The smell of vinegar and hard boiled eggs can only mean one thing — the Easter Bunny is on his way! If you and your little ones (or your adult friends… there’s no shame in that) are planning to dye eggs for Easter this year, keep reading. We’ve gathered some of the best Easter egg hacks from around the web. Everything from how to cook perfect, easy-to-peel eggs to how to get dye out of clothing and carpet. Plus, some of the coolest Easter egg decorating ideas we’ve seen this year. Let’s hop to it!
1. Start With Older Eggs for Easier Peeling
If you plan to make egg salad or deviled eggs once Easter is over, make sure you use eggs that are 7-10 days old. As eggs age, they become more alkaline and their shells become easier to remove.
2. Dunk Them in Ice Water for Yellower Yolks
Have you ever boiled eggs and noticed a greenish-gray-colored yolk? You probably overcooked them slightly. According to Elisa Maloberti, the director of product marketing at the American Egg Board, the discoloration happens when iron from the yolk interacts with hydrogen sulfide from the egg white. Once your eggs are done boiling, dunk them in ice water to stop this process.
Another plus of dunking in ice water is it keeps them from smelling!
3. Use Muffin Tins for Dyeing
You don’t have to dirty a bowl for every dye color your kids want to use, though I remember doing it as a kid. Instead, use a muffin tin! You can keep all your dye colors in one dish and it makes for easier cleanup and a lot less messes.
4. Dip Eggs With a Whisk
Those flimsy little tools that come with the egg-dyeing kits are not the best. Raise your hand if you ever accidently plummeted an egg into dye because that tool couldn’t hold the weight.
That’s what I thought. Put your egg inside a whisk and it’s not going anywhere!
5. Use Brown Eggs for Richer Color
I know it sounds weird to use brown eggs instead of white, but brown eggs actually result in a much richer, saturated color. Check this out: Dana over at Roscommon Acres dyed six white eggs and six brown eggs in the exact same dye, for the same amount of time. The bottom row is using the brown eggs:
Quite the difference!
6. Use Whipped Cream for Tie Dye Eggs
Feelin’ groovy? Grab some cool whip and get your tie dye on with this super cool technique from My Baking Addiction. Here’s how hers turned out:
7. Make Use of Old Silk Scarves and Ties
This is one of the coolest ways to dye eggs, in my opinion. Remember, you can really use any type of silk here. Old ties work just as well.
8. Use Kool-Aid Instead of Vinegar
If you loathe the smell of vinegar, this is a super Kool alternative. Check out this tutorial from Chelsea over at Lovely Indeed.
9. Ditch the Dye and Grab Some Glitter
Don’t want to bother with messy dye this year? Try glitter eggs instead, with this tutorial from Two Sisters Crafting. Note that this is for plastic eggs only.
10. Create a Mosaic Look Using Shells From Cracked Eggs
This one may be a bit difficult for the younger kids, but is a lot of fun for teens and adults. Simply crack some of your hard boiled eggs, dye the broken shells and secure them to uncracked eggs with Elmer’s glue. You can check out the full tutorial over at Sugar and Charm.
11. Press Flowers Onto Your Eggs
This is the perfect way to combine spring and Easter. All you need are some pressed flowers and Mod Podge to create these little beauties.
12. Use Spices, Fruit and Veggies for Natural Dye
Want to forgo the store bought egg-dyeing kit in favor of something a little more natural? Heather over at Mommypotamus shares how to dye eggs using natural ingredients like hibiscus tea, cabbage and turmeric. How pretty are those colors?
14. Turn Your Eggs Into Chalkboards
If your kids are the kind who get sick of their designs after a few minutes, these chalkboard eggs are perfect. They can create designs, erase and recreate. Check out the full tutorial over at Oleander and Palm.
15. Use Leftover Washi Tape for Cool Designs
This is another Easter egg DIY that requires absolutely no dye. Instead, cut fun shapes out of washi tape and let your kids use them to decorate their eggs.
15. Wrap Rubber Bands to Make Stripes
Make stripes or crisscross patterns on eggs using rubber bands. You can check out Laura Trevey’s full tutorial to see how she made the pretty designs above.
16. Make Perfect Speckled Eggs Using Rice
This rice dyeing method is so simple, and results in such pretty eggs. You can use just one color, like you see above, or change it up and layer the colors.
17. Try These Tricks to Get Dye Stains Out
Kiddos accidentally flung some spots of dye onto your carpet? No biggie. Just mix up a solution of dish soap and water. Here’s a handy how-to. It also explains how to get dye out of clothes.
Happy Easter! How are you dyeing your eggs this year? Have some hacks we missed? Share in the comments below or on Twitter @Redfin.
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