March 30, 2008

Tie-Dyed Egg Instructions

My friend Andrea asked how we created the tie-dyed Easter eggs. Here is the answer!

We read somewhere (can't find the link now) that the following "tie-dyed eggs" recipe works well. We tried it for the first time this year, and we were very pleased. We'll definitely do it again this way next year.

1. Take 1-4 hard-boiled eggs and put them in a colander over the sink.
2. Splash them with some white vinegar.
3. Place 2-3 drops of yellow food coloring on each egg.
4. Gently roll the eggs in the colander (as much or as little as you wish, depending on the effect you're seeking).
5. Let the eggs sit for a good 30 seconds, so the food coloring has a chance to set a little.
6. Now repeat steps 3-5 up to two more times (using a new color each time). Remember to roll and let set after the addition of each color.
7. After the final color sets for 30 seconds, gently rinse with running water. (The more you rinse, the fainter the colors.)

The directions also said that using more than three colors can result in muddy-colored eggs. However, with some experimentation and small applications of additional colors (barely rolled in the colander), we had some luck with small applications of fourth and fifth colors.

The neon food colors work really well, although the neon pack does not include yellow for the base color. (We also experimented without using yellow as a base color, and it worked fine.)

This was such a simple project (way less messy, due to doing it over the sink), and far more creative than our typical egg-coloring activities. We'll definitely do this again next year.

Elizabeth

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