Coloring hard-boiled eggs is an Easter tradition. It's fun and there are so many ways to do it! You can make eggs of a single color, but an added touch never hurts anyone.
You can decide whether to eat the eggs, give them as a gift or use them for decoration.
Steps
Step 1. Organize the necessary
There are a few things you need to do before getting started:
- Buy eggs from the supermarket or collect them fresh from your chickens.
- Boil the eggs. To do this, put the eggs in a saucepan with a pinch of salt and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then reduce the cooking temperature. Simmer for at least ten 10 minutes and then take out the eggs carefully with a spoon or tongs. Put them under running water to make them warm enough, for at least a minute, and put them to cool completely on a rack in the refrigerator before use.
- Buy an egg decoration kit! These usually consist of several dots of dye, color coded cups, a special egg spoon and, of course, directions for making the dye. Alternatively, buy a set of food coloring bottles, which you can use for all kinds of projects, such as making a painted cake.
Step 2. Carefully follow the directions on the dye packaging and do the dyeing
In most cases, the pellet is dropped into water or a solution with about a tablespoon of vinegar. Liquefying food coloring usually requires vinegar. Make sure you have both nearby. You can use a glass, cup, or bowl to pour water into it - just make sure the container has enough space for the egg. A disposable plastic cup (suitable for hot liquids, if you are using them) would be perfect, because it doesn't matter if it gets stained and can cushion the egg from falling.
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Dyeing Easter Eggs 040909 Prepare the containers of the dye for the Easter eggs in a row. Place the boiled eggs where they are easy to access. It is also a good idea to set up the countertop by covering it with newspaper; you can then put the eggs above to rest to add more dye effects and it will also be useful for absorbing the dye drops. Then add an egg carton or rack to dry the freshly dyed eggs.
Step 3. Decorate each egg before dyeing if you plan to add decorative effects
If you want, you can draw on the eggs with crayons, or put rubber bands or sticky dots on the egg. By covering some parts of the egg with tape, stickers, crayons or rubber bands you can create cool effects: the covered parts of the egg will not be coated with dye when you dip the egg.
- You could dye one egg with a light color, mask some parts, and dye the rest a darker color.
- Of course, decorative effects can also be added after dyeing. A good way to find out what you prefer is to try decorating the eggs before and after dyeing.
Step 4. Dip egg with cut tape designs facing down
Make sure not to allow dye to go above the top edge of the tape. Hold until color below tape is darkened to your liking. 040410Su-j.webp
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Dyeingeggsawaiting The longer you wait, the more the egg will absorb color, so if the color is not what you want, leave it a little longer.
Step 5. Place the removed egg on a dye-covered work surface with newspaper
At this point, you can put a drop of a different color on the egg for additional color effects and then blow with a straw to disperse the drop of dye on the egg. This will give you interesting new decorative motifs. You can also use a brush if you like the dye.
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Plethoraeggy To make a particularly beautiful egg, repeat these steps as you like. Continuously dipping the eggs will result in colors mixed together, multiple layers of patterns and stripes. You can remove the bands and stickers and rinse or not; experiment with different methods, as explained in the following sections.
Step 6. Leave the eggs to dry in the carton or, better yet, in a rack that will minimize contact points
Place each freshly made egg and move on with the next egg until you are done with all of them.
Method 1 of 4: Marbled Eggs
Step 1. Prepare the egg dye as written on the set or use natural food dyes
If you plan to eat eggs, be sure to use food coloring.
Step 2. Add a teaspoon of vegetable oil to each container of dye
Note: If you want to dye some eggs normally or give them a base color before marbling, you need to do this first. Once the oil is in the dye, there is no going back! Experiment with the amount of oil added in the dyes - different doses create different levels of marbling.
Better yet, float drops of a concentrated blend of vinegar and food color onto a layer of shaving foam or float a few drops of an oil based on the water with the immiscible oil-based food coloring, rake the color to create the desired effect and dip the egg briefly. You may need to soak one side of the egg or one end for a moment. A pair of jawed pliers will help you hold the egg firmly and cover very little of its surface. If you are using shaving cream, allow the egg to dry before rubbing off the excess lather. With either method, it's best to be prepared for the possibility of the color sticking to you or your clothes more than the egg, even when dry
Step 3. Soak quickly
Using a spoon or ladle that comes in the kit, soak the egg completely in the dye and quickly remove it. Since oil and water do not mix, only parts of the egg will color, creating a marbled effect. Keep immersed to get a brighter color.
Step 4. Dry the eggs on a paper towel
Tap lightly with a paper towel on freshly soaked eggs or the color may become muddy. If you want to dip them in another color, wait until they are completely dry.
Step 5. Add some glitter
Dampen a paper towel with vegetable oil and lightly rub the finished eggs with it to add a nice shine.
Step 6. Put to cool
Cool the eggs until you are ready to view them.
Step 7. Amaze everyone with your masterpiece
Method 2 of 4: Soaking with Sponging
Step 1. Put five drops of food coloring in a cup and add a few drops of water
Step 2. Dip a sponge into the cup and press on the egg
Step 3. Let it dry
Step 4. Do the same with a different color
Step 5. Continue using other sponges with different colors, but leave it dry between sponges
Method 3 of 4: Polka Dot Eggs
Step 1. Attach stickers made in small circles to the egg
Step 2. Paint with any color or colors
Step 3. Let the egg dry completely
Step 4. Carefully remove the stickers
Step 5. Alternatively, paint the dots on each egg as you like
Method 4 of 4: Glitter Egg
Step 1. Dip the egg in the desired color or in more colors
Step 2. Cover with glitter paint
Step 3. Let it dry
You now have a very glam egg for Easter!
Step 4. Finished
Advice
- It is possible to combine different techniques to make the egg even more interesting.
- The more vinegar you add to the dye, the more vibrant the colors will be.
- Did you know that? In 2005, Belgian chocolatier Guylian created an edible chocolate Easter egg with 50,000 pralines, 8 meters tall and weighing 1,950 kilos.
- If you are using crayons to draw patterns on the egg before dipping it in color, keep in mind that the egg must remain at room temperature for the wax to set on the shell.
- The longer you leave an egg in the dye, the darker the color will be. So you can do a "quick" tap for a lighter color.
- Empty an egg to have only the shell to decorate in detail and to be able to keep it longer. When dipping a shell into the dye, it can be helpful to leave the spoon (or anything else used to dip the egg) on it, because empty eggs float. After you take it out, be sure to lay it on some paper towel or newspaper to keep any dye dripping from the holes.
- Try not to make any eggs too dark or too light. Otherwise they will all look the same.
- Hard-boiled eggs will keep in the refrigerator for 4 days.
- Why eggs? The egg is a symbol of the Resurrection of Christ, as the egg represents a new life. Different cultures of the world have traditions focused on offering decorated or dyed eggs and some countries have characteristic methods for dyeing eggs. Searching for different styles of decorations from around the world can be an activity to do with the children: ask them to try decorating the eggs according to the ones they prefer.
Warnings
- Eat eggs only if you've kept them in the fridge and used non-toxic food coloring and decorations. Eggshells are very porous!
- The glitter egg is for decoration only - don't eat it.
- Shell the eggs before eating them and don't eat the shells!
