Easter eggs are also known as Paschal eggs. They are eggs that are decorated for a Christian holiday, Easter. According to many sources, the Christian custom of Easter eggs was adopted from Persian tradition into the early Christians of Mesopotamia, who originally stained eggs with red coloring. The Christian Church officially adopted the custom as a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus. The practice of decorating eggshells is an ancient tradition. Decorated and engraved ostrich eggs have been found in Africa that are 60,000 years old. Ancient eggs have also been found in Egypt. The eggs were associated with death and rebirth. They were decorated ostrich eggs have been found covered in gold and silver. They are commonly found placed in graves of the ancient Egyptians.
1st Place
1st Place Name: Kyle Cat Location: Michigan Style: Jewels, Glitter, and Glue Title: Flower Power |
2nd Place
2nd Place Name: Ashley Crawford Location: Michigan Style: Hand Painted Title: Buggy Easter |
3rd Place
3rd Place Name: Dot Meow Location: Michigan Style: Dip Dyed Title: Stripe of Color |
Mix 7-8 drops of food coloring into 1 cup of hot water. Stir in 1/4 cup vinegar. For more intense colors, use small amounts of professional-quality food coloring gels or pastes. You then dip your hard-boiled eggs into the dyed water. If you're doing multi-colored eggs, you should let them dry thoroughly between coats of dye. For spattered eggs, dip egg in a base color and let dry. Dip a clean toothbrush in a contrasting liquid color and carefully flick bristles with your fingers to make paint splatter onto egg. For marbleized eggs, coat eggs with a base color and let dry. Mix canola or other light cooking oil into another color of dye (1 teaspoon oil per cup of dye) and quickly dunk eggs. The oil will repel color in some places and the dye will adhere in others, creating a marbled effect. Eggs can also be hand painted and decorated with jewels and glitter.
Jewels, Glitter, Glue
Wrap eggs with twine or rubber bands before dyeing to create a striped effect. |
Dip Dye
Create patterns with small bits of tape or stickers and remove after dyeing and drying. |
Hand Painting
Drop rubber cement on your eggs and rub it off after dyeing and drying. |
This short video will demonstrate an easy way to dye Easter eggs. You don’t need any special products and can use ingredients you already have at home in your kitchen.
To naturally dye your eggs shells you can use many household foods.
Pink: 4 cups chopped beets on white eggs
Dark red: Reuse the beet or yellow onion skin dye on brown eggs
Orange: 4 cups yellow onion skins on white eggs
Light Orange: 4 tbsp paprika
Yellow: 4 tbsp turmeric
Green: 4 cups chopped purple cabbage on brown eggs
Purple: 4 cups red onion skins