How can it be almost time for Easter? I haven't had a chance to decorate any eggs yet, but I found some great ideas for creating natural-looking speckled eggs which I want to try.
This first idea and photo is from Southern Living, and I just love the colors of these eggs! They sound so easy to make, too. For the tea-stained, light brown eggs, you simply steep 2 tea bags in a glass or mug of hot water...I would recommend at least an 8-ounce size, leaving enough room to dip an egg in without the cup or mug overflowing. Lower a hard-boiled egg into the steeped tea for several minutes until it turns the desired color, then remove with a spoon and set aside to dry. I'd like to try different teas...black tea, green tea, herbal teas...to see the variety of tints I could get. Another idea for brown eggs: just buy brown eggs–they are becoming more and more available at grocery stores now. All you need to do is hard-boil them and speckle them–no need to dye!
For the blue eggs, Southern Living recommends adding 1 drop of blue food coloring and 1 drop of green food coloring in a glass or mug of hot water (or you can adjust the amount of drops to get the exact color you want). I like the idea of doing a variety of blue/green shades. Lower the hard-boiled egg into the colored water, keep in water until you get the desired color, remove with a spoon, and set aside to dry.
Southern Living speckled their eggs with brown craft paint and an old toothbrush, dipping the brush into the paint and lightly splattering it around the egg to get a speckled look. I'm not sure if craft paint should be used on eggs you are wanting to eat, so before you do this, check with your craft store or someone who would know if it's safe. You can always use some brown food coloring to make the speckles–that might be safer. Then let the eggs dry in an empty egg carton and refrigerate.
Another site, Dash, features some pretty pastel speckled eggs (photo above is from Dash). You can prepare your different dye colors in individual mugs or small containers using 1 teaspoon of vinegar, 1 1/2 cups hot water, and a few drops of food coloring for each container. As you dip each egg into the desired color dye, you only need to keep the egg in the dye mixture for a few minutes to get a soft pastel color; then remove egg with a spoon.
This site used a mixture of 10 drops of red food coloring, 5 drops of green food coloring, and a few drops of water to make a brown dye for the speckles, which are made with an old toothbrush. To speckle the eggs, dip toothbrush bristles in dye, then point the toothbrush 6 to 10 inches from the egg and run your finger along the toothbrush bristles from front to back. Place eggs in an empty egg carton to dry and then refrigerate until ready to eat. Dash has many other ideas on decorating eggs with easy-to-follow instructions. It would be fun to decorate eggs several different ways!
Have you had a chance to do your Easter egg decorating yet?
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