adventures in egg coloring

I was going to bypass this Easter activity this year. The idea of the kids with eggs and dye made me want to curl up in a corner and cry while pulling my hair out.

I only changed my mind after seeing how much fun Alexa had doing it during Girl Scouts. I probably could have gotten away with those four eggs being her only eggs. My aunt B had mentioned she had a bunch of fresh eggs courtesy of a friend of hers (love the slogan - where the "GIRLS" work harder). I decided that I've got enough vinegar and food coloring around that I didn't bother buy the kit. Mugs where the easiest option although I started with some ceramic bowls (which now have some added color on the bottoms). Lots of finger usage happened because I didn't have the little scoopy thing, wasn't going to use the few spoons I could locate, and no one wanted to use the forks I provided.

The colors all looked lovely in their mugs, but that somehow didn't carry over onto the eggs. Likely a combination of the artists in question, the brown eggs and the colors when mixed.

I started with 13 when I boiled them yesterday. One didn't survive the boiling process. One didn't survive Jake tossing it into the mug (when I broke it up for them to eat he tossed it back into the dye). One almost didn't make it when Liz tried to crack it open on the side like she was going to have some scrambled eggs. Alexa's response was to freak out about the yolks leaking out. Like I would give the kids fresh, uncooked eggs to color. I do maintain some of my sanity...
We only ended up with one spill which was quickly absorbed by the cardboard cereal boxes I had spread across the table (more effective than newspaper). And I think everyone had fun which is really the most important thing of all.
And did I mention that I waited till Easter morning?....