Easter eggs: unique decorating ideas

The average Easter egg is either plainly colored or – for folks who are looking for something a bit dressier - with seasonal decorations adhered to the colored shell. Every now and then, someone will have a different tradition when it comes to decorating these delicious springtime treats. Let’s have a look at some of the unique decorating ideas that other folks employ when it comes time to get ready for Peter Rabbit.

After hard boiling the eggs, prepare the dye – using an egg coloring kit. Before dipping the eggs, add one tablespoon of vegetable oil to the color in each cup and be sure to have plenty of paper towels nearby. Place an egg in the color of choice and allow sitting until the dye sets (usually a minute or two, depending upon how dark you want the egg to be). When finished, remove the egg from the cup and dry thoroughly with a paper towel. You’ll notice that the surface will not be evenly coated. Parts of the egg will reflect the dye, and others will still appear to be white. This is normal, so don’t panic. Next, place the same egg in a different color of dye and wait for a minute or two. After removing, dry thoroughly with a paper towel. You should now see that the other dye has colored the areas that were still white, producing a marbling effect. Since oil has been added to each cup, the areas of the egg that were touched by the oil won’t accept the dye. This is the reason that the egg needs to be thoroughly dried before being placed in the second cup – so that no residual oil will affect the further coloring of the egg. The result is a gorgeous display of multi-colored eggs that are really quite unique in appearance.

Did you know that you can make plaid Easter eggs? All you need to do is hard boil the eggs, prepare the dye cups as instructed on the back of the egg coloring kit and have some adhesive tape handy. Before dipping an egg, tear off strips of tape and apply them in an equally spaced horizontal pattern on the surface of the egg. Place in the dye and wait for one to two minutes, until the egg exhibits the desired shade, and remove. Dry with a paper towel and remove the tape strips. Using the same egg, apply fresh tape in an evenly spaced vertical pattern and place in a different color of dye. After the one or two minute interval that’s needed for the dye to set, remove the egg, dry with a paper tower and remove the tape. You’ll now have a uniquely colored Easter egg in a beautiful plaid design.

For those who are put off by the mess of dye cups and dripping eggs, you might like to try decorating with tissue paper! After the eggs have been boiled, cut small pieces of colored tissue paper – squares or circles work best, but you can use any shape. Be sure that the tissue is very brightly colored, or the result may be too light to do the decoration justice. One by one, dip each shape into a small cup of water and wrap around the egg. When the shell has been completed covered, allow the paper to dry for several minutes, and then remove from the egg. The result will be a beautifully decorated egg in a variety of colors.

If tie-dye is more your style, that can also be done – but the dye colors have to be very strong (dark in appearance, even if it’s yellow or orange). Prepare hard boiled eggs and the dye cups. Wrap a damp clean cloth around the egg – make sure it’s not too wet, or the result won’t be as attractive – and use a small soaked paintbrush or a dropper to make dots of different colors all over the cloth. When this has been done, twist the cloth around the egg so that the colors become mixed and swirled. Remove the cloth and allow the egg to dry.

For folks who are artistically gifted, you might choose to hand-decorate each egg with glitter, sequins, ribbon, beads, decorative cloth or any other arts and crafts materials that you may have stored around the house. After the eggs have been hard boiled and dried, dab bits of rubber cement on the shell of the egg in areas where you wish to apply the various decorative materials. Use your imagination to create a fancy “outfit” or some other type of innovative design. The rubber cement won’t penetrate the shell to contaminate the egg, and can be peeled off rather easily if you make a mistake.

By combining a tablespoon of glue and the same amount of water in a disposable cup, you can use a paintbrush to coat the shells of hard boiled eggs and then sprinkle them with glitter. This will work on both dyed eggs and plain white ones. For a bit more shine, you might also add just a bit of silver or gold glitter to the colored glitter that you’re using. Allow to dry – this may take a good amount of time – and you’ll have beautiful glittery Easter eggs!

Any of these methods will produce breathtaking eggs that can be used as a table centerpiece, included in an Easter basket or simply given as a gift to someone on that special day.