‘Egg’-cited for Easter Crafts

Easter is one of the best crafting holidays. The yellows, pinks, blues and greens made popular by the holiday make for cheery decorations throughout the house. After dyeing eggs, take a stab at these non-traditional – but adorable crafts.

Make a Scene

You can turn eggs into anything – or anyone! Glue paper arms and legs onto your eggs to make them into characters. Give your egg a hairdo by gluing on some yarn. Create your own egg family by printing out templates from mrprintables.com/easter-crafts-for-kids-egg-people.html

Cut out the templates and wrap them around to fit the eggs. Use tape or glue to hold the ends together.
Cut out the arms, place and fold them over the edge of the top (like in the photo), or glue to the sides as you like.
Place your eggs in the paper and draw funny faces or decorate as you want.
Courtesy of mrprintables.com

Empty out your Egg

Decorating a hollow eggshell allows you to save and display your delicate creations for years to come. Follow these instructions from the “egg-sperts” at PAAS.

Use a pin or needle to make a hole in the fat end of a raw egg. Wiggle the needle around or use a nail to create a slightly larger hole. The hole should be about ¼ inch across.
Make a smaller hole in the opposite end of the egg. Insert the needle into the egg to break the yolk. Use your mouth to blow into the small hold to remove the egg yolk and egg white into a larger bowl. When the egg has been removed from the shell, run water through the eggshell to rinse it.
Courtesy of Paaseastereggs.com

String Eggs

These eggs made of hardened string are an easy and affordable way to decorate. You’ll need various colors of craft string, water balloons, Elmer’s glue and water.

Blow up the water balloons in various sizes.
Mix equal parts Elmer’s glue and water in a medium bowl.
Dip the string into the glue mixture and wrap the string around the balloon.
Let dry for about 2-3 hours. Pop the balloon once the string is dry, pull out the balloon pieces and enjoy the darling Easter eggs.
Courtesy of Renee Cundick, the5cundicks.blogspot.com

TIP: Don’t use fresh eggs when making hard-boiled eggs, because they’re much more difficult to peel. Eggs purchased at supermarkets are generally at least three weeks old, so they should work fine.

Tips for a Successful Egg Hunt

Egg Hunt Etiquette:
Let’s face it, we’re competitive by nature. Finding the most eggs seems like the goal of most hunters, but for younger kids egg hunts should be about surprises and treats, not about winning or losing. Talk to the kids about keeping the egg hunt fun for everyone by leaving the more obvious eggs to be found by the younger crowd.

Egg Hunt Tips:
Make a batch of eggs with an equal number of colors and assign each child a color; ask each child to only hunt for eggs that are “their” color. (Eggs in colors assigned to older kids can also be harder to find.)
Change up what’s inside the egg. Eggs can be filled with special notes, scavenger hunt clues, stickers, small toys, money and candy.
Mix up the hiding spots. If there are “go to” secret spots to hide eggs, chances are the kids will remember them from last year. Strive to hide eggs in less obvious spots: in the mailbox, underneath the car, or in a bicycle’s basket or spokes.

Atlanta is home to Easter festivities and egg hunts galore. Toddlers through 12-year-olds can hunt for eggs and treats and enjoy a visit from the Easter bunny. See our roundup of metro-area egg hunts and Easter celebrations. 
– Kate Wallace

Easter Eggs Au Naturale!

From grape juice to paprika, choose natural ingredients to color your eggs

by Belinda J. Mooney

This Easter, why not perk up the holidays with some beautiful Easter eggs dyed naturally. This is a fun experiment for parents and kids alike and the results can be amazing. You will be surprised at the rainbow of color you can get from nature. Plus you get the bonus of having used no added chemicals or artificial dyes.
To start off, if you are using store-bought eggs, you might want to wash them off using mild dish soap. Eggs purchased at the grocery store have a coating of oil on them that farm eggs do not. Washing the oil off will allow your eggs to hold their color better. But if you choose to skip this step, you may – it will still work.
Now gather your supplies. Here is a list of natural ingredients and the colors that each makes.

  • Red onion skins – soft lavender to red, depending on how long you boil them or how many skins are in the pot
  • Red cabbage leaves – a lovely shade of robin’s egg blue (yep, blue not red)
  • Beet juice or cranberry juice – different shades of pink
  • Dill seeds – brown/gold color
  • Grape juice – lavender
  • Strong coffee – various shades of brown
  • Yellow onion leaves, turmeric, orange and lemon peels, cumin, carrot tops – yellow
  • Paprika – orange
  • Spinach – green eggs
  • Yellow Delicious apple peels – green/gold shade
  • Blueberries – blue
  • Grass – green

What to do:
To dye Easter eggs that you can eventually consume,  you will need white vinegar  and water, along with your choice of natural dye item or items (above).
Hard-boil your eggs.
Add 2-3 tablespoons vinegar to 1 quart of water, plus your natural ingredients. If it is a solid (such as spinach), use up to 4 cups. For spices, go with about 4 tablespoons. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool then strain. 
Dip the hard-boiled eggs into the dye. The longer they are in the mixture, the more vibrant the color will be. Turn the eggs every so often so the color will come out even.
Allow to dry in egg cartons. Refrigerate eggs you intend to eat.