“Spongeware”-Look Decorated Easter Eggs
04/02/2021
When Easter is near, eggs of all colors and designs brighten our homes. We like to try a variety of egg-decorating techniques, from the easy commercial dyes in a tablet to experimenting with natural dyes that we concoct with onion skins, tea and berries.
Many of the artistic memories live on in egg cartons stored away in the “Easter” box. They last because we blow out the contents of raw eggs and clean them before we decorate. Like ornaments on a Christmas tree, the kid-decorated eggs come out annually. Full of memories, they’re lovely hanging from blossoming spring branches.
This year’s decorating technique is inspired by enduring spongeware pottery, popular in our country for centuries. The speckled look is super-easy to create, and it’s fun for the whole family to do together. Color the eggs first in soft colors if you wish, or keep them natural, and then just dab, dab, dab a cheerful palette of non-toxic paints here and there with a sponge.
Here’s the stuff you need:
–several eggs, blown (see below) or hard-boiled
–non-toxic acrylic paint in favorite colors
–recycled plastic lids or paper plates, one for each color
–pieces of sponge, one for each color
–spring-type clothespins or clips for sponge handles
–egg cups
–newspaper
Here’s the fun:
1. Working on a newspaper-covered surface, place an egg in an egg cup. Clip a sponge piece to a clothespin, and squeeze a puddle of paint onto a lid or plate.
2. Dip the sponge lightly in paint. Dab onto a piece of newspaper a few times, then lightly dab all over the top half of the egg. Let dry. Turn egg over and repeat on bottom half. Repeat with additional colors and eggs.
3. Hang decorated hollowed eggs from branches, or display them in a pretty bowl. If using boiled eggs, keep refrigerated until served.
HOW TO BLOW OUT CONTENTS OF AN EGG
Poke a small hole with a large safety pin at each end of a washed raw egg. Carefully wiggle the pin or a toothpick into one of the holes to break the yolk. Place a drinking straw over the hole on top, and blow through the straw, collecting the contents of the egg in a small dish. Rinse out the empty shell and let dry completely before decorating.
STORAGE
Clean egg cartons make good containers for neat stacking in a storage bin in your home.
Share with friends!
You might also like:
Blow A Tune With Bottles And Water
Blow up a balloon, blow your nose and we hope the pitcher doesn’t blow the save in tonight’s baseball game. If it’s your birthday, blow out all the candles on your cake to make the wishes, blow in the wind … It’s fun to play a mind game with kids using a fun word like…
Zucchini Chile-Cheese Bake
Leaves that were green may be turning to brown, gold and red, but summer’s growing season isn’t over yet. Tall and free, sunflowers still climb upward like Jack’s beanstalk. Their bright yellow blooms sway with afternoon breezes, crossing property lines and surpassing the heights of fences. So full of life and growth, I recently observed…
Put Waffles On The Menu For Mother’s Day Breakfast In Bed
Wouldn’t a fluffy, crisp waffle taste good right now?Keep that thought, and now think about Mother’s Day. Mom would no doubt be delighted with breakfast-in-bed waffles smothered with her favorite toppings. Dollops of whipped cream and strawberries on top, or real maple syrup flooding the plate. I could go for that!Here are two ways to…
Decorate Mini Notebooks For A Mom’s Day Gift
Think of all the times you need a little notebook: to jot down an inspiring quote, the name of a must-see movie, an appointment and all things in between. But wait; it’s 2021. Isn’t that what memo apps on phones are for? Where reminders and inspirational “aha” moments go up to the Cloud and back…
Traditional-Look Silhouettes With Photos
Remember back in your kindergarten days, making large shadow silhouettes on black construction paper for a one-of-a-kind Mother’s Day gift? Next to small handprints pressed into a round of plaster of Paris, silhouettes rank high on the list of personalized gifts Mom expects to receive sometime along the road of motherhood. To keep with tradition,…
Gardening Kit In A Clay Pot
A first-grade teacher does a project with her class where she gives each student a bag of “mystery seeds” to plant. With no idea what they are, the kids can only guess at the right soil and the best amount of water and sun. Then they watch them sprout and grow.Isn’t being a parent kind…
Make and Decorate Easy Bunny Balloons
What is the difference between a bunny and a rabbit? And, just as perplexing, what is a bunny rabbit?To California artist Ivy Chew, whether you call them “bunnies,” “rabbits” or “bunny rabbits, they’re the inspiration for her charming “Rabbit Run” series of archival ink and colored pencil art where her imagination takes us into the…
Decorate Easter Eggs Five Creative Ways
Hop to it! Easter is on its way. Here are some Easter egg-y ideas that are real kid-pleasers. For the first three, all you need are hard-cooked white eggs, prepared decorating dyes in small bowls and a variety of household items.RUBBER-BAND TIE-DYEWind two or three rubber bands of various widths snuggly around egg. Dye the…
Spring Bouquet With Branches That Sprout Pom-Pom “Blooms”
The first signs of spring are everywhere. Maybe you are noting them on your family calendar with your kids. Crocuses and daffodils poking up through dry leaves and songs of returning birds. Even in places where there aren’t mittens and woolen hats to put away, the first, fresh spring breezes and longer days of sunshine…
Shake and Decorate an “Egg Plant”
Shake and decorate hollowed-out Easter eggs, then save them as keepsakes to display from year to year as a whimsical “egg plant” centerpiece. The lovely eggs, together with other favorites, can be “blooming” out of a pretty Easter basket, a medium-size flowerpot or several mini containers lined down the center of your table or along…
- « Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- Next »
DONNA ERICKSON
