Staff Blogger: Ellen Venema, Rhein Center Assistant Coordinator
Easter is coming soon! In a quest to shake up my decorations this year, I hunted up new ideas for Easter eggs. Join me in stepping outside the pre-packaged dye kit box and expand your egg-decorating repertoire with a few of these creative techniques using materials that can usually be found around the house.
For those who don’t mind the mess:
Botanical Eggs
Clean your eggs with vinegar. Choose some small leaves, herbs or other thin, flat plants. Brush the back of the botanical with egg white and gently stick it to the surface of your egg, smoothing out all the bubbles. Then wrap your egg in a 4-inch section of panty hose, tying it closed behind the egg. Drop the egg into a dye solution. Remove when your desired color is achieved. Pat dry, and then carefully remove the panty hose and peel off the botanical. Let dry.
Marbled Eggs
Prepare a colored dye in a wide, shallow container that allows for about a half-inch of liquid. Add a tablespoon of olive oil, and stir with a fork to create ripples and bubbles. Roll your egg around the container, contacting the oil bubbles. Remove and pat with a paper towel. Let dry. (You could also dye your egg another, lighter color first to add more to the marbled effect.)
Drizzled Eggs
Prepare a few colors of dye. Drizzle rubber cement over your eggs and let it dry. Dip your egg into the first dye for a few minutes, then remove and let dry. Gently peel off the rubber cement. Repeat with each of the remaining colors. (It’s usually best to start with the lightest color and move darker.)
Ombre Eggs
This fading color technique can be easily achieved with a wide, flat-bottomed tumbler (8-10 oz) and a bottle cap. Place the bottle cap at the bottom of the glass and set the egg into it. Mix up a dye solution of ½ cup boiling water, 1 tsp white vinegar, and 40 drops of food coloring. Carefully, pour the solution along the edge of the glass beside the egg, covering the bottom quarter of the egg. Let it sit 5 minutes. Then add clear warm water to cover the egg halfway and wait 3 minutes. Add more water and wait 2 minutes for each remaining stripe. Remove the egg and let dry.
Dye-Free options:
Abstract Art Eggs
With black permanent marker (or black paint and a thin brush), doodle overlapping curling lines and shapes all over your eggs. Once they’ve dried, fill in the various openings with different colored markers, creating an abstract stained glass effect.
Tissue Paper Polka Dot Eggs
Use a hole punch on various colors of tissue paper. Apply a glue stick to the back of the dots and stick them to your eggs. It’s quick and simple and can be very pretty!
Paper Blossom Eggs
Cut assorted-sized squares of origami paper (or other thin, colored paper). Fold and cut them as you would to create paper snowflakes but into patterns that make flowers instead. Cut additional strips of paper for stems and leaves. Apply white glue to the back of your creations with a small paintbrush, and smooth them onto your eggs.
These are just a few of the techniques that I’ve read about. What are your favorite ways to decorate Easter eggs?
Originally posted in March 2016
