Easter Egg Dying the AWESOME Way - Part 2

Decide what type of dye you want to use. We have used lots of different egg dying kits in the past with shrink wrap, stickers, glitter, swirled etc. They are all fun and enjoyable. However, I have never gotten as dark of colors as I get when using Rit dye. They are vibrant and bright.

I started just putting glass bowls on the counter and made the Rit dye in the bowls. Once we started, they splashed and dripped and I was dying my counter so we then placed long rows of aluminum foil under the bowls to protect the counter. You want to use glass or metal bowls or you will dye your plastic bowls and there would probably be some residue that wouldn't be healthy. Make the dye according to the directions on the package. I didn't measure exactly, we just boiled water in our largest pan in the house and poured it into the bowls equally. I did add a dash of vinegar to each.

The yellow dye we used was such an old box of Rit that it had marked $.25 on the side. I collected the assortment of dyes above from all sorts of places. Some yard sales, others at estates sells, some on clearance and some at second hand stores. I always buy it when I see it for a good deal as you can use it for so many things. The yellow dye mentioned didn't mix well and didn't dye the eggs well. I took a picture so you could see it. So, if you have Rit dye that is marked less than $.35 you may want to skip using it.

Next, go around the house collecting things with odd textures. Go outside and get items. I just thought that grass stuck into a nylon could have given a cute result.

If you want to do anything with wax, there are two methods to use. One, is use a crayon. They sell the clear wax crayons with the Easter egg dying kits. The other method which gave us much better results is to buy wax for batking. My guess is you could use candle wax as well. Paraffin for canning would probably also work. The wax I used is moldable wax or wax for batik and it really was quick to melt and cool so that was nice.

To do this method, you take the wax and break it into small pieces. I used a knife but you want to be careful not to cut yourself. Then, take a small metal pan, line the whole thing with tin foil and then get a can and place the can into the pan lined with foil. Then place the wax into the can and turn on the heat. Don't make it to high as it can burn. I had my daughter watch and stir it until it was melted completely and then had her turn the heat down to low. She enjoyed this as funny as that sounds.

It didn't take long before we were up and running. To put the wax onto the eggs, I first tried using a paint brush. Let me tell you how much that didn't work. Then, I rinsed something and stuck it into the hot wax, um..... Lets just say that was a stupid move. It is like adding water to hot oil. DON'T DO THAT! My daughter did the same thing a bit later. The hot wax sputters and spits when water touches it. So, be careful if smaller children are going to be using it.

The best things we found were wooden dowels of different sizes and the tip of the shish-ka-bob stick where it comes to a point, it made putting small dots and letters on easier. The problem with the clear wax is that you can't see it on the egg as it is clear. You could probably use some candle coloring in it to make it just a light shade so you could see it better but then it would show the color when you are finished which could be wonderful if you like color. The wax cools quickly so you need to do a small dot or line and then get more on the tool you use to apply it. It is kind of like a fountain pen, you have to dip it often to do letters etc.

Next, let you imagination go wild. We did letters, cursive, filled hearts, open center hearts, dots, squiggles, drips, shapes etc. Something we didn't try but talked about was using Sharpies to write on them, put the wax over it and then dye the eggs. Another daughter suggested perhaps using stamps and ink to stamp the eggs. We lost interest after a few hours though and never went to dig those things out and try them. I am just sharing so that if you want to try our ideas, you can let me know how it worked for you.

We did try the wax pencil and I will show that to you when I post the video that I made showing the different textures we used etc. tomorrow.

To be continued.....