Blown Eggs and Broken Shells–An Easter Craft

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I can’t imagine the Easter season without painting Easter eggs. My mom and I used to dye them when I was small with vinegar and colored disks from the drug store. My stepkids and I continued the tradition the first year my husband and I were married sixteen years ago. We have the remnants of a small purple fingerprint on our doorknob to prove it.

My stepdaughter came home to dye eggs with us even during college. One thing that makes our way of coloring eggs so much fun is that we blow the eggs out first. I don’t hard boil them like my mom did because they don’t last as long as the blown-out version.

Blowing out the eggs is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Rinse off the eggs first, since you and your kids will be putting your mouth on them. I then take a small nail and gently poke a hole into both ends of the egg. I broke a bunch the first time I tried, so get an extra dozen just in case. HA!

It helps if you make the hole on the larger end of the shell a little wider. Blow into the smaller hole and watch the yolk come out the bottom. This is so gross! The kids love it.

Once all your eggs have drained completely, it’s time to dye them. We covered all our surfaces with cardboard so we wouldn’t ruin the counter.  This craft is messy, and the dyes stain!

There are several ways you can color your eggs. I’ve painted  with acrylic paints before–this method works great. Food coloring also works. Since the egg dying kits are so inexpensive and so varied, I usually pick a few of those up. I love the dye and stickers that come with them.

This year, we sponge painted our eggs. Since we had some dye left over, we decided to color all the extra shells we had lying around the house. I didn’t know exactly how they would turn out, but we decided to give it a try anyway. The colors were much brighter than I thought they would be. Once it was time to take the Easter décor down, I replaced our eggs with the shells we colored. Not a bad little decoration courtesy of a six- and nine-year-old!

How do you dye Easter eggs? I’d love it if you left your ideas in the comment section!