Egg-ceptional Eggs

Egg-ceptional EggsSee how everyday things help you make the most stunning and colorful eggs.

Basic Egg Decorating
What You Need:

• Hard-boiled eggs (prepared by a grown-up)
• Cardboard paper towel roll
• Masking tape
• Acrylic paint in colors you like
• Disposable plate
• Toothbrush
• Toothpicks
• Pencil with new eraser
• Adhesive bandages

Basic Instructions (for all the eggs):
1. If you want the background color to be the natural white (or brown) of the egg shell, just decorate a plain egg. For other colors, paint the egg a solid color and let it dry.

2. Painting an egg is tricky because it wants to roll all over the table. You can use your creativity to keep it from rolling — we used a short tube cut from a paper towel roll and taped it to the table to make a stand.

3. Or, you can paint the top half of the egg and put it back in the egg carton, let it dry, turn it over, and paint the other side.

We show four different ways to decorate your eggs.

Tip: Do not eat eggs that are not refrigerated or are decorated with paint.

Toothbrush Decorating
1. Pour some paint onto a disposable plate. Dip just the end of the toothbrush bristles into the paint and dot the egg with the paint. Let one side dry, and then do the other side.

Toothpick Decorating
1. Choose two colors of paint to decorate your egg and pour those paints on the disposable plate. To make the petals of the flower, dip about 1/4 inch of the toothpick into the paint, then lay the toothpick down onto the egg, making a petal. Repeat making petals, leaving a space in the middle for the flower center. Using a new toothpick and another color of paint, dip just the tip of the toothpick in the paint and dot the center two or three times. Let the egg dry.

Eraser Decorating
1. Pour some paint onto a disposable plate. Dip just the end of the eraser into the paint and dot the egg. Wash or wipe off the eraser to change colors. Dot one color at a time. Cover the egg with dots.

Tip: You can also use a cotton swab to make small dots on your egg

Bandage decorating
This way of decorating your egg works best on a natural-colored egg instead of painting the egg first.

1. Cut larger bandages in half the long way or use small bandages to decorate the egg. Overlap the bandage strips or make whatever design you choose.

2. Paint the entire egg, covering all of the bandages. Let the egg dry. Carefully peel off the adhesive bandages. There will be eggshell-colored stripes where the bandages were.

Tip: You could make designs on the eggshell-colored stripes by using some of the other painting ideas.