Egg decorating projects to try at home!
We love decorating and dyeing Easter eggs with our kiddos! Over the years, we’ve tried lots of recipes for dye, lots of materials and lots of techniques! Today we’re sharing some of our favorites! Grab some hard boiled eggs, embrace the mess and join in the fun!
Tips for egg dyeing with littles:
Dress and prep for a mess. No matter how careful you are, your kids will get dye on them or the table. If you embrace the mess it’ll allow you and your kids to have more fun and less stress.
Make plenty of extra hard boiled eggs. In my experience, about 30% of eggs get dropped on the floor, mishandled and cracked. Have plenty of extras on hand so you don’t have any disappointed kids!
Take eggs out of the cartons to let them fully dry before starting. The cartons sometimes create condensation on the eggs which makes it really hard to do sticker or crayon resist.
If you don’t want to use real eggs but still want to get in on the egg decorating fun, check out this blog post from a previous year with a fun alternative!
Basic Dye Recipe
You can buy the kits in the grocery store. But, if you can’t find any in stock online or don’t want to make a trip to the store, here’s a basic recipe you can use for dye.
What You’ll Need:
White Vinegar
Cups - we love these by Paas but any cup will do
Tongs or spoons
Food color - we love these Neon colors but any food color will be fine
Warm water
Drying rack - we like to use plastic ice cube trays
Plastic drop cloth, newspapers or work on a surface you don’t mind getting messy!
Optional: rubber gloves to keep kids hands from staining
Instructions:
Mix 1/2 cup of warm water, 1 tsp white vinegar and several drops of food color into the cup. Use paper strips to test to see if you like the color. Repeat for each cup of color.
Dip hard boiled egg into the cup and let it sit. The longer you leave your eggs, the brighter the egg will get. Flip your eggs as needed. *Tip: try to encourage kids not to dip the same egg in multiple cups of dye or they’ll end up with brown eggs!
Allow to dry.
Dye Resist
What You’ll Need:
Stickers or rubber bands
Crayons or oil pastels - we love these twistables and these neon oil pastels by Crayola
Basic dye recipe
Instructions:
Decorate your eggs with stickers, rubber bands, oil pastels, crayons and/or permanent markers.
Dip your egg in dye. Let it sit until the egg reaches the desired color. The dye will resist the drawing markers.
Allow to dry. Once eggs are dry you may remove the stickers.
Collage Eggs
What You’ll Need:
Cut up tissue Paper - this is our favorite brand
Glossy Mod Podge or glue
Paintbrush
Instructions:
Find something to hold your egg upright. Use an ice cube tray or we love using the lids from our Melissa and Doug paint cups.
Paint egg with glue or Mod Podge. Add layers of tissue paper until your whole egg is covered. If you’re using Mod Podge, it will dry clear and glossy.
Egg Painting
What You’ll Need:
Kids 5 and up: Acrylic paint - we find that this works better than the washable paint because it dries much quicker and won’t wash off with condensation. But, be careful as acrylic is hard to wash out of clothes!
Kids 5 and under: Use washable paint
Paintbrush/water cup
Instructions:
Find something to hold your egg upright. Use an ice cube tray or we love using the lids from our Melissa and Doug paint cups.
Paint away. If you aren’t afraid of a mess, setup a “paint booth” using drop cloths and/or cardboard boxes where kids can freely fling paint. Splatter paint at your egg Jackson Pollock style.
Glitter Egg Critters
What You’ll Need:
Glue or glossy Mod Podge - If using glue, I recommend using clear glue if you have it on hand!
Paintbrush
Glitter
Google Eyes
Construction Paper
Instructions:
Dye your egg first using dye recipe above (optional). Set it upright to dry.
Apply glue to your egg. Sprinkle glitter to the glue.
Add google eyes.
Add additional details using construction paper.
Glitter Egg Critters
Low Mess Egg Decorating
Don’t want dye, non-washable paint splatters or glitter in your house? Don’t worry, you aren’t alone! Here are some tools you can use to decorate eggs that won’t leave a giant mess behind:
Permanent markers
Crayons or oil pastels
Stickers
Washi tape
Yarn wrapped around the egg
Hollow Egg
This is a really fun option for decorating eggs that don’t spoil or smell and can last year after year!
Raw egg
Needle
Suction bulb
Bowl
Instructions:
Insert a needle into both sides of the egg. Move the needle around in a circular motion to stir up the yolk. I also like to give it a good shake.
Use a suction bulb to blow air into one end of the egg. The egg will squirt out the other side. Do this very slowly to avoid the egg cracking.
Wash egg well with warm water.
Dye or decorate using any of the techniques above.
