Well folks, spring has sprung and that means Easter is right around the corner! We’re decidedly not religious here at casa di LoSacco, but we do enjoy celebrating the spring holiday for its all its vernal (and, ahem, original) virtues. That means bunnies, and chicks, and chocolate, and eggs—fertility symbols FTW! Okay so maybe chocolate isn’t exactly a fertility symbol, but who am I to turn down a shiny, foil-wrapped nugget of goodness?

Like nearly every holiday, Easter presents some challenges for those approaching it from a vegan perspective. And now as parents raising a vegan child (parents who didn’t have vegan childhoods themselves) we find ourselves looking for creative ways to reinvent some of the holiday traditions that we enjoyed and that other children his age are currently enjoying in compassionate, animal-friendly ways. Some holidays pose larger questions than others, but we’re finding our way through. Last year we began our tradition of sponsoring a rescued turkey and using a photo of that individual as our Thanksgiving centerpiece, and this year we took a new approach to the tradition of dying chicken eggs for Easter.

Before Roman was even born, Chris and I fell in love with the idea of painting/decorating wooden eggs for the spring holiday. This year, he was old enough for us to give it a go, so I set about looking for some wooden eggs and vegan-friendly, non-toxic paints. I was thrilled when I came across these craft kits from Earth Paint.

Each kit contains six wooden eggs and half a dozen little packets of powdered, water-soluble paint. We picked up two kits so Chris and I could each do a couple, imagining that Roman might easily go through several eggs. I also made sure to get paintbrushes with synthetic bristles. I’ll admit, however, that it didn’t even cross my mind until I noticed that the Crayola set I had selected was labeled “100% natural hair.” Eep. This set from Princeton Art, made using Taklon, was perfect.

The kits include packets of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and white powder. (For some reason, one of our kits had a brown packet instead of white. We didn’t realize it was a mistake until after we’d finished painting our eggs.) The paint comes together easily with about a teaspoon of water. I was worried at first because it seemed like such a small amount, but the six packets from one kit made more than enough for the dozen eggs that we did. All of the colors have a natural, somewhat muted quality, except for the blue, which is exceptionally vibrant.

We covered our white kitchen table with parchment for safety and dove in. This was Roman’s first time painting—the kid was a natural!

The paint was nice; it coated evenly and dried quickly. We were also happy to discover that it cleaned up really well. Nothing was even remotely stained, and we definitely suffered some dropped brushes and splatter.

We all had a ton of fun with this project. I actually wish that we had gotten more eggs so we could have done a few more! Next year I think we may source a larger bag of wooden eggs and buy a set of Earth Paint’s vegan children’s paints separately. We could even get fancy with things like glitter and googly eyes! The kit was a really convenient starter, though, and I could also see it being a fun, seasonal gift item.

Another vegan-friendly option for Easter egg decorating is these ceramic eggs from Eggnots. They supposedly look and feel just like chicken eggs (which is actually why we didn’t go that route, but might be just why you want to!) and can be dyed the old-fashioned way. As it turns out, Earth Paint also makes a totally vegetable-based egg dye kit that I imagine would pair perfectly.

In addition to being far kinder with respect to animals, a huge point in favor of both the wooden and ceramic eggs is that you can save them. It’s going to be so much fun each year to pull out the eggs that Roman has painted and see the evolution. And when he’s all grown up and creating traditions of his own, Chris and I will have an entire basket full his childhood creations that we can set out as decoration every spring.

 

This is not a sponsored post. That said, I want to mention that Earth Paint is currently offering 20% off Easter products and free upgraded priority shipping with code eggs2015. So you still have time to get one of their decorating kits in time for the holiday! They also have a dedicated page featuring their selection of vegan friendly supplies–perfect for the art/craft-inclined the whole year round.