This weekend we celebrate Easter Sunday and to local handmade art experts at Atelier Truckee, it’s more important and special to spend quality time crafting together than simply purchasing premade holiday-themed goodies.

“We can create and develop a special bond with our families when we make art together,” said Kelly Wallis, workshop manager at Atelier.

Wallis hosts art workshops at the shop as well as at The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe, where visitors can pop in for a class and head home with a masterpiece. Atelier strives to inspire the local community as well as connect with local artists and sell exclusive pieces in addition to all of the necessary supplies to get creative, yourself.

This Easter, why not invite your family and friends to recreate any of the below Top 5 Easter Crafts? Supplies are available at Atelier in Truckee and the instructions are easy to follow or embellish however you’d like; after all there’s no wrong way to make art.

1. Felted Pets

These sweet miniature animals are easy and fun for anyone to make. Simply begin with roving which is unwound yarn, place it on top of a felting foam block and use a felting needle to repeatedly poke and agitate the fibers into the shape of any animal or object you’d like to make.

“It’s a really meditative, calming project,” Wallis said. “These pets are great projects for kids to focus in on.”

Atelier has Woolpets Felting packs for $20 as well as individual projects. The packs come in all kinds of fun pets including a bunny rabbit, birds and even a unicorn.

2. Eco Eggs

This kit comes with everything you’ll need to dye hardboiled eggs or delicate blown eggshells, naturally – it even comes with a seedling pod to grow your own grass right in the container it’s packaged in.

The coloring guide explains all of the natural dye bases and includes instructions on growing your grass which will sprout after 48 hours and grow an inch each day.

3. Papier-Mache Eggs

The artists at Atelier have premade paper eggs that are easily transformed into beautiful Easter decorations using different pieces of brightly colored paper to bring them to life.

This fun project will be their workshop theme this Friday at The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe Living Room from 4 – 8p.m. for $18 per person.

If you’d like to recreate papier-mache eggs on your own the shop also sells Mod Podge craft adhesive for $9.50, which you can use with a simple sponge brush to apply your paper pattern.

4. Pom-Pom Makers

Those of you who’ve handmade pom-poms to adorn hats and knitwear of all kinds can appreciate the pom-pom maker sold at Atelier in a range of sizes. These handy little tools can make all the pom-poms you’ll ever need, and they’re perfect for creating fuzzy little Easter-themed animal friends with kids.

To use the pom-pom makers you simply open the wings of the circle, wrap your favorite yarn thickly around each side, close the wings, cut around the guide-edge with a pair of scissors and ta-da! Perfect pom-poms. Add eyes and a mouth (or beak) to recreate these fun bunnies and chicks.

Pom-pom makers range in price depending on size and sell for $3 – $10. Atelier is also adding-on to their already beautiful and impressive yarn selection each week. Skeins are sold starting at $9.50.

5. Create an Easter Basket

Atelier has all kinds of supplies for any craft you can think of, and they often help create baskets that make beautiful and useful gifts.

Stop by the store to find all of the tools you’ll need for endless handmade projects. Their selection spans all art forms and would make a wonderful addition to kids’ Easter baskets, including fun books, handmade cards and treasures for anyone in your life that appreciates gifts from the heart.

Cassandra Walker is a features and entertainment reporter for the Sierra Sun. She can be reached at cwalker@sierrasun.com, 530-550-2654 or @snow1cass.