Pretend Play Toys

Easter Egg Decorating

One of the fondest childhood memories for many people is decorating Easter eggs.This tradition brings families together to celebrate Easter and welcome spring. While there are many store bought kits that make the process easy and convenient if you are looking for creative ways to decorate your eggs this year we have some tips for you. You can let your creativity run wild and design eggs that are truly artistic. Whether you choose to hard boil your eggs (and then devour them later) or blow your eggs so they can be kept for decoration longer, each of these methods can give you special one of kind eggs. Here are some creative ways to decorate your Easter eggs:

• Marbled eggs. Wrap uncooked eggs in onion skin and carefully insert into pantyhose. Tie the ends so the egg cannot escape. Place the eggs in a deep saucepan. Add cold water so that it is about 1? above the eggs. Heat until water is boiling and then remove from heat. Leave the eggs covered and let them stand for about 24 minutes. Immediately cool the eggs by placing them in cold water in a bowl to prevent further cooking. Carefully remove the pantyhose and you will see the eggs are marbled.

• Egg-ccessorize! After your colored eggs have cooled and dried completely use double-sided tape to decorate eggs with strips of rickrack or ribbon. For an elegant look attach the ribbon lengthwise. You can also glue on beads or small pearls.

• Use crayons. After your eggs are boiled let them cool for a few minutes.Hold the eggs with a paper towel while they are still warm and color with a crayon. The hot egg will melt the wax and make different designs.

• Use rubber bands. For a totally unique look wrap your egg with a few rubber bands before dyeing it.If you want to get a few different shades remove one of the rubber bands before placing the egg in a different color dye.

• Mosaic eggs. For a special look, cover blown eggs shells with small pasta or rice. Place tiny beads of glue on the egg, not the pasta or rice. After the glue has completely dried you can color your egg by putting a dot of paint on the pasta and rice.

• Dress up eggs. You can cut apart lovely lace doilies to add some flair to your eggs. Be sure to choose a doily that has a pattern that will look good even if you must cut it down to fit onto the egg.

• Sponged eggs. This simple technique produces spectacular results. You simply paint a hard boiled egg with acrylic craft paint and a brush. Once the egg dries, sponge on white paint to create fun patterns.

• Disco eggs. The first step is to dye a blown egg. Dilute craft glue with equal parts water and glue and cover the egg. Gently roll the egg in superfine glitter and let it dry completely before displaying.

• Stamped eggs. Use canceled postage stamps and glue to decorate your eggs. If the stamps are stuck to the envelope, you can soak them in warm water for about 15 minutes and peel them off. Dry the stamps completely before gluing them to the eggs.