Easter in Germany is almost as important as Christmas. Everyone decorates their gardens and the inside of their homes with rabbits and colored eggs. The preparations for Easter begin before Good Friday and the German decorations are kept on display for a week or two after Easter Sunday. There are many different types of German Easter decorations that one can purchase in order to decorate their homes including German egg ornaments, scene ornaments of boys and girls or of rabbits, or even German spring figurines. There are many choices to pick from. However, there are also several different crafts that one can make if they prefer their own handiwork. The first is the hanging lamp, a cardboard cut flower that can be hung from the ceiling and from its petals, various spring figurines may also be hung. Not only can this particular craft serve as a hanging lamp but also can be made into a basket to hold eggs. The second craft that can be made is colored eggs. There are two ways to make colored eggs, either by hollowing them or by leaving the insides intact.

The first German spring or Easter ornament is the hanging lamp.

STEP 1

First, obtain a large piece of white cardboard. Then with a pencil, draw a large flower with eight petals in the center of the piece of cardboard. Size does not matter; it is merely a matter of preference.

STEP 2

With a marker, trace over the existing circle in the middle of the flower and make ovals within the petals (see picture).  

STEP 3

Choose two Easter themes and draw them each on a different petal adjacent to the other. Alternate these themes. For example: petal one has a rabbit, petal two has a flower, petal one has the same rabbit, petal two has the same flower. If desired, the flowers can all be different colors. Also, if you have many ideas and would like to make a different drawing on each petal, that of course, would be fine. After drawing the items you choose, color them in using crayons or markers, whichever you prefer.  

STEP 4

Within the circle in the middle of the flower, draw another flower or whatever Easter theme you would like. Then color in the white spaces within the flower petals with any color.  

STEP 5

Then cut out the flower, carefully rounding out each flower petal.  

STEP 6

Carefully make one slice between each flower petal all the way to the middle circle. Continue all the way around the flower.  

STEP 7

Then bend each petal at the point where the petal touches the middle circle.  

STEP 8

Poke a hole in the center of the circle and attach a long piece of yarn in the hole by pulling it through and making a knot on the underside of the lamp. 

STEP 9

Tape the yarn knot to the bottom. The lamp can now be hung from the ceiling or even the chord of a ceiling fan.

You could even make 3-D figurines to hang from the tip of each petal, if you would like. Using colored cardboard or colored construction paper, you could make an egg, Easter baskets, and other types of ornaments. All you have to do is make whatever it is you want to hang from the lamp.

Poke a small hole at the tip of each petal and at the top of each hanging object. Then using string, attach the object to the lamp.

If you do not like the hanging lamp idea, you could also transform the flower into a basket. Do steps 1-7; however, REMEMBER TO DRAW THE PICTURES ON THE PETAL UPSIDE DOWN SO THAT WHEN THE BASKET IS UPRIGHT, THE PICTURES ARE UPRIGHT. After bending each petal, secure it to the one next to it using tape or even staples. (Note: My version of the basket is upside down since I followed the directions of the lamp.) You can fill the basket with German Easter eggs or with your own handmade eggs.

There are two ways to color eggs as I mentioned previously. The first is boiling the eggs in either peels of onion, spinach (green), or beets (red). The next method, however, is more elaborate. First, take a raw egg and poke a hole in the top and bottom. You can use a very small crochet hook, a clean nail, or even very small scissors. I used a knitting cable needle. Next, using a bowl under the egg to catch what may fall, blow into one of the holes to empty the contents of the egg. The egg should now be hollow. You can decorate the egg however you want, using markers or dye or even markers on top of dye, being careful not to break the egg. Now you can enjoy the decorated eggs and a meal of scrambled eggs. 

Nevertheless, if you are not an artistic person and you do not have time or even want to go through the task of making a craft, there are many German spring or Easter ornaments and decorations that you can purchase. There are German Beatrix eggs (that look much better than mine), with rabbits painted on them by professional and exceptionally talent crafters.  

There are German ornaments that may depict rabbits or children playing.

And there are wonderful German spring figures that can be used during Easter like the Bunny painting a chick.

Thus, if you would like to celebrate Easter the German way, just decorate your outdoor blooming tree with your own eggs or with the Beatrix eggs, hang the flower lamp or the German ornaments from the ceiling, and enjoy dying your own eggs or buying non time-consuming already made eggs!