Learn how to dye Easter eggs with food colouring or liquid watercolours with this quick and easy tutorial. In this post you’ll learn how to blow the yolk out of an egg, and how to dye your eggs. You can use food colouring or watercolours for the process. It will just depend on whether you want to eat your eggs or decorate with them.
Dyeing Easter eggs is one of those classic Easter activities that’s fun for kids and parents to do together every year. Once your kids learn how fun and easy the process is, they’ll want to make it an annual Easter tradition.
Before dyeing eggs with your kids, make sure they understand that:
If you’re dyeing boiled eggs food colouring must be used. Eggshells are porous so you must use a food-grade colouring agent if you want them to be safe to eat.
If you’ll be using your eggs for decorating, you’ll need to blow them out first, but you’ll be able to use either food colouring or liquid watercolours to dye them.
We have lots of super-creative ways to dye eggs here on my blog, but the method I’m sharing today is the easiest.
All you need are some eggs, food colouring or liquid watercolours, water and vinegar. In just a few minutes, you’ll have a batch of lovely, colourful eggs to display for Easter, and you and your kids can take pride knowing you made them the good, old-fashioned way!
For your convenience, this post contains affiliate links. (As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
If you want to make some really cool dyed eggs, check out our Tie Dyed Easter Eggs and our Sharpie and Rubbing Alcohol Easter Eggs.
How to Dye Eggs with Food Colouring or Liquid Watercolours
Supplies:
- eggs
- hot water
- vinegar
- small drinking glasses
- food colouring (liquid food colour or icing gels) or liquid watercolours
- stir stick or spoon
- cooling rack
- wooden skewer & thumbtack (if you’re blowing your eggs out)
If you’re going to dye boiled eggs with food colouring…
If you’re dyeing boiled eggs with food colouring, you must use food colouring. Watercolours are non-toxic, but I wouldn’t advise using them to colour eggs that you’ll be eating.
And if you’re dying boiled eggs, just boil your eggs first, (here’s a recipe for making the perfect boiled eggs), and skip right over the “how to blow out an egg” step.
How to blow out an egg:
- Use a thumbtack to make a hole at each end of your egg.
- Insert a wooden skewer into each hole, and wiggle it around to make the holes a bit bigger.
- Gently wipe the egg with a warm cloth to remove any egg white that may have leaked out.
- Cover one of the holes with your mouth, and blow hard! Be sure to have a bowl underneath to catch the contents. That way, you can scramble them up for lunch when you’re finished.
- Wipe the egg again to remove any egg-y residue before colouring your eggs.
Dyeing Your Eggs:
- Fill a glass with about a half cup of hot tap water.
- Stir in 1/2 tsp of vinegar (I’ll explain below)
- Stir in colour. For food colour, use 20 drops, For gel colour = use a generous dollop from a toothpick, for liquid watercolours, use 1 tsp)
- Place an egg in the cup. You can float your egg, turning it frequently so it colours evenly, or you can submerge your egg by pushing it under the water with your skewer. Either way, allow your eggs to sit in the coloured water for at least 5 minutes. The longer you leave your egg in the water, the darker it will be.
- Feel free to stir in more colour if you want the colour of your eggs to be more intense.
- Remove your egg from the water, and set it on a cooling rack to dry.
- You might want to blow it out again to get rid of any water that might’ve seeped in through the holes.
Why use vinegar when dyeing Easter Eggs?
The reason you need to add vinegar to your water when colour Easter eggs is to help the eggshells absorb the colour.
Vinegar is an acid, and it actually etches the shell of the egg, making it more porous and able to really grab and hold that colour.
And just look at that colour.
Aren’t they lovely?
That’s all there is to dyeing Easter eggs with ingredients you already have in your cupboard.
Now, go forth and decorate. Easter’s creeping up on you.
More Easter Egg Crafts and Activities for Kids
Marbleized Easter Eggs with Oil and Vinegar & Food Colouring
Decorating Easter Eggs with Liquid Watercolours
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
Dee
Can I use this method to dye wooden eggs?
Jackie Currie
I suspect not, Dee, but you could give it a try.