EASTER COMES IN THE SPRING each year. It is a joyful celebration because it honors the resurrection of Christ. It is the day he is said to have risen from the dead. This happy day follows a long period of penance and mourning for the death of Jesus Christ. The 40 days, called Lent, begin on Ash Wednesday. They extend through Good Friday, the day of Christ's crucifixion, and end on Easter Sunday.

EASTER
Easter Celebration

Easter Party Goods	Large Easter Basket
Hymns For Easter DVD & CD	Easter Inflatable Sign

Easter occurs on a different Sunday each year. It is celebrated on the first Sunday that follows the first full moon after March 21st (the first day of spring). The Roman Emperor Constantine, who was a Christian, set this date for Easter back in the year 325 A.D. Most churches have followed his rule ever since.

The celebration of Easter is one of the most important holidays in Christian countries throughout the world. But many Easter customs are not religious. In America, there is an Easter "parade." In towns and cities, people go walking or to church in their newest clothes. Men sometimes dress formally and women and girls traditionally have a new Easter bonnet.

Brightly colored Easter eggs are another part of the celebration. In some areas they are given out on Easter morning. In other places, they are hidden, and children must hunt for them. Egg-rolling is another Easter pastime. Each year, an egg-rolling contest is held on the lawn of the White House in Washington. Contests are also held in England and Germany.  

 How did eggs come to be part of the Easter celebration? Perhaps because they are the symbol of new life. Christ's resurrection was a new life. Also, Easter comes at the beginning of spring, when all of nature comes to life after the cold winter.

The Easter rabbit appears each year, too. In Germany, people say the Easter rabbit brings the eggs and hides them in houses. This idea was brought over to the United States by German settlers.

In Russia and many of the other Slavic countries, Easter eggs are works of art. Beautiful and intricate designs of many colors are drawn on the eggs. They are painted by hand, and many are saved and passed down through the generations. The custom also includes taking the eggs to church to be blessed. In Italy, also, eggs are taken to church to be blessed.

Easter eggs, parades, and bunnies have no part at all in the Latin American Easter. All of Holy Week -the week before Easter- is a religious festival in Mexico and South America. On Palm Sunday, palm leaves are blessed in the churches, as they are in many North American churches. Churches are decorated with fruit and green plants. There are religious processions and Passion plays, telling the Easter story.

People go into deep mourning on Good Friday, but Catholics in Latin America celebrate the resurrection on Easter Saturday. After church, people go into a wild celebration, with whistles, church bells, and fireworks! In many places, people play rough games with a straw figure dressed up as Judas, who told the Roman soldiers where to capture Jesus. The Judas is hanged or burned by the crowd.

In Europe, too, there are many solemn processions on Good Friday. These are sad funeral processions mourning the death of Christ. In a town in Italy, young men run through the streets. As they run, they hit themselves on the legs with pieces of cork studded with broken glass, so that they will be hurt as Christ was.

Lent, the 40 days of penance, is an important and serious part of the Easter season. And Carnival, right before Lent, is the wildest holiday of the year in many parts of Europe and Latin America. There are great parades, street dances, and costume balls for three days or even longer. The biggest South American carnival is in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Even the very poorest people work for months to have a beautiful costume for the street dances.

French settlers brought this custom of carnival over to the United States. A Mardi Gras carnival is held in New Orleans each year.

Mardi Gras really means "Fat Tuesday" in French, because everyone tries to eat up the good things they will not eat after Lent begins on Ash Wednesday. In England, people often have pancake festivals. In Germany, they make doughnuts.

With all the parades and customs, though, Easter is still mainly a time to celebrate new life. Spring is in the air. The long days of winter and of Lent are over. It is a day to remember the man who was born on Christmas, died on Good Friday, and rose again on Easter Sunday.

Legendary Tale
The tradition of the Easter rabbit came to America with German immigrants during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Edible name Tags
Make anyone feel special with a personalized cookie. Use the cookie as place cards or include in an Easter Basket

Easter Tree
Who says trees are just for Christmas? Place some pussy willow stems in a flower pot, them trim your Easter tree with edible cookies

Cookie Hunt
Create Easter cookies and place them in our cellophane bags. Hide them in the yard or home and invite the kids to a festive Easter cookie hunt.

Easter Treats
To find an assortment of Easter Goodies, Basket Stuffers, Treat box, Cello Bags, Shred, Eggs-traordinary gifts, tableware and decorations hop on over for Easter Toys and Fun Stuff

Easter Religious Costumes	Easter Bunny Costumes
Jesus Adult Costume	Deluxe Easter Bunny
Jesus Wig and Beard	Supreme Bunny Suit Adult
Shepherd Costume for Pageant	Open Face Easter Bunny Suit Adult
Shepherd Costume, Adult	Classic Easter Bunny
Shepherd Adult Deluxe	Premium Rabbit Complete, Grey
Shepherds Robe, Adult	Parade Bunny Adult
Character Crowns Laurel Leaf	Bunny Infant Costume 12-24 Months
Character Crowns Thorn Crown	Hatchling (Special Order)
Easter Gift Baskets
Say it with Flowers A very nice way to say, "I Love You"	Celebrate Gift Basket Say It With Hearts!
Cheese & Cracker Basket A great gift for welcoming the guests to your home.	Say it with Roses Someone Special! This Rose Box is a wonderful gift for that special person
Toast To You Basket Celebrate In Style! Send this lavish basket of gourmet cheese, crackers and sweets.	Sweets Basket Beautifully wrapped Sweet Treats Basket  for the person with a passion for sweets.
Large Easter Basket Bring a smile to your families faces when they open this beautiful Easter Wicker Basket.	Say Happy Easter with a Special Easter Gift Baskets featuring gourmet delights
Easter Supplies	Easter Supplies by Shindigz.com
Easter Party Supplies
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Easter Prayer Cards
Easter Party Invitations

Religious Cards
Hymns For The Holidays

Easter Party Supplies
Celebrate your special religious event with this beautiful pattern.

Easter Celebration
Hymns For The Holidays

Easter Pageant
  Jesus Adult Costume
Shepherd Costume, Adult

Religious Plates
Religious Plates
Religious Lunch Napkins
Religious Tablecover
Religious Cups
Silver Spoons
Silver Forks
Silver Knives

Easter Party Packs
Easter Decorations
Easter Party Supplies
Easter Tableware
Easter Toys and Fun Stuff

Easter Crafts - Great way to get kids ready for Easter. Perfect for preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school children.

Easter Decorating & Party Kits
Large Easter Basket
Jumbo Easter Bunny
Easter Decorama
32" Easter Tissue Bunny

Easter Decorama
Easter Eggs and Easter Bunnies! Decorate for Easter with this pastel kit.

Easter Egg Decorations
Tissue Easter Eggs! Add to your decorations with this pack of tissue Eggs.

Jumbo Easter Bunny
Baxter the Bunny! Give a Bunny full of toys instead of a Basket full of candy. This Easter Bunny comes filled with toys.

Easter Basket Favors
Easter Toys and Fun Stuff
Yellow Squirt Ducks

Easter beaded floral egg boxes
These elegant velvet lined eggs are a perfect gift just by themselves. We also love them filled with jellybeans. Lavender, purple and green. Each egg is 3.5" high, 3.75" long and 3" wide. Set of 3.

Easter spring babies felt bags
It's a spring thing -- set of small felt spring babies bags makes us want to turn cartwheels, pick flowers and gobble jellybeans by the handful. They're super sweet and feature crafty made-it-myself touches. For Easter brunch, fill them with chocolate eggs or Jordan almonds.