Orthodox Easter Ideas 2024

Orthodox Easter is coming soon (in 2024 Orthodox Easter falls on Sunday 5th May 2024). Take a peak at this collection of wonderful Orthodox Easter Ideas – from decorating hard boiled eggs naturally, to Easter Candles, some spring animal crafts and sweet treats!

Which countries celebrate Orthodox Easter

Countries that observe Orthodox Easter (and will have public holidays to celebrate) are – Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Ukraine.

Many think that Orthodox Easter is “Greek Easter”. Though it is more the other way round = Greek Easter is the same as Orthodox Easter, but it is important to note that Orthodox Easter traditions vary significantly depending on country and region you are in. Though I share a set of Easter crafts that could be suitable for an Orthodox Easter, there will of course be many variations. Especially around food and tradtional Orthodox Easter recipes.

This post is designed to give an overview of some typical Easter activities that could be suited to Orthodox Easter celebrations, irrespective of where you are from.

Decorating Hard Boiled Eggs

Decorating hard boiled eggs is a big part of Orthodox Easter, where the eggs are part of the Easter table (especially red eggs) and of course eaten! But not before you have a go at Egg Cracking (or as we used to call it Egg pecking) – see below for info! As you will be eating your decorated eggs, you a) want to make sure they are food safe and b) you don’t want to spend TOO long decorating – as you efforts will be crushed eventually!

What do Red Eggs symbolise.

The colour red is used to symbolise life and victory or some say it represents the blood of Jesus on the cross. And the eggs the resurrection of Jesus – a symbol of rebrith. You will often find the colour red being use when decorating Orthodox Easter Eggs!

How to Dye Eggs Naturally

Using onion skins (boiled in water and combined with white vinegar) is a great way to dye eggs naturally. Especially, if like here, you combine it with other natural egg dye colours too! The perfect way to make beautiful hard boiled eggs for the Easter table!

Spott Egg Decorating for Toddlers

If you have younger kids, this is a lovely activity for them – make spotty eggs. In this case, we left our spots “on”. But you could easily combine it with the natural egg dyeing process above. So fun! And great for involving the little ones! You can see how using tape can created fun patterns on the eggs, with this food dye version. Rubber bands are also a popular way to add patterns to your eggs. And you can also experiment with shaped stickers!

Decorate the Egg with Paper

There are lots of ways you can decorate your eggs with just a little paper and a pen. Here are some examples. The simple Bunny Eggs are actually a part of my Origami Egg Cup post, but I share them for inspiration. Similarly, the Unicorn Eggs are quick and easy and perfect for using plain hardboiled eggs!

What else could you turn your hard boiled eggs into.. here are some ideas:

• Yellow tumeric eggs can be turned into chicks (draw on beak and eyes.. or stick on some paper wings)
• Blue cabbage eggs can be turned into little lambs (draw on eyes and mouth and stick on a fluffy head piece and ears – check these little sheep easter baskets for shapes)

Fresh hot hard boiled eggs with crayons

This is a fun “activity” for kids – have you had a go at the memsmerizing process of melting crayons onto hot eggs and seeing the crayon colours mix and layer. So fun. Just be warned: it is a little messy and you will want to use old egg cups that are easy to clean.

Onion Skin Dye and Water Colours

Now here is a lovely idea from the amazing Mer Mag Blog – not only can you dye your eggs using onion skins.. but why not use your solution as watercolors to decorate your eggs?

Pressed Flower Eggs (with DIY Edible Glue)

Here is a super lovely way to use pressed edible flowers with some DIY edible glue (sugar water). Aren’t they pretty?! Visit Amanda Wilens for full tutorial! Not only are they super pretty but also safe to eat should someone accidentally want to eat the petals!

Washi Tape Eggs

Lovely Indeed has these gorgeous washi tape eggs! You could use ribbons and lace too! They are great example of taking our “spott eggs” that step further. So pretty!

Decorated Hard Boiled Eggs in Foil

Daddy Cool has a great trick – why not wrap your eggs in foil first and then decorate. This way they are great for taking on a picnic or a relatives house too!

Partially Coloured Hard Boiled Eggs

Oh Joy has a very stylish idea for decorating hard boiled eggs – only partially dip them into your dye! This would work better with food dyes, as they are a stronger colour than the natural dyes and you can get away with not having to dip them too long. But worth an experiment for sure.

Wax Resist Eggs

Wax reisist is a super fun way to create more patterns on your naturally dyed eggs! You can use crayons if doing this with children (adding some fun extra colours) – Kiwi Co shows the kids’ version.. or aszakkor has a number of tutorials (videos) to show you how to make these traditional wax resist eggs for Orthodox Easter! Aren’t they AMAZING?!

Carving Boiled Eggs for Easter

One final one.. Easter Egg Carving or Engraving – these are especially effective when using the red onion skin dyes! Very cool, but definitely a craft for older teens and grown ups! Place of My Taste shows us how. As you can imagine these are more traditional eggs. And depending on which country or even region you are in, you will have traditional motifs and designs to add to your Easter Eggs!

Some None Traditional Egg Ideas

I just wanted to sneak in some none traditional egg ideas…

Egg Shell Vases

Another super quick and easy way to decorate with eggs, is to make some simple egg shell vases. You don’t even have to blow your eggs out for these, simply craft them open very carefully at the top, the next time you have some scrambled eggs. I combined it with a couple of twigs of blossom for the garden. So simple, yet so pretty and a perfect little decoration for Easter! I made them “stand up” by using a little playdough as a basic.. but you could us blue tack or pop them on some origami egg cups as holders!

…or make your own Paper Eggs

I know Easter Trees are more popular in Germany and Austria (as well as the U.S.)… but in case you are tempted… here are some fun Paper Eggs or a Paper Egg Rabbit!

Easter Egg Cracking Activity or Egg Tapping

I mentioned Easter Egg Cracking earlier on. Also known as Egg Tapping or even Egg Pocking – we used to call this game “Eier Pecking” – the pecking of eggs. Two players take turns to “peck” each other’s eggs. The one that cracks first looses! As with all these games.. there are plenty of tricks and tips on “how to win”… ha. Check out Greek Is for some top tips!

In Romania Egg Tapping is an important part of traditions and legend has it, that people who tap eggs on Easter, will see each other after death. More information here.

Decorating Easter Candles

Easter Candles are lovely part of Orthodox Easter. They are very simple to make and a great opportunity to use all the odds and ends in your craft box, whilst also personalising them to each individual. Supplies are simple, you will need:

• Candles – any candle! They can be thick, thin, square and in any color you like! Though long thin ones are common for decorating
• Ribbons, twine, cords, small pieces of fabric etc. A great opportunity to see what is in your ribbon box.
• Glue/ hot glue gun
• Additional small decorations for the candle – this is a great opportunity to really personalise to ones interest!
• You can even use acrylic paints and paint on the candles!

There are not many “step by step” instructions for making decorative Easter Candles.. but there are MANY examples on Pinterest to browse! So I will share a handful of ideas as visual inspiration! The links unfortunately will mostly go to pinterest, unless I comment on a similar craft that could help you achieve the same look!

NOTE: please be careful and handle with care if you plan to light these candles. You don’t want to cause a fire hazard.

Here are two examples of how you can have with themes. First up the Ballerina Candle on Pinterest. I love that it embraces the shape of the candle and turns it into a cute ballerina. Second.. I love the addition of paper boats – not only do these give it that nautical theme for boat crazy kids.. but also it as geat way of “catching” the dripping wax. Clever. Image from pinterest – learn how to make paper boats.

Here is a set found on Facebook. This is a great example of where you can combine your “bits and pieces” but also personalise quickly and easily. E.g. blues and greens with a little mermaid cut out. Or pinks and pom poms to go with a bunny rabbit. Basically – think about the person who will be lighting this Easter candle – what their interests are and what favourite colours they have!

But once you have had a play with ribbons and strings.. how else can you decorate candles?

Wax Sheet Cut Outs – this is a clever (and fire safe) way of decorating candles. Read all about it on Smore Home. Here is another example of decorating with wax from Castle of Costa Mesa.

Paint candles with non toxic paints as per Ella Claire Inspired.

Fun with Spring Easter Bunnies and Animals

Of course part of Orthodox Easter are all the spring animals – similarly to those often associated with none orthodox Easter celebrations. So I thought I would pick out what I think would be fun crafts to make whatever religion you celebrate.

Egg Carton Chicken – Egg Holders

These Egg Carton Chickens are a firm memory from my childhood. They are so fun and so easy to make.. and as they are all about the Hard Boiled Egg and the Easter Table, I thought these would be a fun addition here!

Paper Plate Bunny Purse

Similarly, as Easter is all about dressing up and celebrating a special occasion, I thought that younger kids would love to make a Paper Plate Bunny Purse to go with their outfit! You can of course make a paper plate chick too!

Paper Plate Chick Weaving Activity

Speaking of paper plate chicks.. why not try this Paper Plate Chick Weaving – it is a wonderfully joyful craft that encourage fine motor skills and also introduces your preschooler or little one to some basic sewing skills! Adorable.

Sewing some simple Bean Bag Chickens

Whilst on the topic of sewing skills. Children of all ages, can easily manage having a go at sewing these clever Pyramid Chickens! They are a super simple pattern – you only need a rectangle (and some little felt shapes for the chicken features) to create this 3d sewing project. They would make a lovely spring decoration or even a gift (they are perfect for juggling with!).

Bunny Napkin Origami

Finally, how about some simple bunny napkins to decorate the Easter table with? Have a go at this Napkin Bunny (video tutorial)! Tweens and teens will love to help set the table!

Regional Orthodox Easter Recipes

Now as mentioned, Orthodox Easter is celebrated in a variety of countries. So I thought I would highlight one recipe from the main counries one! Please message me if you have a recipe you would like me to include that I have omitted!

Bulgaria, Cyprus, Greece, Lebanon, Romania, and Ukraine.

Cyprus Easter Bread – Flaouna

Flauna are a cheese based savoury Easter Bread. I have been lucky enough to taste some of these from my Cypriot neighbours. Yum. Here is a great recipe from Afrodites Kitchen!

Ukriane – Decorate some Easter Bread or Kulich Cakes or Paska

The year before, we made some Ukrainian Easter Kulich cakes – also known as Paska. These are very similar to Panatone from Italy and super fun to make. I have some lovely Ukrainian neighbours and they told me all about this tradition – the idea it to make and bak and decorate these lovely individual cakes and then hand deliver them to your friend’s and family. Last year, we made some and shared them with our neighbours. This year, our neighbours made some for us on Orthodox Easter. So very lovely. Here is tasty Kulich recipe for you to try!

Greek Easter Bread – Tsoureki

Actually remember a very similar looking Easter Bread from my childhood Easter’s in Austria! Ours was plaited and had a set of colourful eggs. A treats affair shares a recipe for making this milk bread – also known as Tsoureki!

Lebanese Easter Cookies – MA’AMOUL

These cookies are made for both Easter and Eid and look amazing. These are filled shortbread cookies that are usually made using a traditional wooden mould. Joy Oliver shares her recipe.

Why not give a new recipe a go this year? I am all for exploring and learning about traditions from different countries!