How to make colorful Easter eggs

Eggs have been a part of Easter celebrations for hundreds of years. Since pagan times, eggs have been considered symbols of life and rebirth – a very fitting symbolism for spring. It’s believed that the tradition of decorating eggs and viewing them as a special treat to be enjoyed on Easter Sunday started because eggs were forbidden to eat for Christians during Lent.

Today, Easter treats are usually candy and chocolate shaped to look like eggs, but the humble egg still has its place on our Easter table and in our decorations.

Now, back to our fun Easter Egg DIY’s: If you want some colored Easter eggs that can hang on a branch or be displayed in a bowl for a longer period of time, try these sweet colorful eggs that are dyed using shaving cream and food coloring.

Marble dyed eggs

You’ll need:

• White eggs
• Vinegar
• Food coloring
• A muffin tin or baking tin
• A skin-friendly shaving cream
• Toothpicks, skewers or anything similar you have on hand
• Ribbon or string for hanging

1. Start by soaking the eggs in vinegar to weaken the surface of the shell. 5-10 minutes should be enough. You don’t have to soak the eggs in vinegar, but the colors will become more vibrant on the shell.
2. Since we only need the shells for decoration, empty the eggs by poking a hole in the top and bottom of the shell. Blow the eggs out of the shells and save them in your fridge for baking or cooking.
3. Now, prepare your shaving cream in your tin of choice. You can use a full baking tin and mix and swirl all the colors, or you can use a muffin tin to separate 1-2 colors, depending on your preference.
4. Pour drops of your food coloring onto the shaving cream - the amount of color you use will determine the vibrancy of your eggs. Use a toothpick to swirl the colors around, creating the marble effect.
5. Dip your eggshells in the mixture and coat them in shaving cream and color. Let the eggs sit in the shaving cream for about 20 minutes.
6. Wash the eggshells and pat them dry.
7. Put the dyed eggs in a bowl for decoration or add ribbon or string to make hanging ornaments. If you want to add ribbon without using a glue gun, cut a toothpick in half and tie the ribbon around the center of the small stick. Ease the stick into one of the holes in the egg, and you have your ribbon, ready to hang it on a branch or in a window

These eggs are meant to be used for decoration; however, if you want to dye hardboiled eggs and use them as edible decorations for an Easter lunch or dinner, we would recommend using whipped cream instead of shaving cream. Egg shells are semipermeable, meaning that anything on the outside of the shell could technically affect the inside.

Likewise, if you want to do this craft with smaller children and babies, and you worry they might try to eat the shaving cream, you can use whipped cream as a safe and edible alternative.

If you would rather not use real eggs at all, or if you want to use your eggs repeatedly for years, you can find dyeable plastic eggs to use for this craft as well. Just make sure to buy eggs made for dyeing or coloring; these will usually have a matte surface to allow the color to stick.

Our second Easter Egg activity is these fun cracked colored eggs. They’re completely safe to eat – so no food waste! – and they’re super fun and easy to make. 

Cracked colored eggs

You’ll need:

• Eggs
• Liquid food color
• White vinegar
• Sandwich Bags - One for each color of dye

1. First, you need to put the eggs in a pot and cover them with water. Bring to a rolling boil and continue to boil for 8 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the eggs sit in the water for about 5 minutes. Remove the eggs from the water and let them cool until they are easy to work with and do not burn your hand. About 30 minutes.
2. Now that your eggs have cooled down, lightly tap the eggs against a hard surface like your countertop until there are cracks all over the egg. Make sure you don’t overdo it, you want to make sure that the shell stays intact.
3. Now place 1 egg at a time into each sandwich bag. Add your coloring of choice onto the eggs and seal the bag. Now massage the dye over the egg until fully covered. Leave the eggs in the bag for 1 hour in the fridge to let the dye set – or even overnight, if you want a stronger color.
4. After soaking, rinse your eggs off with water and remove all of the excess colorings. Now pour a little bit of vinegar over each egg to set the colors.
5. Next, dry your eggs off and get ready for a cool surprise! Crack the eggs open and look at what’s inside.

The finished eggs are completely edible and make a fun addition to any Easter table!

As a bonus; If you want to go even more natural, you can make your own coloring from ordinary foods, like purple cabbage and onion peels! These natural ingredients can make a lot of different colors, for example:

Purple = Red beets
Red = Pomegranate/Cranberries
Rust/brown = yellow onion skins
Yellow = Turmeric
Blue = red cabbage

These are just some of the natural vegetables and spices you can use to make natural dyes – if you can make them using leftover food waste, that’s even better!

To make natural dyes, you need to boil your coloring agent of choice, like red cabbage, with 2-3 cups of water. Let the mixture simmer for 30 minutes or more to get the most out of the color. Strain your dye into a container to let it cool. Then just follow steps 1-5, and you will have fun, naturally dyed cracked eggs, ready to eat.