There are lots of ways to decorate Easter Eggs. You can go to the store and buy an egg-coloring kit. It will turn out some very pretty eggs. You might make your own colored solutions with food coloring or natural ingredients, vinegar, and hot water. You can do dye resist, etchings, painting, gluing, double dipping, and so much more. You will find lots of suggestions in books at the library so be sure to check there. Here are some ideas to get you started.
This is a great activity for a group of friends and family. You will need a hard-boiled egg for each person and a collection of colored markers. The smaller tip permanent markers work best.
Here is a good method to use if you want to make a design made up of fine lines. Because it requires the use of melted paraffin wax, be sure you get help from an adult. No kidding. You could end up badly burned or.... a burn down house!
Before you melt your wax, be sure an adult is nearby to supervise. Always melt your wax very slowly in a double boiler. Never, ever, ever melt wax over direct heat. Do not try to melt wax in a microwave oven. The only safe way to melt wax is over water very slowly and never taking your eyes off it. As soon as it is melted, remove it from the heat.
First dye your egg any color you wish. This will be your background color. After it is dry, dip it into melted paraffin wax. After the wax is dry, etch your design by scratching through the wax with a darning needle. Then dip the egg into another color of dye. Because of the wax coating, only the lines you scratched will pick up the new color. Remove the wax by heating the egg slightly in hot water, and polish the surface by rubbing in any remaining wax.
Batik is an Indonesian method of hand-printing cloth by brushing melted wax on to the parts that are not to be dyed. The traditional method of making Batik eggs also uses melted wax alternating dipping the eggs in colored dyes and adding designs by painting on melted wax. This method uses masking tape to produce very interesting results.
Cut out designs from masking tape and stick them onto your egg. Dip the eggs into dye. When they are dry remove the masking tape. You can repeat the process by sticking on new cutouts and re-dipping the egg. You can overlap some of the colors for variety. Be sure to start with the lightest dye and work your way to the darker ones. If you want to keep an area a particular color, cover it with masking tape.
You can use a white crayon (actually any color you want) or hard paraffin wax to draw on designs which will resist the dye.
Ahh... remember the 60's? The good old days of love beads, bell-bottoms, hair, and tie-dye T-shirts. Well if you can (and I'm not saying I can) then these eggs will bring back memories. And if not, they are mighty pretty anyway.
You may want to use rubber gloves for this project or you may be caught red-handed!
Make up several colored dyes with food coloring or egg dye. Be sure they are strong solutions (about 2 Tablespoons of water to a tablet of dye). Add two or three drops of vinegar to each color for staying power. Now, dampen a piece of cloth with water and wrap it around the egg. With an eye dropper, drop spots of different colors of dye on the cloth. Twist the cloth tightly around the egg so the colors blend together. Gently unwrap the egg and let it dry.