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30 DIY Easter Egg Ideas to Bookmark for Spring

Store-bought dye packs are no match.

March 16, 2020
Photo by Ty Mecham

Decorating Easter eggs is a quintessential holiday activity—we look forward to it with as much as excitement as we do pumpkin carving in the fall. Whether you want to dye eggs with your whole family or do it as a relaxing solo activity, why not take your Easter decorations to the next level this year?

There are lots of ways you can decorate Easter eggs aside from the traditional, nostalgia-inducing food-coloring kits. Some of the tactics are pretty unexpected and surprising, but all of them yield amazingly unique, beautiful eggs.


1. Vegetable-Scrap Easter Eggs

Why spend money on egg-dyeing kits when you can just use your vegetable scraps? Yes, you read that right!

Vegetables like purple cabbage, beets, and onion peels make amazing egg dyes, and they yield incredibly bright, saturated colors. This DIY natural egg dyeing tutorial even shows you how to create fun patterns on your eggs using washi tape or lace.


2. Rainbow Tie-Dye Easter Eggs

Believe it or not, these stunning tie-dye Easter eggs from One Little Project are surprisingly easy to make! All you need is paper towels, food coloring, twist ties, and water. With a little bit of imagination and patience, you can create beautiful rainbow eggs that would look amazing as an Easter centerpiece.


3. Ice Cream Sprinkle Eggs

Ice cream lovers out there will get a kick out of these fun, colorful eggs. Instead of dyeing the eggs, this “Ice Cream Sprinkle” Easter egg tutorial from Let’s Mingle uses paint to create a whimsical pattern on them. It required a fair bit of patience to paint each little sprinkle, but the end result is simply charming.


4. Rice Shake Easter Eggs

Kids will love this unique method of coloring Easter eggs. For I Heart Arts and Crafts' “Rice Shake” eggs, you use uncooked rice and food coloring to create cool speckled decorations. The best part is that you get to shake up each egg in a plastic container or bag—just don’t shake too hard, or else you’ll crack them!


5. Shaving Cream Easter Eggs

Can you tell we have a thing for rainbow patterns? These multicolored eggs get their abstract pattern from shaving cream mixed with paint. The tutorial from Hello Wonderful is definitely an unconventional way to color Easter eggs, but it’s super entertaining for both kids and adults (if you don’t mind getting a little messy).


6. Oil Marbled Easter Eggs

Your dinner guests will be dying to know how you created these fascinating oil-marbled eggs. Little do they know that all you need is a tablespoon of vegetable oil!

This tutorial from Little Bins for Little Hands requires two rounds of dyeing, but the end results are totally worth it for beautifully marbled Easter decorations.


7. Pretty Pastel Eggs

Did you wait until last minute to decorate eggs? No need to run to the store for a PAAS kit—we’re betting you already have everything you need to make these pretty pastel Easter eggs. This tutorial for naturally dyed eggs uses ingredients like coffee, tumeric, and fruit to create soft colors that are perfect for spring.


8. Indigo Marbled Eggs

We could stare at these indigo eggs all day. The bold blue color and amazing marble pattern make for one-of-a-kind decorations that are sure to be a hit at your holiday party. Just follow the instructions from Alice & Lois, and if blue isn’t your thing, swap in another color of nail polish.


9. Gold Leaf Easter Eggs

Feeling a bit fancy? You can make this year’s Easter eggs super luxe with the help of a little gold leaf.

This may look intimidating, but the great thing about gold leaf is that it looks best when it’s a little haphazard and messy. You’ll be surprised at how easy it is to create head-turning golden eggs.


10. Onion Skin Easter Eggs

We touched on this briefly with the vegetable-scrap dyeing method, but onion peels will transfer an unbeatable orangey-brown color onto your eggs. This tutorial for onion skin Easter eggs shows you exactly how to get vibrant minimalistic eggs in just a few easy steps.


11. Color Blocked Eggs

These deceivingly simple eggs from Oh So Beautiful Paper are made in much the same way as traditional dyed eggs, just held in their dye bath at specific angles and re-dipped. This post even includes a guide to achieving the exact color palette.


12. All the Natural Dyed Eggs

This knock-down, drag-out guide to natural Easter egg dyes from Shifting Roots covers everything from canned beets to black tea, and the results are beautifully aged-looking eggs.


13. No-Dye Washi Tape Eggs

If you're looking for a zero mess, no-dye situation this Easter, washi tape is the answer. These brightly hued eggs from Lovely Indeed are ridiculously easy to achieve, made with just washi tape and scissors.


14. Monochrome Eggs

A little bit of dye, some scraps of tissue paper, and plain Elmer's glue make these eggs from The Merry Thought come together quickly.


15. Easy Brushstroke Eggs

These museum-worthy eggies from Idle Hands Awake are just a dye bath and a couple quick brush strokes away.


16. Gingham Eggs

Buffalo plaid, but make it Easter. These gingham-inspired pink eggs from The Blondie Locks are actually made with washi tape and regular egg dye, just overlapped in several stages. As pretty as a fancy tea towel.


17. Alphabet Easter Eggs

Some spray paint (or dye) and simple letter stickers are all this tutorial from Lovely Indeed takes. Spell out an Easter saying, your family's names, or create an alphabet to arrange any number of words.


18. Mudcloth Easter Eggs

Easter eggs to match your favorite throw pillows? Why not? These little guys from Alice & Lois are as simple as they seem, just some paint and Sharpies to get the effect.


19. Temporary Tattoo Eggs

These stunning eggs are way easier to accomplish than they look. Nope, no intricate hand-painting, just apply a temporary tattoo to each egg!


20. Rubber Band Eggs

Stripey eggs from Sweet Paul are as easy as wrapping some rubber bands around each egg before dunking it in a dye bath. Different wrapping techniques and rubber band sizes will give the varied appearance in the above photo.


21. Potted Cactus Eggs

While these eggs are quite simple to replicate (a dunk in green dye, a little sharpie drawing, and a flower on top), you might want to make them from a faux egg so you can save them for next Easter, or better yet, leave them out all year.


22. All that Glitters Eggs

If the idea of gold leaf is too daunting (though, we promise you can do it), try your hand at dipping dyed eggs into a little school glue, then coat them with glitter. These can be as neat, messy, and glittery as you want—they'll look great regardless.


23. Hamburger Eggs

Okay these eggs are making us hungry for more than just... eggs. But that's what a brunch burger is for, right?


24. Sleeping Baby Eggs

These decorated eggs are so easy you don't even have to dye them at all, just draw little faces onto brown eggs, and if you're feeling fancy, make them some baby's breath flower crowns. Adorable.


25. Gold Band Eggs

For some decidedly classy-looking eggs, try dying them a deep, saturated blue, then creating a gold band around each egg either with washi tape or gold paint. Like so many of these though, you'll probably want to keep them out all year long.


26. Watercolor Flowers

There's nothing more spring than freshly bloomed flowers, which these eggs take inspiration from. A few blobs of water color and a fine point marker make quick work of this floral motif.


27. Little Piggie Eggs

Piglet! Eggs! We are screaming, crying, freaking out. Mama pigs from chicken eggs, baby pigs from quail eggs... does it get any cuter? Nope.


28. Delicate Neutral Eggs

If your eggs will be displayed somewhere to be admired, you might want to consider coordinating them with the rest of your house, just for fun.


29. Galaxy Eggs

Remember the galaxy print everything trend? These eggs are bringing it back in 2022, and the method is super beginner-friendly.


30. Simple Line Drawing Eggs

All you need to make these eggs are a fine tip marker and a little patience. A steady hand helps, too, but totally isn't necessary.

This article originally appeared in March 2018. We’re re-running it because we're already thinking about what to do with our eggs this year.

How do you plan to dye your eggs this year? Let us know in the comments!

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • PegS
    PegS
  • Elly Kazeil
    Elly Kazeil
  • Rebecca
    Rebecca
  • Marissa Jane
    Marissa Jane
Freelance writer, product tester & baking enthusiast.

5 Comments

PegS March 2, 2024
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Elly K. March 30, 2018
they are stunning, but i'm pretty sure those shaving cream eggs and nail polish eggs would be, if not toxic, then at least of questionable safety. egg shells are porous, after all.
 
Rebecca April 2, 2018
I've seen directions for using Cool Whip or whipped cream instead of shaving cream too; those would be more food-safe.
 
Marissa J. April 17, 2019
The nail polish eggs called for faux eggs, not real ones, which would be fun because then you could display your hard work year after year!
 
Marissa J. April 17, 2019
The nail polish eggs called for faux eggs, which would be fun because then you could display your work year after year.