DECORATING EGGS The egg's shape has often inspired artists. It has been the palette for one of the most intriguing of folk arts in many cultures.

There is literally no end to the creative possibilities for individual expression on an eggshell. Eggs can be painted or colored with crayons or felt-tipped pens, turned into funny faces, topped with fantastic hats, trimmed with feathers or sequins or simply dyed in an endless variety of hues. However you decide to do it, decorating eggs is fun for grown-ups as well as for kids.

Eggs to be decorated may be either hard-cooked eggs or empty eggshells. The hard-cooked variety is a hit more sturdy for children to use, while empty shells are best if you're making an egg tree or want to keep the eggs on display for a considerable time.

If eggs are to be dyed, washing in a mild detergent solution helps to remove the oil coating so that the color adheres more evenly.

Commercial egg dyes are available, especially at the Easter season. Food coloring works, too, but some craftsmen prefer to experiment with their own colors from nature. Eggs simmered in water to cover for 15 minutes with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar for each cup of water and your choice of one of the materials below will produce a shade of the color shown. You'll have to use your own judgment about quantities. This is an art-not a science!

MATERIAL	COLOR
Fresh beets, cranberries or radishes or frozen raspberries	Pinkish red
Yellow onion skins	Orange
Orange or lemon peels, carrot tops, celery seed or ground cumin	Delicate Yellow
Ground turmeric	Yellow
Spinach leaves	Pale green
Yellow Delicious apple peels	Green-gold
Canned blueberries or red cabbage leaves	Blue
Strong brewed coffee	Beige to brown
Dill seeds	Brown-gold
Chili powder	Brown-orange
Purple or red grape juice or beet juice	Grey

However you decide to color your hard-cooked eggs, follow these tips if you'd like to eat them later: Wash your hands thoroughly before handling the eggs at every step including cooking, cooling, dyeing and hiding. It you won't be coloring your eggs right after cooking them, store them in their cartons in the refrigerator. Don't color or hide cracked eggs.

When coloring the eggs, use water warmer than the eggs and refrigerate them in their cartons right after coloring them. Refrigerate them again after they've been hidden and found and don't eat cracked eggs or eggs that have been out of refrigeration for more than 2 hours. If you plan to use hard-cooked eggs as a centerpiece or other decoration and they will be out of refrigeration for many hours or several days, cook extra eggs to refrigerate for eating and discard the eggs that have been left out as a decoration. -see Cooking Methods:Hard-Cooked, Blown-out Eggshells, Easter Eggs