Eggs dyed with chlorophyll, turmeric, and blueberries. (Basket filled with shredded paper packing material.)

Is dyeing eggs part of your Easter tradition? Then why not give a try to natural dyes this year? They’re fun and easy and you’ll feel a lot better when your kids get them on their hands and faces and possibly in their mouths. Plus, as long as you minimize the time the eggs are kept outside the fridge, there’s no reason not to eat them when you are all done! Making these dyes involves boiling and cooling, so prepare them ahead of time. Note that you’ll never get those intense hues that come from artificial dyes, but the pastels from these methods are lovely. Soak longer—around 15 minutes—for deeper colors. Also, not straining the dyes can give you a cool texture, especially with the turmeric.

• Yellow: Boil 2 tsp. turmeric in 1 cup water. Simmer 5 min., cool,  strain.
• Orange-brown: Boil a bunch of onion skins in 1 cup water. Simmer 10 min., cool, strain, add 1 tsp. white vinegar.
• Green: Boil 1 cup water, remove from heat. Add contents of 3 chlorophyll capsules (buy at health food stores), stir, cool, strain.
• Blue: Boil 1 cup frozen blueberries with 1 cup water. Simmer 5 min., cool, strain,  add 1 tsp. white vinegar.
• Pink: This is the basic recipe for pink, but I have never gotten it to work. (My dye looks right, but the egg comes out brown. I’m trying fresh beets next time.) If you want to try: Boil 1 cup water with a jar of beets. Simmer 5 min., cool, strain, and add 1 tsp. white vinegar.

I recommend using hardboiled white eggs (anyone know where to buy organic white eggs?). Double-soaking (e.g. in green then blue) can create some nice shades. Again, be sure to keep eggs in the fridge when not dying them if you plan to eat them. And be sure to cover sensitive surfaces with newspaper or rags—these dyes can be just as staining as artificial ones! Some additional options and methods:

• www.frontiercoop.com/learn/hs_naturaleggdyeing.php
• www.bhg.com/holidays/easter/eggs/natural-easter-egg-dyes/
• www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Food/Stir-It-Up/2011/0422/Celebrate-Earth-Day-with-natural-Easter-egg-dyes

What to do with the leftovers? Some ideas:

• Blueberry: mix  berries into oatmeal, muffin batter, or smoothies. Use dye as basis for a simple syrup and mix with seltzer for a treaty natural soda (with addition of sweetener, you won’t notice vinegar).
• Chlorophyll: use dye to water plants
• Turmeric: add some dye to rice cooking water for a nice complement to an Indian-inspired meal.

This month’s craft blog is a little different. With Valentine’s Day this month, it seems only appropriate to give kidHaven readers a variety of kid-friendly craft ideas.  This “round-up” of links will guide you and your child to wonderful craft ideas that can be used for Valentine’s parties at school, home décor or just for fun!

• Pencil topper Craft

This craft is quick and perfect for a group of people or kids. Instead of candy, consider this pencil with a sweet message! Hey, why don’t you make one for your child from you today?  What a fun surprise to get after school :)

Follow this link to view the craft and view or print the directions to make it.

• Hand-made Valentine’s Day Cards

Nothing says “I love you” like a homemade card from your heart. Follow this link to get ideas and inspiration.

• Valentine’s Day Sentimental Gifts

This site has everything you need for some last minute  v-day ideas! From flower crafts to easy paper mache vases (ok, maybe paper mache is not exactly last minute) there is bound to be something you find for yourself and your little one to make!  Click her to get started.

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Christina works at the Painted Pomegranate and also runs her own blog, CT Green Gal. Visit her sites for fun DIY home décor crafts, eco-friendly ideas and everyday need-to- know information for kids and adults!

Winner will be chosen on Tuesday, January 31st!

The holidays can certainly be a busy, stressful time, a time when all around us waste goes up and conservation goes down. I admit that holidays throw me for a loop; I can get easily overwhelmed and let best practices slip. A month later, I have finally caught my breath! Below is a quick assessment of how I did this year during the holidays — What I did well and not so well. How did you do? What will you try to change next year? (Remind me to look back at this next November!)

Top 5 Things I Did Right (i.e. Green) This Holiday Season

Santa goes tag-sale-ing: My son’s gifts included a secondhand stroller and kitchen (plus a new water bottle “like Mommy!”)

1.     Giving: Our son was over the moon about his two big gifts — a wooden kitchen and a baby stroller — both of which Santa acquired at a tag sale last August. For my son’s teachers, we candied organic almonds and packaged them in reused (and reusable) decorative tins. For a close friend, I bought a gift certificate at an upscale local consignment store.

2.     Wrapping: We wrapped everything in reused or reusable materials, including cloth, empty cereal boxes, pillowcases, and decorated bags/boxes, old wrapping paper, and re-used ribbons seeing their nth Christmases.

3.     Receiving: We convinced grandma to give my son about half the number of gifts she gave him last year (yay!) and requested from grandpa a stainless steel water bottle and dish set — both of which my son adores.

4.     Cleaning Up: I meticulously separated out every piece of shrink wrap (recyclable with grocery bags), paper & cardboard wrappers (went right to my son for drawing), and reusable material before putting anything in the garbage. (After a chaotic Christmas morning, it was rather soothing to drink a cup of tea and smooth old tissue paper into neat piles for next year.)

5.     Swapping: A few weeks after the holidays ended, I hosted a swap meet. Friends cleaned house and showed up to trade no-longer-needed clothes, children’s stuff, and housewares. (Think tag sale, but everything is free!) All leftovers were donated to charity.

Top 5 Things I Want to Change Next Year

1.     Better Buying: While I purchased a number of things locally this year, I still depended way too much on ultra-convenient two-day shipping. Ugh, the size of those boxes!

MY GOAL: Next year everything I give for Christmas will either be made locally (including home-made by me) or will be a non-tangible/non-shipped (a gift card, a charitable donation, a coupon for babysitting, etc.).

2.     Holiday Cards: I love sending them; I love receiving them. But is this use or waste? We can definitely reduce our impact in this area.

MY GOAL: Next year, I will send fewer cards by at least half. (People we see regularly will probably get e-cards — hey, maybe those will actually be on time!) With the savings, we’ll print cards on recycled and recyclable paper instead of photo stock (we keep our cards, but maybe others toss them?). I think I’m also going to follow a friend’s lead: send holiday postcards this year instead of card in envelopes. The postcards had photos on the front, and messages and addresses on the back. The photo still looked great on the mantel, but they saved all those envelopes (and some $ on postage, too). I think we’ll give that a try next year, too.

3.     Lights: We’ve been using the same decorative lights for years and we are meticulous about running them for only a few hours each evening for a few weeks. (Anyone got tips on hinting to the neighbors that no one sees their illuminated reindeer at 3am?) The lights do absolutely help my mood on days when it’s pitch black out before my son’s nap is over. But we are still using too much energy. I need to research who makes the best LEDs and maybe scoop some up on sale out of season.

Part of my collection of reusable Christmas wrapping, including a holiday-themed tissue box circa 2003.

MY GOAL: I will replace two strings of holiday lights with LEDs each year for the next three years.

4.     Cleaner Eatin’: I really get a low score for food over the holidays. At celebrations, I indulged in plenty of junk — chips, desserts, and drinks full of chemicals — just because it was in front of me and I was hungry. I even found myself giving in to my son about what ended up on his plate (e.g. the cupcake with the fluorescent frosting) because I was tired and it was easier. Usually I am up to the food challenge, but during the holidays, I lost my resolve a bit.

MY GOAL: I will stick to my guns next year when it comes to how my family eats. I will arrive at celebrations fed and rested, and I will bring with me a healthy, delicious food contribution that, if all else fails, I will eat all of  it (just kidding).

5.     Okay, so I don’t really have a fifth major category to tackle—everything else either fits in one of the above or a little off-topic for greenHaven (e.g. argue less with relatives). So I’ll just say this: I know that to be successful with my goals during the next holiday season, I will need to be better organized and less harried. That means I will need to be calm and not over-committed, with realistic expectations about what I can get done.

MY GOAL: I will slow down during the next holiday season so that I have the wherewithal to remain strong in my convictions. I could even start that now . . .

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Green Mama, kidHaven’s newest contributor, is a local parent doing the best she can to raise her toddler with sustainability in mind. She first got involved with green efforts while working at a local university and found that she really enjoys learning and sharing green knowledge, especially time and money-saving tricks! She looks forward to hearing tips and ideas, from readers.

On Saturday, January 21, 2012, Dragon Calling!, a Lunar New Year Family Day, will run from 10 AM to 2:30 PM at the New Haven Museum. Children will be able to make paper lanterns, dragon decorations, and more. The Yale Children’s Theater will also be performing stories about Lunar New Year and more. Traditional Lunar New Year snacks and refreshments will be served. All activities are designed for children (ages 4 up) and their families to spend the day at the New Haven Museum. The program admission is $5 per child, free for adults and museum members. Pre-registration is suggested, but not necessary.

The New Haven Museum is located in downtown New Haven at 114 Whitney Avenue. For more information, contact Michelle Cheng, Director of Education at (203) 562-4183 ext. 11 or education@newhavenmuseum.org.

These people stare at you constantly, watch you to see if you’ll smile back. They also have the tedious habit of grabbing you up for hugs at random and startling intervals.  The person you love most in the world betrays you by smiling at the intruders, giving them food, and understanding what the heck they’re talking about.

All you know is that you didn’t invite the strangers, and you don’t know if they’ll ever leave.  Why can’t they shut up while you’re trying to sleep? What’s so funny, anyhow?  Why doesn’t anybody invite you out there to laugh along?

Welcome to the holidays, baby-style.

No matter how much we adults complain about the hustle and bustle of this time of year -- we must admit to bringing it upon ourselves.  But our little ones don't have choices about the stress they will have to manage this month.  Join us on Facebook, Friday (Dec 9) when I answer your child development questions and share tips, strategies, and remedies for protecting your baby from undue stress during the holidays.