Sophie Bennett
Start With the Eggs Themselves
Before the paints come out, decide what your eggs are for. If they are destined for the table, hard-boil them for nine to ten minutes, cool them under the cold tap and let them dry completely. If the children want something to keep, blow the eggs instead: pierce each end with a darning needle, wiggle a skewer about inside to break the yolk, then blow through one hole over a bowl until the shell runs empty. Rinse the shells through with water, shake them out and leave them to dry overnight on a piece of kitchen paper.
Whichever route you take, give every shell a wash in warm soapy water and a wipe over with a cloth dipped in white vinegar. That removes the natural bloom on the shell and helps both dye and paint take evenly. Set everything out on a tray lined with newspaper, and keep a damp cloth to hand for sticky fingers.
Natural Dyes Straight From the Kitchen
You do not need shop-bought dye kits. A few store-cupboard ingredients give lovely, soft, old-fashioned colours, and the whole process feels like a proper bit of kitchen science.
- Red cabbage — shred half a cabbage, simmer in a litre of water for 30 minutes and strain. The liquid is a deep blue-violet. Add a tablespoon of white vinegar and it turns pink; add a pinch of bicarbonate of soda and it shifts towards green.
- Turmeric — two tablespoons in a litre of water gives a brilliant yellow. It stains worktops and tea towels, so keep it in a jam jar on a tray.
- Beetroot — peel and chop two cooked beetroots, simmer and strain for a warm raspberry pink. A splash of vinegar helps the colour set.
- Onion skins — the dry outer layers of red onions give terracotta; brown onion skins give a soft amber. Simmer for 20 minutes and strain.
- Spinach or nettle tops — for a gentle sage green that looks rather elegant on a spring table.
Add a tablespoon of white vinegar to every 500ml of dye, lower the eggs in and leave them in the fridge for a few hours, or overnight for the deepest colour. Glass jars work beautifully because children can watch the shells darken.
Wax, String and Potato Prints
The trick to patterns is to resist the dye before you dip. A white wax crayon or a stub of candle drawn on a shell will keep that area pale, so a name, a spiral or a scatter of stars appears as if by magic. Elastic bands wound tightly around an egg give crisp stripes once the dye has taken.
For botanical eggs, press a small leaf, a sprig of thyme or a buttercup against the shell, wrap the whole thing tightly in a piece of old tights or a square of muslin, and secure with a knot before dyeing. Unwrap once dry and you are left with a delicate silhouette.
If you would rather paint, a simple homemade mix works well: two tablespoons of plain flour, one of water and a few drops of food colouring, stirred to a smooth cream. Cotton buds make neat dots, cocktail sticks make fine lines, and an empty egg box makes an excellent drying rack. Potato prints — a halved potato with a shape cut into it — work just as well on eggs as on paper, and suit small hands.
Recycled Ribbons and a Display to Be Proud Of
Salvage ribbon from Christmas presents, oddments of wool, fabric scraps and string. Thread blown eggs onto a long length of ribbon using a large blunt needle, tying a small bead or a knot beneath each egg so it cannot slide down. Hung across a window or a mantelpiece, the shells turn slowly and catch the light.
Other ideas worth trying:
- A shallow bowl lined with moss, straw or shredded paper, with the eggs nestled in as a table centrepiece.
- A wreath of twisted willow or garden twine with eggs tied on at intervals, hung on the front door.
- Egg cups picked up at a jumble sale, painted and used to hold a single decorated egg on each place setting.
Label the underside of each egg with a pencil and the date, and the collection becomes something you add to each spring.
Keeping Everyone Busy
Mixed ages need jobs that match. Give the smallest children the vinegar wash, the elastic bands and the potato printing. Older children can manage the dye pans, the needle and the design decisions — and will feel a real sense of ownership over the garland. Set a rule that anything edible is eaten within a day, and anything blown is for looking at, not for rolling.
An hour is usually enough before attention wanders, so have a plate of egg and cress sandwiches ready and a pot of tea for the grown-ups.
Easter Days Out and a Springtime Table
Once the eggs are decorated, take the enthusiasm outdoors. Local country parks, botanical gardens and churchyards host Easter trails and egg hunts through the first half of April, and bluebell woods are at their best from mid-April — take a notebook and collect fallen petals and leaves to press for next year's designs. Farm parks with lambing sheds are a fine morning out, and many walled gardens run spring planting sessions where children can pot up a sunflower or a nasturtium.
Back home, the season's cooking suits all this activity. Rhubarb, forced or garden-grown, stews into a pink compote for breakfast. Wild garlic appears along shady lanes and makes a wonderful mayonnaise for devilled eggs. New potatoes, purple sprouting broccoli, watercress and the first of the spring lamb all belong on an Easter table, and a big plate of freshly dyed eggs sits happily in the middle of it.
Keep the dye jars, the ribbon tin and the egg box of paints together in one cupboard. Next year, you will only have to fetch the eggs.
