Egg-tastic

Posted by thedressingroommelbourne on April 4, 2012 · 1 Comment

Easter… get creative!

Looking at pretty eggs is one thing, actually making them pretty is another!

With Easter around the corner, we sussed out a great way to get a little messy with “Wholesome Cook‘s” step by step egg painting!!

Egg types and preparation

You may need to look around for white or light shell eggs as they are not a very popular type in Australia,

but the colours look much more vibrant on lighter shells.

What you will need:

6-12 eggs (quail or chicken)
1 tbsp white vinegar
enough cold water to cover eggs in a saucepan

Place eggs in cold water, add vinegar. Bring to a boil then simmer for 9 minutes for chicken eggs, 3 minutes for quail eggs. Drain water away.

Workspace preparation

It might get messy, especially when working with kids, so if you like, line your workspace with old newspapers.

What you will need:

old newspapers
small tray or platter
6-8 paper towels
4-5 heatproof glasses
1 tablespoon
(plastic gloves)

Line tray or platter with paper towels – this is where you will pop the eggs out of the dye. Reserve a couple for wiping eggs clean and dry. If you’re keen to dip the eggs to achieve patterns, I recommend having plastic gloves handy, the colour likes the porous nature of nails… NOT a pretty look.

Dyes

Whether you’re using powdered dyes or food colouring, preparation is similar. Although for powdered dyes always follow instructions specific to the brand and included on packaging. Generally this means dissolving the powder in 1/2 cup of boiling water and add 1 tbsp white vinegar.

What you will need:

4 vials of Rainbow food colouring (yellow, red, blue, green)
4 tbsp vinegar
2 cups of boiling water

Empty vials into 4 separate heat-proof glasses. Top with 1/2 cup of boiling water and add vinegar. Mix. You’re ready for dyeing.

Dying and creating patterns

Single colour

From pastels to rich hues, dazzle your family and guests with beautiful eggs in all the colours of the rainbow and more. Mix and match colours. Double dip. Have fun with it! To achieve a glossy finish, rub in some vegetable oil into the shells after they’ve been coloured and dried.

Lower each egg into the desired glass and let it steep for about 10 seconds. Lift egg with a spoon to check how strong the colour has gotten. White eggs and darker colours will become richer quicker, but the shades depend on how long you leave the egg in. For dark, rich hues leave the eggs in for a couple of minutes, checking progress from time to time.

Dipping – rainbow stripes, half-half and check

Be creative with your dipping and colour combinations. Half half eggs look great, but have you thought about dipping them on an angle?

Start with the lightest colour first, for a rainbow effect use yellow first. Dry egg with paper towel and dip in red to just under half way until it turns red. Wipe and dip blue, but not as deep to create a purple band. Dry. On the other side of the egg, dip yellow part red but hold it for only half the time you did on the side and you’ll get orange. Then dip into green to create light green.

For half and half follow a similar process but only dip in two colours, and for check tip the egg on its side for the dip in the third colour.

Rubber band multi-stripes

What you will need:

2-5 rubber bands or different sizes and thicknesses

Wrap rubber bands around and across the egg. Dip into a lighter of your two choices of colours. Dry with a paper towel and remove bands, wipe dry. Re-apply bands again over different areas and dip the egg into a different, complimentary colour (yellow / green, red / blue, red / green). Dry with a paper towel and remove bands, wipe dry.