Easter Coloring

Embellishing eggs with Easter coloring is an old tradition that people still carry out in the present. Over the years the dyes used to color the eggs have come from many sources – fruit, vegetables, coffee, tea, tree bark, roots and even crushed flowers. Eggs were wrapped with various substances in order to create patterns, sometimes even intricate images. Artists in western Europe were the most accomplished in this art form, able to create amazing drawings and patterns even on small eggs.

Because people eat eggs after Easter coloring, they use dyes that are food safe, in other words edible.

Some of the Easter coloring are as follows.

Etching eggs started in Macedonia, where eggs were dyed, a pattern added in wax, then the dye bleached off the un-waxed areas.

When Easter coloring involves a solid, bright color, that's called Krashanky, a Ukranian word for color – most often red as it stands for the blood of Christ.

When writing is used to decorate the egg in Easter coloring it's called Psyanky. Like etching, it involves applying wax, but in this process it's done with a wax pencil prior to dying the egg. Like Krashanky, this process was developed in the Ukraine.

Both wax processes are possible with most retail Easter coloring sold in the US, as they include a wax pencil.

Fabrege eggs were not subject to Easter coloring, but they are artistic. A 19th century jeweler named Peter Faberge created these eggs for the Russian Imperial family. These constructs of gold, silver and various jewels had tiny figurines hidden inside them. Only 57 of these were created and today each is a treasure.

In Pennsylvania the Dutch wrapped eggs with a rush, glued in patterns onto the egg, in the place of Easter coloring. Polish people substitute yarn in bright colors for the rushes.

Hollow eggs with the insides blown out are also the subject of Easter coloring as sequins and other pretty things are glued to the empty shell.

Some people go to the trouble of creating a scene in a blown out egg, using a hole in the shell to access the insides. This is similar to building a ship in a bottle.

The coloring comes off the cloth onto the egg. Now cloth is made with coloring that won't release in hot water, so this isn't commonly practiced. People who do this do not eat the eggs because cloth dye is generally toxic.

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