Yes, you guessed it, I have begun dyeing eggs!  With the start of Lent and an early Easter this year, I couldn’t resist starting some egg decorating!  We had a few inches of snow this past weekend, so I prepared by stopping at the grocery store and buying a dozen white eggs.  Then, while it was snowing, I watched the British Baking Show and emptied out the inside of 12 eggs to prepare them for decorating!

How do I empty them?  I use a needle to gently place a hole in both sides of the egg – one hole a little larger than the other.  Then, I blow into the smaller of the holes to empty the contents of the egg.  The most important part of this procedure is to puncture the yolk of the egg!  Otherwise, the inside of the egg just will not come out!  How is this accomplished?  Using a needle or any long, thin object, to push it into the larger hole several times.  Piercing the yolk is what helps the contents to flow out when you start blowing!

I am careful not to get any of the raw egg in my mouth and I wash the outside of the eggs with soapy warm water and rinse thoroughly.  I stand them back into the egg carton overnight to drain any water still left inside.  Once decorated, with no insides to go bad, the eggs will last forever!

For the maiden voyage of egg decorating, I decided to paint a few with succulents.  I know, succulents are so 2001, but I have been working on a terrarium community service project and I have succulents on the brain!  I decided to use 3 eggs.  I dyed them a taupe color using paste food coloring.  For my dye, I use ½ cup boiling water, 1 teaspoon white vinegar, and some food coloring.  This color will serve as the backdrop for my succulents.

I added very simplistic painted designs – since I applied the designs with cottons swabs and toothpicks – with acrylic paint.  It is hard to get too detailed without a proper paint brush!   I used the same few colors on all 3 eggs to give them a continuity.  My first decorated eggs of the year are complete – a trio of succulents!

So, the egg games have begun!  I hope I have inspired you to think about your egg designs this year!

Thanks for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie