How to Make Cascarones + Video
Cascarones are brightly colored, confetti filled eggs. Start a new tradition this year and make cascarones, the ultimate DIY Easter and fiesta party favor or decoration.
What are Cascarones
Cascarones are empty egg shells that have been colored, filled with paper confetti, and sealed with a piece of colorful tissue paper. They were named after the Spanish word for shell: “cáscara.” They’re typically used around Easter and fiestas, but are a festive addition to any party.
Coloring eggshells, filling them with confetti, hiding them for our Easter egg hunt, and then breaking them on the head of someone else has always been a part of our Easter tradition.
The day before Easter we had a blast making cascarones (confetti eggs). Every color of the rainbow was beautifully displayed.
Today we continue the tradition with our own children. It’s always so much fun to see each person’s creativity during egg coloring time.
The kids really get into it and every year they get more and more creative.
Make a dozen or more and celebrate Easter by breaking your cascarones over your friends’ or family members’ heads.
What is the symbolic meaning of cascarones?
Legend has it that it’s good luck if you have a cascarón broken over one’s head.
Watch this video to see how simple cascarones are to make. Watch this video to see how to hollow out egg.
Will you be making cascarones this year with your children?
More Easter crafts
How to Make Cascarones
Ingredients
- Newspaper, craft paper, or a plastic tablecloth
- Eggs
- Easter egg color kit
- Vinegar, optional for vibrant colored eggs
- Scissors
- Tissue paper, cut into small squares
- Glue
- Paper confetti or hole punched construction paper
Instructions
- Prepare the egg decorating work area by covering your table with newspaper, craft paper, or a plastic tablecloth.
- Be sure to have plenty of napkins handly for little decorators to dry their hands on or to clean up any spills.
- With a spoon, gently tap the top of an egg.
- Remove the bits of shell, peeling away enough to make a small 1/2-inch hole.
- Empty contents of the egg out into a bowl.
- Thoroughly rinse the eggshell and shake out excess water. Let the eggshell air dry upside down in an empty egg carton.
- Dye the eggshells using an egg coloring kit. Add a splash of vinegar to the dye for vibrant color.
- When the eggshells are dry fill with confetti.
- Once filled, apply glue around the outside of the hole and cover with tissue paper.
- Make a dozen or more and celebrate Easter by breaking your cascarones over your friends' or family members' heads.
Video
Notes
Originally published: March 2012.
Photos by Jeanine / Adorable photo of li’l Danica courtesy of my cousin Brenda
32 Comments on “How to Make Cascarones + Video”
What a Beautiful tradition. I don’t have any Easter traditions but Hey I can always start one! no?
made the Beef Brisket Tacos recipe….delicious….will have to attempt these cascarones….
Oh my gosh, thank you for this tutorial. I love it! I’ll be making these this year! =) And the photos are such attention grabbers – gorgeous.
I never made these myself, but I certainly bought plenty of them for my son when he was young. One oh his great joys was going to the Jardín/Zócolo to smash cascarones on heads with the other kids. I loved it when the eggs were always filled with confetti, as you have done, but not so much when flour and glitter became popular. This post brings back a lot of happy memories for me. Thanks.
These are beautiful…is this a Mexican tradition or Latin tradition? Just wondering because I am so desperately trying to encourage my son to be proud of his Dominican background and my step-daughter to be proud of her Puerto Rican background. My gringa family has no traditions because there’s no love…I do NOT want to spend the rest of my life without the love and unity that all families should have – so I have to start my own traditions with my new familia! Muy Bueno has reminded me of the importance of family, traditions, heritage etc. MUCHAS GRACIAS! 🙂
Patricia, follow your heart. Sounds like you’re ready to start some of your own family traditions. Home is where your heart is and your family will look to you for all the great traditions you create con amor. BTW, these cascarones are a Mexican tradition. Besitos!!
I remember my abuelita starting to save the blown out eggshells (rinsed) & stored in their egg cartons starting at Valentines Day! She would make eggy goods leading up to Easter like Chile Rellenos, Tortitas de Camaron & of course morning omelettes! We woyld have dozens of eggs to color the weekend before Easter, dry, fill & prepare for the wonderful Easter hunt after Sunday misa. The adults would hide the eggs while we were kept busy with warm pan & coffee or milk. Then we were set loose to find the eggs and chase each other til we tired. Naptime at noon when it was hot & the fun was over. Paper confetti was used because it would disappear into the grass and become one with my Grandmothers garden. I’m 50 now and hope to do this with my grandbabies someday!
nice
Hola!
It’s so beautiful to see colors everywhere 😀
I like very much the idea of breaking eggs in another’s head 😉 I will do them when I have children.
In Spain we don’t have that tradition, and I wonder why, because it’s lovely!
This brings a lot of wonderful memories, with my children, Veronica, Michael and Yvette. Now I get to relive these memories with my beautiful grandchildren. It’s so much fun watching the kids running around hunting for the cacarones, then the real fun starts. Breaking them on everybody’s head.
Beautiful!!!!! I’ve never heard of this tradition and I love it.
I remember making this at school when I was a kid. I had an advantage, though. The cooks would save all the eggs at my parents’ restaurant so I was always the one with the most eggs to break over kids’ heads. It was a lot of fun!
Lucky Ben…you must have been quite popular with your dozens of cascarones.
This is going to be so fun!!!!!! I hope we’re lucky!
My kiddies love Cascarones! They buy a big bag every Sunday in el jardin downtown. Here it’s more of a Sunday tradition than an Easter tradition. Hubby says that when he was a teenager, boys and/or girls would break the cascarones on the head of the boy or girl that they liked. 🙂
I like to hide them as Easter eggs for the kiddies and then let them have an egg fight outside. 🙂
This looks like absolute fun! Definitely going to have to give it a try one of these years.
How pretty! I never knew about this until I moved here to California, I lived 3 years in mexico city and never saw them!!
I didn’t know about this tradition. I really like it!
The tutorial is excellent 🙂
My in laws make a TON of these and sell them every year. they have been selling for almost 12 years and the same customers keep coming back year after year!! so much fun!
CUTE!!!! Thanks
what a great and super cute idea to do with the kids, especially now that they’re on spring break. just in time for Easter this weekend. Very interactive and engaging!
I have been seeing these everywhere! Never did these as a child. So cute and I will definitely pass it on to my sister so she can do this with my niece.
Beautiful pictures!!! I would love to do this! The same as Sujeiry, never did it when I was little.
I’m excited to try your tutorial this week! I am making a wedding cake that takes 30 eggs and instead of wasting the shells my kids and I will be making cascarones for our Easter get-together on Sunday! I love it when I get to save and use things that would normally be just trash 🙂
Loved the story and the pictures! How wonderful to see that people still keep up the tradition. Yes, its work but so worth it! We are orginally from Brownsville, Texas and then moved to Wisconsin! Its crazy cold and not too many Easter egg hunts in the snow. Mami instisted we still carry the tradition. Now with my own family we still make them every year!
Thank you!
I have fantastic memories of growing up in San Antonio with cascarones. Everyone made them (even if we weren’t Hispanic – our predominantly Anglo elementary school made them too as a craft for kids when I was growing up; I am non-Hispanic black). It was just part of the local flavor and culture of Fiesta, which happens in San Antonio every April. We didn’t make them when we moved to New Mexico. But now we’re in DC and attempt to make them every year. It’s a reminder of “home.” 🙂
My kids love making cascarones! We actually use streamers, instead of tissue paper. We simply “glue” the streamer strips with plain water. It makes it easier and less of a mess. Love the pictures in your tutorial!
Fantastic website
Making these for the fourth of july–why keep such a fun, special tradition to just one holiday? The eggs will be red, white, and blue! Thanks for the idea!
My family has been coloring, filling and cracking eggs over our heads for 4 generations! I am 56 yrs old and eggs have been cracked over heads for at least that long…longer. Its so funny to break in new non-Latino members of the family. They think we’re crazy. The hunt is supposed to be for little kids, no teenagers or adults..but those teenagers and adults always manage to grab a few eggs for themselves. My daughters fiance is working on his 3rd year of cascarone hunting. He LOVES it! It took me an entire year to save 9 doz eggs. I started last Easter, a yr ago, and finally hit my goal of 10 doz eggs.
nice one yvette
We would start collecting the egg shells on Ash Wednesday, that would give us enough egg shells for everyone.