Easter egg dyeing could be costly in 2025. 5 alternative crafts

Feb 23, 2025

If you haven’t heard, eggs are really expensive right now.

January brought an egg shortage caused by both a bird flu outbreak and people panic-buying cartons of eggs, which drove prices up and led grocery stores to limit how many eggs each shopper can buy.

According to a January USDA report, retail egg prices increased by more than 8% in December 2024 and are continuing to experience month-to-month changes.

And as the Easter season approaches, you might be looking for alternatives to dyeing expensive cartons of eggs.

Here’s when Easter is this year and five fun alternatives to egg dyeing that won’t break the bank.

Easter this year will be in late April, on Sunday, April 20, 2025. The Easter season starts more than a month earlier, though. The season kicks off with Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent.

This year, Ash Wednesday will fall on Wednesday, March 5, 2025.

Easter Sunday sometimes falls in late April, because the holiday is not tied to a specific date. As a result, all of the related religious holidays leading up to Easter also fall later in the year.

The date of Easter and its related holidays also depend on if you’re Eastern Orthodox or not. The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the Julian calendar, a solar calendar that was used by the Roman Empire. This year, Easter and Eastern Orthodox Easter fall on the same date, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

“Easter is a “movable feast,” so it doesn’t happen on the same date from year to year. In the Gregorian calendar, it is always observed on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25,” the almanac says.

“However, Easter can be observed between April 4 and May 8 in the Eastern Orthodox Church…According to long-term averages, the most unusual Easter date is March 22. The second place goes to April 24, and the third place goes to March 23.”

The origins of Ash Wednesday, Lent:Lent used to be less than 40 days. What to know

Dyeing eggs is the most common Easter craft, but it isn’t the only option.

If you want to stick with the egg theme, you can find fake eggs made of foam, clay, wood or plastic to decorate with materials like paint, sequins, stickers, gems or cloth. If you want to try less of a replacement and go for something completely different, there are plenty of fun “do it yourself” (DIY) ideas for making Easter wreaths, garlands and decorations.

The upside of being forced to find a different Easter craft is that wreaths, garlands, decorations and fake eggs are easier to display in your home than a carton of colored hard-boiled eggs. You'll likely end up getting more enjoyment out of them in the long-run, although you will have to be okay with not fishing for an egg in a cup of food dye.

Here’s a list of five fun Easter crafts that can be alternatives to dyeing eggs this year: