Contents
How to Prepare Eggs for Decoration
Egg Decorating Tools
How to Dye and Color Eggs
How-To Techniques for Decorating Eggs
How to Measure an Egg
How to Cover an Egg
How to Divide an Egg
How to Glue Almost Anything
to an Egg
How to Present and Display Eggs
Egg Decorating Projects
Fauxazic Eggs
Nature’s Stencils Eggs
Blue Willow Decoupage Eggs
Fiber Eggs
Shibori Eggs
Pearl Eggs
Etched Eggs
Pop Art Eggs
Bas Relief Eggs
Batik Eggs
Chinoiserie Eggs
Polymer Clay Coiled Eggs
Wet Release Transfer Eggs
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How to Dye and Color Eggs
Eggshells have porous surfaces with individual characteristics, just like human skin. Some are more porous than others, some lighter or darker. Dyeing an eggshell isn’t an exact science and isn’t totally predictable: even eggs from the same carton have different shell characteristics and will absorb dye at different rates.
However, there are a few things you can do to make your egg-dyeing more consistent:
- Mix a fresh batch of dye each time you want to color eggs (rather than use dyes you mixed some time ago).
- Use distilled water and nonreactive pans to mix and prepare the dye. Dyes subtly react to chemicals in tap water and to certain metals in cookware.
- Make sure the egg sinks in the dye. Hard-boiled eggs will sink naturally, but to get a blown egg to sink, you’ll have to hold the egg under the surface until the dye bath fills the inside of the egg.
- Allow the dyed egg to dry completely on a drying rack.
Types of Dyes
There are three main types of dyes you can use to dye eggs: food coloring, natural dyes, and synthetic dyes.
Food Coloring
Food coloring comes in liquid or paste forms and is completely food-safe. Like many dye baths, food colorings are best used when hot, and usually require the addition of vinegar as a mordant (a substance that helps fix the color).
Natural Dyes
Creating your own natural dyes is a fun and easy experiment. Part of the charm of natural dye is the variety of tone and shade you get with each batch of dyestuff. If you’re not open to chance and the subtle variety of its effects, though, stick to more consistent synthetic dyes.
There aren’t many hard-and-fast rules or recipes for working with natural dyestuffs from your kitchen. But follow these general guidelines:
- Add a teaspoon of vinegar (to act as a mordant) to any concoction you create from natural materials.
- The more natural the material you use to make the dye, the more intense the resulting color will be.
- Use your dye while it’s lukewarm.
- Leave your eggs in the dye bath overnight to achieve the darkest color possible.
How to Make Natural Dyes
Generally speaking, you can make most natural dyes using the following process:
- Chop, grind, crumble, or otherwise break into bits the material you want to use to make the dye.
- Add the material to a small pan of water, then add a teaspoon or so of vinegar.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
- Strain out the solid materials.
The table below lists some common foods and spices and the dye colors they produce.
Color |
Material |
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Orange |
Brown or red onion skins |
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Red |
Beet skins |
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Pink |
Chopped cranberries |
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Blue |
Shredded red cabbage leaves or canned blueberries |
|
Yellow |
Ground turmeric, cumin, or celery seed |
|
Pale green |
Chopped spinach leaves |
Feel free to experiment with different materials and amounts—it’s the best way to get a feel for making homemade natural dye (and also half the fun).
How to Buy Natural Dyes
You can purchase other, more traditional natural dyes—such as indigo, madder, cochineal, and logwood—from stores that supply dyes to yarn spinners and weavers. The effects of these dyes are more predictable than the kitchen stove method described earlier. Use each manufacturer’s recommended mordants for best results.
Synthetic Dyes
Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for using synthetic dyes. These dyes are usually remarkably consistent, even given the natural variations among individual eggs. Since these dyes are chemically created, though, never use them to color eggs that you intend to eat.
Other Ways to Color Eggs
Dyes aren’t the only way to color eggs. You can also use any of the following paints or other methods:
- Acrylic paints: For a really predictable color, paint your eggs with acrylic paint. It’s easy to work with and dries quickly. One drawback to using an acrylic paint is that it sits on the surface and looks like a coat of paint. This may look good on wood, paper, or plastic egg shapes, but probably won’t look good on real eggs.
-
Gouaches: A mixture
of matte, opaque watercolor paints mixed and
a gum preparation, gouaches mimic the subtle matte finish of a natural eggshell. Several of the projects in this guide are painted with gouache.
- Colored pencils or markers: Use these to draw simple designs or to add accent colors to dyed eggs.
- Crayons: Use these to color eggs and also as a simple form of wax resist (since wax doesn’t absorb dye) Draw or write on the egg with a white crayon, slip the egg into a dye bath, and you’ve basically created a batik egg.
Never eat hard-cooked eggs that have been colored using any of these synthetic methods.
| Copyright 2007 Lark Books | Acknowledgments & Disclaimer |
