Make your Easter eggs little oval works of art.
To complete this How-To you will need:
Eggs
A saucepan
Newspapers
Old clothes
Large paper cups
Vinegar
Dye tablets or food coloring
Wax crayon
Tape or rubber bands
Stickers or rubber cement
An egg dipper, slotted spoon, or tongs
Empty egg cartons
Fruits and vegetables for natural dyes
Vegetable oil
Step 1: Hard-boil the eggs
Put
eggs in a saucepan, add water until they're covered, and gently bring
to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for ten minutes. Remove from the
heat completely and add very cold water to stop the cooking process.
Step 2: Cover up
Put
newspapers over your table or workspace so you don't get dye on it, and
change into something you won't mind getting stained. Decorating Easter
eggs can get messy!
Step 3: Ready the dye
Fill some large
paper cups halfway with hot water. Then add a teaspoon of vinegar and
the dye tablets, which will dissolve. Don't have dye tablets? Add one
teaspoon of food coloring into each cup of water and vinegar.
Tip:
Try natural dyes. In a pan, arrange the eggs in a single layer and
cover them with water. For red, add fresh beets; blue, canned
blueberries; yellow, ground turmeric; green, fresh spinach. Bring to a
boil, then simmer 15 minutes.
Step 4: Make your mark
Write
or draw something on the egg with a white wax crayon before putting it
into the cup. The wax resists the dye, so once the egg is colored,
you'll clearly see what you wrote.
Step 5: Add stripes
Put
electrical tape around the egg, or simply put a rubber band—or
several—around it before placing in the cups. When it's dyed, remove the
tape or rubber bands and you'll have fun stripes!
Step 6: Make patterns
Add
some stickers or brush some rubber cement onto the egg before you place
it in the dye. When you remove the egg, simply peel off the stickers or
hardened rubber cement and you'll get interesting, creative patterns.
Step 7: Dye it
Place
an egg into each cup. Leave it in for five to 20 minutes or as long as
it takes to achieve your desired look. The longer it soaks, the darker
it will be.
Tip: Add a teaspoon or so of vegetable oil into some
of the cups of dye. The oil prevents the dye from sticking to certain
spots on the egg, so when you remove it you get interesting designs and
patterns.
Step 8: Remove
Using an egg dipper, slotted spoon, or tongs, take the eggs out of the cups and place them in an empty egg carton to dry.
Step 9: Enjoy
Hide your eggs for an egg hunt, put them in baskets, or simply peel your new creations and enjoy!
