The main place on the Easter table is given to a colored egg. It is given to relatives and friends, distributed to the poor and left in churches, a festive meal begins with it. It is the egg that is associated with the tradition of christianizing, expressing surprise and delight at the Resurrection of Christ.
Instructions
Step 1
The custom of dyeing eggs arose back in paganism, when they were dyed in an ardent (red) color in honor of Yarila the Sun, and organically transformed into “Thursday dyeing”. Our ancestors painted eggs in onion skins, birch leaves, ink and shreds. Now the possibilities of painting have expanded significantly due to modern dyes.
Step 2
Before painting, the eggs must be prepared so that they do not crack and retain their appearance: remove from the refrigerator and let them warm up to room temperature. After the eggs are warm, they need to be put in salt water for an hour, and then boiled in the same water. After painting, the eggs need to be dried and polished with a dry cloth. In Russia, it was customary to grease eggs with sunflower oil, this gave them a great shine.
Step 3
Coloring methods: In onion skins
Prepare a decoction of onion husks and let it brew, add it to the salted water in which the eggs were soaked, bring to a boil, cook for an average of ten minutes. Depending on the duration of the color, the eggs will take on a pale orange to almost black color.
Step 4
In birch leaves
Prepare a decoction of young birch leaves, add it to salt water and bring to a boil. Usually a birch leaf was tied to the egg, crosswise with a thread, creating a pattern. Birch broth gives the eggs a beautiful yellow color.
Step 5
In ink
Tie the eggs with a thread and wrap in rags. Using a wooden stick, apply ink on top of a rag, and then dip the eggs in cold salted water and bring to a boil, cook for ten minutes.
Step 6
In shreds
As a rule, trimmings of shedding silk fabric were used. The eggs were wrapped in patterned paper and boiled together with scraps of colored fabric for about fifteen minutes.
Step 7
In vegetable juice
Grate already boiled eggs with carrot, beetroot, cabbage or nettle juice. Polish with a cloth and wipe with vegetable oil. Red cabbage gives a deep blue color, beets or blueberries red, spinach and nettles green, carrots and turmeric yellow.
Step 8
Painted eggs are called "dyed eggs", but painted eggs are called "Easter eggs".
Eggs are painted with thin brushes and acrylic paints, they do not flow and are not afraid of moisture. In addition, such Easter eggs do not need to be varnished. I rarely paint real eggs, as a rule, craftsmen use wooden or plastic base molds, but at home with children, of course, you can practice on the egg.
Step 9
In the old days, only raw eggs were painted, and each painted element was covered with wax. The egg became "delicate" and not fragile at all.
If you are an adherent of traditions, then use any thick water-based or oil-based paint for painting, and you can cover the drawing not only with wax, but also with warm paraffin.
