Glittered, beribboned, or stenciled eggs are a beautiful alternative to the traditional solid-color variety. Whichever style you choose, an Easter egg tree (left) offers a perfect way to display your handiwork.

Preparing the Dye
The easiest way to dye eggs is with liquid food coloring. Bring 3 cups of water to a boil and remove from heat; add 2 tablespoons white vinegar and 2 to 3 drops of food coloring, or more for a deeper color. Dye the eggs until they reach the shade you desire. Remove the eggs from the dye, blot with a paper towel and let dry completely before decorating. As an alternative to food coloring, many common pantry items can be used to dye eggs naturally.

Preparing the Eggs
You can dye hard-boiled or raw eggs. The smoother the egg, the better the dye will take. Before dyeing, rub eggs with white vinegar to remove impurities, and to aid dye absorption. For muted colors, try dyeing brown eggs. When dyeing eggs, always work with clean hands -- do not use hand cream because the oil can affect how the dye takes. If you plan to keep your decorated eggs, they should be left raw, then blown hollow after dyeing, otherwise the egg shell will float on top of the dye.

Blowing Eggs
Blown eggs can be kept and enjoyed year after year. It's best to blow the eggs after the decorating is complete, except if your instructions specify otherwise. Working over a bowl, pierce one end of a raw egg with a pin. Pierce the other end, and use the pin to enlarge the hole slightly and break yolk. Blow out insides using an egg-blowing tool (available at crafts stores) or a rubber ear syringe (available at pharmacies), forcing contents of the egg out through the larger hole into a bowl. Do not let the liquid touch the shell.

Do You Know?
The egg hunt originated in Germany, where legend has it a white hare spends Easter eve hiding eggs to be found the next day by good children.