Crayon Resist Easter Eggs

Decorate Easter eggs by drawing on them with wax crayons before dying or painting. The areas covered with crayon wax will resist the dye and create wonderful patterns on the Easter eggs.	Safety Tips Use warm water, not hot water, for kids to safely mix and handle the egg dye. Adult help is needed when blowing out eggs. These Easter eggs can be eaten provided that
Materials Hardboiled eggs or blown-out eggs Wax crayons or oil pastels Egg dye or bleeding crepe paper Paper cup or bowl

Steps

	1.	Either hardboiled eggs or blown-out eggs can be used. Blown-out eggs take a bit more time to prepare but they last longer than hardboiled eggs. Pat the eggs dry to remove any moisture on the surface.
	2.	White crayon is usually used for doing crayon resist art. The seemingly invisible white outlines that are created as you draw on a white surface such as on paper or an egg shell are later "magically" revealed after dying or painting over these white outlines. To decorate the eggs, you can draw lines and basic shapes or you can do more complex images.
		You can think of the egg as a blank canvas that can be drawn on as desired. Colored crayons are perfectly fine to use and are great for making a pictorial design.
	3.	The eggs can be colored using any of these three methods: a.) Dipping the entire egg into a dye bath Make an egg dye by mixing ¾ cup warm water, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, and 10 drops of food coloring. Place the egg into the dye so that it is entirely submerged. Let the egg sit for at least 5 minutes. The longer it stays in the dye bath, the deeper the color will be. A blown-out egg will float naturally. You can remedy this by filling the egg with the dye before fully submerging it into the dye bath. You can also hold down the egg until the dye entirely fills it. When the egg is removed from the dye, you will notice that the areas with wax resist the dye and form a pretty neat design on the egg. Place the egg on top of a bottle cap or similar object where it can air dry.

		b.) Painting the eggs Paint the eggs with essentially the same recipe as the dye bath above, except with more food coloring. Mix about ¼ cup warm water, ½ teaspoon white vinegar, and 6-10 drops of food coloring.
		c.) Crepe paper staining Wet a piece of crepe paper and dab it onto the egg. Details on this method are outlined in our crepe paper stained eggs craft.
	4.	Try out the different methods for making crayon resist eggs and decorate as many Easter eggs as you like. The design on this particular egg was created with different colors of oil pastels. The egg was later stained with crepe paper, creating a nice magenta background. Check out more Easter egg dying and decorating crafts: Crayon Melt Easter Eggs Crepe Paper Stained Easter Eggs Decoupage Easter Eggs Marbleized Easter Eggs Rubber Band-Dyed Easter Eggs Sticker Stencil Easter Eggs Tie-Dye Easter Eggs