Cool Whip Is The Brilliant Trick Behind These Beautiful Easter Eggs

Want to step outside the egg-decorating box this Easter season? No surprise here, but we've been planning our Easter crafting for months and can't wait to dye, swirl, and decorate our way to eye-catching Easter eggs this year. These blue-and-white speckled eggs and these Kool-Aid-dyed eggs are already in our DIY plans—but that's not all.

Thanks to Texas-based expert crafter Elizabeth Jones with Country Peony, we've also discovered a brilliant new technique for dyeing eggs with a gorgeous marbled finish. Best of all, this method includes an ingredient as unexpected as it is fun.

How To Dye Eggs With Cool Whip

We can't wait to try this fantastic and fun trick for dyeing Easter eggs. Using Cool Whip for dyeing Easter Eggs is a DIY trick that couldn't be simpler and something you'll want to make in your kitchen this season. All you need for this dyeing method—and you probably have it all on hand already—is hard-boiled eggs, your choice of whipped topping, and food coloring.

This low-cost DIY activity takes less than an hour to complete, and the result is edible, too. Be sure to wear gloves to avoid staining your fingers with food coloring, and cover your workspace with newspaper or a washable drop cloth. Here's how Jones does it.

Step 1: Boil an egg, and then carefully remove the shell.

Step 2: Spread out Cool Whip onto a plate and add food coloring to the Cool Whip. Run a plastic knife through the mixture to swirl the colors.

Step 3: Roll the hard-boiled egg into the Cool Whip mixture.

Step 4: Let the egg sit for about a minute and then wash the egg under warm water. Pat dry and set aside until fully dry.

An Egg-cellent Alternative: Shaving Cream

When using food products such as hard-boiled eggs and Cool Whip, be mindful of spoiling. Life-long crafter and Southern Living Fellow Mary Alice Russell warns against curdling and odors that may occur if you leave the Cool Whip out too long or make the eggs too far in advance.

"Keep in mind that the peeled eggs and Cool Whip method will only last about 3 days," Jones advises. So, if you're a do-it-yourself-er who likes to do it ahead, Jones has an easy, non-perishable alternative: shaving cream.

For this alternative craft, Jones also uses paper mache eggs to further take food out of the picture. "If you can not find white paper mache eggs, you can paint the egg with white craft paint," she says. With painted eggs or an egg alternative secured, here's how Jones makes marbled Easter eggs:

Step 1: Spray the shaving cream into a disposable pan until the bottom is evenly coated. Once you have an even layer of shaving cream, start to apply the drops of food coloring into your shaving cream. Place the food coloring droplets (as many colors as you please) sporadically throughout the shaving cream. The more food coloring you add, the stronger the pigment will be on your eggs.

Step 2: Once you add the food coloring take a plastic knife, and start to run the colors together to create a swirl effect. You can choose to skip this step if you want a splotchy affect. 

Step 3: Once you have achieved the desired color mixture, put your gloves on and roll the paper mache egg into the solution. Set the covered egg onto the kraft paper. 

Step 4: Wait about 10 minutes, then remove the shaving cream from the egg. with a paper towel. Be careful not to add too much pressure since the paper eggs are wet from the shaving cream. 

Step 5: Let the egg rest and dry. They will take about an hour to dry.

Repeat the steps over until you have added the marbled affect to the rest of the eggs. For a more saturated color, Jones recommends reapplying the dye in the shaving cream before each egg's turn. In the end, you'll have beautiful and unique eggs to display, and if you used paper mache eggs, you can even fill them with candy.