Easter Eggs Galore And More

Easter Egg Decorating
When the tradition of Easter eggs first arose thousands of years ago, they were usually from goose, duck, or hen eggs and were painted red. Many parts of the world still continue this tradition.

During the course of history, mainly by the end of the 1600's, manufactured commercial eggs were being made of various materials and were available for use as Easter gifts and presents. This included pre-painted eggs. Chocolate Easter eggs would evolve from this type of egg centuries later.

The Jeweled Egg
Over the course of the 18th and 19th centuries, hollow cardboard eggs came into use. These eggs were filled with presents and were increasingly ornate. Decorated eggs continued to improve and expand, eventually leading to highly customized and jeweled eggs made famous by Peter Faberge.

Photo credit: Faberge Exhibition

The famous Faberge eggs were the favourite gift of the Russian Czar to his wife each Easter. Over the next 57 years this would be the standard to match. Today, the value of these jeweled eggs reaches into the millions. While the development of the jeweled egg continued, there was another development which came from the hollow cardboard egg, the chocolate Easter egg.

Original Chocolate Easter Eggs
The first chocolate Easter egg appeared around the early 1800's, but the creation of the hollow egg that we know today wouldn't arrive for some time. Chocolate makers had use of only a paste made from ground roasted Cacao beans which was much harder to work with than today's modern chocolates.
The original chocolate Easter eggs appeared in Germany and France and soon spread to the rest of Europe and then beyond. While the popularity of the solid chocolate Easter egg gained strength, mass production soon made hollow eggs possible within a hundred years. With the advent of mass production, the low cost of making chocolate Easter eggs made them the dominant gift for Easter.

Modern Chocolate Easter Eggs
By the end of the 19th century modern chocolate making, along with improvements in mass production methods, created a way to manufacture hollow molded eggs. This variety of egg soon become popular in the UK, Europe and then spread worldwide. Another development with modern methods was a chocolate Easter egg filled with varieties of both chocolate and other filling such as cream.

In modern day culture, the chocolate Easter egg competes with plastic eggs and other varieties as a way to present gifts during the Easter season. With the development of chocolate, has also come other Easter creations such as Easter Bunnies and Chicks.

Many people are looking for ways to live a more "green" lifestyle and keep unnecessary chemicals out of their homes and away from their children. An easy and simple way to do this in the spring is to dye Easter eggs with natural ingredients.

Dyeing Easter eggs naturally, can be cheaper than buying the assembled kits from the store, especially if you have got some of the natural ingredients on hand in your home - which you probably do. This is a simple and fun Easter craft for both adults and children.

Credit: Aleksandra Gora, © Aleksandra Gora
article: Springtime Preschool Books

First, make sure that the eggs you will be using have white shells. Dying Easter eggs can be done either while they are boiling by adding the natural ingredients to the water or by dyeing them after they have already been boiled. Obviously, the first method can be easier as it takes a step out of the process, but you will need a pan for each color that you wish to dye.

Adding a teaspoon of vinegar to the boiling water will help set the colors and make them brighter. Fresh, canned, and frozen produce will all work as a natural dye, but fresh ingredients will produce darker colors. Also, the more eggs you are dyeing at a time in a pan, the more coloring you need to use to ensure a good result.

1. You may wish to gently wash your eggs with a mild soap before boiling and dyeing them.
2. Place the eggs to be dyed the first color in a single layer in a pan, and cover them with water.
3. Add vinegar to enhance and set the color of the natural dye.
4. Add the natural dye according to what color you want the eggs to be. See suggestions below.
5. Heat the water until it boils. Reduce heat and let it simmer for fifteen minutes.
6. Remove the liquid and eggs from the pan.
If the color is not as dark or bright as you'd like, you can cover the eggs with more natural dye and leave them in the refrigerator overnight. You can also do this instead of adding the color to the Easter eggs while they're boiling.

Natural color suggestions for Easter eggs
(you will need to boil and strain some of these ingredients before adding them to the boiling water):


1. Red/pink: raspberries, cranberries, red onion skins, beets


2. Orange: yellow onion skins

How to Dye Easter Eggs as Art

Would you like to know a secret?
Well, I'll tell you one I know:
The Easter's Bunny's coming,
My mama told me so.

He'll bring a basket filled with eggs
And leave it in my yard,
And I will find it Easter morn,
If I look very hard.

I shouldn't tell my secret,
But I think it should be shared.
You ought to know that Bunny's coming,
So you can be prepared!

A few great Ideas for Easter

A small imitation green tree decorated with assorted Easter ornaments complete a festive look when adding colourful basket nesting around the base.

If you don't have time to go through with the whole colouring of Easter eggs here is a quick remedy. This is a great time saver as you can colour several eggs in one pot with one colour. Boil a few more eggs in a different pot with a different colour.

What to do:
1. Boil water and add your eggs.
2. About 1 minute before your eggs are done add your food colouring or dye tablets into the boiling water. Eggs will pick up the colouring immediately.
3. Pick up a package of Easter stickers at your local discount store and add to the eggs once they have had time to cool. Filling baskets can be very costly. Rather than filling the basket with candy you can add small useful items like socks, chap stick, gum, cd's and dvd's for almost the same cost or less.
4. A great dessert for Easter is 1 can chow mein noodles mixed 1/2 cup of peanut butter and small coloured marshmallows. drizzled with milk chocolate makes for a colourful Easter egg nest.

Guylian sponsors Project Seahorse

Every time you buy a box of Guylian Belgian Chocolates, you are supporting Project Seahorse!

Marine life is globally threatened by human activities. Project Seahorse is dedicated to conserving seahorses and other marine life across the world. Project Seahorse was established in 1996 in response to the growing danger to seahorses from overfishing, incidental catch in non-selective fishing gear and the destruction of coastal marine habitats. More than 25 million seahorses - both dead and alive - are traded globally each year. The vast majority are used in traditional medicines, but the aquarium and souvenir trades also put heavy pressure on the species. Seahorses function as a flagship symbol for a wide range of marine conservation concerns. Ensuring that coastal ecosystems are healthy for these magical creatures benefits the many other species. Saving the seahorses means saving the seas!

Project Seahorse envisions a world in which marine ecosystems are healthy and well-managed. It is an interdisciplinary and international organisation committed to conservation and sustainable use of the world's coastal marine ecosystems. The alliance engages in connected research and management at scales ranging from community initiatives to international accords. Collaborating with stakeholders and partners, the team uses seahorses to focus efforts in finding marine conservation solutions. It is based at the Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia (Canada) but has team members and collaborators working around the world.

About Seahorses, did you know...

Every time you buy a box of Guylian Sea Shells you are supporting Project Seahorse

Chocolaterie Guylian is the world's leading manufacturer of premium boxed Belgian chocolates. This family-owned and operated company is one of the leading importers of Belgian chocolates into the U.S. and one of the fastest-growing brands in major markets worldwide, selling in 140 countries. Guylian first became known for its exquisite Guylian Seashells. Today, the company offers a range of boxed chocolates, individually wrapped chocolates, and chocolate bars. U.S. headquarters are in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

Easter with GUYLIAN
The Story of Chocolate
The production process of chocolate

The worlds largest Easter egg is to be found in Vegreville, Canada. Known as the Ukrainian "Pysanka," it was built in 1975 to memorialize early Ukrainian settlements in east of Edmonton.

The English Version of the dedication message reads as follows: "This Pysanka (Easter Egg) symbolizes the harmony, vitality and culture of the community and is dedicated as a tribute to the One-Hundredth Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who brought peace and security to the largest multi-cultural settlement in all of Canada."

Dimensions:

• Egg Width: 25.7 feet
• Egg Height: 18.3 feet
• Total Height: 31.6 feet
• Weight: 5,000 pounds


• Material: Alumuinum skin
• Turns like a weathervane
• Star Patterns: 524
• Triangular Pieces: 2,206


• Visible Facets: 3,512
• Nuts and Bolts: 6,978
• Internal Struts: 177
• Man Hours: 12,000

Complex Design

The unique nature and complicated geometry of the egg shape, made the design of the Pysanka a highly complex undertaking. Professor Ronald Resch, a computer scientist at the University of Utah, took on the design project.

Professor Resch was responsible for the entire Pysanka concept which required the development of new computer programs. The Pysanka is really an immense jig-saw puzzle containing 524 star patterns, 2,206 equilateral triangles, 3,512 visible facets, 6,978 nuts and bolts, and 177 internal struts.

Photo credit: Tabloid Column
Article by Jake Easton

Chocolate Easter bunny
In a jelly bean nest,
I'm saving you for very last
Because I love you best.
I'll only take a nibble
From the tip of your ear
And one bite from the other side
So that you won't look queer.
Yum, you're so delicious!
I didn't mean to eat
Your chocolate tail till Tuesday.
Ooops! There go your feet!
I wonder how your back tastes
With all that chocolate hair.
I never thought your tummy
Was only filled with air!
Chocolate Easter bunny
In a jelly bean nest,
I'm saving you for very last
Because I love you best.

by Bobbie Katz

It usually takes 5 years before trees start to bear fruit in the form of pods. An average of 20 to 40 cocoa beans are contained within each pod, and it takes around 400 beans to make 1 pound (0.45 kg) of the part liquid mass which is produced when the beans are ground, the basis of all chocolate and cocoa products.

Theobroma cacao is the scientific name of the cacao tree.

Chocolate represents about 50% of the production of coffee.

Today the world production of cocoa beans is about 3 million tons, against approximately 10,000 tons in 1830.

80% of the production of chocolate is in Europe and North America. 80% of the cultivation of cocoa is concentrated in 9 countries: Ghana, Indonesia, Brazil, Nigeria, Cameron, Ecuador, Malaysia and Ivory Coast.

The Swiss consume more chocolate per capita than any other nation on earth. That is 22 pounds (10 kg) each compared to 11 pounds (5 kg) per person in the United States.

Chocolate starts to melt at 34°C which is body temperature, that's why it melts in your mouth.

Facts from: Guylian Belgian Chocolate, Facts & Figures

Screenshot on the right of Stickies' (version 1.0.4 for Mac OS 9) Easter egg. The Easter Egg is shown by typing Antler! and pressing return.

A virtual easter egg is a hidden message - left intentionally - in an object like a film, book, CD, DVD, computer program, web page or video game. The term was coined by Atari, according to Warren Robinett, after he pointed them to the secret message he had left in the game, Adventure.

There are similarities with the custom of Easter egg hunting, observed in many countries, and the last Russian imperial family's tradition of giving elaborately bejeweled egg-shaped creations by Carl Faberge, which often contained hidden surprises.

This practice is similar in some ways to hidden signature motifs, such as Diego Rivera frequently including himself in his murals, or Alfred Hitchcock's legendary cameo appearances in his films, and various "Hidden Mickey Mice" that can be found throughout some of the Disney Parks. Al Hirschfeld's "Nina" was an early example of this kind of "easter egg".

Atari's Adventure, which was released in 1979, contained the first video game "easter egg" so it was thought. Evidence of earlier easter eggs has since surfaced, where several cartridges for the Fairchild Channel F included previously unknown easter eggs, programmed by Michael Glass and Brad Reid-Selth, which are believed to have predated Robinett's work.

Microsoft had their own virtual easter eggs, one of those was the "Microsoft Bear", which was a mascot of the Windows 3.1 (and subsequently Windows 95) team. One of the senior developers carried around a small bear with him, so this little virtual creature made several cameo appearances in Windows.

Read more...

An easter egg, as it relates to software, refers to a way of displaying a list of the software developers. Most major software products include an easter egg, but viewing it almost always involves performing a series of non-intuitive steps. This document shares the secret of viewing Excel's easter eggs.

Note: Easter eggs were present in Excel 5 through Excel 2000. Apparently, Microsoft has received complaints about the waste of resources and file bloat.

Excel 2000 (Excel 9)

I can't get this to work, but others claim that it works for them:

1. Open a new Excel workbook
2. Press F5
3. Type X2000:L2000 and press Enter
4. You should now be on row 2000
5. Press Tab once, to move to column M
6. Hold Control and Shift, then right-click the Chart Wizard icon on the Standard toolbar. Some people have reported that it works only if you left-click the Chart Wizard icon.
7. Watch the list of developers for Excel scroll by.

The White House Easter Egg Roll is a tradition in Washington, DC, where families get together on the White House lawn to hunt for Easter Eggs, and partake in races while enjoying moments of storytelling with a visit from the Easter Bunny.

The President and First Lady have announced that this year's White House Easter Egg Roll is on Monday April 9, 2012 with the theme of "Let's Go, Let's Play, Let's Move!" promoting health and wellness.

The event features live music, sports, cooking, storytelling and, of course, rolling Easter eggs. All of the activities help to encourage children to lead healthy and active lives, and follow the First Lady's 'Let's Move!' initiative, a national campaign addressing the issue of childhood obesity. The White House opens its South Lawn for children aged 12 years and younger with their families.

The sky is full of bunny clouds
So soft and fat and white,
I wonder if they're hiding eggs
For stars to find at night.

Because it's Easter Eve, you know,
And there's no reason why
There shouldn't be an Easter hunt
In meadows in the sky.

The tulips in the garden
Are wearing yellow hats;
The pussywillows by the brook
Have fur like any cats'.
The bee is honey hunting;
The robin's chirp is gay;
And all the world is singing,
"Oh, happy Easter Day!"

Ref: CanTeach

Credit http://www.dogster.com

Images courtesy VintageHolidayCrafts.com

Some of these lovely Easter cards are available to download for personal use, check out http://vintageholidaycrafts.com/ to see what they have on offer.

• Over one billion Easter eggs are hunted every year in America? The most popular (or at least the most televised) Easter egg hunt is the one held at the White House. President Hayes hosted the first White House egg hunt in 1878, launching a tradition that has continued to this day.


• The most popular treat to hide inside an Easter egg is jellybeans? Americans consume more than 16 billion of them at Easter -- enough to circle the circumference of the globe three times!


• That eating Easter candy is a relatively modern tradition? The first chocolate eggs, for example, were made in Europe in the 1800s. And Marshmallow Peeps, produced by the Russian-born U.S. confectioner Sam Born, didn't get their start until the 1950s in the United States.that eating Easter candy is a relatively modern tradition? The first chocolate eggs, for example, were made in Europe in the 1800s. And Marshmallow Peeps, produced by the Russian-born U.S. confectioner Sam Born, didn't get their start until the 1950s in the United States.

Easter Greetings
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Postcard of Easter Rabbit
Decorating Eggs
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