Creating With Colors: 3 New Paas Egg Decorating Kits

Last year, we had the pleasure of trying out two new Easter egg decorating kits from Paas.  This year we actually were able to experience three new kits.  Our children are one year older and the twins have quite a bit more patience than they did last year when it comes to sitting down and completing a craft project.

Like last year, I hard boiled two dozen white eggs in advance.  My husband made sure to use vinegar with the tablets and we made sure there was at least six cups of dye, so each child could have two eggs going at once.

Of the five new Easter egg decorating kits released by Paas for 2011, we received the following three . . .

• Pirate Princess
• Wild Wheels
• Fun Eggspressions

The children each were able to choose what color egg they wanted their eggs to be.  We even did some that were half one color and half another.  We did not use the wax crayon that came in the Wild Wheels kit to block out the dye on as many eggs as we did during past years.  I think the children were more interested in the themed stickers and also the fun extras included in the Fun Eggspressions kit.  It took about 20 minutes for the eggs to dry before we could decorate them.

Both the Pirate Princess and the Wild Wheels stickers were a big hit.  Although they seem gender-specific, our daughter did enjoy trying to make a car out of her egg to give to one of her brothers and the boys did use some of the pirate-themed stickers.  The stickers in the Fun Eggspressions were gender-neutral.  I think the whole family can agree that our favorite part was the glue and sand that came with the Fun Eggspressions kit.  Even when the design did not come out as the children had first envisioned, the effect was still very cool to look at.

You can learn more about these and other Paas products at PaasEasterEggs.com.  You can find Paas egg decorating kits at most major retailers who carry seasonal Easter decorations and toys.

Thank you to Paas for providing complimentary product samples for us to base this review upon.

Six Tips on How to Handle Eggs Safely

With Easter less than a week away, I thought this would be a great time to share this list of safe and eco-friendly ways to handle eggs. These tips are not just things to remember for Easter, but should be kept in mind all year round.

• Keep Everything Clean – Be sure to wash utensils, countertops and hands thoroughly with soap and hot water before and after contact with eggs.
• Be a Good Egg – Choose eggs labeled "free-farmed." It's the only label that ensures the hens were verifiably raised in a comfortable environment without any unnecessary antibiotics.
• Beware of the Rotten Egg – Do not let anyone eat eggs that have been unrefrigerated for more than two hours. That includes hard-boiled egg used as part of the Passover Seder.
• Cautious Cracking – When preparing hard-boiled eggs for an egg hunt or other contest, keep a close eye out for cracks in the shells. These cracks can allow bacteria to contaminate the egg.
• Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket – Remember that hard-cooked eggs that have been refrigerated properly must be eaten within seven days of cooking.
• Go Green – If you don’t have time to run out and get an Easter Egg decorating kit, use common foods to color your eggs. Boil eggs in water with a teaspoon of vinegar and one of the below ingredients; let simmer for about 15 minutes; and the let the dyes sink in!

Yellow: orange peels or lemon peels

Red: Red onion skins

Pink: Beets or cranberries

Orange: Yellow onion skins

Purple: Purple grape juice

Green: Spinach

Brown: Coffee or black walnut shells

Blue: Red cabbage

These tips have been provided by Stop & Shop supermarkets. No compensation was received for sharing these tips with my readers.

Creating With Colors: 2 New Paas Egg Decorating Kits

Since Easter is just a week away and I have been too preoccupied to come up with an Easter-themed project to share, I decided it might be fun to try out these two new Easter egg decorating kits by Paas.

Paas has introduced five new kits this year . . . Neon, Mini-Monsters, Coloring Creations, Egg-Quarium, and Build-a-Basket. The last two listed are the ones we tried. Since my children are 3, 3, and 6, these two user-friendly kits worked out very well for us.

Paas Build-a-Basket Kit

Paas Egg-Quarium Kit

I had already hard boiled two dozen white eggs the day before. So while my husband dissolved the dye tablets using water and white vinegar as directed on the packages, I started the children on coloring the pop-up Easter baskets in the Build-a-Basket kit. The kit comes with two baskets. Since we have 3 children, I let the twins share one. While the basket was still flattened, each twin colored one side.

It may seem obvious, but it never occurred to me to use colored crayons to decorate Easter eggs. We've always used the clear wax crayons to block out the dye in the past. Using colored crayons allowed our 3yr old twins to doodle with one or more colors on their eggs and their designs stayed put throughout the dying and decorating process.

Having two kits to use not only allowed us to have more eggs for each child to decorate, but there were enough tablets for us to have as much as ten cups of color going at once. This eliminates the feeling of being rushed because there is a line of eggs waiting to have their turn in the dying cups. This works well if you like to leave your eggs in longer for more vivid color results.

I did pop out all 12 circles on the back of each package so we could utilize both boxes as drying stands for our freshly colored eggs. Instead of having the children stare at the eggs, anxiously waiting for them to dry, we stopped to do something else. When we came back to the eggs, they were nice and dry.

The twins really did not seem to have the patience to decorate their eggs completely. They would put two stickers on an egg and move onto another one. Our 6yr old son, however, decorated his eggs with pride. All three children were excited to use the aquarium-themed stickers because we recently added two goldfish to our family.

Here are the results . . .

I really think the ready-to-color baskets were a great idea. If possible, you could have one for each child and make them personalized with their names or initials. The two fish face stickers that came in the Egg-Quarium kit were a huge hit. Next year, I am definitely going to look for a kit with a face-theme as they were my favorite eggs of the bunch.

You can find Paas Easter egg decorating kits and supplies at your local grocery or drug store. They usually retail for just $2.99 to $3.99 per kit. Chances are you will find them on sale the week prior to Easter. Also, don't forget to purchase your white eggs ahead of time so you don't risk their selling out.

For egg coloring tips and tricks and fun Easter-themed crafts, visit PaasEasterEggs.com .

Thank you to Paas for sending us two sample kits free of charge to base this article upon.