Painting or dyeing eggs around Easter is a popular activity. Simple or extravagant, many eggs are decorated for this holiday. When I was growing up I did not paint wooden eggs. I did, however, color real eggs a number of ways.

Types of Eggs

One way to decorate eggs was to use a blown egg. A blown egg is a real egg with the inside cleaned out. For those eggs, we used acrylic paint and a cotton swab as a brush. They are very fragile but can last for many years, if handled with care. My mom has some that are 25 or more years old!

Another type of egg decorating uses hard boiled eggs. However, hard boiled eggs need to be refrigerated shortly after being boiled. To decorate those, we would use a mixture of color tablets, vinegar and water. The eggs would be submerged into the mixture up to five minutes. When removed and dried, the eggs were dyed whatever color the mixture was. We used a clear crayon to draw crosses or designs or to write a name. The dye resisted the crayon marks. Therefore, whatever was drawn on the egg would show up.   

Choosing Wooden Eggs

My kids don’t all enjoy eating hard boiled eggs. Therefore, we don’t make too many of them, otherwise we would end up wasting many eggs. Also, my kids are not ready for blown eggs. They are not gentle enough and would crack the fragile eggs. I decided to begin a new tradition with our family. They decorate wooden eggs. Every year they each paint one egg. The wooden eggs last for a very long time. Also, they are not fragile and easily broken like the blown eggs. My boys each have their own collection of painted wooden eggs.

Decorating Wooden Eggs

I purchase wooden eggs from a craft store, such as JoAnn Fabrics. If the base of the egg is round my husband sands it down. My boys use acrylic paint, either matte or gloss. After they are finished painting we put all three eggs on a paper plate to dry. After about 30 minutes I pick up each egg then set it back down on the plate. That is to make sure it does not stick to the plate while it is drying.

When the paint is completely dry, in about 24 to 48 hours, I coat each egg completely in mod podge. I like to use some with a gloss finish. Then, when that is completely dry, I use a permanent marker to write their name and the year on the bottom of the egg. Sometime after Easter we put the wooden eggs into cardboard egg cartons for storage. Each year my kids are eager to look at their eggs from the previous years. I like to see their creativity and how they change each year. None of the eggs are exactly the same. Their preferences in colors and designs change year after year.