Category Archives: Easter

Faberge Eggs in Manhattan

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The Fabergé Big Egg Hunt is the world’s biggest egg hunt, with over 260 egg sculptures individually created by leading artists and designers. The sculptures will be placed across the five boroughs of New York City. The Fabergé Big Egg Hunt will officially start on Tuesday, April 1, at 7:00 a.m. and will run until Thursday, April 17, at 11:59 p.m. Following the hunt, all the eggs will be placed in Rockefeller Center until Friday, April 25.

Artists who have designed the eggs include Jeff Koons, Tracey Emin, Marc Quinn, Bruce Weber and Peter Beard, and fashion brands including Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Carolina Herrera, Marchesa, Oscar de la Renta and Diane von Furstenberg.

They were very neat to look at-pictured above were some of my favorites.

Beatrix Potter

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If you ever wondered how Beatrix Potter got the inspiration to draw such incredibly adorable animals in such beautiful, charming settings you need only go to the village Near Sawrey in the Lake District where she lived in a house called Hill Top Farm .

Born into a wealthy Unitarian family, Potter, along with her younger brother Walter Bertram (1872–1918), grew up with few friends outside her large extended family. Her parents were artistic, interested in nature and enjoyed the countryside. As children, Beatrix and Bertram had numerous small animals as pets which they observed closely and drew endlessly. Summer holidays were spent away from London, in Scotland and in the English Lake District where Beatrix developed a love of the natural world which was the subject of her painting from an early age.

She was educated by private governesses until she was 18. Her study of languages, literature, science and history was broad and she was an eager student. Her artistic talents were recognized early. She enjoyed private art lessons, and developed her own style, favouring watercolor. Along with her drawings of her animals, real and imagined, she illustrated insects, fossils, archaeological artefacts, and fungi. In the 1890s her mycological illustrations and research into the reproduction of fungus spores generated interest from the scientific establishment. Following some success illustrating cards and booklets, Potter wrote and illustrated The Tale of Peter Rabbit, publishing it first privately in 1901, and a year later as a small, three-colour illustrated book with Frederick Warne & Company.
With the proceeds from the books and a legacy from an aunt, Potter bought Hill Top Farm in Near Sawrey, a tiny village in the English Lake District near Windermere, in 1905. Over the following decades, she purchased additional farms to preserve the unique hill country landscape.

Potter published over 23 books: the best known are those written between 1902 and 1922. She died of pneumonia/heart disease on 22 December 1943 at her home in Near Sawrey at age 77, leaving almost all her property to the National Trust. She is credited with preserving much of the land that now comprises the Lake District National Park.

San Gimignano Marble Eggs

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When we lived in Zurich years ago, I took a trip to the Tuscany region of Italy with a friend-between us we had 7 children! We dragged them to San Gimignano to buy the marbled eggs that I cherish every Easter.

Well worth the visit for more than the eggs,here is a brief history:

San Gimignano is a small walled medieval hill town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, north-central Italy. Known as the Town of Fine Towers, San Gimignano is famous for its medieval architecture, unique in the preservation of about a dozen of its tower houses which, with its hilltop setting and encircling walls form “an unforgettable skyline”. Within the walls, the well-preserved buildings include notable examples of both Romanesque and Gothic architecture, with outstanding examples of secular buildings as well as churches. The Palazzo Comunale, the Collegiate Church and Church of Sant’ Agostino contain frescos, including cycles dating from the 14th and 15th centuries. The “Historic Centre of San Gimignano”, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The town also is known for the white wine, Vernaccia di San Gimignano, produced from the ancient variety of Vernaccia grape which is grown on the sandstone hillsides of the area.

Painted Blown Easter Eggs

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I have a friend that just moved from Concord. Every year she had a “workshop” to make painted blown eggs. All of us would TRY to make them as nice as hers and NEVER succeeded-she was an incredible artist and so creative.We are going to miss her so much.These are all her eggs…..

Here are some instructions should you want to try:

It all starts with a blown egg — that is, an egg shell with all the gooey insides removed. Although you may never aspire to spend time decorating eggs as an art form, blown eggs are good at helping you preserve any hard work you or your family creates for Easter. Perhaps you’ll want to do just a few so that you can create keepsake ornaments to mark your child’s decorating skills and talent as each year progresses.

Grab some eggs, a straight pin, and bowl and follow these instructions:

Starting at the narrow end of the egg, gently pierce a hole through the shell and membrane with a straight pin.

If you want to dye the egg, be sure to keep the raw egg intact, dye it first, and then blow out the contents. Otherwise, you’ll have floating eggs on dye (nothing like bobbing for eggshells in dye!).

Turn the egg over and pierce a hole through the shell and membrane with a straight pin in the center of the bottom of the egg. Use the pin to gently start removing more bits of the shell and membrane to make a hole approximately 1/16-inch in diameter. Pierce the yolk.

Pressing your lips to the top of the egg, blow the insides of the raw egg out of the bottom of the egg into a bowl.

Try not to touch the raw egg.

Rinse the inside and outside of the shell with a 1:1 mixture of vinegar and water.

Use paints, stamps, colored tissue paper, or whatever you desire to decorate your freshly blown egg.

Blowing an egg means that a raw egg is blown from the insides of the shell. Although this craft has been done for centuries, don’t get careless when handling raw eggs. Be safe to avoid illness.

If you can, blow eggs safely by investing in an egg blowing kit, or at the very least buy an ear syringe used for irrigating and cleaning ears. (You can find them at any drug or discount store.) Use the ear bulb to blow air into the egg, removing the insides, instead of placing the egg to your lips. You can also use the bulb to squirt a vinegar and water cleaning solution inside the egg to clean and remove any remains. Take care to wash your hands thoroughly with an antibacterial soap after removing the insides of the egg.

Dedham Pottery

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These beautiful bunnies are actually made here in Concord.They are reproductions of Dedham Pottery-here is the history:

In 1876, family member Hugh C. Robertson visited the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia – an early world’s fair – and viewed pottery from China with a blood-red crackled glaze that would inspire him to create his own version. In 1867, the Robertson family founded their first company in Chelsea, Massachusetts on the corner of Marginal and Willow Streets, a prelude to Dedham Pottery, called Chelsea Pottery U.S.. The Boston Daily Globe reported on Monday, July, 30th 1894, that “about 10 acres of land at East Dedham, was sold for $6,500 to the Chelsea Pottery Company” and the pottery company would be moving from Chelsea to Dedham, “just as soon as proper buildings can be erected and other necessary work done.” Chelsea Pottery U.S. closed in 1895 and, just as promised, the company moved on to Dedham, MA where Hugh C. Robertson, a fifth-generation Scottish potter, opened Dedham Pottery in 1896.

The Dedham Historical Society as well as another company in Concord, MA produces reproductions of Dedham pottery. The Dedham Historical Society owns both the name and original trademark of Dedham Pottery.

The White House Easter Egg Hunt

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Years ago when we lived in Washington DC, my nephew worked at the White House. One of the special perks of working there was to invite family members to the annual Easter Egg Hunt- you don’t have to wait in the enormous line!
I went with 3 of my little kids.At one point, the Secret Service was clearing the way for President and Mrs. Clinton to get to a small stage to speak. My son Peter disappeared;he was 4 years old. When President Clinton got to the stage he said “does anyone know who this little boy belongs to?” and of course,that was Peter!
The eggs given are wooden-you get one per person. A very special memory.