Remember when plastic eggs came in a few basic colors and only one or two sizes?

Now they come camouflaged to challenge the big egg hunters, or armed with electronics to make them easy to find for the toddler set. Not only do they come colored in every hue and stamped with cartoon characters and tween idols, you can even buy them pre-filled. Where's the fun in that?

Be eco-friendly and budget-conscious and spend some time coloring your own. If your kids want to be trendy, tell them that according to a survey from dye kit maker PAAS, yellow wins the popularity contest this year.

PAAS still offers traditional dip and dry kits, but now you can squirt, sand blast and bead eggs, too. Visit www.paaseastereggs.com to see all their kits and get ideas on what to do with peeled off shells and empty egg cartons.

Or forget the kit and use food coloring, vinegar and boiling water. It sounds old-school, but at www.McCormick.com/Easter, you watch videos on technique and use a color creator tool that can teach you to mix drops of food coloring to get shades from stormy blue and deep purple to neon pink and orange sunset.

Speckled: Sponge paint using drops of dye mixed with a few drops of vinegar.

Crackled: Lightly crack the eggshell with the back of a spoon and place the egg in a bowl of salted water tinted with food coloring. Let sit for an hour, then peel to see the crackle color inside.

Tie-dyed: Place a hard-boiled egg in a colander in the kitchen sink. Splash the egg with vinegar, drop food coloring onto it and shake the colander gently to spread the color. Wait 30 seconds, then repeat once or twice using different colors. Wash the eggs to soften the colors and let them dry.

Sources: www.paaseastereggs.com; www.mccormick.com/