The Crafty German: Egg-cellent Easter Part 2

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Egg-cellent Easter Part 2

Easter egg trees are a tradition for many families. I know that it's a tradition in Germany, Austria, and other German-speaking countries to blow the white and yolk out of eggs, paint the hollow eggs, and hang them on branches or trees. My family has always done this tradition. Though we don't paint eggs every year, this is just as important to us as a Christmas tree.

A lot of people in America (at least in my experience) don't go through the process of blowing out and painting eggs. Instead they get the plastic eggs and hang them. I've seen pictures friends have put up of this. I also used to go to the local firehouse when I was a younger Girl Scout and we hung plastic eggs on one of the trees out front every year.

I love when traditions from other cultures are brought to America. I'm glad I've experienced both the German way and the American adoption.

The family Egg Tree

Our Egg Tree

An egg of mine circa 1997 - made by an 8 year old Elise

The other side of my 1997 Egg. That little orange smudge is an exclamation point

One last view of our tree

We use watercolor pain on ours, but those with a little more talent like to use acrylic paint. I did an entry before Easter about this amazing Easter egg tree in Germany. Clearly some great artists painted those eggs. I got to see some of the work of my boyfriend's aunt, who is an amazing artist. She loves sketching and painting nature scenes. We went down to his dad's restaurant to see the egg tree she had set up with her work for Easter. I was amazed and made him take lots of pictures. I obviously complimented her work when I saw her and she let me choose one to keep from her collection! It'll always be the prettiest egg I'll ever own.