Easter Eggs and Video Games
When we were little, we'd buy 18 eggs from the store and dye them pretty colors. This would become mom's lunch for the next week. This also meant we could afford some easter candy, since eggs are cheap.
We never bought dye. We used a few drops of food coloring in a mix of vinegar and water. We'd draw pictures on the eggs with a white crayon, dye the egg yellow, draw more pictures, dye it green, etc. The end result was usually a murky, dirt colored egg covered in multicolored crosses. My awesome parent would take these monstrosities out in public, and come home raving about the compliments she had received on her lunch hour.
Then came the age of Pac-Man, and a game room opened next to the bar across the street. The game room had 2 video games and a pinball game. They also sold hot dogs and soda.
The first easter after the game room had opened, my sister and I found little plastic eggs scattered all over the house. Each egg held several quarters. My mom had probably been saving quarters for months. Quarter eggs became a yearly tradition in our home. It's amazing the power of a few handfuls of change.