Sunday’s dinner is pretty well planned. Some of the grocery shopping is out of the way. Setting and decorating the Easter table is still ahead, and for many it’s one of the most enjoyable “tasks.” Have you thought of using decorated eggs as part of the tablescape? Eggs can go elegant or casual. They can be used in centerpieces, as decor along a table runner, or personalized as “place cards.” Here are four distinctive egg-decorating hacks to consider.
Lettuceware
I’ve seen a lot of egg ideas over the years, but this is a new one on me: lettuceware. It’s among more than 60 recent creative suggestions from Country Living at countryliving.com. And it’s my favorite kind: simple to do.
Paint the entire egg with green acrylic paint. Once dry, apply lettuce leaf “veins” and shapes with a thin-tipped white paint pen. These make a charming complement to a bunny-themed centerpiece using lettuce-leaf design platters or bowls.
Nail polish
Marbling eggs with nail polish is more involved than the lettuceware, but these have gotten some rave reviews on several sites online.
For these, pick up an assortment of inexpensive bottles of fun nail colors at the big box (and use up those near-empty bottles cluttering your bathroom cabinets). FYI: The site helloglow.com claims “silver polish was amazing.” Instructions there are to fill a plastic cup or bowl (a larger bowl worked better) with room temperature water. (If water is too cold or hot, the process doesn’t work well.) Gather some toothpicks and nail polish remover. (You’ll need this for messy fingers.)
Drop nail polish in your desired colors in the water. If it sinks, the temp isn’t right. The polish should spread out over the top of the water. Swirl the colors a bit with a toothpick.
Holding an egg at its ends between your fingers so that you cover up the least amount of surface, dunk it down into the water, hold for a second and bring it up. If using a large enough bowl, you can roll the egg around under the water. Dry the egg on a cooling rack or in an egg carton.
Brown is in
Going for rustic elegance? Few things could be more organically simple than this idea found at snappypixels. Brown farm eggs decorated with patterns applied with a white waterproof marker are earthy and chic. Lay the eggs in a nest and decorate the centerpiece with feathers and ribbons for the complete look.
Sit here
Craft paints, brushes and markers can turn plastic (or real) eggs into elegant name cards. To make the ones pictured on page 5B from liagriffith.com, paint eggs with a robin’s egg blue-green paint one side at a time, setting them in an egg carton to dry. Apply a second coat if needed.
Dip a stencil brush in gold paint, hold in your hand and flick paint onto the eggs using your thumb. Allow the gold flecks to dry, flip the egg and repeat on the second side.
Using a gold leaf marker (or a fine-point brush with gold paint), hand write the family and guest names, or initials, on the eggs.
When it comes to Easter, or any special occasion, have fun — not stress — with the decorating. Most of all, however you observe Easter, here’s hoping it is meaningful.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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