10 Fab Ways To Decorate Easter Eggs
Do you enjoy decorating Easter eggs but are tired of using the usual drugstore dye tablets? Are you looking to branch out and try something different? Here is a great selection of egg decorating tutorials and inspiration for young and old!
Note: This post contains some affiliate links to help you find the products you need for your Easter crafts.
First up are two great guides to getting the dye colours you want!
This guide from Paging Supermom, shows you how to get the best colours from those little bottles of food colouring you have kicking around to tint cakes and icing.
This is the standard water/vinegar/dye combination that I tend to use, and it's very effective and simple, and results in deep, vibrant colours.
She provides a few colour charts, including this one from McCormick!
The next guide is from DoorToDoorOrganics.com, and gives tips and suggestions on how to colour eggs using ingredients from Nature.
Natural colours tend to be more muted, but look amazing in a nature-based Easter display. I love the gold that turmeric provides, in particular.
Other natural sources of dye include onion skin (rich brown), red/purple cabbage (blue), spinach (green), grape juice (lavender), chili powder (orange), and raspberries/blackberries (pink to purple) -- and that's just a few options!
Natural eggs dyes are a great way to celebrate Easter in a low-impact way -- all the dyeing ingredients can be composted and if you boil your eggs, you'll be in egg salad for days!
If you are interested in learning more about natural ways to dye eggs (and textiles!), there are some great resources available on Amazon, including Wild Color, Revised and Updated Edition: The Complete Guide to Making and Using Natural Dyes (Jenny Dean & Karen Diadick Casselman), and Harvesting Color: How to Find Plants and Make Natural Dyes (Rebecca Burgess).
Natural dyeing is a great way to experiment in the kitchen with kids, and it encourages them to look at the world around them in a different way. It introduces them to the idea of a low-impact lifestyle from an early age.
Now onto the eggs!
1. Tissue Paper Eggs (via Fireflies & Mud Pies)
The first one I am going to point out is very easy for little hands, and uses tissue paper and a decoupage technique to cover paper mache eggs in bright colours. I have done this on boiled eggs and hollow eggs as well, with great success. To read more about it and see some lovely photos of the finished craft, head on over to Fireflies And Mud Pies to read more.
2. Galaxy Eggs (via Dream A Little Bigger)
These eggs look awesome.
They jumped right out at me when I was looking around online for ideas, and I'm planning to try making some with the kids this weekend. We're big fans of Doctor Who, so you might even see a Tardis feature on on (or more).
This is a relatively easy painting project, though it does have a number of steps. It might not be suitable for the youngest egg decorators, but older kids should be able to manage it just fine. Visit Dream A Little Bigger for full instructions.
3. Water Marble Easter Eggs (via Throne & Thimble)
These pretty eggs have a lovely marbled effect -- all you need is some nail polish, some toothpicks, hot water, and (of course) eggs! Jump over to Throne & Thimble to see her finished results!
4. Melted Crayon Easter Eggs (via The Artful Parent)
I used to make wax resist eggs every year when I was a kid. They're easy and make use of craft supplies most families already have on hand. Draw on the eggs with crayons and then dip them in dye or paint them with watercolours, and watch the drawings come to life.
What I enjoyed doing was using layers of images and dye, similar to how Ukrainian Easter Eggs make use of the wax resist technique to build layers of design and colour.
The Artful Parent has a simple tutorial on how to use this technique to decorate eggs.
5. Speckled Rice Easter Eggs (via Crafty Morning)
This multi-tone eggs are easy to make and use Ziploc bags of dyed rice to create a granite look. They are an easy "no muss, no fuss" option, if you're trying to keep things simple. Head over to Crafty Morning for the DIY.
6. Mood Ring Easter Eggs (via Dream A Little Bigger)
Remember the Galaxy eggs? Well, Dream A Little Bigger knocks it out of the park (out of the Easter Basket?) again with these amazing colour-changing mood eggs. Just like mood rings, they change colour when exposed to heat. You do need to buy special paint to make this work, so you have to plan ahead, but I think you'll admit that the results are more than worth it!
Click through for the tutorial at Dream A Little Bigger.
7. Ombre Eggs (via McCormick)
These ombre eggs are simple and lovely. The technique described in the tutorial would also work well with natural dyes -- altering the length of contact between the dyes and the eggs will result in differing depth of tone in the colour. Click through for instructions.
8. Zentangle Easter Eggs (via Hashtag Blessed)
I love to doodle, so it's no surprise that I think these eggs are pretty amazing. She uses plastic eggs -- if you are planning to use real eggs I suggest hollowing them out first, as the Sharpie may leach through the shell and render the egg inedible.
I am also a fan of the black and white, but I could see these being pretty cool if dipped in colour once the doodling is done! Visit Hashtag Blessed for the full instructions.
9. Unicorn Eggs (via Red Ted Art)
My second youngest is unicorn and narwhal obsessed at the moment, so I'm planning on making a couple of these this weekend. You need a few craft supplies, so check the requirements before getting started. Overall, these unicorn eggs are pretty simple and can be made quickly with the help of an adult.
Visit Red Ted Art for the full tutorial.
10. Thumbprint Easter Eggs (via Childhood 101)
Thumprints and fingerprints are always a favourite for me when it comes to decorating eggs and Christmas ornaments. It's such a treasure to be able to look back years down the road and see the tiny prints and remember how little our kids once were. She uses wooden eggs, like these ones from Amazon, which is a fantastic idea because these aren't something you want breaking!
This is a simple way to decorate eggs, requiring little more than a bit of paint to dab on fingertips and a fine Sharpie to add any necessary features or designs. You can view the full instructions on Childhood 101.
Not enough Easter ideas for you?
Visit my Pinterest Easter and Spring Decor board for more inspiration! You will find all of these ideas and so much more!