We love a good DIY project.

Especially when the recipient is so gosh-darned cute, we’d do anything for her. Happy Sew Lucky  kits come with everything we need to sew our own baby gifts. Our favourite? The dinnertime book. Printed on 100% organic cotton, it requires sewing only in straight lines (bonus!) and stars all the cute and cuddly characters in the Happy Sew Lucky family.

Just B.Y.O.S. (bring your own sewing machine). —Kelsey Dundon

http://happysewlucky.com

You've glued one too many cotton tails to your fingertips to know that Easter arts and crafts are serious business. But instead of cracked eggs and tears, try this Eggs Au Natural activity from upcoming book, Everyday Eden, by Christina Symons and John Gillespie of Roberts Creek, B.C.

Eggs Au Natural
There are many natural dye bases to choose from, including berries, vegetables and spices. Use what you have on hand to experiment.

You can dye your eggs using the boiling method or the cold-dipping method. Cold dipping is best when small children are participating. For either method, first mix and prepare your dyes. For the eggs pictured, use red cabbage, tumeric, coffee, beets and grape juice.

Once you prepare your blend (as noted below), strain out any solids and you are ready to dip! Dip hard-boiled or blown-out eggs into your dyes and allow them to soak for a few minutes or several hours (the longer they soak, the deeper the colour). Try double dipping for cool colour combinations. Affix masking-tape cutouts (flower shapes) or pre-cut stickers before dipping to create a patterned effect.

Alternatively, you can boil raw eggs right in your prepared dyes for ten to eight minutes or longer. The extra heat required to cook the eggs will result in deeper, darker colour.

Red Cabbage Dye Base
Boil 4 cups of chopped red cabbage in 6 cups of water for 30 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp f vinegar and allow to cool.

Turmeric Dye Base
Add 4 Tbsp powered turmeric to 4 cups of boiling water and stir well. Add 1 Tbsp of vinegar and allow to cool.

Coffee Dye Base
Brew 4 cups of very strong coffee. Place in saucepan, add 1 Tbsp of vinegar and allow to cool.

Beet Dye Base
Boil 3 cups of chopped beets in 6 cups of water for 40 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp of vinegar and allow to cool.

Grape Dye Base
Bring 4 cups of grape juice to boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Add 1 Tbsp of vinegar and allow to cool. You can try wild or cultivated blackberries (use up those frozen ones from last summer!).

http://everydayeden.com

If Vogue represents your aspirational style and Dwell your ultimate domestic bliss, then new digital publication http://lapetitemag.com may well spell out your fantasy family life.

With whimsical fashion spreads and gorgeous do-it-yourself kids projects like Sailor Hats and Butterfly Masks there is plenty for the dress-up drama queen.

Their "turn this room into an outfit" column is a double-whammy of style, while their kids hairstyling feature shows you how to create the perfect ballet bun.

Now if you could only figure out where she has hidden her brush, today.

http://lapetitemag.com

Sure she’s daddy’s little girl, but it’s your closet that Little Miss Dress Up raids come playtime.

Spare the Loeffler Randall sandals, but spoil her inner Rachel Zoe, with Dace Paper Dolls. A collaboration with Philadelphia fashion illustrator Dallas Shaw, the doll and the fall 2010 Dace fashions to dress it with are a free download. The first look featuring a knit dress, ankle booties and a billowy jacket is now online, and more will follow in the next couple of months.

Suddenly saying “cut that out” sounds so obliging.

www.dace.ca

Nuclear family, blended family, dysfunctional family…every clan is one of a kind.

Which is why we love the Modern Play House ($20.56) and Modern Play Family ($14.14) kits from MoMA. Your brood can create a miniature house with over 50 design options for walls, furniture, flooring, lighting and décor and a bespoke family (2 adults, 3 children, 2 dogs, 1 cat and a doghouse) with the 150+ mix-and-match hair and accessories pieces.

Now that’s putting family first.

Modern Play House and Family (sold separately) at Amazon.ca

Hot Cross Buns ordered?

Baskets assembled?

Husband’s bunny costume picked up from the cleaners? (Don’t laugh, Ben Affleck has one.)

Now how about dinner decor?

Cotton yarn, glue and balloons are all you need to make these jaunty decorative eggs, and, alas, there will be no need to hide them.

Okay hubby, hop to it!

For step-by-step instructions, click here.

We all want to foster creativity in our kids, just not on our white upholstery.

Now you can relax and let your kids be kids at the new Vancouver art studio Collage Collage.

Canisters of fun art supplies (day-glo pompoms!), modern books and gifts surround a huge custom-made communal table that serves as a craft centre. Kids get one-on-one instruction, sometimes inspired by a famous graphic designer like Italy's Bruno Munari.

Now that's something to hang on the fridge.

Drop-in classes, $10. Birthday parties available. 621 Kingsway (at 15th and Fraser), Vancouver, 604-569-1929, www.collagecollage.ca

If your tot asks “Why? Why? Why?” more than a fourth year Philosophy major, give her something to really ponder with the creatively crafty This Is Not A Book by Kerry Smith.

Unlike traditional “connect the dot” activities, this illustrated guide requires imagination and input from little minds, with brain-tingling tasks like recording time travel and using the book to make an original action sculpture.

You may not have the answer to life’s eternal questions, but now you’ll always have a response to “I’m bored.”

This is Not a Book, from $11.68 at Amazon.ca

Tear them away from Rock Band for three seconds.

Modern Kid Office is a funky collection of art-oriented items like flourescent pencil crayons ($6), ’70s hypotrochoid drawing kits with retro Bic pens ($9) and 3D drawing sets ($8) that’ll keep them occupied with far less damage to your eardrums.

Now if they would just fetch your coffee for you.

Purchase Modern Kid Office at www.cocoacrayon.com

All kids love to paint on their clothes. And you have the laundry pile to prove it.

Give them artistic license with paint-your-own rain boots kits by MyDesgn that come with white boots, paints, brushes, plus paint removal pads so they can do the clean-up this time (and paint them all over again). 

MyDesign boots, $38 at EIO, www.eiokids.ca