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When Kelly Wearstler reaches out to you over email to show off the Easter eggs she made with her 18-month-old son, you reply immediately with follow-up questions to get all the details. “I’ve always seen Easter as such a vibrant, joyous holiday, so we really like to make it special for our kids,” she shares. “Now that my son Crosby is old enough to really get involved in the festivities, we’re excited to make Easter more of a production again in our home.”
From how she strategically “hides” her eggs around her house to her secret to keeping them in place during dyeing, here’s what the designer shared with us about the ways she improvises with a regular box of dye from the grocery store.
Play With the Palette
To go beyond a simple allover color effect, Wearstler partially submerges the eggs, then dips them multiple times (and at varying depths) to give them an ombré effect that’s still simple enough for Crosby to make, too. To achieve the pastel shades, she dipped for 10 seconds, and for more saturated tones, she kept them in between 5 and 10 minutes. Her secret to keeping the eggs in place? Espresso cups. “They allow for ultimate control over which part of the egg you color because the egg doesn’t roll around,” she says.
Get a Drippy Effect
To take your designs to the next level (without losing the attention of your little ones), Wearstler likes to create a painterly effect by letting the dye drip-dry. “Hold the tip of the egg in the dye for about 5 to 10 seconds. Then slowly pull the egg out, flip it over, and gently move the egg around while letting the dye run,” she says. “You’ll get the most amazing patterns and lines.”
“Hide” Them as Art
The reason Wearstler hides her eggs in plain sight is twofold. One, they’re pretty enough to be on display. But also: “Since my son is so young, I didn’t want to make them impossible to find. But I couldn’t make it too easy either, so some eggs are a little more hidden than others. I had fun positioning them among designs in our home, emphasizing existing shapes and colors.” For example, a green drippy egg almost blends into a marble sculpture’s veining, and a dipped yellow one looks right at home on a chessboard. To which we say, Crosby has his work cut out for him.
