Fun ways to Dye Easter Eggs

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Making your own Easter eggs is a fun way to celebrate Easter and it’s a traditional activity for most families. Who doesn’t remember decorating eggs as a kid? This year, try a new twist on your egg decorating—go natural! Get creative with fruit and vegetable juices and materials you already have around the house. Follow these “egg recipes” to make your eggs as simple or fancy as you want. There are many traditional and non-traditional methods for decorating Easter eggs, but the most important thing to remember is to do what suits you and your creative crew.

Checklist

• Lifetime banquet or round table
• Lifetime folding chairs
• Large Eggs
• Teacups and spoons
• Paper towels
• Egg holders (old egg carton or lined Easter basket)
• For Naturally Dyed Eggs, you can choose from: coffee, saffron, cranberries, beets, spinach, blueberries
• 1/2 tbsp. vinegar
• cold water
• a saucepan
• For Homemade Traditionally Dyed Eggs, you will need: 1 tbsp. food coloring, 2 tsp. vinegar
• For Blown Eggs, you will need a long needle
• For Egg People: Yarn, Ribbon, Fabric scraps
• For Easter Bunny eggs: Construction paper, cotton ball
• For Collage eggs: White craft glue, miscellaneous craft supplies
• Crayons and Elastic Bands can be used for interesting decorating effects as well

Steps

1. Find a creative workspace. Before you begin, find a clean workspace for you and your Easter egg decorating party. Dying Easter eggs can be a messy endeavor, so we recommend stain resistant surfaces like a Lifetime Table and Lifetime chairs. A Lifetime 6-foot folding table is ideal for a modest size group and will seat up to six people.
2. Hollow or hard-boiled? Decorated eggs may be either hard-boiled or blown out of their shells. Hard-boiled eggs are traditional and a sturdier egg for children to work with, while the blown shells are the best if you want to keep the eggs on display for a considerable time. To make blown shells, use a long needle to make a small hole in the small end of the egg and a larger hole in the large end. Stick the needle into the yolk to break it. Shake the egg large-end down over a bowl until the contents come out. Rinse the shell under cool running water and let it dry.
3. Hard-Boiling: Unless you are using natural dyes, you need to hard-boil your eggs before decorating. Place the eggs in a large saucepan. Add cold water; enough to completely cover the eggs – at least one inch above your eggs. Place on medium-high heat and bring water to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer eggs for 9 minutes. Remove from heat and fill with cold water. The eggs must be completely cool to decorate successfully. Place eggs on a soft towel and allow them to dry.
4. Try Natural Dyes. For environmentally friendly egg dye, try using natural dyes. Combine the dying ingredient with 1/2 tbsp. of vinegar with some cold water in a saucepan. Add raw eggs (make sure there's enough water to cover the eggs, at least one inch above the eggs) and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. The longer you simmer, the darker the color will be, but simmer at least 8 minutes so that the eggs cook thoroughly. Use the color chart below to create all natural tones. Color chart: Brown – Tea or coffee, Yellow – turmeric, Red brown – cranberries, Pink – beets, Green – spinach, Blue – blueberries.
5. Make your own traditional dye. Combine 1/2 to 1 tbsp. of food coloring with 2 tsp. vinegar in a cup that is deep enough for the eggs. Add water to about the half way point. Gently place the eggs into the cups. The longer they are left in the dye, the darker the color shade. Experiment with different combinations of colors. When you remove the egg from the dye, pat dry with a paper towel and place in a holder.
6. Create plaid designs: Wrap elastic bands around your eggs (hard-boiled are recommended for this method), then drop them in food-coloring dye. Remove eggs, pat dry with paper towel and remove rubber bands. The parts of the egg covered with rubber bands will not be colored. Once the rubber bands are removed, you can drop the egg into a different color dye.
7. Marbled Eggs: In a mug or jar large enough to contain one egg, place 1 tbsp. of oil, 1 tbsp. of vinegar, and 1 tbsp. of food coloring. Add enough water to cover egg, stir quickly with a spoon and drop in hard boiled egg. Pull egg out quickly and pat dry with paper towel.
8. Egg People: (as seen in header image) Use craft supplies such as yarn, ribbon and fabric scraps to create the members of your family. Attach each addition with craft glue. Add facial features using permanent markers for the mouth, nose and eyes. Then cut a paper towel tube into different heights for Mom, Dad, sister etc. Decorate the tube with construction paper for clothing. Place the painted egg onto the holder. You can also add the individual's name to the tube. These make an entertaining name card for the Easter table.
9. Easter Bunny Eggs: Use food coloring dye or natural dyes to dye eggs in solid colors. Dry with paper towel. For each bunny egg, cut two oval shaped ears from colored construction paper. Glue the ears to the top of the egg. Use markers to add a small triangle for a nose and some whiskers, then add eyes with a marker or use some googily eyes available at craft stores. Glue on a cotton ball for a tail.
10. Collage Eggs:Adorn your eggs with miscellaneous craft supplies, using white or craft glue to attach. Items to try include sequins, buttons, glitter, or beads. Stickers are a quick and easy solution, or even color with markers.
    1. When dying with natural dyes, or any dyes for that matter, be sure to wear clothes you don’t mind staining. Also be sure your workspace is stain resistant, and easy to clean. Lifetime tables are ideal.
    2. Mix it up! Experiment with some funky patterns using interesting stickers, letter stickers, or wrap your eggs in lace. Let your imagination go wild!
    3. Printable Easter bunny and egg people template.