How to Make Marbled Easter Eggs Using Butter

Easter eggs are just plain fun to make when you think outside the box. Sure anyone can buy a package from the store with the little colored tabs that are sure to disappoint. But what can you create when you just go a little crazy?  I’ve found a great way to make marbled easter eggs with butter! That’s right – not only is butter great for slathering on warm biscuits, it also creates a really neat resist effect on dyed easter eggs.  (Now I’m craving a biscuit.) These eggs are so easy to make but will wow family, friends and kids!  You’re just going to start like you would dye eggs without the store bought dye kits. I love using the short plastic cups from the party section. It makes for easy clean-up and your kids can see what’s happening to the eggs as they dye. Plus you won’t hear the cling! cling! cling! of a child banging the spoon against the side of a coffee mug trying to get their egg out of the dye.  Fill each cup 2/3 of the way full with water and then add a splash or more of vinegar.  You can us apple cider vinegar in a pinch – I’ve done it!  Add a few drops of food coloring into each cup. I like to mix the colors and add extravagant levels of food coloring. Deep colors are great but if you add too much food dye, it won’t adhere fully to the egg – trust me I know. I started by dyeing a few eggs normally to give them a nice base color.  A few of the eggs were put to the side so that their base color would be white. Personally I like the white base eggs the best but that’s up to you and your kids to decide. Once the eggs in the dye had reached a nice deep shade, I pulled them out and put them on a paper towel to drive. Here’s the secret part to getting those really cool marbled effect easter eggs: Butter! I melted a few tablespoons of butter in the microwave. Then I added the melted butter to each cup of dye.  The amount of butter you add to the cup depends on how much of the color will take in this step. If you add a lot of butter such as a whole tablepoon, you will have a large area that will not accept the dye.  A half tablespoon will give you small areas that resist the dye. Play around to find the amount you like.  Put the eggs back into the dye, dropping them straight through the melted butter floating on the top of the egg dye. The butter is going to cling to parts of the egg shell, preventing those spots from being dyed.  When you pull them out of the dye after a few minutes they should have wonderful marbled patterns. Let the egg dye dry for a few minutes, at least ten, and then wipe the butter off with a dry towel.  You might have to do this two separate times. You don’t want to wipe too hard or you will wipe color off.  A little color coming off is ok.  This yellow one is my favorite but it’s a little harder to see. It’s a dainty details that demands attention. And yes, my fingers are dyed various shades of purple and blue if you must ask.  If you’d like to pin this idea to use for later, you can do that here.