Norooz eggs on Easter

Egg decoration is a popular craft in many cultures and traditions. Easter of course is probably the most renowned one in Christian world, but the painted eggs you see here are the ones that my husband and I have painted over the years for the Persian New Year, Norooz, which is celebrated in some 15 countries just a few days before Easter, on the first day of spring.

Each year we paint several boiled eggs, but keep only the prettiest of them. Well, that “winner egg” is usually the one painted by my husband – to the testimony of all the friends and relatives who pay us Norooz visit! Here is how it goes, I boil 5-6 eggs and let them cool and meanwhile get whatever painting tools we need. We start at the same time. I finish painting five and go about preparing dinner or something. He is still working on one. He takes a break and continues working on it after dinner until he gets off the chair with a bad back and happy face: A work of Art, if you ask me! Look at some of them below.

Whiskey-egg relates to the year we adopted our dog. Bird-egg, to the year we had bought couple of finches for our wedding anniversary. We had a Delbar-egg too, but sadly it was accidently broken a few years before my dear cat died . There is also a violin-egg (don’t remember the occasion) leaf-egg. This year, my husband came up with another great idea: An Omega watch (needless to say on Omega3 egg) showing the exact moment of the turn of the year Montreal time: March 20, 1: 14: AM. Is it not smart?  I just love it!

Oh by the way, the best way to paint egg shells is NOT to boil them as they would crack in a few years. It is much better to poke small holes in both ends of an egg, forcing all the liquid out and start working on the shell once the inside is thoroughly rinsed and dried. Takes much longer to prepare, but will last longer. So, it is worth the try if you want to create a work of art!