Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

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Uschi
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Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

Post by Uschi »

As Easter is drawing near, it is time to think of making decorations and things to do.

I am collecting egg shells at the moment. Instead of breaking the eggs in the middle, I break them nearer the top. That way I can make some into Easter vases by placing one into a slosh of plaster the size of a fried egg.
When the plaster has drh out, I paint the paster green with some flowers on it and paint a few "grass blades" up the egg. The egg shell can then be filled with water and a few small flowers and green twigs can go into it.
For the kids I often add chenille chickens and wooden ladybirds or something like that.

The remaining egg shells are used for cress and mustard cress eggs. You can either place a small ball of cotton wool directly into the egg or onto a plate and then wet it with water and sprinkle it with cress seeds or mustard seeds. After five days the cress/mustard cress is ready to eat and to adorn your Easter table.

I usually place the eggshells into an egg-box with some eggshells planted up with daisies or other flowers.
And since I make many cress egs I usually place the cotton wool in Kinder Surprise trays that I pick up in the supermarket for free. Once grown they can be transplanted into the egg shells.
The shells can be dyed, painted or left as they are.

ImageOstergarten by natterjack3, auf Flickr

In Central and East Europe Easter is big and they really go to town on decorating their eggs with wax and dyes.
One can either use normal molten wax and a pinhead (stick the pin into a cork for easier handling) to apply the wax to the egg. Once the patter is on the egg, it can be dyed in a cold dye bath or a cooled down natural dye bath until the desired colour is achieved. The egg can then be cooked or blown out.

I did not make these, but they are ever so pretty.

Image

This technique can be stepped up by applying wax and dyes several times to make multi-coloured eggs.

Image

Another way is using coloured wax which is applied to the boiled or blown out egg. (Crayons can also be melted and used this way.)

Image

What do you do for decorations?
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Busybee
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Location: North Yorkshire

Re: Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

Post by Busybee »

As ever Uschi I’m in awe of your skill.

I can’t say we do much other than bake a simnel cake. However my best friend who is of Polish heritage always decorates an Easter basket which is taken to Church to be blessed before coming back home. The basket includes salt, bread and hand decorated eggs, very similar to the ones in your images. Usually decorated with wax then dyed. I can’t quite remember if anything else is included in the basket, maybe some flowers and the basket is lined with a colourful piece of traditional cloth. I know in her Mothers later years when she was housebound the local Polish priest would visit so that the basket could be blessed. My friend is in New Zealand this Easter so I’m sure she will be doing whatever is considered usual for a part Māori family.

BB
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Uschi
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Re: Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

Post by Uschi »

I only made the little tray with the egg shells, not the Easter eggs below. I might try out the blue ones if I have time.

I had Polish and Russian neighbours in the last house and I used to make Easter nests for the children. In turn I was treated to a Russian Kulitsch (a rich yeast cake baked in a flower pot) and Polish cakes and Easter eggs of a similar kind. :D

My mother comes from a Catholic area and they have countless customs around Easter. The church bells are not allowed to be rung from Good Friday to Easter Sunday, so children go around with rattles and things to remind people to go to mass. They collect "fees" for their services in the form of Easter eggs, sweets, cake or even money (the latter goes to the church).

Boiled Easter eggs are used for "Titschen", i.e. egg-tapping.

Many villages build Easter Crowns on the common that are decorated with eggs and flowers and very often an Easter bonfire is lit on Saturday night.

The Sorbs, a Slavic minority in East Germany, have an Easter procession on horseback.

Image

Oh, and in Wuppertal Italian expats put on a reenactment of the stations of the cross plus crucifixion. I saw that many moons ago and it is quite a sight. Must try and go there again this year.
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northleedsbhoy
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Re: Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

Post by northleedsbhoy »

Postbox decorated for Easter in Newport, Shropshire

Image

Cheers
NLB :thumbsup
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Stokey Sue
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Re: Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

Post by Stokey Sue »

Your image isn’t showing NLB
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Uschi
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Re: Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

Post by Uschi »

Is it that one??? Wonderful!!!

Image
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northleedsbhoy
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Re: Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

Post by northleedsbhoy »

Stokey Sue wrote: Sat Mar 16, 2024 8:25 am Your image isn’t showing NLB
How strange, it’s showing when I open the page, mind you I don’t have the knack of posting photos and here’s me thinking I’d cracked it…. :cry: :lol:

Cheers
NLB :thumbsup
IMG_0995.jpeg
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Earthmaiden
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Re: Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

Post by Earthmaiden »

Doesn't show on mine either but looks lovely on your next post. Uschi's is lovely too. So many talented knitters out there.
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aero280
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Re: Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

Post by aero280 »

I just do a simnel cake. OH gets chocolate eggs for the family. She does enough of the religious stuff herself to cater for all the rest of the family.
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Stokey Sue
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Re: Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

Post by Stokey Sue »

NLB - I took a screenshot just now. I used the “Hotlink for forums” option in postImage
Image
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Uschi
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Re: Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

Post by Uschi »

Well, the screenshot shows it for me and I like it!!! :D My mother would have loved to do something like that. She was the best knitter I ever met.
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northleedsbhoy
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Re: Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

Post by northleedsbhoy »

Ah well…..back to the drawing board :lol: :lol: One of these days I’ll master the art of posting a photo :)

Cheers
NLB :thumbsup
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Uschi
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Re: Easter Decorations/Easter Customs

Post by Uschi »

If anyone wants to have delicious greenery on their Easter table, this weekend is the right time to sow cress or mustard seeds. The mustard seeds will grow and taste pretty much like a more robust and spicier cress and like it will happily grow on wet cotton wool. If you want to creat "plugs" the right size for eggshells, either use egg cups or avail yourself of some of those clear Kinder surprise egg trays that the supermarkets have (usually near the till).
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