Καλή Ανάσταση! - Greek Easter Eggs

Easter eggs are a big part of the Greek Orthodox Easter (Pascha) tradition. They are died red to symbolize the blood of Christ.

On Holy Thursday, after a morning Liturgy, the ladies of our church at St. Anna in Flemington, New Jersey get to work dyeing.

First they boil brown eggs. Brown eggs make the red dye more vibrant. Then, using a special Greek red dye (this one is from Astoria, NY), they dye each egg, let them dry and then rub them with olive oil (so the color won't run when the eggs are handled).

We then wrapped them in white tulle and tied them with red ribbons. The eggs are handed out after the midnight Easter Resurrection Service.

Red eggs are also added and baked into the traditional Greek Easter bread (tsoureki). After observing and making the Greek Easter eggs for our church, I thought I'd make my own version of Orthodox Byzantine Easter eggs.

I  like to make eggs that will last for more than one year. So, I bought paper mache eggs and painted them red. I then sprayed them with a clear enamel glossy spray. The paper mache absorbs the spray, so I had to apply several coats. I also bought very small self-adhesive clear gems to make Orthodox cross designs.

I applied the gems using tweasers. I love how they turned out!

I hope you have been inspired to make your own Greek Easter eggs. Καλή Ανάσταση! Happy Resurrection!