Twenty-six Egg-cellent Pictures

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So, it was bound to happen.

Mama got sick.

I spent most of this week huddled in my house, trying not to sound like a barking mad seal, but I do. 

I really do sound like a barking mad seal.

Luckily, I only got Miss A's throat thing, cough and fever.

That's enough germ sharing, thank you very much.

I may have simply willed away an nasty stomach bug.  I hate feeling sick.  Blech.

Anyways, today was my second sick day in a row.

I was coughy and oh-so-achy, but my fever broke yesterday, so today was much better.

I only feel like I want a new throat.

Eli picked up the girls from school and brought them home to a very special craft.

I had been feeling a bit guilty for lounging around, encouraging movie marathons while our house was in the grips of a frozen bout of illness, and sometimes if you pretend you are not sick, you feel better... So, I prepared a craft.

The girls were pumped.

This is a super inexpensive way to decorate eggs.

In fact, I bet you have everything in your house right now.

I added food colouring (primary colours only) to a wee bit of water in a small glass. 

It was lots. 

The trick is to add a dallop of rubbing alcohol. 

The rubbing alcohol helps to "seal" in the colour on the egg. 

You can also use a bit of white vinegar instead. 

I've done it both ways before.

The pretty coloured water alone was enough to get the girls excited. 

They patiently listened to the directions, and did very well.   Such good listeners!

Note, they are wearing their smocks with no shirts...

The rubbing alcohol-food colouring mix might not wash out of clothes!

I hard boiled the eggs (I put the eggs in cold, cranked it up to MAX, and left it for about 15 minutes). 

Instead of letting the eggs cool off, though, I carefully dried them off (one by one!) with a dish towel and delivered them to the girls HOT. 

The other eggs stay in the hot water until they are ready to be decorated.

As you can see, I cut up a toilet paper roll to be out eggie holders.

Why on earth am I giving my girls the extra challenge of colouring a warm egg? 

Because the heat off the egg helps to melt the crayon onto the surface of the egg for a more vibrant creamy look.

Genius.

Miss G is nothing if not thorough.

I've seen this done many times before (and have done it a few times myself), but you'll find lots of ideas online like this.  I cannot take credit. 

The girls were very into it.

Look who is hanging out under the table! 

Hi Twofour!

Are you excited about the Big Bunny coming?

Oh!  He is!!  

They were very focused, and thought this was a very fun canvas to draw on! 

But, those colourful glasses... they are just so exciting!! 

A wee bit of waiting, and... 

Delight.

They each got to design and colour four eggs each. 

I think if we had done more, they would have rushed and not enjoyed it as much. 

Four each was a good number.

Miss G's first egg, the obsessively complete purple crayon covered egg, may have somehow affected the blue dye. 

I wonder if it was too hot when we put it in there. 

I think that it's possible that the plentiful wax crayon was not dry and affected the blue's ability to "seal." 

We tired for purple here, but the blue didn't dye.

I think next time, we will just bring a few extra glasses and do the colour mixing in them with the girls.

They love mixing colours.

You could, of course, draw white to seal in a layer of colour and dip again, but my girls were very happy with this process. 

This egg got cracked while bubbling and boiling away.

I told Miss G that it was unique.

So, she wanted it. 

Miss A is in the zone. 

So, the eggs were waiting in the bot of still hot (but not still boiling) water waiting for each girl to finish her previous artistic endeavour before another was brought out of the pot.

Mmm.  Melty. 

Here, Miss A is demonstrating how to flip an egg over to colour the other side.

I LOVE this picture. 

The girls asked me if we could colour some more eggs another day.

I told them, "Of course."  

In the meantime, these eggies are going to live in our fridge. 

(I just saved an empty egg carton and cut it up, so each girl would have egg holders.)

The girls are anxious for the Easter Bunny to see them, and they wonder if he'd like to hide their eggs for them. 

Twofour will diligently pass on the message to the Big Bun.

Did you know that Twofour likes to help out the Easter Bunny each year?

He does!

Many pet rabbits do.

I'll tell you all about it sometime.