in those photos!

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  32. What a gorgeous post Mel. You were a beautiful little doll as a child, love those pics of your Easter celebrations. HILARIOUS egg shots too, haha, what possesses parents to do these things... but I must say, a lot of time and effort would have gone into creating that life size cardboard egg, to be fair!
    Looks like you have continued some lovely traditions for your own family and those little knitted treasures are too cute. You're a clever Mama, Mel. Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend xoxo
    Oh and it seems our school doesn't 'do' Easter bonnet parade either... but we DID do Harmony Day, I hadn't made the correlation, but I think you may be onto something.

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  33. oh, that egg costume is gold! I see your mum wasn't the only one with the egg idea that year. love it. and your bunnies are gorgeous. x

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  34. LOVE this post Mel!! The egg costume made me laugh. I remember having red silky PJ's too as a little girl... I loved the feel of the fabric. Eleanor looks so much like you as a little girl! x

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