All of my eggs are brown this year. Last year I had some white ones and I saved them back for coloring. How do the brown ones look? I don;t want to buy white eggs to color! Any tips or hints?

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), March 25, 2002

Answers

I also have brown eggs but buy white ones just at Easter time. I tried dying the brown ones once but didn't care for the results. Did use those shrinky things that come with the commmercial dye kits and that did dress them up after I didn't like the dye job.

-- Nancy (nannyb@huntel.net), March 25, 2002.

Last year I let John Michael color on the brown eggs. We had a few of the "wax" crayons that sometimes come in the kit, but we mostly used regular crayons. He just had to be gentle and go slow but they turned out great. I thougt this year I might try these cheap paints he got for christmas.I just put the egg in the carton and he does the top, let it dry and turn it over. We'll see how they turn out!

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), March 25, 2002.

We boil our brown eggs in red onion skins and they turn a deep mahogany color. There was a posting similar to this on the CS forum within the past couple of days.

-- Charleen in WNY (harperhillfarm@yahoo.com), March 25, 2002.

Melissa, We have also used the egg wraps with success. Usually I gave the kids paints and brushes and let them go at the eggs. We got some pretty interesting eggs. Happy Easter!

-- Joanie (ber-gust@prodigy.net), March 25, 2002.

Melissa, we bought some white eggs to color last year and then also used some of our brown and green ones. My boys were too young to care about the differences in color, but my nephew (he's 14) and I decided that we actually preferred the brown eggs. The colors come out more intense or something. We are only coloring brown eggs this year. (We'll just boil the green ones, I count them as already colored!)

We don't buy the egg coloring kits, either, we just use food coloring and vinegar. The recipe is on the box, and you can select a much wider variety of colors. The only trouble we have is narrowing down our choices!

-- Christine in OK (cljford@mmcable.com), March 25, 2002.

I got this from someone at work:

use paste food coloring, such as the type used in icing. to achieve richer colors than yo'd get with traditional easter dyes. Brown eggs especially respond to this trick.

Go natural: Onion skins tied around eggs give an orange marbled effect. Or create a dye bath by boining beets and craberries to achieve pink and red hues, spinach for a delicate green

Achieve plaids and stripes by wrapping rubberbands, dental floss, and strips of narrow masking tape around them. after words rub mineral oil for a deeper sheen.

-- Melinda (speciallady104@hotmail.com), March 26, 2002.

OOPS. I meant boiling beets and cranberries, my typing is not that great this morning. My hands are freezing.

-- Melinda (speciallady104@hotmail.com), March 26, 2002.

Glad to here it about the paste colorings that is what I have here. Also some kool-aid that we are no longer drinking!

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), March 26, 2002.