If you want to decorate Easter eggs, but you forgot to buy the Easter egg decorating kit, don’t worry. You can still decorate those eggs—tie-dye style! All you need for these tie-dye Easter eggs are some vinegar, food coloring, a colander…and eggs, of course!
I first came across the idea for these tie-dye Easter eggs several years ago in a Family Fun magazine. You can see the original directions at Spoonful.com. At the time, the tie-dye Easter eggs appealed to me because my children were small, and the tie-dye Easter eggs seemed to be a great way for the kids to decorate the eggs without much mess. Plus, they’re really pretty. Even better? Cleanup is a cinch!
Here’s what to do.
1. Boil the eggs and let them cool.
2. Put the colander over the sink, place an egg in the middle of the colander, and pour a small amount of vinegar over the egg. (If you’re working with little ones, this is a “mom” step, unless you want to go through the entire jar of vinegar for one egg!)
3. Roll the egg around the colander to coat it with the vinegar.
4. Squeeze one or two drops of food coloring on the egg. Then roll it around the colander to coat. Let the color set for 30 seconds or so.
5. Repeat this step with another color, rolling the egg around the colander to coat it in color.
6. If you like the effect after just two colors, rinse the egg with water (cleaning the colander at the same time!), then remove the egg from the colander and set it aside to dry. Otherwise, you can add a third color, then rinse and dry.
Simple, right? Here are a few more tips to make your egg decorating experience even more enjoyable.
- Work with one child and one egg at a time. This will greatly cut down on the confusion and mess.
- Start with the lightest color you want to use, such as yellow.
- Don’t use more than three colors. (If you use too many colors, the egg will start to look brown.)
- Focus on “analogous” colors, or colors that appear next to each other on the color wheel. Example: Yellow, Red, Blue. Yellow, Green, Blue. Try to avoid color combinations that naturally turn to brown, such as red and green, on the same egg.
Happy Easter, and happy decorating!