Eggs to "Dye" for

I remember the fun of decorating Easter eggs as a child. I'd take out the crayons, dye, paints, markers, pretty much anything that I could think of to color the eggs. My designs were ambitous, and my fingertips ended up dyed for days. We always used the traditional PAAS easter egg kit. It was so exciting to drop the tablets in the water and watch it change color. Today, you can still purchase the PAAS kit, and in even fancier varieties that include stickers, punch-out designs, special markers and crayons, and much more.

Kits are convenient, but you can make your own dye as well. Combine 1/2 to 1 tablespoon of food coloring with 2 teaspoons 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. Experiment and create new colors by dipping the egg in one color and then another.

There are many fun ways to decorate eggs. There's the traditional solid colored eggs. As a child, we would color on the eggs with crayons before putting them in the dye. The waxy crayon prevents the egg from picking up color and leaves fun patterns behind. You can use this idea to create personalized eggs or to write a special note.

Another idea is to create rubberband designs. Wrap elastic bands around hard cooked eggs, 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.

To create marbled eggs, in a mug or jar large enough to contain one egg, place 1 tablespoon of oil, 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 1 tablespoon 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.

Coloring Easter eggs has long been a family tradition and my children look forward to it every year. Hopefully I've given you some new ideas that will make your Easter egg coloring more fun this year. For more egg decorating ideas check out Family Fun Magazine online.

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