How to Decorate Easter Eggs

Blowing Out Eggs
Egg Molds
Swirled Eggs
Ukranian Easter Eggs
Dying Easter Eggs--the Natural way!
Crepe Paper Dye
Food Coloring Dye

Spotted or Stripped Eggs
Marble Eggs
Sponge Painted Eggs
Waxed Eggs

Blowing Out Eggs

Making your own Easter eggs is a fun way to celebrate Easter. You can decorate your eggs as simple or fancy as you want! Create a tradition by decorating eggs every year. Before you can decorate the eggs, you need to get the inside of the egg out, without breaking the shell! It's really quite simple to do. How? You blow the egg out.

Gather together these things:
eggs
a needle
a bowl

Using the needle, poke a small hole in the narrow end of the egg, and a slightly larger hole in the other end. Move the pin around to make sure you tear the membrane around the yolk. Now, holding the egg over the bowl, blow through the small hole. The egg will be forced out the larger hole and into the bowl. Make sure you rinse the egg well with water - I'll leave it up to you to work out a way, but if you get stuck, email me! Oh! What to do with the egg-innards? If it is for yourself, you can make the eggs into a nice omlete or quiche. If doing this with a class, you might not want to use the eggs for reasons of health regulations. Your eggs are now ready to decorate. Let your imagination run wild!

You can use any of these things to decorate your eggs:
paints
ribbons
sequins
glitter
lace
colored foil
felt tip pens
fabric scraps
tassels
dye kit

Use candles to drip wax onto eggs. When the wax sets, dip the egg into some dye. Take the egg out and let it drain. You can either peel the wax off or you can drip some more on and dip it in a different colour. Just another hint - use the lighter colours first. When you have finished, carefully peel off the wax.

Don't forget any supplies you may need, such as paint brushes, water, glue, and scissors. If you don't want to use real eggs, you may be able to find egg shapes made out of styrofoam, papier mache, or wood at your favorite arts and crafts store.

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Egg Molds

Bring on the Chocolate Traditional Moulds - These days it is fairly easy to find easter egg moulds and other easter related moulds. Just melt the chocolate and pour it in. The easiest way is to make a solid egg by filling the two halves, setting them and then using a thin spread of melted chocolate to "glue" them together. The more econonmic way is to coat the inside of the shell with chocolate and to make a hollow egg, joining the two halves the same way.

Let's Get Messy Again - Grab those hollow eggs from the section above, make one of the holes a little bigger, and pour (maybe trickle would be more apt?) the chocolate through the holes. Either pour in a little and move the egg around so it spreads around the sides, or pour in a lot and fill the egg. After the chocolate sets, gently peel the eggshell from the egg.

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Swirled Eggs

You will need: �
An adult to help on some steps �
Dry, hard-boiled eggs (with no cracks) at room temperature �
Food coloring �
White Vinegar �
Construction paper, scissors, and stapler �
Rubber cement (do not use the type called one-coat rubber cement, it is too sticky) �
Disposable cups �
Popsicle stick �
Spoons �
Paper towel

Step 1
With an adult's help, make homemade egg dye. Mix 1/2 cup boiling water, 30 to 40 drops of food coloring, and 1 teaspoon of white vinegar. Let the dye cool completely before using it.
Step 2
Cover the table with newspapers. Pour about 1/2 cup of rubber cement into another cup. Be sure to wash your hands thoroughly with soap before you touch the eggs. If the eggs get dirty, they won't dye evenly.
Step 3
Cut a strip of construction paper and staple it into a circle. This will make a stand for the egg. Set the egg on top. Dip a popsicle stick into the rubber cement and dribble it onto the egg. Let it dry for about 15 minutes, then turn it over and dribble the bottom.
Step 4
With a spoon, place the egg into the dye, and you'll start to see your patterns. Leave the egg in the dye until it's the color you want.
Step 5
Remove the egg from the dye with the spoon. Gently pat the egg with a paper towel Let it dry for about 30 minutes.
Step 6
Rub the rubber cement with your fingers. It will come right off, leaving pretty squiggly designs. Don't eat these special eggs, they are for decoration only.

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Ukranian Easter Eggs

Simple, beautiful pysanky or Ukranian Easter Eggs are within the reach of any beginner! These elegant eggs make great gifts for family and friends. You will need: �

Smooth, fresh eggs at room temperature �
Writing tools (straight pins stuck into a dowel, cork, or pencil eraser) �Wax (equal amounts beeswax and paraffin) �
Wax warmer (candle heated container) �
Egg dyes (prepared according to package instructions in containers large enough to submerge eggs)
Paper tissues or soft absorbent cloth

Step 1
Prepare the eggs by "blowing" your eggs before painting. Use a long pin to make a tiny hole at each end; the hole should be a bit larger at the bottom. Pierce and break the yolk with the long pin. Shake to mix the inner contents. Over a bowl or sink, blow through the smaller hole to force the contents out of the larger opening. Rinse the shell and prop on an egg carton to dry.
Step 2
Create the design. First practice your design on paper before applying wax to the egg.
Step 3
Melt the wax. Working quickly to prevent the wax from hardening, dip the pinhead into melted wax and touch it to the egg to create your design. The pinhead touched to the egg will form a small dot. To make a tear drop shape, draw the pinhead along the surface of the egg. These two shapes may be used in different combinations to make a variety of designs.
Step 4
One to three colors are usually used for each egg. Always progress from the lightest to the darkest dye color. When the complete wax design has been applied, place the egg in the first dye solution several times until desired color is reached (10-30 minutes). The longer the egg remains in the dye, the deeper the color will be. Remove the egg and blot dry with tissue or cloth. Once the egg is dry, add additional wax designs and repeat color process with darker dye.
Step 5
To finish, after the final dye bath, remove the wax by holding the egg, a small section at a time, against the side of the candle flame for no more than five seconds. As soon as the section appears wet, blot with a clean, soft cloth. Continue until all the wax is removed. do not hold the egg over the tip of flame, as carbon will collect and darken your design.
Step 6
Eggs may be preserved with varnish. Use a clear type of varnish and 2 or 3 light coats.

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Dying Easter Eggs--the Natural way!
This Easter, why not color your eggs using nature's very own dyes? It's possible to come up with a great number of colors using natural ingredients that can easily be found in almost any kitchen.

Pale Red: Fresh beets or cranberries, frozen raspberries

Orange: Yellow onion skins

Light yellow: Orange or lemon peels, carrot tops, celery seed or ground cumin

Yellow: Ground turmeric

Pale green: Spinach leaves

Green-gold: Yellow Delicious apple peels

Blue: Canned blueberries or red cabbage leaves

Beige to brown: Strong brewed coffee

To dye the perfect Easter eggs the natural way, here's what to do:

1. Put eggs in a single layer in a pan. Pour water in pan until the eggs are covered.

2. Add about a teaspoon of vinegar.

3. Add the natural dye appropriate to the color you want your eggs to be. (The more eggs you are dying at a time, the more dye you will need to use.)

4. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

5. Remove the substance you used to color the eggs. Put eggs in a bowl. If you want your eggs to be a darker shade, cover them with the dye and let them stand overnight in the refrigerator.

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Crepe Paper Dye

Different color crepe paper
hot water
small bowls or cups
slotted spoon
cooking oil
soft cloth

Soak crepe paper in hot water in individual bowls or cups for each color. Add eggs and allow to sit in water until he desired color is achieved. Remove with slotted spoon and allow to dry. Polish with small amount of cooking oil and soft cloth.

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Food Coloring Dye

Food coloring
hot water
white vinegar
small bowls or cups
slotted spoon
cooking oil
soft cloth

For each color measure 1/4 tsp. food coloring in small bowl. Add 3/4 cup hot water and 1 tbsp. white vinegar to each color. Add eggs and allow to sit until they are the desired color. Remove with slotted spoon. Polish dry eggs with small amount of cooking oil and soft cloth.

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Spotted or Stripped Eggs

Spotted Eggs: Put about 2 tsp. of cooking oil (Canola works well) in your dy. (You might want to make two containers of your dye, so you don't mess up all of your regular dye.) When you dip in your egg, it makes the dye not stick to the places where the oil is, thus making mysterious spots on your egg and aweing your friends!

Stripped Eggs: Wrapping electric tape around an egg won't make a clear stripe, but it can make a really cool design! Take one or two pieces and wrap them around or stick them in various places. Then dye your egg. The dye will seem in along the edges of the tape and make great patterns.

-from Tuula, Port Orford, Oregon

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Marble Eggs

Large glass jar
Crayon stubs
Vegetable grater
Hot water
Waxed paper or newspaper
Empty egg carton
Clear acrylic spray (optional)

Grate peeled crayons over waxed paper. Fill jar with very hot water. Drop bits of grated crayon into water. Add hard boiled or blown egg as soon as crayon begins to melt. Twirl egg in water with spoon. the wax should make a design on the egg. Carefully remove egg and set upside-down in egg carton to dry. Once dry spray with clear acrylic to seal.

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Sponge Painted Eggs

Liquid tempra paint
paper cups (for each color)
small pieces of foam or sponge
clothes pins (for each color)
egg cups
clear acrylic spray

Place hard boiled or blown eggs in egg cups. Partially fill paper cups with different colors of paint. Clip a piece of sponge to a clothes pin and dip into paper cups, use the clothes pin as a handle. Lightly dab the sponge over the top half of the egg. Let dry. Turn egg over and repeat procedure. Let the egg dry completely. If using blown eggs, spray with acrylic spray for a permanent finish.

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Waxed Eggs

Wax crayons
paper towels
egg dyes in different colors
slotted spoon
cooking oil
soft cloth

Draw a heavy crayon pattern on hard boiled egg. Dip egg in egg dye, preferably a dark color. Leave in dye until desired color is reached. Remove with slotted spoon and place in 200 degree F oven for a few minutes until wax is melted. Wipe with paper towel and dip again in lighter dye to fill in pattern where wax was. Polish finished eggs with cooking oil and soft cloth.

And here is another way to use wax and eggs from Tuula in Port Orford, Oregon:

"Light a candle and drip some was on your egg. Congratulations! You now have spots! Now, you can dye it your next color, let it dry, and ad more was. I did this one using 3 spots of white, yellow, pink, orange, etc. in that order. It was really pretty!"

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Graphics from:

MHC