Europe

Easter is approaching rapidly and it’s time to get this year’s Easter egg stuffers. As all my kids have their birthdays in the fall, I use Easter to surprise them with some gifts from the Easter Bunny. The big cardboard eggs, common in Northern Europe, are perfect for jump ropes, juggling balls, sunglasses and even flip flops or baseball gloves. I went on a quest for some more of those eggs at the  Swedish American Museum in Chicago and at the World Market. Needless to say, that I found a lot more  neat stuff than planned.
A teeny-tiny cardboard egg with contemporary Swedish egg and chick design from the museum store is ideal for hiding a few funflector tags. The baseball and soccer ball reflectors as well as the shamrock are perfect spring replacement of my family’s basketballs and footballs. Love  & Peace is popular all year around and a few more are needed when one winter jacket is replaced by a couple of fleece sweaters.

The large egg, found at the World Market,  can hold quite a few Easter egg stuffers. It has a old fashion design with bunnies in a vintage car and chicks in the grass. Its white trim has the traditional wavy edge that I remember from my childhood. I was surprised by its sturdiness until I realized it was actually made in Germany. Lindt chocolate was a staple while I lived in Switzerland, so the two golden bunnies had to follow me home along with some hazelnut-chocolate carrots.  Can’t wait for Easter…
Cute Easter pasta from the World MarketColorful Italian Easter Pasta will be perfect with our Swedish meatballs. By the way, did you see the Trib article about meatballs? I firmly believe that IKEA wouldn’t sell nearly as many meatballs without my kids and their friends around 😉 It seems harder to find a good lamb roast for Easter than Swedish meatballs and herring…
Along with the new cardboard eggs, we reuse the ones from previous years. We fill the smaller ones with candy and the larger ones with “stuff.” The Easter bunny hides them during the night before Easter Eve (!) and the kids get to search for them behind curtains, under couch pillows and in other more unexpected places. The older they get, the trickier it is to find good hiding spots. A couple of years back, one of the eggs seemed to be completely lost. A year and a half later we found it when we cleared out the wood basket by the fireplace. The pair of new socks were already outgrown, so the bunny now leaves us forgetful parents with a list…
When the gifts are too big to fit in an egg, no matter how big, the Easter bunny needs to be creative. One year, the eggs contained clues on where to find the next egg. Eventually the kids ended up in the garage next to a brand new basketball hoop!

We use a few vintage eggs for decoration only.  Especially the silver one with distinctive 60’s design is far too cool to let the kids handle.
When homework is done today, we’ll continue digging through our Easter boxes and pull out our favorites. Collected over time, the ornaments carry so many memories from all over and I’m curious about the memories the kids are creating from year to year.
Elisabeth
p.s. The combination of  a pretty cookie tin and  delicious  Nyåkers Pepparkakor (Swedish ginger snaps) made a purchase completely irresistible. From the World Market. I still have a few minutes left for a coffee before the kids will be home…