Real Homemaking

Dyeing eggs has long been an Easter tradition around the world. Here are steps on how to make some great, decorative eggs:

• Buy Your Eggs - White, brown, medium, large, chicken eggs, ostrich eggs - the choice is up to you. You can buy the eggs up to two weeks before dyeing them.
• Boil Your Eggs - Put all your eggs in a pot of cold water. Make sure the water is an inch or two above the eggs, and bring the water to a rolling boil. Putting a teaspoon of salt in the water will make your eggs boil somewhat faster, but is not needed. After you bring it to a boil, lower the heat and cook the eggs for another 10 minutes. After you take the eggs off the stove, pour out the hot water and pour on cold water (some people like ice) to cool the eggs.
• Prepare Your Work Surface - Easter egg dyes stain, so make sure you adequately cover the area you’ll be working on. A cheap plastic table cloth at the 99-cent store works great, and remember to keep plenty of paper towels at hand. After you’re done, just gather up the table cloth and throw everything away at once.
• Gather Your Bowls - You’ll want to dye your eggs in bowls for more even dye distribution. Do not use white bowls unless you plan on using them specifically for egg dyeing in the future; some dyes will stain them, especially if they have minuscule cracks.
• Make Your Dye - There are different ways of making dye; you can buy kits at the grocery store or regular food dye and make your own. McCormick has a varied line of colors and easy-to-follow recipes. Make sure you have white vinegar in stock beforehand. Or you can try natural colors using different fruits, vegetables, teas, spices and flowers. The American Egg Board has a great site on making natural egg dyes.
• Try Different Decorating Materials - There are more to Easter eggs than just dipping them in dye! Paint them with feathers, toothbrushes, Q-Tips, sponges or anything you can muster up. Try dripping straight food coloring on the eggs and blowing the drops with a straw to make a beautiful marbleized pattern. Or, try drawing on the egg or with a white crayon before dyeing, and the wax will resist the dye.
• Dry Your Eggs - After you’re done dyeing and decorating, place the eggs in the empty egg carton to dry. Just make sure that dye does not pool at the bottom of the carton and ruin your eggs.
• Make Your Eggs Shiny - After the eggs have dried, put a little cooking oil, like olive or vegetable, onto a paper towel and rub the eggs with the towel. Your eggs will now have a beautiful sheen to them. Just make sure not to use too much, because the eggs will get slippery (and not to mention, messy!)
• Try Blown Eggs - You can get even more creative with empty eggs - think glitter, paints and other materials you wouldn’t use on edible eggs. To make a blown egg, careful poke a hole in both ends of the egg with a sewing needle. Make the holes a little bit larger by shimmying the needle around, but be careful not to crack the egg. Once you have two holes, hold the egg over a bowl and blow gently into the top hole. The yolk and egg white should come out of the bottom hole. If it doesn’t, make the hole bigger. Rinse the egg gently with water, and handle with care - it is now very fragile. Dye and decorate to your heart’s content.
• Count Your Eggs - You may have started with two dozen eggs, but a few cracked during the boiling or dyeing phase. If you’re going to hide the eggs, make sure you count them first, then count them after the egg hunt is through. You may even want to note where you hid them (To keep yourself from finding a smelly surprise later on in the year!)

This wonderful article comes from TipDiva.

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