How to Make Easter Eggs

What would Easter be without a basket filled with brightly colored eggs?

Decorating eggs is easy and inexpensive, using a simple mix of food coloring, water and vinegar. To create a rainbow of beautiful eggs, here’s what to do.

Step One: Choose and prep the eggs. Select large white eggs. Brown eggs don’t show color as well. Before you color, you’ll need to hard boil the eggs, or remove the yolks and whites by blowing them out. To blow out an egg, poke a small hole in each end of the egg with a large needle. Hold the egg over the dish, and blow in to the top hole. The raw egg will drip into the bowl, and leave an empty, and intact eggshell ready for coloring. For hard-boiled Easter eggs, make sure they are completely cooled to room temperature before coloring.

Step Two: Assemble Materials.

Here’s what you need to transform white eggs into colorful, Easter orbs. Newspaper, to cover your table or workspace, eggs, blown or hard-boiled, food coloring, white vinegar, small bowls, or cups of hot water, tablespoons for dipping.

Step Three: Make the dye.

Fill each bowl three-quarters full with warm to hot water. The water shouldn’t be so hot it will burn your hand. Leave enough room in the cups so the water won’t overflow when you drop in an egg. Add one tablespoon of white vinegar to each cup of water. This helps set the color. Next, add the food coloring. If you plan to eat the eggs later, use food-grade dye. Drop in about 40 drops, or a half a teaspoon, and stir well. The more dye you add, the more vibrant the color. Get creative and mix up an assortment of colors.

Step Four: Dye your eggs.

Set an egg on a spoon and lower it gently into the dye. Let the egg sit in the dye until it reaches the desired color. The longer you let it sit, the darker the color. Stir the egg gently to encourage even coloring. Remove the egg from the dye, and set it sideways on an empty egg carton to dry. Gloss up your eggs by adding a couple drops of vegetable oil to a paper towel, and gently wiping the eggs.

Dying eggs all the colors of the rainbow is easy, so make lots.

Use colored eggs in your Easter brunch centerpiece, tuck them into baskets and hide them around the house or yard for a traditional egg hunt.