Decorating eggs for Easter is a fun tradition, whether you are blowing and painting with little ones or revisiting the joys of your youth in the name of making your Easter twigs sing with folksy delight. The custom has a long and rich heritage, practiced by various cultures for centuries, with roots in both pagan and Christian traditions. Symbolising fertility, rebirth, and new life, in ancient pagan spring festivals, eggs were seen as a symbol of fertility and new beginnings, representing the arrival of spring and the renewal of life. People would decorate eggs with natural dyes and patterns as part of their spring celebrations. Later, when Christianity spread across Europe, many existing pagan customs were incorporated into Christian traditions to help facilitate the conversion of pagan populations. The egg, with its symbolism of new life, soon became associated with Easter and the resurrection.

Today, it remains a classic Easter craft and one that most of us remember fondly from childhood. As ever, daubed and messy is always charming and will do just fine, but if you are in the market for some impressive takes on the tradition – whether that’s dying or painting, decoupaging or marbling – do check out these inventive ideas to up your Easter egg painting game this year.

Gingham Eggs


Good House Keeping
Gingham Eggs

Image - Mike Garten
We always adore the freshness of gingham no matter the time of year, but somehow, its natural cheeriness feels particularly synonymous with spring and thus with Easter too. Good House Keeping suggests using green or orange, but you could plump for checks in any colour (we’d be inclined towards yellow or pink). The good news is that as long as you have a reasonably steady hand, this is simple stuff. And, as they instruct, if you want to emphasise the gingham look, simply overlap the coloured squares. Joyful.

Jasperware Eggs


Martha Stewart
Jasperware

Jasperware, developed by potter Josiah Wedgwoodin the late 18th-century and characterised by its classical-inspired designs in relief, is not necessarily an art form that we would naturally associate with decorating Easter eggs – not least because our instinct would be that this is a craft best left to the pros. That, however, appears to be a mere trifle to Martha Stewart, who manages to pull off the feat through the use of chocolate moulds, polymer clay and adhesive dots. We grant you, this is more faff than blowing out an egg and throwing a bit of paint in its general direction. But the effect is quite remarkable, especially when the finished product is displayed, as it must be, on a Jasperware plate. Impressive.

Marbleised Eggs


Martha Stewart
Marbleised

Another Martha Stewart masterpiece, this time a little less labour intensive but nonetheless hugely effective. Blow an egg, swirl the dyes, and dip: simple yet brilliant.

Colour-Blocked Eggs


Oh So Beautiful Paper
Colour-Blocked Eggs

We adore this idea, which is incredibly simple but absolutely arresting, endlessly fun and chic too. For a start, we approve heartily of the mix of white and brown eggs for a hit of glorious variety. Moreover, though, the colour-blocked food dye effect is uplifting, fun, easy and graphic – simply dip in the various dyes, holding for longer if you want an intense colour, and less time if you want the effect to be lighter. Our top tip: do as many in as many colour combinations as is practical for a really bright and beautiful look this Easter.

Foil Easter Eggs


Pencil Shavings Studio
Foil Easter Eggs

What could be lovelier than foil eggs, looking like jewels atop your Easter table? And the good news is, with all those chocs knocking about, there’s bound to be plenty of wrappers going spare to repurpose.

Decoupages Eggs


A Wonderful Thought
Decoupages Eggs

If you long for intricately painted eggs but lack the time, skill or patience, plump for decoupage instead. These beautiful rose-adorned examples are a sweet spring time delight, as easy on the eye as they are in the creation.