Tag Archives: Eggs

Apr 6 2012

Coloring Eggs

Easter eggs

Easter eggs (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

We are now officially in high Easter swing.  We are going to a community park tomorrow to hunt for candy eggs, but today we decorated our own eggs for Easter brunch on Sunday.  Aside from a few paint brush wars, and a couple tears because of a cracked masterpiece, things went remarkably well.

We have always done egg coloring with vinegar and fizzing dye tablets ala the store bought version, but this year we tried a less expensive version. And fortunately, taping down a vinyl tablecloth before the coloring event meant that other than hands and clothes, the colors for the most part stayed on the eggs.

I recently heard about using Kool Aid powder and water as your dye source.  I thought this was a great suggestion, as you used the dime packets of kool-aid and a cup of water, rather than the more expensive options, that justify their cost by adding in stickers and egg holders.  It also gave me a greater realm of color possibility than food coloring tablets: Kool-aid comes in red, blue, green, purple, yellow, pink, orange, and many variations of shades. 

To Make:

1. Measure out approximately a cup of water in a coffee cup.

2. Empty a non-sugar packet (the concentrated dime version) of Kool-aid into the water.

3. Mix

4. Using a spoon or fingers, gently place the hard boiled egg into the cup and allow to steep for about thirty seconds, longer if deeper color is desired.

It really was that simple.  For less than five dollars, including the cost of the eggs, we have two dozen hand colored eggs for our feast!

To add an exciting twist: Let the kids use crayons to decorate the eggs before dipping, the wax prevents the color from adhering to the egg shell.

Another option: Get out your children’s paintbrushes.  Since it is only kool-aid, you can have the kids paint the eggs with names, pictures, or multiple colors rather than just dipping – watercolor style, and yo don’t have to worry about vinegar getting anywhere it shouldn’t, like little eyes!

 

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