TIPS FOR A MORE SUSTAINABLE EASTER CELEBRATION

Happy Easter Monday everyone! Today I'll talk about how to have more sustainable Easter week celebration. I'll share some of my tips as well as my 'green' Easter day traditions. Before I get into sharing those tips, let me just say that traditional Easter customs are more likely to be environmentally conscious. So, tradition is a great way to look for inspiration. Ask your elders, relatives and friends about their Easter traditions, they can give you useful tips, advice and inspiration. Naturally, internet is also a great resource for environmentally friendly Easter. There are a lot of creative people out there that are constantly coming up with sustainable decor and recipes, so why not tap into that? Feel free to share your Easter traditions as well. A great thing about collecting green tips is that most of them can be applied to any festivity!

My Easter day 'green' ideas include: using natural egg dyes, using recycled Easter decor, not being wasteful with food and so on. It is easier to have a more sustainable Easter if you have already incorporated 'green' products into you life. For example, instead of chemical detergents, you might want to use natural cleaning products such as baking soda, vinegar, lemon and etc. Holidays shouldn't be an excuse to forget about environment. Fashion is another industry that pollutes our planet so it is good to be more conscious about our buying habits. There is nothing wrong with buying a new dress for Easter day, but make sure it's something you'll want to wear again. Fast fashion is something we should avoid. Shopping our closet and buying vintage is a lovely way to be more sustainable any time of the year.

HOW TO DYE EGGS IN RED WINE? 

What do you need to make red wine coloured eggs? You need only two things: eggs and red wine. Now, the amount of wine you're going to use will depends on the amount of eggs you want to dye. I used a litre of wine and it was enough for more than a dozen eggs. Basically,  what you need is for the wine to cover the eggs you're dyeing this way. 

The recipe for eggs coloured/dyed with red wine that I'm using myself

1. Soak the eggs in red wine (the recipe I used didn't say how long so I just soaked them for just five minutes)2. Cook the eggs in a cooking pot for 30 minutes3. Leave the eggs to cool in wine for 12 hours (perhaps the most practical way is to leave them during the night)4. Take them out, place them on a napkin  and leave them to dry.


EGGS COLOURED IN RED WINE

Eggs cooked in dark wines will be quite dark. Depending on the wine, their shade might be anything from dark purple, blue and black. They should also shine like diamonds in the sun (because of the sugar in wine). Speaking of which, it is probably a good idea to buy cheaper sweeter wines that contain more sugar, so you can enhance the shine quality of your wine cooked eggs. How do you like my wine cooked wine eggs? Is it something you'd like to try yourself?





HOW TO DYE EGGS IN ONION PEELS? 

Another all natural dying technique popular in this region is dyeing eggs by cooking them in onion peels. I love this one as well! Have a look at my old post (here) if you want to see how to dye eggs by cooking them in onion peels. This traditional technique consist from decorating the eggs with plants ( the eggs are placed in a pair of tights to secure the plants in place) and then cooking the eggs in onion peels so you get this (in my opinion) absolutely gorgeous colour. It sounds more complicated then it is. If you're not certain you can place the plants this way, you can also use wax to write and draw on eggs and then cook the eggs with onion peels. The areas you have covered with wax will be lighter. 

HOW TO DYE EGGS IN ONION PEELS? A PHOTOGRAPH ORIGINALLY POSTED IN THIS POST


HOW TO MAKE DECOUPAGE EGGS?

Besides the above mentioned natural dyeing eggs technique, I also enjoy making decoupage eggs. I have been doing decoupage eggs for years now, and I would recommend it to everyone. Honestly, it's a very simple and easy way to decorate eggs. Decoupage eggs are obviously not a completely natural and traditional way to decorate Easter eggs, but I'm pretty certain they are not exactly toxic, at least if you do it the way I do it. Let me tell you what you will need for decoupage eggs, alright? What you need for decoupage Easter eggs are three things:

1. Napkins with a cute pattern (buy recycled ones if you want to be more sustainable)
2. An egg white
3. A painting brush (optional).

Before you start your decoupage work, you'll need to take the paper napkin and remove the two layers out of three. You need only one layer, the one that contains the print or pattern you want to use. Cut or tear the paper napkins you have selected for this project. Ideally, they should have a nice pattern. You can choose whatever you like. I used the same Easter napkins I bought to decorate the house. The next thing you need to do is apply the egg white on the eggs and start applying the paper napkin bits to it. I find it easier and quicker to do when I'm using a painting brush. If you don't have a brush, you can use your hands. Once you have applied the paper napkin to the eggs, leave them to dry. I said it was pretty easy, didn't I? You can cover entire eggs with patterns cut out (or torn) from paper napkins or you can just add a small cut out of a desired print. Anyhow, I think this is much healthier option that buying Easter egg stickers that contain glue. I mean there is nothing toxic about an egg white, right? This year I applied my napkins on already coloured eggs (in wine) so the result was slightly different. I didn't feel like cooking eggs separately. If you decided to do decoupage on already dyed eggs, you should  probably colour coordinate them with your napkins (to get the best results). 



PASTEL EASTER DAY DECOR AND SUSTAINABLE TIPS
The only decor related thing I bought this year for Easter are some Easter napkins. I found 3 different uses for them:  napkins, decoration and decoupage material. All the other Easter decor items I used is either pieces I made myself or those that we had since forever. I typically do use the same decorations, I just switch them up a little bit. DIY Easter decorations are always a great idea. You can find some you can enjoy with your family. It is still not to late, as Easter celebrations can continue for a whole week after Easter. Another sustainable green decoration tip I recommend is buying potted flowers. Instead of buying floral bouquets that will quickly be thrown away, why not buy flowers that you can keep? It is also typically a more bouquet friendly option.

  I genuinely enjoy decorating my home for festivities. I see it as a wonderful opportunity to get creative. I don't see why we shouldn't use it as an opportunity to be environmentally conscious as well. Anyhow, this year I opted for pastel Easter day decor because I think it matches my predominately white furniture. Besides one much loved antique piece, all the furniture in my house is new and white. So, pastel decor seemed like a good idea. What do you think? Did I do a good job? I'm glad I managed to get everything sorted out despite being sick. I started my Easter preparations early on, so being sick didn't really get into my way. If you tend to feel stressed during the holidays, you can check out my tips for surviving the holiday season


I hope you all had a lovely Easter Sunday celebration (those of you that celebrate it that is).  Thank you for reading and enjoy the rest of spring festivities!


Comments

  1. This post is absolutely amazing to read, Love all the pictures and style.
    Looking forward to reading more of your blog, have a nice week darling :)

    - Marina W

    http://www.waitmarinawho.com/2019/04/florence-on-elbe-dresden-in-bloom.html

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  2. Beautiful decor! The pop of pastels against white is so pretty. The egg decorating ideas are so fun. I never knew you could dye them with onion peels. The result is so cool! The decoupage looks great too. That flowering plant is a beauty. I believe I had the same type of plant in my last home that was covered in orange flowers twice a year. The leaves look the same as yours.

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    1. Thank you Val. Dyeing them with onion peels gives them a beautiful red tone, it is my favourite way to dye them but for the last two years I've been dyeing them in wine, just to change things a bit.

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  3. I believe that any holiday celebration can be made more sustainable if we just make an effort. Your earth friendly ideas for egg dyeing and decorating make so much sense since you're using things you already have and everything came out looking so pretty and festive.

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    1. that's exactly what I was trying to say. Any holiday celebration can be made more sustainable if we make an effort. Returning to traditional ways of celebration is an easy way to be more ecological.

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  4. Come sempre sei mlto creativa e riesci a fare delle cose pazzesche con poco! Buona Pasqua Ivana!
    Don't Call Me Fashion Blogger
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  5. Wow, the onion peel ones look so cool! I would have never thought that you could dye eggs with them! These sound so fun to do too!

    www.sundaydahlias.com

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  6. I think, my mom also used to dye eggs in onion peels and some natural dies. These eggs came out great. Happy Monday Ivana. xx

    Nina's Style Blog

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  7. Wow, you are full of such great information, Ivana. I've never thought about using different things like this for dying Easter eggs!! Have you ever tried rose wine?? Would that make them lighter??
    But I love decorating them with decoupage or even fabric. You're so creative!!
    XOXO
    Jodie

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    Replies
    1. yes, I believe rose wine would make them lighter. You can also lighten eggs with vinegar but that makes them more fragile.

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  8. You are so creative! I absolutely love your Easter decorations, and even more so as they are eco-friendly.
    I also applaud the fact that you are urging us to shop our closets and (try to) avoid fast fashion. I've been doing so for years and I think 95% of my wardrobe must be second hand or vintage buys. In one of your previous posts, you showed us the box bag which was actually a sewing box. That reminded me of my own version, which I've given an outing in my latest post. Hope you had a wonderful Easter and that your illness didn't get too much in the way! xxx

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    1. Most of my wardrobe is becoming vintage and it is a natural process, mostly because vintage items are so quality made they last forever, while fast fashion items go to ruins quickly. Fast fashion is so bad for the environment but I think it's also bad for people because it makes them trivialize clothes. No matter how the clothes were made, it takes effort to make them. People expect them to appear from thin air nowadays. As many documentaries pointed out, people don't see the true cost of clothes.
      Yes, I had a nice Easter weekend. Fortunately it is just a cold so it didn't get into my way too much.

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  9. So many fun ideas! And you had me at using red wine <3

    Green Fashionista

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  10. These are so fun and creative! I would have never thought to be more sustainable and use things like onion peels and red wine! I've got to try all of these next year! Thanks!

    xo, Maria
    https://www.miamiamine.com/

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    Replies
    1. thank you. These are really fun ways to dye eggs.

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  11. Bellissimo e soprattutto molto importante iniziare a rendere tutto più sostenibile!

    https://julesonthemoon.com/

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  12. Oooo so many fun ideas here. And they came out great! We always using food coloring which is mostly natural Though I have not dyed eggs is a very long time :)

    Allie of
    www.allinyc.com

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  13. Your decor looks beautiful and it's great there are so many ways to dye or decorate your eggs! Sorry to hear you've been unwell, it's nice you were prepared for Easter ahead of time.

    Thank you so much for joining the #weekdayWearLinkUp :)

    Hope that you had a lovely Easter :)

    Away From The Blue

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  14. What great suggestions! I love the onion dyed eggs...

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  15. These are great ideas and I agree, it's quite easy actually to have a more sustainable Easter/Passover celebration. We usually use beets, potatoes impressions, and other natural dyes for eggs and decorating them when I was younger. Lovely post, Ivana.
    FASHION TALES

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    1. thank you. I didn't hear about potatoes before, need to look it up.

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  16. Wow, you are creative! And I see you have white fourniture! Me too!

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  17. I was explaining how to make those marbled eggs to a teenaged girl on Friday as she wanted to celebrate Easter in a more eco-responsible way.
    I'm an atheist so I don't celebrate Easter but your ideas are lovely. Thank you for encouraging people not to buy fast fashion. Damage to the environment aside, the way many of the workers involved in the industry are treated is distinctly unchristian.
    I love your blouse, it's stunning.

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    Replies
    1. thank you, the blouse was made by one Croatian lady who makes traditional folklore clothing.

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  18. Odlične ideje! Baš mi se sviđa kako si ukrasila jaja. :)

    Shoot for the stars | ☆ ☆ ☆ | Facebook page | ☆ ☆ ☆ | Instagram

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  19. Ivana I love how you are all about sustainability n how extremely talented who you are.. Loved the eggs in onion peels
    https://www.stylebasket.in

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  20. Yes to sustainable anything. These are great ideas Ivana. My son decorated an egg for school. We don't really do much on Easter aside go to church.

    https://www.missymayification.co.uk

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  21. So beautiful! We need more of this type of information, we waste too many resources on what should be a celebration of life. Thank you!!!

    lindifique.com

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  22. Ma che belle idee!!! Ed anche facili da seguire e realizzare! Mi piacciono tantissimo le uova ricoperte con la carta decorata stile decoupage, io invece ho comprato delle decorazioni di carta (riciclabili) da Tiger che le metti sulle uova e le trasformi in aniamletti (insomma ci attacchi le orecchie, le codine e le zampette e diventano pulcini, maialini, galline, ecc.), sono semplicissime da usare e sono venute super carine!^^
    Ma senza dubbio le tue sono più sofisticate!
    Davvero bello anche il centrotavola e il tuo look, quella blusa è deliziosa! :)
    Baci!
    S
    https://s-fashion-avenue.blogspot.com/

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    1. grazie Silvia. Decorazioni riciclabili sono anche sostanibili, queste sembrano davvero carine.

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  23. I absolutely agree with you, natural dyes and natural cleaning products, not wasting the food and vintage fashion are perfect ideas for holiday season and not only.
    Love these ideas of dye the eggs, especially in onion peels.
    I hope you had wonderful Easter!

    jointyicroissanty

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    1. thank you, I hope you had a wonderful Easter too.

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  24. I love how you did ecological based decor. You're so creative Ivana!

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  25. Grazie per avermi mostrato i tuoi segreti . Bisogna imparare da te

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  27. Ahah, I had no idea about the red wine! We used to dye with onions peels, and honestly, that's one of my favorite methods! But this Easter we just boiled some eggs without any decoration, ehhh...maybe next year :)

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    1. Thank you Bri. Dyeing with onion peels is my fav way....and there is always next year.

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  28. This is too cute! I never thought about dying eggs in red wine! It's genius!
    xoxo, Vanessa
    www.WhatWouldVWear.com

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  29. I Loved the ideas. I had never seen eggs in wine.
    kisses
    Chris
    Inventando com a Mamãe / Instagram  / Facebook

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  30. Hope you had a lovely Easter. I've always wanted to try decoupage with eggs but it always sounded so difficult. You've made it sound like I could actually do this. Next year at least. I never heard about dying in red wine, that sounds fascinating. One year I did try the onion skins and it wasn't bad. This year I just brought dye but the eggs didn't turn out great. They never do actually so I'm not going to bother with that anymore and stick to natural dyes instead.

    Sxx
    daringcoco.com

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    Replies
    1. natural dyes are actually easier for me, they tend to be more even and that means less worrying.

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  31. Thanks a lot :D

    super interesting and useful post :)

    NEW TIPS POST | EASY SPRING MAKEUP (5 PRODUCTS ONLY)!!
    InstagramFacebook Official PageMiguel Gouveia / Blog Pieces Of Me :D

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  32. Interesting. Celebrating Easter calls for immense fun and you need to make the most of this celebration
    Leland West Insurance

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  33. Hope you had a fabulous Easter darling! Love the ideas, the eggs look amazing!


    xoxo
    Lovely
    www.mynameislovely.com

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  34. This is so creative and beautiful, love this post.

    Bernie, xx
    The Style Fanatic

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  35. I tried those natural dyes before, the wine turned out really amazing!

    LackaDaisy

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  36. Love this- being more sustainable is always the goal! :)

    -Ashley
    Le Stylo Rouge

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  37. These are all great sustainable ways to decorate for Easter! All of your decorations look lovely and I love the idea of using onion peels to dye eggs. It gives a really unique look to the egg. Thank you for the ideas and I'll have to use some of them next year!

    x Kara | http://karascloset.net

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    1. thank you so much Kara, I'm glad you like them.

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  38. Beautiful colours, dear! Love your DIYs! xoxo

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  39. I'm very sorry to hear that you were actually unwell at Easter- what a great shame! Are you ok now?
    I remember those beautiful onion peel eggs you made- they were so attractive- those are definitely my favourites! I've never really thought to make Easter decorations as such- it is a nice idea but I am rarely at home so I haven't really ever needed to or, as I said, considered it. You are very creative! I love the fact that all your tips are trying to be more sustainable- hooray for that!

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    1. I'm still a bit under the weather, I'm afraid.

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  40. Great to see that type of post.

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  41. WOW Ivana, congrats on always bring ideas to live our creativity in a way not only more beautiful but ecologically conscious. I think it is necessary to talk about ecology and sustainability in everything we do in our day to day.

    Everything seems great, because not only can be applied in Easter (I hope you have had a lot of fun in these Easter), but in many other festivities or when we want to do DIY projects or make an original gift, without spending so much and without generating too much waste!

    Best,
    Pablo
    www.heyfungi.com

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    Replies
    1. thank you for your wonderful feedback. I do agree that eco tips can be applied to any holiday.

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  42. Steta sto ne videh ovaj post ranije, ali eto meni sjajnih saveta za sledeci Uskrs :)

    ReplyDelete

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