Easter Eggs - Origin and Types

The Easter Egg is either a real hard boiled egg, plastic egg, or candy egg that is used for giving, game playing or coloring at Easter. The Easter Egg is looked at as a symbol of new life. Christians see it as a symbol of resurrection. A well known legend is that Mary Magdalene took a basket of hard boiled eggs to the tomb of Jesus Christ and they turned red once she found that he had risen. There are other cultures in Western Europe that actually dye their eggs red as a symbol of the blood of Christ.

There are many decorating techniques and many traditions when it comes to the Easter Egg. There are many things that have been and can be used to dye eggs. They have been dyed with roots of plants, flowers, fruits, coffee, tea, vegetables, and bark from trees. Ferns have even been used to wrap around eggs to create a unique design when coloring eggs. Western European cultures have become experts at creating unique designs and displaying eggs of vivid and vibrant colors.

There are many different types of Colored, Dyed, or Decorated Easter Eggs. When growing up, we would hard boil our eggs and just use the colored dye tablets to make colored Easter Eggs. It was a fun thing to do and you knew you had to be careful with the eggs. Even though they were hard boiled, they were fragile.

The most expensive type of all decorated Easter Eggs. The original Faberge' eggs came from a Russian jeweler named Peter Carl Faberge'. In the 1800's he created 57 eggs that were adorned in silver and gold with jewels. They are kept in museums now. Many recreate this type of egg with artificial gold, silver, and jewels. Many jewelry stores provide Faberge' type eggs during the Easter season.

This is a Ukrainian type of egg.  They are known for their detailed designs that are drawn in wax on the eggs. Then the eggs are dyed many different bold and vibrant colors leaving a design where the wax is on the eggs.

These eggs are adorned in jewels, beads, and flowers on blown eggs or more commonly on hard boiled eggs.  Eggs can be jeweled with all sorts of jewelry and beads found at your local craft centers.

Most of these types of Easter Eggs involve long processes that are probably better suited for adult egg decorators. For children, the regular PAAS dyes work very well. If you want to spice it up a little then just visit your local craft center and get extra details such as jewels, beads, cling ons, ribbons, paint etc. There are so many different ways to decorate an egg if you just get a little creative. Easter Egg decorating makes for a lot of Easter fun.

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