Spring is definitely in the air and on the ground with green grasses coming back to life and vibrant flowers bursting through. The orchards around my place are gorgeous with miles of trees in full bloom with pink and white blossoms. The colors of spring brings Easter eggs to mind, which are a symbol of new life, fertility and rebirth. The tradition of painting hard boiled eggs in the spring dates back to the Saxons, who regarded the egg as proof of the renewal of life, used eggs in festivals dedicated to Eastre, the goddess of fertility. Easter wasn’t widley practiced in the US until after the 
Civil War. Churches and commmunities were moving on with a rebirth of their nation and Easter parades were held, and I’ve read that egg decorating was a tradition introduced by German immigrants.
There are many other decorating techniques and numerous traditions of giving them as a token of friendship, love or good wishes. In the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, Easter eggs are dyed red to represent the blood of Christ, shed on the Cross, and the hard shell of the egg symbolized the sealed Tomb of 
Christ — the cracking of which symbolized His resurrection from the dead. Easter eggs are a widely popular symbol of new life in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Russia, Ukraine. A batik (wax resist) process is used to create intricate, brilliantly colored eggs, the best-known of which is the Ukrainian pysanka and the Polish pisanka.
I loved dying eggs as a kid. Though, compared to the coloring kits available today, ours was pretty basic. Six cups of vinegar, six colored tablets, one clear wax crayon we’d all fight over, along with the one egg dipper 😉 My boys got far more creative with tie-die kits, markers, shaker bags and glitter. An option I didn’t care for then and now are those plastic covers that slip on the egg and shrink in hot water–they’re
impossible to peel for those who like to eat the eggs.
This is the first year my kids, well, young men as they are, won’t be coloring eggs. The only eggs I’ll be making are deviled egss. I’ll be looking forward to seeing what the younger neices and nephews have created this year.
Here’s some cool eggs and a great way to use old wire hangers to display them 😉
Will you be coloring eggs this year? Have any decorating tips or stories to share?
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Hi Stacey,
Unfortunately, I won’t be decorating eggs this year, and I love it. I agree with you about those plastic sleeve decorations except one year (many years ago) my dad found the cutest kit for a bunny family all dressed in Easter best. There were only four sleeves (mom, dad, brother, baby bunny) and then little hats for each, so they had ears, and a whole little scene including a buggy for the baby. We decorated the other eggs with normal dye and then that little family. So cute!
Have a Happy Easter!
Not my tip, but natural dyes:
http://www.anastasiapollack.blogspot.com/2012/04/crafts-with-anastasia-naturally-dyed.html
Fun post Stacey. My 4 kids have always enjoyed coloring eggs and got quite creative with it. My eldest (who is now a high school art teacher) created some real beauties. They’re all grown and out on their own now, but they still come home for Easter and still enjoy dyeing eggs. In fact, I’m off to the store this morning to pick up a couple dozen ‘cackle-berries’ as my husband calls them
The egg family sounds adorable, Kirsten 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
Sound advice, Liz 😉 Thanks for the link!
‘cackle-berries’ –too cute, Winnie 🙂 What a fun tradition, to go home to die eggs together!
My 3 yr old nephew and I did our eggs yesterday… we bought this cool little machine that you place some of the coloring in, place the egg inside, close it off… then my nephew had a blast pushing the button on top that made the egg roll around in the colors… alot less messy… he wanted to do more and more, but we ran out of eggs!
Wishing everyone a wonderful Easter! 😀
won’t be doing eggs this year. We have a new granddaughter and I look forward to when she is old enough to decorate them.
I blow the eggs rather than hard boil them. It is always a shame to ruin the work going into decorating, plus there are those I want to keep for years. Right now I have a box of quail eggs and goose eggs, all blown, plus a basket of white and pastel eggs on my counter, also blown. A friend has araucana chickens and the shells are naturally pastels. I have great plans for these eggs, but haven’t gotten around to doing anything yet.
Many years ago, I did eggs with my daughters and their Girl Scout troop. We took paper napkins with pretty designs on them, cut out the designs the way you like, and peel it to one thin layer of paper. Coat the egg with Elmer’s glue and position the designs the way you like making sure to smooth the paper for a neat appearance. Let dry a little then cover the egg with a coat of glue. Coat the egg with Diamond Dust (a fine crystal-like glitter) and set aside to dry. They are lovely and 20+ years later still look lovely. If you want to hang them, insert the hanging wire while applying the paper designs. It is really an easy craft and gives very nice results.
I hope you and your family have a wonderful Easter.
Like Patricia B I like to color egg shells that have been blown out. That way we can keep them on display safely for several days and keep them for several years. But, I also color at least a dozen hard boiled eggs–we have to have pretty eggs for Easter breakfast.