Easter / Pascha Craft Ideas

Easter (Pascha) is such a wonderful time in Greece, I believe more so than Christmas. Although its not as commercial as in the UK, traditional celebrations and crafts center around the Greek Orthodox faith, family, friends and food.

The crafts I have selected are a mixture of Greek and English traditions with minimal expense and sustainable living in mind, which I hope appeals to everyone.

1. Bunny Table Decoration - using a cotton napkin, fold and roll it up into a sausage. Put the two corners together to make the ears.

Put thread (I used raffia) through a bead or button for a nose and tie to make whiskers. Trim to size.

You can use a cotton face cloth as an alternative gift to chocolate.

2. Lambada - is a traditional Greek candle that everyone in Greece holds on the evening of Megalo Savvato 'Holy Saturday'.

It is believed that the 'holy' light arrives from Jerusalem in every church a little before midnight, thus allowing candles to be lit.

Plain candles can be bought in most supermarkets. Decorate the candle however you want, with ribbons, jewelry or small toys. Leave enough room at the top for the candle to burn safely.

You can buy plastic cups to use at the base of the candle to prevent hot wax dripping and burning your hands.

I made a more eco friendly, cheaper version, using silver foil which can be recycled. Simply fold a large sheet of foil into quarters, place over a suitable size mold, press and cut to size. A patty tin or ramekin is perfect. Make a hole to insert the candle and tie or glue in place.

3. Easter Gift Baskets - these can be made very cheaply using coffee cups. Be mindful to purchase cups that are environmentally friendly or wash and recycle used cups.

Be creative and decorate your basket using a variety of materials, paints, ribbons or buttons. (Most of my craft pieces are recycled from gift wrappings and cards, lace and buttons from old clothes or beads from old jewelry.)

Glue or staple on a handle using cardboard, rope or ribbon. (I used the cord from an old 'hoodie')

Make a label to write your Easter wishes on by cutting up old cards into an oval/egg shape and make a hole with a hole punch. Attach with ribbon or string. Shred the pages of an old damaged book or magazine to line the inside of the basket.

Once your basket is complete, add your chocolate gift. Look for chocolate that has 100% recyclable packaging as every little helps.

A packet of vegetable seeds is a great alternative gift to those that cannot eat chocolate.

4. Sheep Paperweight - This is such a simple craft. Take a glorious walk along the many pebble beaches here is Lefkada. Collect fairly large pebbles of a good shape. Decorate each pebble using paint you already have or using white and black permanent marker pens. These acrylic paint markers are great for other craft projects too such as writing jar labels. (Purchased from Jumbo).

These sheep pebbles can be given as a gift or used to weigh down a tablecloth if eating outdoors. Add a bit of fun by naming each sheep on its back.

5. Red Eggs and Tsourgrisma Game - In Greece the dying of eggs red, symbolizing Christs blood is a strong Pascha tradition.

The egg its self is a symbol, as its hard shell represents the sealed tomb of Jesus - the cracking of which symbolizes His resurrection from the dead and exit from the tomb.

Greeks dye the eggs on Holy Thursday. Although red is the traditional colour, in recent years children have started using brighter colours and patterns.

How to dye the eggs -

Put 4 spoons of vinegar into boiling water. Add the dye and all the boiled eggs and cook for 3 minutes.
Remove eggs, cool and air dry.
Polish each egg with a paper napkin and olive oil to make them shiny.

Tsourgrisma Game - This takes place after the resurrection on Easter Saturday at midnight or the following day during Paschal feasts.

2 people play at one time.
Each person holds an egg in their hand.
Then both people tap once at each other eggs.
The winner (whos egg has not cracked) then uses the same end of the winning egg to tap the other non-cracked end of the opponents egg.
The final 'winner' is the one who's egg will crack all the players participating and the prize is 'Good Luck'.

Here is a list of natural dyes.

6. Carrot gift snack - Using a cheap bag of corn snacks (orange coloured), fill a cone shaped favour bag (available in Jumbo). Add shredded green paper as leaves and tie with raffia.

For a healthier option simply cut fresh carrots into sticks and present in the same way.

Carrot Bunting - Use scrap material such as old cotton shirts or t-shirts, preferably using hues of orange and green. Cut out and sew elongated triangles/carrot shapes. Fill with shredded paper or old pillow/cushion stuffing/old tights, gather and sew the top closed. Cut out leaf shapes and glue/sew on the top of each carrot. Tie each carrot onto natural string and hang up your carrot bunting for a festive Easter decoration. Alternatively you can hang each carrot individually.

7. Decorative Eggs - In 1855 Tsar Alexander 111 of Russia commissioned Peter Carl Fabergé to create a jewel egg as an Easter gift for his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna. In essence such eggs symbolize life, rebirth and love all over the world.

A German tradition of decorating trees and bushes with eggs is known as Ostereierbaum.

Inspired by Fabergé eggs and Ostereiebaum I have created a selection of decorative eggs using different craft techniques.

I have used polystyrene eggs purchased from Jumbo. This is fine if you wish to keep your eggs for many years like Christmas decorations.

Decoupage - Tear the pages from an old book or music manuscript in to small pieces. Add a little water to wood glue/PVA and paste the paper onto the egg, overlapping the edges. Carefully finish with a layer of glue all over the egg. Once the eggs have dried decorate them however you like.

I highly recommend using a hot glue gun; This is a great gadget, not just for crafts but for many uses around the home.

You can also use napkins for decoupage. Separate the back layer of paper first, then apply small patterned pieces to the egg. It can be a rather sticky craft, so a good tip is to hold the egg by inserting a darning needle or cocktail stick.

Ribbons, Lace and Beads - This technique looks most like Fabergé eggs. Simply use a glue gun to decorate the eggs. Dressmaking pins can also be used by pushing them into the polystyrene egg. Try to be as creative as you can, maybe using bright colours, a particular person or theme in mind.

Natural String/wool - You can purchase natural string from most supermarkets or you can use any left over wool you may have. You will also need balloons but be mindful to buy those that are biodegradable, which are environmentally friendly.

Blow up the balloons to the size of a large oval shape. (Too big and the balloon will be round). With a bowl of watered down PVA/wood glue dip the string/wool in the glue letting it pass through your thumb and first finger as you wind it around the balloon. (Its a messy craft but fun!)

Hang the balloons to dry overnight...in the morning the string will be hard.

Pop the balloon with a needle and remove from inside the egg.

Your eggs are now ready to decorate as you wish. You can decorate the outside, put things inside or leave them natural. You can hang the eggs, use them in a bowl as an all year coffee table decoration or make several of them to create a door wreath.

7. Papier-mâché egg basket - a messy activity that the kids will love; using a ceramic or plastic bowl as a mould, dip torn pieces of paper into wallpaper paste or watered down wood glue/PVA and line the inside of the bowl. Complete 2 layers and allow to dry in the sun. Gently remove from the ceramic bowl and upturn. Now repeat the process using long thin strips of paper covering the bottom of the paper bowl allowing the strips to give an uneven edge.

Place shredded paper inside the basket and serve fresh boiled eggs for breakfast or coloured eggs for the Greek Tsourgrisma game.

NB - Due to an increase in the price of eggs and if you are just using eggs as decoration I would suggest blowing them rather than hard boiled. This way the egg is not wasted as it can be used in a cake, omelet or scrambled.

How to blow an egg. - Using a needle carefully scratch both ends of the egg to make a small hole at each end. Poke the yolk inside with a tooth pick to break up the egg. Leaning over a bowl, blow through one hole (larger end down) so that the egg is pushed through the opposite hole. Wash out the egg.

8. Nail crosses - I used very large rusty nails salvaged from our cottage renovation but you can use any old nails.

Strip the innards of some old electrical cable and remove the copper wire.