Fun with Easter Egg Dyeing!

*By: Megan Deppen*

Easter is almost here and a tradition that many us do around this holiday is Easter egg dyeing. I didn’t have much experience with this, however I quickly learned that there are endless amounts of ways you can design your eggs, so this is the time to get creative and have some fun with the family. If you’re new to dyeing eggs, here are a few tips I learned along the way. Have fun and Happy Easter!

• Plastic Eggs – If you’re like me and thought dyeing plastic eggs would be a good idea for kids, I quickly realized the dye will not adhere to the plastic. But, if you do want to go the plastic egg route, you can use paints or markers on them to make some cool designs. There’s also a lot less prep involved if you choose to use plastic eggs rather than hard-boiled.
  
• Boiling Eggs – If you are dyeing eggs, you need to hard-boil them first. I usually boil them on my stovetop, but I wanted to try the Sous Vide method. If you choose the Sous Vide, I boiled mine at 165 degrees for 60 minutes. The temperature varies depending on how you like the consistency of your hard boiled egg, but for the purpose of egg dyeing I would suggest that temperature. After the eggs have boiled, remove them from the water and put them into a bowl of ice water to cool. If you’re boiling the eggs on the stovetop, put the eggs in a large pot filled with water, making sure the water is covering the eggs at least 1-inch. Put the lid on the pot and bring the eggs to a boil. Once they come to a boil, turn off the heat, keeping them covered and let sit for about 10-12 minutes. Then remove the eggs and put them in ice water to stop them from cooking further.
  
• Egg Dyeing– For best results, make sure your eggs are at room temperature. If you’re using an egg dyeing kit, follow the instructions on the box. If you’re doing it on your own, you’ll need to mix 1/2 of boiling water with 1 teaspoon of vinegar and 10-20 food coloring drops. Repeat this for each individual color and then dip your egg in the coloring for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove your egg and voila!
  
• Decorating – Wait until the eggs have dried and now you can start to decorate. This is the time to have fun and get creative. The kids used stickers, gemstones, and a white wax crayon to write their names on the eggs (do this before dyeing). After you’ve decorated, now you can use the eggs for colorful Easter decor or an egg hunt with the kids.

What are some of your tips for dyeing eggs? Leave your comments below.