Marlene

Let's Decorate Some Easter Eggs!





There are lots of ways to decorate Easter Eggs. You can go to the
store and buy an egg-coloring kit. It will turn out some very pretty
eggs. You might make your own colored solutions with food coloring
or natural ingredients, vinegar, and hot water. You can do dye
resist, etchings, painting, gluing, double dipping, and so much
more. You will find lots of suggestions in books at the library so
be sure to check there. Here some ideas to get you started.


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Pass It On

This is a great activity for a group of friends and family. You will
need a hard-boiled egg for each person and a collection of colored
markers. The smaller tip permanent markers work best.

Everyone gather around the table. Each person takes an egg and draws
hair on it. Then each one passes their egg to the person next to
them. That person draws the eyebrows. Pass the eggs again and draw
the eyes. Keep passing and drawing until all the parts the face are
done. You can include cheeks, nose, mouth, ears, and special
features like freckles and moles. Then everyone can admire the
results! if you think you can't draw well enough to do this, just
get the Sunday comics out to use as inspiration.


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Etched Designs

Here is a good method to use if you want to make a design made up of
fine lines. Because it requires the use of melted paraffin wax, be
sure you get help from an adult. No kidding. You could end up badly
burned or.... a burn down house!

Before you melt your wax, be sure an adult is nearby to supervise.
Always melt your wax very slowly in a double boiler. Never, ever,
ever melt wax over direct heat. Do not try to melt wax in a
microwave oven. The only safe way to melt wax is over water very
slowly and never taking your eyes off it. As soon as it is melted,
remove it from the heat.

First dye your egg any color you wish. This will be your background
color. After it is dry, dip it into melted paraffin wax. After the
wax is dry, etch your design by scratching through the wax with a
darning needle. Then dip the egg into another color of dye. Because
of the wax coating, only the lines you scratched will pick up the
new color. Remove the wax by heating the egg slightly in hot water,
and polish the surface by rubbing in any remaining wax.


Easy Batik Eggs

Batik is an Indonesian method of hand-printing cloth by brushing
melted wax on to the parts that are not to be dyed. The traditional
method of making Batik eggs also uses melted wax alternating dipping
the eggs in colored dyes and adding designs by painting on melted
wax. This method uses masking tape to produce very interesting
results.

Cut out designs from masking tape and stick them onto your egg. Dip
the eggs into dye. When they are dry remove the masking tape. You
can repeat the process by sticking on new cutouts and re-dipping the
egg. You can overlap some of the colors for variety. Be sure to
start with the lightest dye and work your way to the darker ones. If
you want to keep an area a particular color, cover it with masking
tape.

You can use a white crayon (actually any color you want) or hard
paraffin wax to draw on designs which will resist the dye.


"Tie-Dye" Eggs

Ahh... remember the 60's? The good old days of love beads, bell-
bottoms, hair, and tie-dye T-shirts. Well if you can (and I'm not
saying I can) then these eggs will bring back memories. And if not,
they are mighty pretty anyway.

You may want to use rubber gloves for this project or you may be
caught red-handed!

Make up several colored dyes with food coloring or egg dye. Be sure
they are strong solutions (about 2 Tablespoons of water to a tablet
of dye). Add two or three drops of vinegar to each color for staying
power. Now, dampen a piece of cloth with water and wrap it around
the egg. With an eye dropper, drop spots of different colors of dye
on the cloth. Twist the cloth tightly around the egg so the colors
blend together. Gently unwrap the egg and let it dry.

Natural Dyes for Easter Eggs


This year instead of using a coloring kit from the grocery store,
why not use some natural dyes. Here are some ideas. Usually, the
more of the natural ingredient you use and the longer the egg soaks
(maybe even overnight) the darker the color will be.

REMEMBER: Not all of these eggs will be safe to eat. Do not eat eggs
that sit in hot water for many hours or overnight. Save those for
decorations.

Red
Save the skins from red onions and boil with the eggs
for 1/2 to 1 hour. Remember the more skins you use and the
longer you soak the darker the color will be. A smaller amount
of skins will produce a nice lavender.

Pink
Soak your hardboiled eggs in cranberry juice or the juice
from pickled beets.

Violet Blue
Soak your hardboiled eggs overnight in hot water to which
you have added violet blossoms.

Lavender
Soak your hardboiled eggs in grape juice, or, add 2 teaspoons
of lemon juice to the Violet Blue water to lighten the color.

Yellow
To a cup of hot water, add 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of tumeric
and 1/2 teaspoon vinegar.

Golden Tan
Save the skins from yellow onions. Add them to the water when
you hardboil your eggs. OR boil eggs with the brown skins of onions.

Brown
To a cup of hot water, add 1 Tablespoon of instant coffee, and
1/2 teaspoon vinegar.

Green
Add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to a bowl of the water from
Violet Blue before soaking your eggs. You can also soak your eggs
in liquid chlorophyll. (Buy it at the pet store or drug store.)

Pretty Pastels
You can rub blueberries and cranberries right on the shells for
soft blues and pink. Blend them for another pretty result.

__________________
"Life isn't like a box of chocolates... it's more like a jar of jalapenos. What you do today, might just burn your butt tomorrow."