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JennGM
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I'm eager to hear input on ways your family presents the Easter egg traditions, including Ukrainian or other ethnic type decorating. How do you do egg hunts? Have you done any teaching that ventures in this area, like the eggs for art or religion?
Our family has made such a ritual out of this area. Goes to show you that even religion can be fun! I have 4 sisters and two brothers, most of them still living nearby. Since I can remember, we would decorate our Easter eggs on Holy Saturday, before we would get ready for the Easter Vigil. That was basically our day -- clean, cook and decorate Easter eggs! We decorate hard-boiled eggs with Crayola crayons, covering the egg with religious symbols related to Easter and then dying in food coloring. I would like to get some Stockmar beeswax crayons to see how the colors work on the eggs this year. Over the years I like to buy the largest box of Crayola crayons (with the variety of colors) to bring to the egg decorating...I like having the new box of sharp points to draw.
At first our only visual guide was from Helen McLoughlin's pamphlet Family Customs: Easter to Pentecost, basic line drawing symbols of PAX, Trinity, lily, but we branched out, adding more books with symbols and drawings ideas for our Easter eggs. Resurrection symbols such as peacocks, pomegranates, phoenix, lilies, spring flowers, butterfly, Alpha and Omega, etc. and words or musical snippets from Easter hymns. Phrases such as Alleluia or Regina Caeli, Christ is risen! are all over the eggs. It's also fun to use Latin phrases found in missals, or the English translations, like "Resurrexit Sicut Dixit" -- He is Risen as He Said." Also included are little scenes, like the empty cross, the triumphant paschal Lamb, the open tomb and garden. For those venturous enough there also pictures of Mary Magdalene with Jesus, or pictures of Jesus rising from the dead.
Don't get me wrong....we have a few "secular" type eggs (as some of the men are Steelers fans, there always seem to be a Steelers egg), but we try to make the impression that this is about Easter. While filling up the eggs, one can hear humming of some Easter hymns, and then everyone looks up and says "It's not Easter yet, you can't say the A word! All these eggs would be used for the Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday.
There is a 15 year span between the oldest (me) and the youngest out of 7 children, so we were still working on decorating even as we got older. It became more of an art form for the adults, while we teach the younger the traditions. Now there are younger nieces and nephews that are coming in, learning the ropes. In eighth grade I found out about Ukrainian eggs, and that started me on an interest that hasn't waned. So Ukrainian style and symbols got added to our eggs, also.
In our egg hunts, there are 2 prizes, one for finding the most eggs, and the other for finding the Alleluia egg. The Alleluia egg is the one very special egg designated usually by Mom. It always has "Alleluia" on it, and in our tradition it is usually yellow or golden. In the first years Mom would just pick out the egg and show everyone, but as we got older, there was a competition for the most beautiful egg. Dad would then vote, since he usually was impartial and didn't know each child's style. So that became another "prize" -- your egg being voted the "Alleluia Egg". "Golden egg" is another term for it...I think we think of it as the golden egg, but we like saying the Alleluia.
With 4 sisters, we started adding brothers-in-law to the family, and they have all embraced enthusiastically our traditions. In fact, they have added more to them. One BIL is the self-designated "Easter Pooka" -- we were avoiding the term "Easter Bunny" and that is the nickname we decided, taken from the movie Harvey with Jimmy Stewart. He hides the eggs, and buys prizes for the hunters. Over the years he has made Easter bags for everyone, and then adds special ones for the Alleluia and most found prizes. He's added so many personal touches, such as buying each person's favorite candy, decorating the bags with pictures. My dh and BIL love Easter with our family...old and young are included and all have fun.
Our family (at least the men) are big golf and football fans, and the Masters Golf Tournament always happens during the spring, sometimes during Easter! For those who don't know this tournament, the winner gets the coveted green jacket or blazer, and he then belongs to this exclusive Golf Club. So we've added to our prize ceremony a very loud (and large) gold blazer (found at GoodWill) that is awarded to the person who finds the Alleluia Egg.
I've gone to the Ukrainian Shrine in Washington, DC to learn about decorating Ukrainian eggs. I just loved the process. I brought my husband one year, and he enjoyed it so much we're trying to make it a family tradition to go up there two Sundays before Easter for their bazaar and workshop. He even used the wax on the hardboiled eggs last year, and it worked well. I think using the stylus and wax felt a little more artsy and sophisticated than crayons. The Ukrainian eggs take a long time to decorate. I recommend the book Kid's Guide to Decorating Ukrainian Easter Eggs for any age. Step by step process, but not a dumbing down. My six year old niece was able to follow. Be careful with the dyes, as many are aniline. Surma does have some non-toxic, which I would feel better with kids around. I've used permanent markers on blown eggs to imitate the style.
Janette mentioned starting a study of Ukrainian eggs, and buying some unpainted wooden eggs. I'd love to hear your sources, what supplies you are using, books you are incorporating. Maybe you can share your plans?
Here are some links that give a little idea of our traditions.
Alleluia Egg
Decorating Easter Eggs
I'm working on typing up a bibliography of symbols books, and scanning a few symbols (when I get my computer back from the shop), if anyone would be interested.
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cathhomeschool
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jenngm67 wrote:
| Janette mentioned starting a study of Ukrainian eggs, and buying some unpainted wooden eggs. I'd love to hear your sources, what supplies you are using, books you are incorporating. Maybe you can share your plans? |
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I'm not ignoring you, I just haven't gotten it all together yet! I was hoping to get organized this weekend, but got off on other things. Unfortunately, we don't have a Ukrainian Parish nearby, and we've never made Ukrainian eggs before, so I don't have near the experience that you do. Maybe you could post some plans! 
BTW, I loved reading about your traditions!
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JennGM
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If you're in the DC metro area, I highly urge you to think about attending the Annual Ukrainian Easter Bazaar and Pysanka Workshop at the Ukrainian National Shrine in Washington, DC. Here's the info:
22nd Annual PYSANKA WORKSHOP & EASTER BAZAAR
Sunday, March 13 from 12 noon to 5 pm
PYSANKA WORKSHOP: 2 pm - 5 pm (registration 1-2 pm): Adults: $15 & children under 12: $7:
Detailed AV presentation, Personalized instruction, Materials & supplies included.
BUFFET LUNCHEON: "Traditional Ukrainian" from 12 noon till the food is gone!
Adults: $12; children under 14 $6; under 5 free.
BAZAAR: many vendors 12 noon - 4 pm
Traditional Ukrainian arts & crafts - Pysanka kits, how-to books, videos - Traditional foods & baked breads -
Smoked meats: kovbasa (smoked sausage), kabanos, bochok (rib bacon), pashtet (liver pate), poliadvytsia (very lean Canadian bacon), and more.
UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC NATIONAL SHRINE
4250 Harewood Road, NE (across from Catholic
University of America) WDC.
For directions & information call: Sophika at (240) 426-0530, Jurij at (301) 649-6558 or the Parish office at:
(202) 526-3737.
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Don't worry Janette, I know it's hard to be "Mrs. Webmaster" and the wife, mother and teacher all at once! I'll give a few little tips on Ukrainian eggs through my experience. I'm no expert, just love the whole craft! It's such a beautiful art, with such religious significance that it fills my needs for beauty, fun, artsy and symbolic.
There are several legends of how the pysanka came to be. The three I love:
1) Mary, mother of Jesus, was carrying a basket of eggs to the soldiers sitting at the foot of the cross. She left the eggs there, and when Jesus' blood flowed down onto the eggs, they were stained with the brilliant designs. This is just as in art where Christ's blood flows on Adam's skull, as a sign of man's redemption.
2) Mary Magdalene went to the tomb with a basket of eggs to eat while she worked on anointing Christ's body. As soon as she arrived, the eggs were miraculously changed.
3) Simon of Cyrene was an egg merchant, carrying a basket of eggs to see into Jerusalem, when he was stopped and made to help Jesus carry his cross. He left his basket. After he returned, his basket of eggs had miraculously transformed as payment for his good deed.
I came across this craft in a newspaper article when I was in 8th grade or so...I still have the clipping, and that was 1982. My mother found other articles about Ukrainian eggs for me. One included a way of adapting or simplifying the art with permanent markers. Not knowing of Polish or Ukrainian groups in North Louisiana to get the pysanka stylus or wax or dyes, this seemed the only way for me to at least try the decorating style of the eggs. Now that Sharpies come in a multitude of colors and tips, it's a great way to try doing detailed work on a very round surface.
After trying decorating eggs with markers or crayons, just to get used to working details on a small oval object, try your hand at the real pysanka. With the Internet, there are so many places to get supplies now, that there's no excuse to try this craft with the real supplies. It really isn't too expensive, either. I've listed some suggested suppliers and hints below. The main tools you can't find in your local craft store are the kistky, beeswax and dyes. The kistka (plural kistky) is the stylus which writes with melted wax through a metal funnel. You will need a candle for your work area. The kistka is inserted into the flame to heat up, then scoop up some beeswax into the larger side of the funnel. The wax should flow through as you write on your egg.
This is a challenging art form because you have to think opposite of regular painting or coloring. The whole design needs to be planned (at least in your head) and you have to start with the lightest color (white), cover those areas that will remain white with wax, and then dip the egg in the dye for the next color (yellow or gold usually). Anything you want to remain yellow, you must cover with wax. This continues with each color, progressively darker, until you reach the last color. The egg will be coated in wax, which needs to be removed by holding it near the flame to melt the wax or an low-heat oven method with a drying rack. This is the best part...as the wax is removed (use paper towels) the colors are revealed, and the egg appears in its full glory. And no matter if it's your first or 100th egg, it's always beautiful...goof ups, blobs and all. It's just gorgeous. The final steps are varnishing and emptying the egg.
A tip on blowing eggs...don't do it by mouth if you can help it! You want to make the holes as small as possible. I cannot tell you how long and how hard my sister and I blew on those eggs to get the insides to come out. Did my cheeks hurt!  We made a lot of scrambled eggs that Lent. I've tried a few of the specialty egg blowers that you can find at these Ukrainian or Polish egg specialty shops. My highest recommendation goes to the Blas-Fix Egg Blower from Germany. It only requires one small hole and works like a charm. The kids will love it! 
When decorating eggs, the recommendation is that you use a raw egg, not blown, with the smoothest shells. Try to find eggs with thicker shells, as some in the market are very thin and will break easily. The reason for this is that the egg will float in the dye if blown first. But it is hard (and devastating) after all your work you go to blow the egg and it cracks. So there are pros and cons to both ways.
About the dyes....these are strong colors, stronger than vegetable or food coloring dyes. They aren't intended for edible eggs, but they aren't harmful to touch (I just called the shop to verify!). One pack of dye for each color will last for a year or so. Buy or find canning jars with water-tight lids...wide mouth jars. Mix up each color in a separate jar, and make sure you mark the jars with what color it is! You just need to add some vinegar if it starts to get low in the jar.
A great place to start is Kid's Ukrainian Egg Decorating Kit . If you don't want to buy the kit, at least get the book A Kid's Guide to Decorating Ukrainian Easter Eggs by Natalie Perchyshyn. It's very detailed, comprehensive, but works for adults and children. There are 7 designs that have detailed step by step instructions, all in color. You don't need each size of kistky, just medium or fine will work, I would recommend at least medium. One beeswax patty will last you a very long time and can be used by several people. You can also find multiple instructions and tips and photos online...I'll be glad to pass on a few links if someone wants.
Some supply places:
Ukrainian Gift Shop. They print most of the books on Ukrainian egg decorating.
Polish Art Center The site is a little stodgy, takes a long time to load, but I was pleased with the service. There are several titles about Polish traditions and the Polish style of decorating eggs. There are a few methods, and one way is similar to the Ukrainian method. This shop sells both types of supplies.
Surma Shop another Ukrainian Gift Shop.
My favorite book that gives a smattering of Ukrainian customs at Lent and Easter is Ukrainian Easter: Traditions, Folk Customs, and Recipes by Mary Ann Woloch Vaughn.
This really is a doable art. My husband tried it two years now and loves it. He did it on our hard boiled eggs for Holy Saturday, just using the food coloring as dye so we could eat them. He felt more artistic using official tools rather than just Crayons!
My quest now is to find another medium to continue the pysanky with my son. Besides being a young age that they will be fragile, he's also allergic to eggs. I can't seem to find blank wooden eggs to maybe decorate. I'm also looking for some plastic ones that are whole that I could decorate with markers so he could have them around. He's only 17 months, so I've been introducing little board books with pictures of the Easter story and eggs, singing Easter hymns, practicing hiding and finding eggs, etc. He's now trying to sing alleluia....
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cathhomeschool
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I love your suggestions! Some of the websites I bookmarked last year for the kids are among the sites you listed. I thought of using either paper mache eggs or wooden eggs with my little ones. The paper mache eggs would have to be painted, but I think that markers could be used on the wooden eggs. I checked Hobby Lobby last weekend and they carry whole wooden eggs, but they are pricey. This place has them much cheaper. I suppose that markers could be used on the paper mache eggs, too, if they were painted white first.
Some other websites I plan on using:www.learnpysanky.com
Using markers
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Thanks for the ideas for the wooden eggs. I'm so out of the loop for craft supply. I guess I would paint them white first. What type of paint would you use?
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I would (will) use regular acrylic craft paint (like Americana or Folk Art). If you don't lay it on too thick and let it dry well, I think it should sort of soak into the wood a bit and then be easy to "marker" over. I don't think that any of the white would come off on fingers or markers.
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Here are some highlighted links on Easter eggs that I thought I would pass along. I'm not Polish, Ukrainian or anything of these ethnic origins...just a combo of German, English, French, Scotch, Irish and a little Spanish. But I'm Catholic, which means universal, so I can embrace all Catholic customs! Also being an American means I can embrace all, just like our country does. Florence Berger in her Cooking for Christ (my favorite book!) summarizes this well in her discussion on Christmas foods. I apply this philosophy throughout the liturgical year. This Easter is trying various ethnic breads: To my mind, the ultimate in Christmas breads is the famous German Stollen. If you were French, you would choose Brioche or Galette. If you were Scotch, you might long for a Yuletide Bannock. If you were Bohemian, you would want Vanocka. But, since you are American, you may have all five. I advise that you use one sweet bread one year and another the next.....
Our Christmas dinner is served at night. Nothing is quite so welcome in the afternoon as a glass of English Eggnog and some German Cinnamon Stars. That blend of nationalities, at least during our lifetime, has spelled quarrels and dissensions; but on Christmas day, when "the King of Peace is magnified above all kings of the whole earth," all nations are reconciled. "All flesh shall see the salvation of our God."
Being American Catholic, we can choose the best of the cultures of all the nations of the world and make them ours in Christ. We can call the songs, the stories, the dances and the foods of all peoples our own because in our American heritage there is blood and bone and spirit of these different men and women. If America is a melting pot, it can also be a cooking pot from which we women can serve up a Christian culture. Geometric breakdown of Ukrainian eggs!
Making Pysanky, step by step A wonderfully illustrated step by step instruction on how to do pysanky...excellent pictures.
How to Make Ukrainian Easter Eggs another how-to site.
Web Sites on Pysanky / Ukrainian Easter Eggs A very comprehensive list, you could spend hours or days just going through this list!
Lithuanian Easter Eggs This isn't only for Ukrainians, Slovaks, Lithuanians, Polish, Carpatho-Rusyns and other ethnic groups do a form of psyanky...each region has their own "flavor."
Making Kraszanki This is another traditional Polish Easter egg tradition, but for edible eggs, all in one color with natural dye.
Polish Easter Traditions This is the main page from the previous link. I love this site. Our parish has the blessing of Easter baskets and I use the suggested foods for the basket as a guide to fill mine.
Pysanky Egg Tips from the pros...
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Okay, I was reading the back of The Egg Tree by Katherine Milhous and it has instructions on how to make an Egg Tree: Perhaps you would like to make an Easter Egg Tree in your own home or in school or in your library?
First ask a grown-up to help you blow the eggs, wtih a little hole at one end and a larger one at the other.
Then dye the shells different colors with Easter Egg dyes. After that paint designes on some of them with dye or paint -- you can use watercolor or showcard paints -- or scratch them on. Perhaps you will want to leave some of the shells white, and paint ona white background. Some eggs may be plain colors.
All through this book are lovely designs that you may use, or you may prefer to make your own.
Hang the eggs on the branches of a little tree, outdoors or indoors. If the branches are bare, the tree will look pretty whitewashed or painted white. Under the tree put your candy Easter eggs and any gay Easter toys. Then ask your friends in to see it!
Anyone try this? Does anyone know what showcard paints are? (see red)
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jenngm67 wrote:
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I believe that is just another name for poster paints.
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Here I am again...chatting about eggs! I found an egg tradition that is new to me, but sounds like a lot of fun. I'm a bit behind in learning different Hispanic customs. This is a Latino tradition called cascarones. Basically, these are hollowed eggs, decorated in your usual way, and then filled with confetti. The eggs are then cracked on a person's head, all in fun. It symbolizes the opening of Christ's tomb or reenactment of awakening Christ so that he can save humankind. I can see how the boys would love to do this custom!
The Latino Holiday Book by Valerie Menard has some detailed directions on how to make them, but basically you make about 1/2" hole, blow out the contents of an egg, clean it, decorate it, fill it with paper confetti, and in Mexican areas they decorate the open-end of the egg with tissue paper.
Some illustrations and decorations: San Antonio How-to Cascarones
E-how Confetti Eggs
Directions
Cascaron Crazy
Cascarones
HGTV Decorated Cascarones in shapes of Animals
About Cascarones
There is also the customs from Europe and Eastern Europe of cracking hard-boiled Easter eggs with one another. Maria Trapp describes this custom during their family's Easter Breakfast.
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That is a neat tradition, Jenn. I bet my kiddos would get a kick out of it.
Another fun egg idea is to make hollow sugar eggs with scenes inside. They are beautiful and not nearly as hard to make as they look. There are also much sturdier than I had thought. Here is a link with instructions and pictures so everyone can see what I'm talking about. Hollow sugar eggs
We used the Wilton Easter Eggs Candy Mold Set to make our eggs. It comes with three different size molds. The largest mold might be best for little hands as the scene inside can be bigger. That size does use quite a bit of sugar though- we made ours using the small mold since it was still a good size but didn't need as much sugar. The Wilton kit includes instructions in it for the sugar eggs - both hollow or solid. It uses granulated sugar (the above link uses powdered) which is what we used to make ours. In addition there are recipes for making hollow or solid chocolate eggs.
In one of our sugar eggs we made a Resurrection scene. We made the figures with a marzipan type paste. You could also buy little figures to put inside. We did others with bunnies and chicks inside. I was thinking that butterfly/caterpillar scenes would be neat to illustrate the being born to New Life theme. Any Easter symbols could be used - see Jenn's earlier post for symbol ideas.
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Okay, I was looking for other links with pictures of panoramic eggs and found this link to a book that sounds interesting. It's about the underground railroad but panoramic eggs are central to the theme.
Secret Signs along the Underground Railroad - Anita Riggio
The website has a sugar egg recipe at the end of the article. I'm checking to see if our library has this book so I can check it out.
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MaryM wrote:
| Another fun egg idea is to make hollow sugar eggs with scenes inside. They are beautiful and not nearly as hard to make as they look. There are also much sturdier than I had thought. |
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My mother and MIL used to make these. I thought they were the most beautiful eggs I had ever seen, and my husband has the same fond memories, so I hope to do this some year. I've been looking for other ideas in ways to present eggs without using actual eggs, since ds is allergic, so thanks for sending the links. I might not do it this year since I have a few other projects in mind, such as trying to come up with recipes for goodies and cookies that he can eat that are actually tasty (milk, wheat and egg free) 
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cathhomeschool wrote:
| I thought of using either paper mache eggs or wooden eggs with my little ones. The paper mache eggs would have to be painted, but I think that markers could be used on the wooden eggs. I checked Hobby Lobby last weekend and they carry whole wooden eggs, but they are pricey. This place has them much cheaper. |
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I just got my order of wooden eggs from the Craft Parts store. I'm very pleased...and can't wait to start painting. Thanks for passing on this link!
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Okay, I'm back again...I've been experimenting on the wooden eggs that Janette suggested. I'm a bit disappointed, because it's taking more than 2 coats for the white or lighter colors to take on the eggs. I bought an acrylic paint for porous surfaces, but not specifically for wood, and it just sucks it up. Now, black is a different story. Looks great. Now I've used a couple of approaches, one a foam brush to cover the eggs. That is a bit streaky. The second way is to use latex gloves, put some paint in the palm and rub all over the egg. That's a little more smooth. The best approach would be a "dip bath" of the paint...but I didn't buy enough for that, so I can't try this yet!
I'm using an egg drying nail board I bought from the Ukrainian Gift Shop to hold up the eggs after painting, but you could make your own.
Which leads me to two different ways to try and use markers on the wooden eggs. I still haven't gotten to the point of the permanent markers over the paint, I'll let you know about that experiment. The other approach I was going to do was use the acrylic paint markers to paint the egg. The results will look more like the painted wooden eggs that some of the Ukrainian shops sell. But I would start with the darker colors, like black, purple and navy and make the Ukrainian designs over the dark colors. The great things about the wet paint markers is that the light colors show up over the dark.
Just wanted to pass along some of my findings...it's a little more prep work for the wooden eggs, but fun.
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jenngm67 wrote:
| I've been experimenting on the wooden eggs that Janette suggested. I'm a bit disappointed, because it's taking more than 2 coats for the white or lighter colors to take on the eggs. I bought an acrylic paint for porous surfaces, but not specifically for wood, and it just sucks it up. |
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Jennifer, I didn't want to respond before attempting these first hand. We finally received our wooden eggs and painted yesterday. We used Folk Art acrylic craft paint. I coated some eggs with white and then the kids used colored sharpie markers to decorate. Other eggs they painted with acrylic paints without the white base coat. None of our eggs needed more than one coat of paint, but that coat was not thin -- I didn't have water on my brush, only paint. Where did you buy your eggs? I wonder if there's a difference in woods? Was your white paint very thin? I find that some paints are thinner than others (haven't paid attention much, so I'm not sure if it's certain brands or what). Our white paint was not very watery.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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JennGM
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| Posted: March 29 2005 at 12:34pm | IP Logged
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cathhomeschool wrote:
| We finally received our wooden eggs and painted yesterday. We used Folk Art acrylic craft paint. I coated some eggs with white and then the kids used colored sharpie markers to decorate. Other eggs they painted with acrylic paints without the white base coat. None of our eggs needed more than one coat of paint, but that coat was not thin -- I didn't have water on my brush, only paint. Where did you buy your eggs? I wonder if there's a difference in woods? Was your white paint very thin? |
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No, my paint was thick, and I used no water. Apple or Plaid brand or something. I bought the eggs from the link you provided. It's just the inferior painter! But they look great now, with two or three coats, but I've got to get to the part of drawing on the eggs! I ended up with multiple colors, since I wanted some to have different backgrounds. Ds loves playing with them, more than plastic.
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Jennifer G. Miller
Wife to & ds1 '03 & ds2 '07
Family in Feast and Feria
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4Real Forums : Domestic Church
Topic: Easter Eggs Traditions
