By Heide Kennedy, Arizona Farm Bureau Communications Intern
When my brothers and I were younger, our favorite thing to do for Easter was to dye eggs. Whenever the grocery store would put cartons of eggs on sale, our mom would buy each of us a dozen or two and a couple of boxes of Easter egg dye, and the night before Easter, we would all sit around the table and dye eggs together. Then, after church on Easter Sunday, my parents would hide the eggs all over the backyard and we kids would compete to see who could find the most. Below are some unique egg-dying ideas to take your family’s Easter eggs to the next level! 
Silk Tie Eggs
Silk tie eggs? Yep, you read that right. Wrap your eggs in a silk tie, boil them, and then remove the tie once they’re cooled. This will leave behind the pattern and color of the silk tie. For best results, use ties that are vibrantly colored.
Watercolor Eggs
Who says that coloring eggs are just limited to using the pre-boxed dye kits? For a fun, pastel look, use watercolor paint and brushes! What makes this method even better is that you can freehand your own designs!
Striped Eggs
Making striped eggs is incredibly easy. All it takes is a variety of rubber bands! Just wrap them around your egg in whatever pattern you’d like, and then plop it into the cup of dye! After the egg dries, peel off the rubber bands and you’ll have stripes all over the egg!
Marbled Eggs
To create eggs that have a marbled effect, just add a little vegetable oil to your cup of egg dye! Since the water of the dye doesn’t mix with the oil, you’ll have spots on your egg that did get colored and spots that didn’t. Once the eggs are dry, just wipe off the extra oil that may be on the shell.
Rice Eggs
Did you know that you can dye eggs using rice? All it takes is a bag of rice and some food coloring. Just add a few drops to the bag of rice, shake it around a little to get color on the grains of rice, and then put an egg in the bag and shake it around to create a delicate speckled look on your egg.
So, this Easter, get a couple of cartons of eggs and start dying away! Not only is it a lot of fun, but it is also a great opportunity to spend time with family during the holiday!
For more Easter articles, check out the Fill Your Plate blog!