Easter coloring
Easter is fast approaching and it will be celebrated on 8th of April 2007 all over the world. This is the time Christians around the world start preparing to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, in a zestful way replete with Chocolate bunnies, marshmallow chicks and colored eggs. Many different varieties of Easter baskets containing gifts of all kinds will find their way into the homes of the loved ones bringing the joy of renewed love and happy memories.
The traditions
It is a spring time festival pagan for the orthodox, to welcome back the new blossoming of Tulips and Daffodils. It was the tradition of the ancient Saxons to celebrate the return of the spring season with an uproarious grandeur to pay tributes to the goddess Eastre of offspring and spring season. The name of the goddess Eastre later on changed to Easter coloring which became the name of the festival itself. Traditionally the rabbit is considered to be the earthly symbol Eastre, the goddess of fertility and also with the colored eggs called Easter eggs. The Easter dishes make an interesting array of delicious cakes and other food preparations. The festival has some relations to the Jewish festival of Passover, or Pasch which is a different name for Easter in European countries. This is the celebration of the freedom of the ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt. Christians of Jewish origin began to celebrate Easter as a tribute to the Messiah. In the year AD 325, Emperor Constantine issued a rule that Easter should be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon day after the vernal Equinox.
The Easter Basket
The Easter basket is the ultimate as it contains the gifts in a beautifully
decorated basket with a convenient handle. The baskets are made in many
crafty ways and designs which makes the act of gift giving itself an art.
The baskets are made of metal or wood or any suitable material. It is filled
with fruits and chocolates with such other gifts artistically and tastefully.
The Easter basket is a great gift everyone looks forward to receiving on
the easter coloring day. The joy of giving
and receiving these baskets has no bounds as it is a festival of rejoicing
as the day of resurrection of Jesus Christ who has advocated forgiving to
all human beings, though he took upon himself the punishment for all the
sins committed by the mankind.
The Easter Egg
The eggs are painted in bright colors to symbolize the spring sunlight. The Easter celebration consists of lot of coloring and contests of fun and exchange of gifts. Coloring has become a major activity for the children as there are numerous posters which depict the story of Jesus and also the stories in the Bible. They learn the spiritual significance of celebrating Easter through these activities. Like Bunny the rabbit, eggs were also considered as the symbols of rebirth throughout centuries and by most cultures. Exchange of the eggs during spring has been the practice of Christians as a custom to celebrate Easter right from the earliest times. The Eastern eggs are brightly colored and kept in Easter baskets to be gifted to the loved ones. The modern times however have created eggs made of plastic or chocolate candy and such innovative materials. The children find it fun to put these eggs in the Easter baskets. The eggs are wrapped in gold leaf or colored brightly by adding some flower petals and leaves and boiling them together. There are many such ideas to decorate the Easter eggs, as it is such a fun as experienced by all. With the advent of computers and the Internet, these ideas emerge and reach far off corners of the world and thus shared and enjoyed by millions of people. One such idea for decorating the eggs in a cost effective way is described below:
Coloring the Easter Eggs
To prepare the eggs for easter coloring, the first thing to do is to hard boil the eggs. Remove the contents of the eggs without damaging them. There are egg dying kits available in the market. These are convenient for use to dye the eggs in the desired colors. Otherwise the colors can be made at home from vegetables and leaves as natural dyes. The colors are mixed in a dish big enough to hold the egg immersed in the colored liquid. The eggs are dipped and left immersed till the eggs get the right color. To make the Easter egg dye from food colors, water is filled to 2/3 level of a cup and 2 tea spoons of distilled vinegar is added to it.
The food color is added drop by drop till the desired color is obtained. This should be cooled before use by children. Different colors can be created by mixing the four basic colors namely Green, Red, Blue and Yellow. Mixing about 10 drops of red with 15 drops of yellow brings out the orange color. To get turquoise, about 5 drops of green should be mixed with 20 drops of blue. Violet is obtained by mixing 12 drops of red with 12 drops of blue. The eggs can be made to look great by having some letters or simple designs on it with coloring. The eggs are allowed to be immersed in the dye mixture for about 2 to 5 minutes to get the coloring of our choice. A wax crayon can be used to draw or write on the egg and then dipped in color, to get the portions written with wax remain white.
This will show the design or writing in contrast to the colored background of the egg. Similarly, rubber bands can be wrapped on the eggs before dipping in color. This will also get the same design or letters in while the other portions get dyed in the color. There are several such ideas to make colored Easter eggs. These are not the only fun activities during easter coloring. There are other coloring activities such as coloring the posters. The Internet has innumerable posters which can be printed and then colored. There are readily available Easter posters for coloring which can be ordered online. The delightful and satisfying activity of coloring is greatly followed by all the children the world over and hence the Easter special posters are created and made available on the net with newer and modern ideas. No wonder the Easter time is the time to enjoy through fun activities like coloring!
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