Egg Decorating

The humble egg has been the symbol of new life for centuries, and decorating eggs for Easter is a much-loved tradition for many families. Whether you grew up decorating eggs or you’re wanting to have a crack for the first time (pardon the pun!), we’ve outlined one of the simplest, yet most effective methods below. (Bonus: it doesn’t involve any messy egg blowing!).

When the eggs are finished, you can use them to decorate your Easter table, hide them for a (non-chocolate) Easter egg hunt, or get the family together for a good old-fashioned game of egg and spoon races.

Materials for decorating eggs

1 dozen eggs (or fewer, depending on how many children are participating)
bowls with one cup of warm water in each
food colouring
white vinegar
tongs or a slotted spoon
wax crayons and sticky tape

Method for decorating eggs

Choose eggs with a white shell if possible, as the colour will adhere better. Hard boil the eggs and allow to cool.
To the bowls of warm water, add 6 tablespoons of vinegar and 4 teaspoons of food colouring.
Dip the eggs into the bowls until the desired colour intensity is achieved.
If you like, polish the egg with vegetable oil to make the colour shine.

Get creative!
You can dip half in one colour and a half in another.
Try drawing on the eggs first, before dipping them. Patterns and shapes work well. The dye will not adhere to the wax crayon, so the drawing will stand out against the dye.
You can also tape up sections that you don’t want the dye to spread to (or use rubber bands, similar to tye dying). This can create some great effects.
If kept refrigerated, these decorated eggs can last in their shells for three days and still be safely consumed. You can also try to blend colours e.g. red and blue make purple.
Food colouring does stain easily, so it’s best to wear old clothes and cover the work surface with newspaper or an old table cloth.

Serve colourful dipping eggs for Easter

You could surprise your Brisbane Kid on Easter Sunday with colourful dipping eggs and buttery toast soldiers for breakfast. Simply boil the eggs as you would normally do, but add one teaspoon of white vinegar and two teaspoons of food colouring to your saucepan. Green eggs and ham anyone?