I Dye: 3 Showstopping Ways to Decorate Easter Eggs

Martha Stewart Living

Think decorating eggs is just dip, dry, repeat? Wrong! This Easter, give one of these creative ideas a try.

Lace Eggs



Take hard-boiled eggs to new heights by embellishing them with lacy patterns. Once the eggs are dyed and dry, pile them in a large bowl to use them as a centerpiece.

Materials
Eggs
Standard egg dye
Rubber bands
Inexpensive lace trimmings (or scraps from a curtain or tablecloth)
Scissors
Foam board fitted with flathead pins

1. Cut lace into strips long enough to wrap around eggs and still have extra to form a sash for holding. Wrap eggs, securing lace with rubber bands.

2. Dye eggs according to dye package instructions. Lift out, cut off rubber bands, and unwrap lace. Let dry on foam board fitted with flathead pins.

Related: 50 More Ways to Decorate Easter Eggs

Masked Eggs



Adhere common supplies such as tape, stickers, or even little leaves to eggs; when you dye the eggs and remove the "masks," the designs stand out.

Materials
Eggs
1/4-inch masking tape
Paper towels
Rubber bands or small stickers (optional)

1. To make a plaid egg using masking tape, start with a white or brown egg, or dye one a light hue. Wrap 1/4-inch masking tape lengthwise around the egg for stripes; rub the tape at the edges with your fingernail for a good seal, so dye can't seep underneath. Dye egg to desired color. Blot with a paper towel. Let dry 10 minutes.

2. Make stripes around the egg crosswise using 1/8-inch masking tape. Rub down tape; dye in a darker color, and dry as before. Remove tape.

3. For other design options, use rubber bands or small stickers (such as dots, stars, and ring-shaped paper reinforcers, available at office-supply stores; big stickers won't lie flat on the rounded surfaces of an egg.

4. You can also grace eggs with the delicate shapes of greenery. You'll need an egg white, small leaves or sprigs such as those from various herbs, a tiny paintbrush, a nylon stocking, string, dye, and paper towels.

Apply egg white to the back of a leaf with the paintbrush, place the leaf on an egg, and press gently with fingers. Cut stocking into 4-inch squares. Lay egg in center of square and pull nylon around it, stretching it taut; tie with string. Submerge egg in dye for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove egg, and blot with a paper towel.

Snip string, and unwrap nylon stocking to check color. If egg isn't the desired hue, retie, and dye again. When the desired color is achieved, remove nylon; peel away leaf carefully. Blot with a paper towel, then dry egg on paper towels for 10 minutes, leaf side facing up.

Related: Favorite Easter Brunch Recipes: Quiches, Casseroles and Cocktails

German-Style Paper Cutout Eggs



Bring the whimsy of scherenschnitte, the German art of paper cutting, to your tabletop decor. Eggs can also be inscribed with guests' names and double as place cards and charming favors

Materials
Egg template
Paper (in a solid color, no thicker than construction paper)
Transfer paper
Ballpoint pen
Small scissors
Mod Podge
Gel-ink pen
1/8-inch-wide silk ribbon
Sewing needle

1. Dye blown-out eggs as desired. Let dry.

2. Lay paper (solid color, no thicker than construction paper) for silhouettes face-up on work surface. Lay a sheet of transfer paper face-down on silhouette paper. Place template printout on top; trace character outlines with a ballpoint pen.

3. Cut silhouettes along transferred outlines using small scissors.

4. Coat back of 1 cutout with Mod Podge using a small brush. Apply cutout to egg; smooth using tip of brush handle. Let dry. Repeat, adding cutouts as desired.

5. Apply Mod Podge to entire egg with a medium brush. Let dry. (For place cards, write names on finished eggs' silhouettes with a gel-ink pen.)

6. Thread a 10-inch length of 1/8-inch-wide silk ribbon through the eye of a long needle.

7. Insert needle in bottom hole of blown-out egg; draw it up through top hole. Leave a hanging loop at the top, and draw needle back down through top and bottom holes.

8. Knot ribbon 2 to 3 times near bottom hole (make sure knot doesn't slip through the hole). Trim ribbon ends.

9. Hang eggs from quince or other spring-blooming branches that are secured inside a vessel weighted with stones.

For more fun with Easter eggs, try our favorite glittered egg tutorial.

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