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We paint eggs for Easter: natural approach
Painted eggs are an attribute without which it is impossible to imagine a festive table for a Bright Easter. With the help of modern, very practical Easter sets, you can create your own creations that would delight Faberge himself. However, few people realize that in the home bins there is everything you need to achieve the same effect without any special tricks.
Granny’s recipes
Before you start painting, it is worth remembering a few simple and useful truths. To prevent the egg shell from cracking treacherously during cooking, the eggs should be left for about an hour at room temperature. And already in the process of cooking, a tablespoon of salt should be poured into the water. Immediately before painting, each egg is wiped with alcohol or a weak soap solution. Thus, the surface is degreased, and the paint will form an even, beautiful layer.
Now you can start your art work. Perhaps the most famous method, inherited from the grandmothers — is a decoction of onion husks. Depending on its concentration, the color of the eggs varies from pale yellow to deep red-brown. The method of painting itself is very simple: the onion husk is cooked in a saucepan for half an hour, then the eggs are lowered into it and cooked for at least 10 minutes. You can resort to another ancient recipe and achieve a golden hue with the help of birch leaves. According to a similar scheme, a decoction is prepared from them, infused for half an hour, and then the eggs are immersed in it and cooked until ready.
Rainbow on the shell
The color scheme can be significantly expanded if you turn to other products that are probably available in any home. For example, the juice of ordinary beets will color the shell in the most traditional light red color for Easter eggs. If you like more delicate pink tones, you should use cherry juice. Spring light green shade will help to get the leaves of spinach or nettle. And by mixing a decoction of blueberries with turmeric, you can achieve a more saturated herbaceous color. Sunny yellow shades will easily create citrus fruits or carrots. In cool blue and purple tones, eggs will be colored with blueberry juice or red cabbage leaves.
The noble brown color is given not only by the onion husk. It can be safely replaced with a concentrated tea brew, strong coffee or a decoction of pomegranate peel. Often eggs are painted by hand, rubbing the surface of the egg with the selected product. You can also resort to the already familiar technology. Fill the eggs with water, add a spoonful of vinegar and cook them for 15 minutes, dropping the necessary natural dye into the water. If you want to get a more saturated color, eggs in a cooled solution are placed in the refrigerator overnight.
Fancy knitting patterns
If desired, you can not only decorate the eggs in your favorite colors, but also transform them with beautiful patterns. The easiest way is to pick a few parsley petals, carefully attach them to the egg from different sides and wrap them tightly with a stocking. In this form, they are sent to a pot with onion husks, and after 10-15 minutes, the eggs with beautiful maple leaves on the shell will appear.
With a little skill, you can achieve various interesting effects. So, the eggs soaked in water are thoroughly rolled in dry rice, tightly wrapped in a piece of gauze and tightly tied with a thread. Then the eggs are cooked in onion husks, as a result of which they acquire an artistic pattern in speckles. And if you wrap the eggs in a cotton cloth and cook them all in the same onion skin, they will cast marble. Intricate abstract patterns are easy to achieve with the help of multi-colored threads, wrapping them around the eggs before painting.
You can combine different techniques and get interesting combinations of colors and unusual patterns. To begin with, boil the eggs in water with a soda solution, let them cool and wrap them with colorful silk rags, tying them with colored threads on top. We boil them again in the same solution, after which we free the eggs from silk and thread.
By the way, with the help of fabrics, eggs were painted in ancient times in Russia. Throughout the year, the housewives collected colorful patches that could shed. And when the time of Easter approached, the fabrics were divided by color, soaked in water for a while, after which the eggs were colored with this solution.
The art inside
Artistic natures with a keen sense of beauty can surprise guests with something unusual, and at the same time show artistic talent in all its glory. To do this, just painted and still hot egg is placed in a glass or a special stand and, until it has cooled down, with the help of a thin brush, we inspiringly paint its surface with watercolor paints. Instead of watercolors, you can use freshly squeezed lemon juice. The patterns made by him will appear, as the lemon will discolor the painted surface.
If desired, you can color the egg even from the inside, and without any harm to the health of those who will taste it. The eggs are cooked in the most usual way for 3 minutes, after which they are removed and carefully pierced with a needle in several places. Then they continue to cook, but with the addition of the strongest tea leaves, cinnamon and cloves. And to make the eggs shine with beauty in every sense, after coloring with any of the proposed methods, they must be rubbed with sunflower oil.
Experiment with colors and patterns, try new recipes, and create your own. And don’t forget about the main ingredients of any recipe — good mood and caring for your loved ones.