810-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, March 23, 1991
Marvelously
Colored
Easter Eggs
The egg’s perfect shape always
has inspired artists. It has been the
palette for one of the most intrigu
ing of folk arts in many cultures.
There is no end to the creative
possibilities for individual
expression on an egg-shell. Eggs
can be painted or colored with
crayons or felt-tipped pens, turned
into funny faces, topped with fan
tastic hats, trimmed with feathers
or sequins or simply dyed in an
endless variety of hues. Decorat
ing eggs is fun for kids and grown
ups.
Faux, a fancy way lo say “fake,”
marble eggs arc easy to make and
can lend a luscious touch to your
Easter table. You can used hard
cooked eggs or blow the contents
from the eggshells for a longer
lasting work of art.
When the eggs are ready, line a
cookie sheet with waxed paper or
foil. Place several inexpensive
sponges on the cookie sheet and
pour one to two tablespoons food
coloring over the center portion of
each sponge to create a stamp pad.
Use a separate sponge for each col
or. Let the coloring stand on the
sponge until it’s absorbed, about 5
minutes. (Keep a good stock of
paper towels nearby).
Holding an egg at its top and bot
tom between your thumb and fore
finger, gently roll the egg over the
sponge to create marble shadings,
swirls, and stripplings. Shift your
holding position to turn the egg and
roll again and again until the entire
The History Of
Eggs have played a part in
springtime celebrations as far back
as 5,000 B .C. The ancient Chinese,
Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans
exchanged colored eggs as tokens
of good will to proclaim the season
of renewed life.
Some believe that the custom
found its way into Europe with the
Crusaders. Medieval English fami
lies placed huge platters of decor
ated eggs, specially blessed by the
local pnest, in the center of their
Easter tables to be offered to each
visitor during Easter week. The
Dutch settlers in Pennsylvania and
New York are credited with bring
ing their native custom of coloring
eggs at Easter to this country.
Before the advent of food color
ing, eggs were dyed by boiling
them with flowers, leaves, roots,
seed, logwood chips or cochineal
(a dye made from a dried cactus
eating insect). This natural color
ing process is yet popular among
creative modern craftspersons. For
instance, yellow onion skins as a
dyestuff produce orange-shaded
eggs, while red cabbage leaves col
or them various shades of blue.
Another historic decorating
method still being practiced today
is that of the beautiful Ukrania
“pysankas.” Wax is applied to
form traditional geometric designs
while a series of dye baths produce
the color. A thin coat of varnish
preserves and hardens the egg shell
so it can be expected to last for
years.
Use pencil-top erasers or the edges of block-style erasers and dye-soaked sponges
designs.
shell surface is covered. As each
egg is finished, set it back into the
egg carton to dry.
If you’d prefer “new wave”
designs of dots, dashes, and trian-
Egg Coloring
The egg’s common association
with hope and resurrection, as well
as its fragility, probably accounts
for its popularity in Eastertime fun
and games around the world.
“Pace egging” is an old English
tradition similar to Halloween trick
or treating. (The term “pace”
derives from the word “Pasch,”
which means “Easter” in most
European countries). Costumed
children (years ago wearing animal
skins) went from house to house
singing or performing skits to col
• lecl colored, hard-cooked “pace
eggs.” The eggs were then used to
play games such as egg shackling,
an age-old ritual popular in many
countries. Shacklers hold eggs in
their right hands, trying to protect
the eggs a's much as possible with
their fingers. They tap them against
their opponents’ eggs trying to
smash the others while keeping
their own intact. Children also
rolled their pace eggs at each other
on a field, with the egg remaining
unbroken declared the “victor
egg.” Dolly Madison initiated the
White House Easter Egg Roll in
Washington in the early 1800 s and
the custom continues to this day.
In Switzerland, children are sup
posed to receive their eggs from the
Easter cuckoo, but children in most
countries believe that the Easter
rabbit lays and hides the eggs they
hunt for on Easter morning.
Celebrate this happy, season
with your family’s favorite tradi
tions. Many are made possible by
the incredible edible egg!
0
gles, dab pencil-top erasers or the
edges of block-style erasers onto
the dye-soaked sponges and press
onto the eggs. Vary the pressure
and eraser angle for different
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affects.
Refrigerate your decorated
hard-cooked eggs as soon as you’re
done and, if you’d like to eat them
later, refrigerate them again after
Color Me
to give your egg “new wave”
displaying or hiding them. Discard
any hard-cooked eggs that have
been at room temperature for more
than 2 hours and use the rest within
one week.