Thinking Outside of the Box (Egg) for Easter

When has an egg not been an egg? When it is a plastic, candy filled egg covered in egg shells for those adults and children out there who don't like eating hard boiled eggs, but like coloring them and like celebrating Easter.

For this craft, you will need to gather a Paas (or other brand) of egg coloring kit, white, clear drying craft glue, painter's tape, plastic eggs, candy and small toys, 1 dozen eggs, and a 1 gallon Zip Lock-style bag. You will also need a pot of boiling water (get your parent's permission, first).

Hard boil the dozen eggs with parental assistance or supervision. If you are young enough, just have them do it for you. Allow them to completely cool to room temperature, and then using your traditional Easter egg coloring kit, color your eggs in solid colors. Put aside the dye, because you will need it later.

When they have had time to cool to room temperature, and the dye has had time to dry, you should peel all 12 eggs, and make egg salad sandwiches. When you are peeling the eggs, keep the egg shells aside for your very own Easter eggs.

Now you need to clean the egg shells. Do this by taking all of the 'goopy' stuff from the 'inside' of the shells, and throwing it away. gently wash the shells, making sure that the color does not come off of the outside of the shells. Now, allow the cleaned and washed shells to dry, and place them in the dye solutions so that both sides of the shell gets colored. (NOW you can dispose of the dye).

Put your newly dyed, newly dried egg shells into your large Zip Lock bag, and crush them into small chips. (Remember, we are talking small chips of egg shells, not egg shell dust)!

Fill your plastic egg with small pieces of candy, pocket change, and small toys, and close them. Now wrap a thin strip of painter's tape (sticky side UP!) around the center of the egg where the two pieces go together. Make sure it is wrapped tightly, so it does not fall off during the next step.

Now coat your plastic eggs thoroughly with a thick coating of white, clear drying glue, and let them set for just a few short minutes. You want the glue to become tacky, but not too dry.

Place each egg, individually, into the gallon bag, and shake the bag gently so that each of your candy eggs gets fully coated with egg shell chips.

Take them out, and putting them carefully on a piece of waxed paper, allow them to thoroughly dry. You can place them in the refrigerator at this time so you don't have to worry about them being in room temperature. This will also help the glue to set more.

On Easter morning, hide the eggs along with the hard boiled eggs. If the glue you put on was thick enough, your children will still be able to 'peel' the shells away from the eggs, giving them the same enjoyment from finding and peeling Easter eggs, without the obligation to eat the eggs if they aren't liked, or if there are allergies, or vegetarian / vegan concerns in the family.