Easter eggs-travaganza: 14 favorite Easter egg ideas

Skill level: Easy

Materials needed: Boiled eggs, white crayons, Easter egg dye, vinegar

Directions: Make decorating a group project. Using a white crayon, each child draws one facial feature or design of their choosing on a boiled egg. Keep passing the egg until the face is complete, or the egg is completely covered with your designs. When the artists are finished, dip the egg in colored dye bath (made according to the instructions on your dye kit or food coloring box). The crazy face or pattern that’s revealed is sure to crack everyone up.

Tip: Can’t see the white crayon on a white egg? That’s what makes this idea so fun! Kids will love the element of surprise when they dip the egg and their designs suddenly appear.

Skill level: Intermediate

Materials needed: Boiled eggs, cotton cloth scraps, eyedropper, food coloring, plastic gloves (optional)

Directions: Wrap a boiled egg in slightly dampened cotton cloth, such as cheesecloth or a scrap of a T-shirt. With an eyedropper, dab dots of different food colors on the cloth. After 10 minutes, put on the plastic gloves and unwrap the egg. Let dry before handling without gloves.

Tip: Because you’re using undiluted food coloring, be careful—these might not be ones you want the kids to play with.

Skill level: Easy

Materials needed: Boiled eggs, rubber bands in varying widths, Easter egg dyes, vinegar

Directions: Make the egg dye bath according to the instructions on your dye kit or food coloring box. Wrap rubber bands of varying widths around a boiled egg before you dip it into the dye bath. Once the dye has completely dried, remove the rubber bands to reveal the pattern.

Tip: Varying the looseness of the rubber bands will also result in different patterns on the eggs.

Skill level: Easy

Materials needed: Boiled eggs, stickers, Easter egg dye, vinegar

Directions: Apply stickers to boiled eggs. Make the egg dye bath according to the instructions on your dye kit or food coloring box. Dip the eggs in the dye baths. Peel the stickers off when they’re completely dry.

Tip: Apply stickers in stages, dipping the eggs in different dyes between sticker applications for a more colorful look.

Skill level: Easy

Materials needed: Boiled eggs, vegetable oil, Easter egg dye, vinegar

Directions: Make the egg dye bath according to the instructions on your dye kit or food coloring box. Add 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil to the dye bath. Stir quickly, and keep stirring while you dip a boiled egg into the mixture. For more color, add the egg to different dye baths, letting it dry in between.

Tip: Be careful lifting the swirled eggs out of the dye cups (or transferring them to another dye bath). The vegetable oil makes them extra slippery!

Skill level: Easy

Materials needed: Wooden eggs, chalkboard paint and brush, chalk, hairspray (optional)

Directions: Paint wooden eggs with several coats of chalkboard paint (available in different colors at most craft stores), letting the eggs dry after each coat. Let eggs sit for 24 hours. Draw on the eggs with colored chalk. When you want to change the design, just wipe off the chalk with a damp paper towel.

Tip: Blow off excess chalk and spray light layers of hairspray over the chalk designs to temporarily keep them from smearing. If you want to keep the designs in place long-term, use artists fixative spray (available at most craft stores).

Skill level: Easy

Materials needed: Wooden eggs and acrylic paint or boiled eggs and Easter egg dye, coloring markers

Directions: Use painted wooden eggs with at least 2 coats of paint applied, or white or dyed boiled eggs for this project. Grab some markers (you can use permanent markers for “keeper” eggs or non-toxic water soluble markers for real eggs that will be eaten) and let your imagination loose.

Tip: This project is great for kids of any age. My teenage daughter loved this project! She did all three of the eggs pictured here.

Skill level: Easy

Materials needed: Crayola® Model Magic®, wax paper

Directions: Grab some Model Magic in different colors. (We used a multipack of primary colors plus an extra bag of white to do ours.) For more pastel colors, mix each primary color together with white. For example: To make pink, use mostly white with just a bit of red. Begin with a small amount of your favorite colors of Model Magic. Twist and knead the colors together with your hands to marble the colors. Then form the Model Magic into an egg shape with your palms, and gently roll them on a sheet of wax paper to smooth out any lumps. Let dry. The fun part about this project is that the eggs aren’t all the same size and no two eggs look the same.

Tip: The more you twist the Model Magic, the more the colors marble; but don’t knead too much or the colors will muddy.

Skill level: Intermediate

Materials needed: Raw eggs, nail or needle, fine glitter, spray glue (or white glue and paintbrush if working with children), paper bowls, bamboo skewers

Directions: Blow out eggs by piercing raw eggs at both ends with a nail or needle. Make 1 hole bigger than the other. Gently blow into the smaller hole, forcing the egg yolk and white out of the larger hole and into a bowl or sink. Rinse out the eggs with soapy water or vinegar to clean out the inside of the egg. Let dry completely before starting the craft. Fill a bowl with 1 color of glitter. Thread a bamboo skewer through the holes of the blown egg to hold it “rotisserie style.” Apply glue evenly to cover the egg. Gently roll the egg into the bowl of glitter until it is completely covered. Use a spoon to sprinkle glitter over any parts of the egg you can’t cover by rolling. Let dry. Remove skewer.

Tip: Glitter can get everywhere, so use a few coats of hairspray or artists fixative spray to help keep the glitter on the egg and not on you.

Skill level: Easy

Materials needed: Boiled and dyed eggs, baker’s twine (available at most craft stores)

Directions: Hold 1 end of a long piece of baker’s twine (1 yard or more in length), and wrap the rest of the twine around the egg until you have about 6 inches of twine remaining. Tie both ends of the twine together to secure.

Tip: Get another person to help you tie the ends. It’s a great job for tiny little fingers—just like wrapping a gift.

Skill level: Advanced

Materials needed: Raw eggs, 100% silk ties, T-shirt scraps or muslin, vinegar, string or rubber bands

Directions: Hit the thrift stores to find some 100% silk ties or recycle some of Dad’s old ties (just check with him first before raiding his closet because he won’t get these back!) for this project. Cut the tie into pieces large enough to wrap around an egg, removing the interfacing “guts” from each piece. Carefully wrap an egg in the piece of silk with the front side of the tie scrap touching the egg. Wind string or rubber bands around the wrapped egg to hold the silk in place. Using scraps of T-shirt or muslin a bit larger than the scrap of silk, wrap the egg again and secure with additional string or rubber bands. Carefully place the wrapped eggs in a pot, slowly adding enough water to cover them completely. Add 3 tablespoons vinegar and boil at least 20 minutes. Remove the eggs and let cool. Unwrap the cooled eggs to reveal the beautiful colors and patterns from the tie.

Tip: Use ties with bold colors (like red) for the best transfers, and make sure they’re 100% silk. Polyester doesn’t work!

Skill level: Easy

Materials needed: Boiled eggs, Easter egg dye, vinegar, stamp pads and letter stamps

Directions: Dye your eggs in various colors and allow to dry. Use letter stamps to put your kids names on the eggs or to leave a fun message. Or use small stamps with other simple designs to make an all-over pattern on the eggs. Let dry for 24 hours before handling, as stamp ink dries slowly.

Tip: Roll the stamp a little as you apply it to the egg surface for better coverage.

Skill level: Advanced

Materials needed: Blown eggs, white glue, water, paintbrush, waxed paper, fabric scraps or tissue paper with small prints or motifs

Directions: Blow out eggs by piercing raw eggs at both ends with a nail or needle. Make 1 hole bigger than the other. Gently blow into the smaller hole, forcing the egg yolk and white out of the larger hole and into a bowl or sink. Rinse out the eggs with soapy water or vinegar to clean out the inside of the egg. Let dry completely before starting the craft. Cut out motifs from fabric scraps or tissue paper. Set aside. Mix equal parts water and glue into a bowl and dab the mixture on a small area of the egg with a paintbrush. Place 1 motif over the glued area and pat down with your fingers or the paintbrush to smooth out the edges. Continue process until you’ve covered the egg in a random pattern, making sure to cover the blow holes. Let egg dry on waxed paper.

Tip: Apply a layer of the diluted glue mixture over the completed eggs for a smoother texture. Because the blown eggs make this project more time-consuming, you could also substitute painted wooden eggs.

Skill level: Advanced

Materials needed: Boiled eggs, Easter egg dye, vinegar, small feathers, lace and small fresh botanicals (we used thyme, cilantro and small fern sprigs), used nylons, rubber bands

Directions: Holding the botanical, lace or feather against the egg, wrap nylons around the egg and twist tightly. Cut off the extra nylon, and wrap a rubber band around the end of the nylon—tight, but not so tight that you break your egg! Dip your nylon-wrapped eggs in a dye bath. Remove and pat dry. When using botanicals and feathers, remove the nylon and botanical or feather immediately. For lace, you can create a two-tone effect by leaving the nylon and lace on overnight.

Tip: Pick materials flexible enough to lay flat against the surface of the egg. And try double dipping the egg in a lighter color dye for multiple colors!