Robin's Egg Winter Blues

The crimson hues of the robin have been spotted and its loud, bright melody has been filling the air here in New England. Usually, this means that spring is just around the corner, and the 9" of snowfall last night may be closer to Winter's last sparkly snowflake offerings, than we previously thought...

It's easier to chase away some of the long, cold Winter blues with inspiration of symbols for the upcoming warmer weather - especially something as distinguishing as a certain speckled blue-green color variant that will soon appear in nests as tiny robin eggs.

 We always end up with a stock of cardboard drink trays when my husband brings home coffee.

Determined to find a use for them as a fun craft for the kids (as they are not normally included in most recyclable craft ideas), I cut a tray into 4 equal sections and discovered that they would work well as mini baskets. A pipe cleaner serves as the handle, by puncturing the ends through opposite corners and twisting the excess wire around the edges.

The baskets can be colored with crayons or markers. Paint is probably less tedious for older kids, but with very careful planning on my part, my little ones were kept occupied much longer while trying to cover all the hard-to-reach places using only crayons. A project all in itself... ;-)

Paper baking cups are the perfect size for basket liners. Hard-boiled eggs make a nice healthy treat to carry around in the basket for just a little while (rather than candy), and a great addition for lunch.

These beautiful tea-stained and robin's egg blue speckled eggs are very inspiring colors, have lots of texture, and are the perfect craft idea to add to our basket today: Speckled Eggs