Once upon a time, I came to accept the fact that there really wasn’t a benevolent bunny hopping around my yard once a year to hide pretty eggs in clever places. (So clever, the dog always unearthed at least one or two we’d missed several smelly days later.) The upside to the Easter Bunny’s unmasking was that I got to join the egg-dyeing team, annually colluding with Mother in the kitchen after my younger sister’s bedtime. I became pretty handy with fizzing dye tablets and the wire dipper. Best of all, I got to help hide eggs first thing Easter morning, in places that would thwart even the dog.
The decorating of Easter eggs has advanced since then. Even as plastic eggs filled with candy or coins have cut into the bunny’s market, there are more ways than ever to come up with some pretty spectacular ways to turn a chicken egg into a small work of art. If the goal isn’t to eat the eggs, we don’t even have to use the chicken as middleman — or middlewoman, in this case. For long-lasting centerpieces or mantel arrangements, for example, wooden, resin and plastic chalkboard eggs are available in most crafts stores. So is an arsenal of tools for transforming eggs into art objects. Paints, pens, decals, vinyl stickers, fabrics, lace and adhesive tapes are at our disposal.
For colors, commercial tablets and food coloring are always available. However, for a purely natural colorscape, use foods to create dyes. Beets, red cabbage, turmeric, coffee, blueberries, red wine and paprika are among groceries that can work.
Choose a look
Themes can be playful or elegant, simple or elaborate. One of the simplest and naturally pretty looks may be brown farm eggs decorated with a white paint pen in freehand designs of dots, swirls or geometric patterns.
For even more natural charm, a nest of “speckled robin’s eggs” makes an organically lovely table decoration. Mother Nature is best at producing that incredible blue, but red cabbage can come close. Instructions are included today from Erica at honestlyyum.com, who swears the purple-ish dye will produce nature’s blues. Speckle the eggs with edible gold paint. Display them in an artificial bird nest (available online or at some crafts stores), or in a setting of moss, small branches and flowering plants.
For a household of children, Easter eggs as animals might be just the thing. At look-what-i-made.com, Sara in Feldkirch, Austria, shares all the details of turning blown-out egg shells into curly-tailed piglets and cotton-ball sheep, rabbits and birds with basic craft supplies like felt and pipe cleaners.
Another egg trend is chalkboard paint, which can apparently go everywhere, from our furniture and walls to real and faux Easter eggs. Kids can draw their own design, then erase them and start all over again.
For a rustic, woodsy setting, I’m drawn to the feathered eggs found at frugalmomeh.com. All these take are small feathers (with thin quills) and Mod Podge — both usually available at crafts stores. Remember, you can always use artificial eggs, or blown-out eggs shells, for decor that lasts longer than hard-boiled eggs.
Decorating eggs is a tradition that dates back to at least the 13th century, says history.com. Who are we to break the tradition?
SPECKLED ROBIN’S EGGS
1 dozen white, hard-boiled eggs
1 head red cabbage
4 teaspoon white vinegar
Edible metallic gold paint
Thick bristle paintbrush or old toothbrush
(Source: Erica at honestlyyum.com)
FEATHERED EGGS
Small feathers (check craft stores or dollar stores)
Hard-boiled eggs, blown-out egg shells or artificial eggs
Mod Podge
(Source: frugalmomeh.com)
STRAWBERRY EASTER EGGS
Eggs (hard-boiled or artificial)
Pink egg dye
Floral wire
Floral tape
Gold paint pen
White paper
Small star punch
(Source: David Hillegas; countryliving.com)
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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