Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-03-25
EASTER FAVORS.

rom harper's BaZar.
The object of the present article is not to tel
about the origin OF the custom of decorating
eggs for Easter, but how to accomplish some
new and lovely results, and how, by a compare
lively small outlay of money. and a somewhat
greater expenditure of time and patience,
unique and exquisite little favors can be made
Eggs decorated in any of the following ways
are pretty and artistic enough successfully to
compete with Easter cards, and are quite as ap-
propriate in many cases to send as tokens to
friends.
In the first decorations described, the Shell is
lett whole; the egg should be first boiled hard
or an opening made in the small end. the con-
tents removed and the shell filled up with plas-
ter OF Paris The last method is much to be
preferred. for when boiled the shell is liable to
crack and even if it does not when boiling.
tnere is vacancy left in one end Of the she'll
which makes it easily broken, but when filed
with plaster it stands any handling The Dlas-
ter is mixed with water until so thin that it runs
easily; it requires but a few minutes to harden.
When it has set. mix some little thicker, color
it the exact shade of the shell by adding trifle
OF Oil paint, and apply it with alette-knife,
rounding and smoothing it carefully until the
shell does not show where it was broken. If
the egg is not to remain white. or Is to be deco
rated In such way that the broken place viii
be covered by some part of the design the plas-
ter need not be colOred. The egg is now ready
to be Ornamented in any way that suits the taste
OF the artist. or that would have any particular
Significance between the donor and recipient
On white egg wreath OF blue violets. for
get-me-nOts, or crOcuses around the smallest di-
ameter. or an incir-wide band Of blue with white
lilies around it is dainty and pretty A suita-
Die quotation should be put on each with gold
paint or colOrs, or both. ViOlets or small
flowers can be powdered over the egg
To make the eggs of different shades, rub on
them with dauber made of soft rag the desired
color of oil paint. When dark shades are de-
sired, the eggs should be dyed, but for delicate
tnts OF rose, blue, gray, and green, the oil
well on smells filled with plaster, but for hard
boiled eggs the directions for dying Shells given
farther on, can be used. On tinted eggs
white flowers with lines and quotations in darker
shades and gold are effective. To make
variety, when filling in the plaster, before the
shell is half full, take third of yard of very
narrow ribbon. double it, aud put the lOOped
end in the she'll. so that when filed it will be
firmly bedded in the plaster. Tile ends are then
tled IN a bow, and the egg suspended by the
ribbon
TO make charming variation of the more
common ways described above. put about tea
spoonful of the liquid plaster into the she'll then
drop in enough shot or bullets to make the egg
stand in an upright position, and It'll as before,
the lead viii cause the egg always to assume
an upright position.
An appropriate design for one Ofthese upright
eggs (thou"h it may be used on Others) isa
leaHess branch OF tree, with q chrysalis sus-
pended from it. and black and yellow butterfly
taking flight above the branch Small LANDSCAPES
though not so suitable, give variety.
large goose egg. tinted a pale blue. with
the heads of three singing choir boys and
spray of white lilies painted on it, with the
quotation, Christ, the Lord. is risen to-day
Aieluiai" done in scarlet and gold is US exquisite
as any Easter card have ever seen.
To make a beautiful trifie which rivals the
carved balls within balls, two sizes of eggs are
requlred-a goose egg as large, and a bantam
egg as small, as can be procured. The bantam
egg must be immersed in strong vinegar until
the she'll becomes perfectly soft /; the length of
time required to accomplish this depends on the
strength of the vinegar. but viii be several DAYS
at the least Remove the contents of the goose egg
through hole made in the side instead of the
end; choose an arabeSQue design which must
have two large open spaces Oh the sides of the
egg opposite each other. These spaces must be
round or oval. IfrOund, the diameter must be
less than the shortest diameter of the smaller
egg; but it is better to have them oval, with a
clrcumferencethe size of the smallest circumfer-
ence of the bantam egg The rest OF the design
can be fine work, but not too open or the shell
Will not be strong enough. Put some white
wax around the two oval spaces and after it
has adhered firmly to the shell brush the spaces
over with hydrechlOric acid until it eats out the
she'll. Now take from the vinegar the other
egg. the shell of which should be SO soft that it
can be fiattened or extended lengthwse without
breaking. Make tube of writing-paper which
will just fit around the opening i'm the shell: tie
knot in the middle of half dozen fine threads
twelve or fourteen inches long, placed in a
BUNCH letting the knot come on the top of the
softened egg. Roll the egg in the tube, and in
sert it in the opening Of the other SHE'LL letting
the threads go through the roll and out at the
opposite opening; by pulling these and pushing
the paper work the egg into the shell. Let 1t
lie in cold water until the egg resumes it's former
shape and hardness; then boil hard, putting in
cold water. and letting it come to boil grad
uay to prevent its cracking. After taking
from the hot water, and before the outer shell
has time to cool, cover the parts of the design
which are to remain solid with white wax, give
the egg inside coating also, then immerse for
two or three minutes in a bath of hydrochloric
acid to eat away the parts of the egg not COW
cred by the wax; remove the wax, and delicate
carving remains
The egg inside can be painted any design,
working carefully through the openings of the
outer shell: Or, before putting into the acid.
the contents can be removed. working as before
through the openings in the shell, a design
drawn on it in wax. and the shell eaten away BY
the acid at the same time as the outer shell; but
this is more difficult to do, and tho effect Of the
other Is as good. 1t requires careful work but
the result fully pays for the time and patience
given.
Dainty little bOnbon- holders can be made out
OF egg shells. Remove the contents through q
hole in the small end, draw line of wax evenly
from the large end, and hold the small end as
far as the wax In hydrOchloric acid until the
shell Is eaten Of: it is impossible to make a
smooth edge by cutting with scissors The
shells are now ready to color by boiling them in
various colored dyes. An ounce of log-wood to
three pints of water gives a purple dye The
shades can be varied from lilac to nearly black
by letting the shells remain longer or shorter
time In the dye. A good green results from
boiling in solution of verdigris in vinegar
6optr With In,
digO, and adding teaspOOnful Of oxalic acid.
The only way to get q satisfactory scarlet is to
use paint. Crimson may be made by adding
vinegar to the logwOo dye. Cochneal gives.a
lovely pink. Skins of the red onion boiled with
the shells give shades from yellow to brown,
with better results than any other dye for those
colOrs. Very few dyes will color eggs satistac-
torily.
: After the shells are dyed, they can be decora-
ted In various ways: q wreath of flowers around
the top, q landscape. spray of flowers on each
side, or small flowers or stars powdered over
the shefi; the stars look best done in gold paint
A quotation, "Sweets to the sweet" or In that
style, around the upper edge lOokswell, as does
q spray Of flowers on one side, with the initials
of the DerSOn for whom 4 is On fho