10 Creative Easter Egg Decorating Techniques

Sure, you can buy a kit and dip your eggs in vinegar water for color, but how many times have you done that? Step up your Easter egg game this year with some techniques that show off your creative side.

1. SPECKLED EGGS

Penolopy Bulnick via Instructables // CC BY-NC-SA 2.5

How do you dye eggs to get a speckled color effect? Use rice! Penolopy Bulnick shows us how to make a dye "bath" without any water by using rice, food coloring, and baggies. You can even double-dip your eggs to get a multicolored speckle; just be sure to let the dye dry completely between colors. You'll find her complete tutorial at Instructables. Bonus: You'll have brightly colored leftover rice you can cook for a prank on the family.

2. SILK-DYED EGGS

These eggs get their unique patterns from old silk ties. Nancy Birtwhistle shows us how to transfer the fabric's dye to the eggs in this Instagram video, and she also has the instructions written out on her blog.

3. CONFETTI EGGS

dharmatradingco via Instructables // CC BY-NC-SA 2.5

These colorful eggs were dyed with the bright tissue paper used for gift wrap. Instructables member dharmatradingco cut up tissue paper into confetti bits and applied them to slightly dampened eggs to transfer the color, and recommends blowing out the eggs or hard boiling them for kids. The eggs shouldn't be eaten, "but you can use the colorful shell pieces in other crafts." Find the step-by-step instructions here.

4. SHAVING CREAM EGGS

Here's a way to make dyeing eggs fun for younger children that doesn't involve vinegar. For this technique, kids can roll the eggs around in a dye bath made with shaving cream and drops of food coloring. Emma Helming Willis has the instructions on her site.

5. OMBRE EGGS

Marji Roy of Ashbee Design // Copyright information

Fading pastel ombre colors look lovely on Easter eggs. Marji Roy at Ashbee Design made these with spray paint in pastel colors. Follow her tutorial to learn how to make your own.

6. MARBLED EGGS

A marbling effect is created when you float paint or ink on top of water, where it can freely move, and then dip an object, such as a sheet of paper, into the water and let an abstract design flow onto it. A modern variation on this method is to color your Easter eggs using a layer of nail polish floating on water in an appropriately-sized container. You can use one color, like Neelam at Patterns and Prosecco, or swirl different colors together like Crystal Owens at A Pumpkin and a Princess.

7. WENDISH BATIK EGGS

gedankenabfall via Flickr // CC BY-SA 2.0

The western Slavic Sorbian, or Wendish, culture traditionally decorates eggs in the batik fashion, using wax to create designs. An artist can create beautiful designs such as the eggs pictured here, but anyone can get started with this technique with basic instructions from Color Blast.

8. UKRAINIAN PYSANKY EGGS

esmecat via Instructables //CC BY-NC-SA 2.5

Pysanky eggs are a Ukrainian tradition that produces beautiful designs that can last permanently. They're created with a batik wax method and multiple dye baths to color different parts of the egg. The wax pattern is changed between dye baths to protect the earlier colors and the uncolored parts of the egg. It doesn't have to be as difficult as it sounds—Instructables member esmecat has a basic how-to for beginners.

9. CRYSTAL EGG GEODES

Growing crystals inside an eggshell results in a beautiful, glittery Easter decoration. Yes, you can grow sugar crystals in an eggshell, but these are fast-forming alum crystals that grow overnight. Martha Stewart shows us how to make them.

10. EASTER EGGS THAT GLOW AND CHANGE COLOR

wannabemadsci at Instructables //CC BY-NC-SA 2.5

Instructables member wannabemadsci went all out with eggs that not only light up, but change color. The secret is tiny LED color-changing lights inside plastic eggs. He got the lights by tearing up cheap color-changing electric candles, but they can be ordered online. You'll find the directions for these awesome eggs at Instructables.