I received PAAS egg decorating kits, Color Cups, and Heinz Distilled White Vinegar to decorate our Easter eggs. No other compensation was received, and opinions are my own.

Each Easter season, Americans collectively dye and decorate more than 180 million eggs. That is a lot of eggs, and an epic amount of Easter egg art.

When I was a kid, I always had a blast decorating Easter eggs. It was exciting, which I think had something to do with the fact that I was dyeing, coloring, drawing, and sticking stickers onto food. It really brings the idea of playing with your food to a whole new level. Growing up with this tradition has instilled in me that it isn’t really Easter until you’ve decorated Easter eggs. It is an integral part of the holiday, and the PAAS brand has always been a part of that tradition.

This year, PAAS egg decorating kits are sure to help the kids (and even the adults) bring their creative egg decorating skills to new heights with seven brand new kits and endless possibilities.

Of the new kits, we were recently given the chance to try the new PAAS Volcano Eggsplosion kit, which uses melted crayon shavings to add instant color to eggs; Touch of Velvet, a kit that uses flocking powder and double-stick adhesives to create fun, fuzzy shapes; and Deggorating Doodles, a kit that includes four food grade markers that you can use to doodle on the egg shells for ultimate creativity.

Included in our Easter basket of egg decorating goodies were a set of PAAS Color Cups. These things are awesome. Not only are they bright, fun colors and shaped like eggs, making them even more festive, but they can also be used all year for all sorts of arts and crafts projects.

In addition to PAAS kits and Color Cups, Heinz is also a huge part of the Easter egg decorating tradition. If you didn’t already know, adding three tablespoons of Heinz Distilled White Vinegar to a PAAS Color Cup with dye tablet and half cup of water will give your eggs their brightest, most vivid color. And, if you have trouble keeping your eggs from cracking, you can add two tablespoons of vinegar per quart of water before placing your eggs in the pot. With this method, the shells will also peel off faster and easier. Pretty cool, right?

Help Make a Difference for the Make-A-Wish Foundation

This Easter, you can also go virtual with your Easter egg decorating — and make a huge difference for the Make-A-Wish Foundation while doing it!

PAAS and Heinz Vinegar have teamed up to create the virtual Easter Egg Decorator app. Available for free online and for iPad download in the iTunes App Store (just search for “PAAZ/Heinz” to download the app) you can decorate and share virtual Easter eggs, and from now until March 31st, when you decorate and share a virtual Easter egg with family or friends, Heinz and PAAS with donate $1 (up to $25,000) to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

The Easter Egg Decorator app is incredibly easy to use. First, choose from ten colors to dye your Easter egg. Watch the dye tablet, vinegar, and water be added to the Color Cup, and then adjust the color to be as bright as you want. Decorate your egg with a paint brush, chalk, glitter glue, and stickers, display your creation on an egg stand, save it to your virtual Easter basket, and share with friends. It is really such an easy way to make a donation to a very worthy cause.

PAAS egg decorating kits (about $4.25 each) and Heinz Distilled White Vinegar (about $1.30) are available at most major grocery, drug, and mass market stores.

You can find more egg decorating tips and tricks on the PAAS website, as well as other unique uses for vinegar on the Heinz Vinegar website. To start decorating virtual Easter eggs to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, visit heinzpaaseaster.com.