Crayon Wax Easter Eggs

I was talking with my artist mother-in-law last night at dinner about dying Easter eggs and she suggested we try using crayon wax to shake things up a bit this year. I'd never heard of this before, but since the wannabe elementary art teacher inside of me is always up for a fun new creative project, I thought we'd give it a shot.

I'm not actually sure it's necessary, but I prepped the project by peeling the paper off a couple of dozen old crayons. The time that we melted our old crayons into new crayons taught me that it's much easier to soak the crayons before trying to peel the label off. I did this quietly by myself in the kitchen this afternoon. There is something so restful and therapeutic about standing at the sink doing something monotonous…

After school, the kids rolled up their sleeves. I know there's a lot of great ways to dye eggs using onion skins and other natural dyes (we've used silk ties in the past), but let it be said that I bought a giant coloring kit off the grocery store shelf to supplement our experience.

In order to use the crayon wax to add color, you must handle very hot hard-boiled eggs. As soon as they are done cooking, you grab the egg with tongs, place it in the egg carton (or anything else that will hold it steady), and immediately put a crayon against its delicate shell. If you hold it there and start swirling it around a bit, the wax should melt onto the egg. When the egg begins to cool off, it's over. 

At first I was worried about the kids holding hot eggs and made them wear a glove on their left hand as a makeshift oven mitt. Soon (and much to their relief) I realized this wasn't really necessary. 

The boys were pretty interested in melting their colored wax onto the eggs. Sintayehu appreciated the dip-and-dye method. And yes, the hat came out and things got crazy.

We ended up doing a bit of both methods: we melted wax on the eggs and then dipped them in the dye to give them multiple layers of color. They're gritty, but I think they turned out beautifully!

 I just think Easter eggs are so lovely and delicate. There's something wonderful about all of the Spring colors and all of the peace and hope of the season!