Weekend Fun and Dyed Easter Eggs

Boy and I spent the most amazing day the past weekend. Well, every day is amazing with my little Boy. Still… you get the idea right? We did something super creative and super fun together! And the best part was that the little fellow was excited and involved throughout!

What did we do? Well, we dyed our first batch of Easter eggs!

I have never attempted dyeing real eggs before. I decided to dye some hard-boiled eggs with food coloring. No store-bought color fizzies for us! Let me show you how I did it. This is a photo-intensive post!

The first step is of course, making perfect hard-boiled eggs. I just discovered the 12-minute trick to perfect hard-boiled eggs. I am pretty sure I am the only one who didn’t know that yet! Duh!!

So, I assembled the ingredients to dye eggs and make a small nest.

You will need:

• Hard-boiled eggs (of course!)
• Food coloring of choice (I used gel food colors)
• Warm water
• White Vinegar – 1 tbsp, per color
• Mugs – large enough to comfortably submerge an egg
• Old egg carton or egg holder to dry the eggs
• A little oil to shine the eggs
• Old newspapers or towels to protect your work surface

For the nest:

• A small wicker basket
• Brown paper (or recycle a brown paper bag)
• Scissors

How to:

• Prepare your work surface with paper or towels, if planning to do this with kids!
• Take some warm water in a mug. Add food color of choice and a tablespoon of white vinegar. Mix well.

• Repeat for rest of the colors. I used red, yellow and blue.
• Gently submerge the eggs in the colors. Have fun and swish them around! (My little model does a good job showing the process, doesn’t he?!!)

• The longer you keep the eggs in the solution, the darker the color will be.
• Remove and place the eggs in an empty egg carton or holder and let dry completely.

• Once dry, gently rub the eggs with a little oil to shine them.

• Make the nest now. Cut out brown paper strips for the nest. Fold the paper accordion style and cut thin strips. Open the strips, place them in the basket, and you will end up with a natural-looking nest.

• Place eggs in the nest and enjoy.

• The eggs will be so irresistible, you will want them for a snack! Now!! Don’t discard the shells. They make good fertilizers for roses!

• We also made some rubber-band wrapped and dyed eggs. We made orange, green and brown using the same three colors. Nice way to teach kids how primary colors combine to make new colors!

• Uh-oh! Looks like someone snacked on the red egg too!

• The eggs will keep for a few days in the refrigerator.

We ended up with a lot of leftover color solution. So I decided to let Boy make some art and gave him a few small white towels to paint on. I showed him the brush spraying technique, and he had a blast!

How I wish I had a few canvas sheets lying about. Boy did a really good job, don’t you think?!!

They turned out so pretty once they dried.

Do you dye eggs for Easter?

I  am linking up at the Spring HOP Party at Nest of Posies, It’s A Spring Thing Link Party at My Uncommon Slice Of Suburbia and at these awesome blogs.

• C.R.A.F.T
• A Blossoming Life
• The Dedicated House
• Between Naps on the Porch
• Keeping It Simple
• Mom 4 Real
• Coastal Charm
• Nap Time Creations
• Housewife How-To’s
• Savvy Southern Style
• Southern Lovely
• Adorned From Above
• Lil’ Luna
• The Shabby Creek Cottage
• House of Hepworths
• 52 Mantels
• Mom on Timeout
• Confessions of an ADD Housewife
• Katie’s Nesting Spot
• Somewhat Simple
• The Shabby Nest
• Finding Fabulous
• French Country Cottage
• Common Ground
• Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
• My Romantic Home
• Crafts a la Mode
• Love of Family and Home
• Design Dining and Diapers
• Tatertots and Jello
• DIY Show Off
• Its So Very Cheri
• Under the Table and Dreaming
• Nifty Thrifty Things