The Easter Garden

I don’t post too many crafts or kid projects here on twentyshekels. By and large crafts just are not my jam. But I will say this: If you see me post one it means I either think it is easy or fun or worthwhile. This one is all three.

I love this time of year. The air is warming, the days are lengthening, and winter is slowly rolling up its mat for the year. Everyone is in a good mood as we anticipate spring.

Along with spring comes all of the Easter trimmings … jelly beans, chocolate, flowers, bunnies, eggs and chicks.

Easter bunnies and baby chicks are quaint. I’ll rock any chocolate bunny or candy speckled eggs you throw my way. And who doesn’t love sunshine and pastel florals splashed everywhere signifying the newness of spring? But none of these typical adornments of Easter have anything to do with the true meaning of what I consider to be the most sacred of Christian holidays.

The breathtaking wonder of Easter is that it is a celebration of Jesus rising from the grave and proving to the world once and for all that He truly is God. It is a wondrous event in human history. Over 500 eyewitnesses bore witness to the resurrected Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:3-9).

If you are interested in reading the Biblical narrative of the death and resurrection of Christ look here: Luke 22-24

We are all for flowers and jelly beans around here – but they hardly point anyone to Jesus. Nor do any of the other trappings of spring. So when I stumbled upon this Easter project several years ago, I knew it would be the perfect addition to our Easter celebration. Maybe its a way to redeem myself for bribing my kids with the fruit of the spirit jar. I don’t know. But it makes a lovely centerpiece and serves as a reminder and talking point with my children as to the magnificent significance of Easter.

Easter Garden

Supplies:

Base of a Clay Pot (will serve as the container)
4″ clay pot (this will be the cave/tomb)
1 large stone (big enough to cover the opening of the 4″ pot)
several smaller stones or pebbles (to decorate garden)
1 bag of potting soil
grass seed
water bottle spritzer
sticks to make three crosses
string
big container for mixing soil and water

Directions:

Put the soil into a large container.
Mix soil with enough water to get it nice and wet. (Almost a clay-like consistency)
Place the 4″ pot on its side in the large clay pot base to make the cave. (I find it handy to stick a few rocks around it like door stops to hold it in place.)
Cover every surface with your potting soil/water mixture. (Don’t put any inside the 4″ pot.)
Place your decoration rocks where you like ’em. Some might add some annuals. Have fun with this.
Put the large rock in front of the 4″ pot to cover the tomb.
Sprinkle grass seed all over the place.
Make your crosses, using the string to secure the pieces together. (Make the vertical part of the cross longer since you are going to sink them into in the dirt.)
Sink the three crosses into the dirt over the cave.
Place the container in a sunny spot.
Spritz with water twice daily to keep seeds from drying out.

Confession: there have been years when we prayed over the seeds to germinate before Easter because I was so late to make this thing. So know this: grass seeds take 5-30 days to germinate. Plan accordingly.

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Here are the pictures of this year’s adventure. They aren’t pretty or stylized for a blog post. They are the read deal taken with my iPhone. My older two are absent from the pics. That doesn’t mean they didn’t participate. It just means their participation included refusing to be in the pictures. It also included laughing at me as I tried unsuccessfully to mitigate the chaos and stop my preschooler from vacuuming up the whole bag of grass seed.