How To Dye Your Own Easter Eggs

For ever so brief a moment, I entertained the thought of "eggs-perimenting" with my own, homemade, edible Easter egg dye. Heck, it was good for the environment, it was all natural and didn't contain chemicals that I couldn't pronounce. My enthusiasm didn't last long when I discovered I would need about $75 in supplies from the market.  

In addition, a test run with curry powder to produce yellow dye produced less than stellar results, not exactly the stuff that kids dream of hunting on Easter morning. Red cabbage produced a cool color, but its odor, combined with that of the curry, made my daughter's eyes water and her throat itch.

On the plus side, after a quick swim in boiling pomegranate soda, a test egg came out with an extremely cool pattern, the result of the carbonation bubbles accumulating on the egg during cooking. It also made the house smell much better than cabbage and curry.

I then turned my efforts to creating a better egg by design. The eggs-cellent results egg-ceded my eggs-pecations. My kids were eggs-tatic with the results!

That's all yolks!

Adding pizazz to Paas

Ingredients

• 1 package of Paas Easter egg dye (I used the kit that included little bowls)
• 18 hard-boiled eggs (or however many you feel you will need)
• Distilled white vinegar
• Shaped stickers (like hearts and stars)
• Crayons
• Rubber bands
• Electrical tape
• Oil
• White candle

Directions:

Prepare the egg dye as per the packet instructions. Use the following techniques to dye the eggs for best results. Be sure to experiment with double-dipping your eggs to create exciting color combinations. Wear old clothes because this stuff stains everything including your hands and your sink. Remember, the more vinegar you use, the brighter the color, but it also temporarily makes the egg more porous to absorb the dye. While the egg returns to its former shell condition when it's removed from the dye, you may end up with the insides of your eggs colored as well, especially if you soak it for extended periods of time.

Before dying, give your eggs a quick wash and gentle dry with a soft towel to remove any blemishes that might prevent even dying.

1.  Gently, but firmly place shaped stickers on the eggs before dying.  Dip into dye and remove at recommended time. When dry, remove stickers to reveal the white shape.  You can re-dip to change them to a lighter version of the first color or dip into another color for more contrast.  

2.  For a striped effect, wrap rubber bands or electrical tape around the egg of different thicknesses. Follow the same double dipping suggestion above if you wish.

3.  Draw designs with crayons or write a child's name on the egg, and then dye.

4.  For a speckled egg effect, add some oil to the dye and stir. Then add the egg.

5.  Prop the egg upright in an egg cup or other vessel. Drip melted white candle wax to create an extraordinary effect. Dye. Remove excess wax by hand or by running under hot water.

6. Place one or two eggs into a colander. Splash with distilled vinegar. Don't worry about coating the entire egg. Place drops of standard or neon-colored food coloring on the egg (no more than two, possibly three colors or your results will be muddy). Gently swirl the eggs in the colander to coat.  Let sit. Gently rinse away excess for an unusual tie-dye effect.