Friday, March 23, 2012

RE-ceiving Guests: EASTER TABLE WITH HAND PAINTED EASTER EGGS (CASCARONES)




This Easter table starts with hand-painted Easter eggs I inherited from my husband's grandmother.  Decorated Easter eggs are a tradition many places, but in South Texas we use them in a unique way.  They are called cascarones in Spanish and that is what we call them here.  Legend has it that Marco Polo brought the tradition of hollowed out chicken eggs to Italy from China.  From Italy the tradition spread to other countries and eventually the Empress Carlota (originally from Belgium) brought the idea to Mexico during her short reign in the 1860's.  In Italy, the eggs were filled with scent.  In Mexico, the eggs were filled with confetti. From Mexico, the tradition spread north to South Texas.  During Easter, we break the confetti filled eggs (cascarones) over people's heads which supposedly is good luck.  In South Texas, cascarones are so popular that Easter weekend there will be road side vendors selling large bags filled with colored confetti-stuffed Easter eggs.  Even our local grocery chain will sell cascarones by the dozen.



The women's guild at my grandmother-in-law's church would hand paint cascarones as a church fundraiser. I inherited  four dozen of these eggs that date from the 1950's and 1960's from my grandmother-in-law.  Most are decorated with whimsical animals, but some have flowers. Two are extra special to me because they are painted with the wrought iron gate of our home which has bougainvillea growing over it.  Our home originally belonged to my husband's grandmother and one of her friends painted those Easter eggs for her as a gift.   So after Ash Wednesday, I put these hand painted cascarones out in a moss covered basket as a display.


 I will set the table with wicker chargers that I bought a couple of years ago at Wal-Mart.  The light green silverware was purchased at Target.  The pink plates were purchased at Dillard's four years ago.  The bunny egg holders are from Tuesday Morning.  The Easter napkins are from Pottery Barn purchased this year.  Also, Pottery Barn had these little glass Easter egg ornaments that I purchased to use as napkin holders by adding a ribbon.  The pink glasses are from Horchow.  The pink bud vase is from Target also.  We are lucky enough to have gardenias flowering right now so I added the bud vase to enjoy the great scent.




This year, Easter will be spent with my family at my brother's house.  He has a big backyard perfect for children to run around hunting for Easter eggs.  Some eggs will be filled with toys or coins or candy, but the ones that will be the most fun will be the cascarones that the children will crack on each others' heads.  I will set the table with green plastic straw, foil covered chocolate Easter bunnies in the center and cascarones.as a centerpiece  After the Easter egg hunting is done and the cascarones are all cracked, all my nieces and nephews will come inside and I will allow them to take home one of the chocolate bunnies from the centerpiece as their Easter present.


Written by Reba

Reba's Pink and White Luncheon Tablescape is HERE


You can see the Peter Rabbit Birthday Party and Easter Playdate Eldarose threw HERE
See My Spring Butterfly Mantel HERE



LINK PARTIES:





















































Photobucket




































Stuff and Nonsense


vif187










It's Overflowing




















See more Tablescapes HERE





























13 comments:

  1. It is absolutely amazing that you have been able to keep those beautiful eggs intact all these years! They're gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Those eggs are amazing! What a wonderful tradition - they remind me of the eggs in Eastern Europe, but the designs are different. Thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You know we lived in Austin for 22 years and I'd never heard of cascarones. Wow where had I been! My kids would have loved them. But you know your hand painted eggs are just beautiful. And how you ever kept them safe and in one piece is really admirable.

    You gave me an idea. When we have our grandchildrens Easter party I'm going to let those who want to paint some. They all get to dye eggs among other things including a hunt etc. etc. But I think these would be really neat for them to do. But I will keep them as a keepsake and treasure from all these wonderful grandchildren. Thankyou for sharing. It was pure ispiration for me.

    Nann

    ReplyDelete
  4. Your Easter table is the cutest table with the beautiful hand painted eggs...the designs are different and so creative...love them...I am a new follower of yours

    ReplyDelete
  5. Such a charming and loving ritual to put the basket as a centerpiece each year. Those eggs are beautiful and to have the two that are quite special is just wonderful. You table is darling; thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Super, super gorgeous!! I love every piece of this beautiful and colorful eggs. So many cute ideas how to decorate those eggs. Tomorrow I'll be setting up our table for easter and those colorful eggs will be part of my tablescape.

    Satin Chair Covers

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you for joining me at Home Sweet Home!
    Sherry

    ReplyDelete
  9. It looks Awesome- so pretty! Saw you linked up over at A Turtle's Life for me! So happy to have found you - I am a new follower now! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  10. This looks so cute. I hope to see you at My Dream Canvas. Visiting you from Wow Us Wednesday.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What an amazing collection, each so special.

    - The Tablescaper

    ReplyDelete
  12. The eggs are beautiful! What a special collection to cherish.
    Sharla

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh what a beautiful tablescapee, love your beautiful eggs. Gorgeous. Thanks for joining TTT. Hugs, marty

    ReplyDelete