Lone cascarón
Once upon a time, I was a Girl Scout leader. During the eight years I was privileged to warp shape the minds of little Daisies and Brownies, my troops and I engaged in awesome — and some not-so-awesome — activities. One that I remember each year around Easter is the creating of the cascarones. It was one of the most successful crafts of my tenure.
Cascarones, as I enlightened my followers, are confetti-filled eggshells (cáscaras) broken over the heads of others to bring good luck. It's a popular tradition of the Hispanic culture, often seen at weddings and especially at Easter time.
Cascarones are pretty simple to make. Here are the steps and some photos:
1. To hollow out an egg, gently whack the smaller end of a raw egg with a knife to create a wedge for prying off the end.
2. Gently remove the end of the shell, creating a hole about the size of a 50-cent piece.
3. Gently remove the raw egg inside by letting it drop into a container.
4. Gently (yes, "gently" is the key to most of these steps!) rinse out the egg, using your finger (gently) to remove any egg white sticking to the shell. Set aside to dry.
5. Once the egg is completely dry, decorate the outside as desired. Gently, of course. A simple method with children is to use markers, as I did (hastily) with this example. Some traditionalists color the egg with commercial egg dyes typically used to color Easter eggs. Don't decorate with stickers as they prevent the shell from breaking during the fun.
6. Fill the decorated egg with confetti. Packaged glitter confetti from a craft store is best because it's most gleefully messy festive. Or use a hole punch or paper shredder (the "cross-cut" ones work great!) to make your own from colored paper.
7. Using a glue stick, carefully line the edge of the hole and glue a square of tissue paper over the hole. Allow glue to dry completely. Store egg in a safe place until the festivities.
The year of the Girl Scout cascarones, my family stepped out onto the front lawn Easter afternoon to crack wishes of good luck upon one another's noggins. We laughed and loved and left layers of confetti in the grass. Tidbits of good tidings were visible through the blades of green grass for months. Years after, a glint of gold or green confetti would often catch my eye as I sat on the porch swing, swaying and smiling as I remembered the multiple cascarones we cracked that festive Easter.
This year, I have one lone cascarón. Made for this post. With only a single egg to crack upon the head of a loved one, I'm considering which of those I'll be spending Easter Day with most needs a smack upside the head dose of good luck. Jim, Brianna, and Andrea best beware.
Unless, that is, a little Googling reveals the cascarones tradition has no rules discouraging the cracking of the goodies upon one's own head. Because these days, I'll take good luck any darn way I can get it!
Today's question:
What special memories do you have of decorating Easter eggs?
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Reader Comments (12)
Those are so cute and look easy to make. :)
Lisa these are so cool! I've never heard of this but luck is luck right? I'm even willing to clean up the mess (-:
I love any tradition that has even the slightest chance of bringing good luck! So colorful and pretty. Maybe I will try these with my crew this year! I know the kids would love any excuse to whack an egg on their siblings' heads!
So pretty! I've never heard of these eggs before, it would have been cool to do that with my kids! My best memory is just every year the quietness of egg coloring, except for the kids chatting about everything under the sun.
That is one of my favorite memories of being a part of your beautiful family! I loved those eggs. I actually tried to make some a few years ago, and trust me when I admit this, they looked nothing like the lovely one above. It was a weak attempt and miserable fail by yours truly, the craftly-challenged. Yours are awesome though!
Oh how fun! My favorite memoriy is of the awe and wonderment my kids had when dyeing the eggs. Every year was like the first time they did it. This year I'll get to do it with Shylee for the first time and I can't wait!
I remember the scent of vinegar lingering in the whole house after all the commotion of coloring eggs and cleaning up the mess. Smelling vinegar from whatever source and whatever reason stil, to this day, reminds me of Spring and Easter.
Lisa, those Lucky Eggshells are beautiful! So typical, tho', that any Good Luck is preceded by a bonk on the head.
I just have to add these to my list of activities to do with the grandkids. These eggs look so bright and cheerful!!
We love cascarones ... and by "we" I mean everyone except my husband. He hates the confetti that is left behind in the grass for months and months. Although we often celebrate with cascarones, I've never made them. There are roadside vendors all over our city who will sell you 30 for $4. It's not worth the hard work.
I have wonderful memories of decorating eggs with my Granny in her little country kitchen. Years later I shared the tradition with my own children. This year Our Little Princess will be dying eggs with her other grandmother, We've just been too busy with the new baby and she volunteered.
Thanks Lisa, I have never heard of these before. What a fun project. I want to give them a try sometime.
These look gorgeous but I don't think uncrafty me would even consider attempting them. I have never heard of cascarones but I wish I knew where you could buy them as Grams seems to know.
I always enjoyed coloring and decorating Easter hard boiled eggs and I look forward to doing it again. At 22 months, Zach is a little young but maybe next year.
Marion
I've never seen those but I can see they would be a great hit (no pun intended). I don't have any one special memory of decorating eggs. It was just fun every year to try to come up with a unique design that no one else thought of.