The saga of the eggs.
The day before our schools closed, and week before we got the shelter in place order, I had done two big grocery trips, coincidentally. I did not know what was coming, I was just following my normal schedule. Those trips happened at Kroger and Costco, my normal haunts. I got toilet paper and paper towels and a ton of almond milk and flour. The one thing I did not get? Eggs.
I buy my eggs at Target, because they have the best prices for eggs. And it gives me a very credible excuse to go to Target every other week. But I did not go to Target because it was not on the schedule. So I had only the eggs on hand when everything suddenly got very crazy, re: food and supplies. The day the schools closed, I had eighteen eggs.
I went to the store the week after: no eggs. I looked into pick up orders. No eggs. For close to three weeks there were no eggs to be had, anywhere. And every day, I tormented myself: “If only I had bought eggs at Costco! Curse me and my adherence to routine!” Then, lo and behold, one day, there were eggs. I bought the limit (three packs) and finally felt like I could exhale after weeks of worrying that we would have to survive off eighteen eggs for the rest of our lives. Then I went home and made cookies.
When it came time to start thinking about Easter decorations, there was one thing I knew. For us, this was not the time to be using valuable edible eggs for decorations. My paranoid brain couldn’t take it.
But there was still Easter to celebrate and what’s an Easter to celebrate without eggs to decorate? There must be something I could do…To the craft box!
Y’all know I love a good holiday clearance sale. You’ll never know what you can find, especially when you get down to that 90%. I bought these paper cache eggs last Easter clearance, for $.39 a piece, originally $3.99 each. I didn’t know what I would do with them, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to save $15.96.
Fast forward to now, when I had the prefect use for them.
Instead of decorating edible eggs, we spent an afternoon decorating paper cache eggs. We still got to talk about the meaning of Easter as we did a family craft but now there was no waste. My children always wanted to dye more hardboiled eggs than we could possibly eat, but with this we didn’t have to worry about that.
The best part? We can hold onto these eggs for next year and they can become part of our Easter decorations. Plus, all the supplies were things we already had on hand, so it cost us nothing!
This year it might be a little hard to hit up Easter clearance to find options like this, I know. But moving forward, maybe consider Easter decorating options that aren’t edible. Could you make your own paper mache eggs? I’ve seen wooden eggs on social media that would be a great painting activity for older kids. Even decorating the standard plastic eggs with stickers. There are some great options for ways to do a traditional Easter celebration without using real eggs.
As we look forward to the next seasonal holiday clearance (I see you, Halloween!), keep this tip in mind. Maybe grab some paper pumpkins to decorate or see what clearance finds could do double duty for another holiday.
The saga of the eggs was stressful, but it lead us to a new family tradition. We can’t wait for next year to see what long lasting decoration swap we can make to celebrate.
Kristen B. is wife to the best Prince around, mama to the spunkiest little princesses, and lover of all things Disney. She started her savings journey five years ago and is now dedicated to making her family’s wishes come true one coupon at a time. She is so excited to take her love of saving to the next level and share her journey with you! Click here to catch up on Kristen’s Savings and join in on your own savings adventure!