Easter

 Tie-dye Easter eggs

Tie-dying eggs has become a tradition in the family ever since I witnessed my sister doing it at one of the family's egg dying events.  I then saw how simple it was and now Easter wouldn't be the same without tie-dyed eggs added to the bunch!
The process is fairly simple. Here is a list of things you will need to tie-dye:

• food coloring
• paper towels
• old newspaper
• hard boiled eggs (..of course) 

First thing you would do is take a piece of paper towel and lay it over some old newspaper so it doesn't get too messy.  Take each food color available in the box and add a few drops to the paper towel being sure to separate the colors evenly (not to put too much of one or two colors).  Next is equally as fun as the coloring part: now it's time for the egg! Take your hard boiled egg and wrap it up in the beautiful paper towel you just tie-dyed, making sure every color you dropped comes into contact with the egg. Finally, unwrap your creation and VOILA!!
REMEMBER you can also take one of those magic crayons and draw something on your egg before you tie-dye for an added special creation!

 




Natural Egg Dying Techniques

The tradition of my family every Easter morning was waking up to find our baskets filled with all sorts of goodies. But, nothing was more anticipated that receiving our stuffed bunny rabbits every Easter. Our baskets were filled with chocolates and sweets as well as fun activity books to work puzzles in or coloring books.



We then emptied our baskets to get ready to hunt for the eggs we decorated together the day before.

Our egg dying was as average egg dying went. We would buy dying kits with the fizzy colors that melted in vinegar and water, then dyed our eggs plain solid colors, or used the magic crayon to write on them and decorated them with stickers. As we got older, we got more creative with our dying techniques. My sister was the one who started the tie-dye eggs. She would take a paper towel and dip the corners (or any part of the paper towel) in each one of the dyes, then wrap the egg in the paper towel, roll it around a little, and reveal the tie-tied egg of various colors(You can even drop food coloring directly onto the paper towel for more vibrant colors).

I know my grandmother used to like making her own die colors as well. This can be fun to involve the kids in. You can make certain colors like blue(purple) with the juice from blueberries, or a pinkish color from strawberries or beet juice. Coffee grounds makes a brownish color. The spice, Curry, when mixed with water makes a yellow color. All of these natural ingredients when mixed with water and vinegar can make great, natural egg dyes.  Making your own dyes can be a healthy and more environmental option for your family and the earth. Martha Stewart has some great examples and recipes for natural egg dying.