Here are directions to create a marble effect on eggs. It’s an easy way to give your eggs more pizzazz this Easter.
1) Hard boil white eggs.
2) Prepare egg dyes. You can use store bought dyes (*see note below) or follow my instructions to prepare natural dyes.
3) You can dye some eggs different solid colors to have a base color for your marbling. You can also leave some hard boiled eggs white as a base color.
4) Put about 1/2 to 3/4 inch of one color of a dye mixture in the bottom of a shallow bowl.
5) Add 1 to 3 teaspoons of vegetable or canola oil to the dye. (You can start with 1 teaspoon of oil and, if needed, add more. The amount you’ll need will depend on the size of your bowl and how you’ll want it to look. More oil will let the base dye show through more.)
6) Quickly, but gently, place an egg in the bowl. Take a spoon or fork to “drizzle” some dye over the top to make a marble effect. Be aware if you’re using food coloring for your dye, it dyes the egg very quickly. So with store bought dye you’ll have to work faster. Using more oil in the dye will keep the dye from seeping into the egg too quickly.
7) Take the egg out of the dye and let dry on napkins or paper towels.
8) You can repeat the process in another colored dye if desired.
9) Once dry, the eggs may be a little oily. You can take a napkin or paper towel to spread the oil evenly around the egg to give it an even sheen. If you want a brighter shine, you can put a little more oil on the egg and rub it around to produce a very shiny egg!
*You can buy tablets for dying eggs and follow the instructions on the box or you can use food coloring that you buy in the store. Here are my food coloring directions for making egg dye: Use 1/2 cup water plus 1 teaspoon white vinegar plus 20 drops of food dye to make one color of dye mixture.
The photo below shows eggs dyed with a green food coloring mixture. All of the other photos show eggs marbleized with natural dyes.
FYI, I wouldn’t hide these eggs around the house for an egg hunt since they may stain your furniture.
This article was posted on Sunday, March 9th, 2008 at 1:28 pm and is filed under Australia, Countries & Cultures, Crafts, Dyeing Easter Eggs, Dyeing Eggs Naturally, Dyeing Eggs Naturally, Easter, Easter Eggs, Holidays Around the World, How to Marble Eggs, Mama Lisa, Marbling Eggs, Parenting, Teaching, United Kingdom, USA. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
6 Responses to “How to Marble Easter Eggs”
Leave a Reply
February 23rd, 2010 at 4:18 pm
could you tell me is it possible to do this with paper instead of an egg?
ruthie
February 23rd, 2010 at 9:38 pm
We have instructions to Marble Paper in a different post. Check it out! (See Step 2 in the post.) -Mama Lisa
March 21st, 2010 at 3:08 pm
Does this work on egg shells?
March 27th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
So is the dye itself hot when you dip the eggs into it?
If you make the dyes early, could you simply re-heat them?
March 27th, 2010 at 9:14 pm
Dawn – I’ve never done this on egg shells. I found a great article on preparing egg shells (by blowing out the egg through two holes carefully made with a large sewing needle on either end of the egg – one hole larger than the other. Then clean the eggs in a bowl of warm soupy water.). According to How To Make Easter Eggs it should work dying the eggs afterward. You should be able to follow my directions above. I would gently shake the dye water out of the hole in the egg shell afterward.
March 27th, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Laura – I would let the dyes cool off before using them. When I cooked the eggs with the dye (in the case of coffee to make brown) the eggs were overcooked and rubbery. So if you use hot dyes – the eggs might cook more and get inedible. I stored my dyes in the refrigerator and used them cold.