Show your parish pride with a designer egg.

Step One
Get an egg. You might want to buy a dozen, which is the amount they're often sold in, just in case you make a mistake. The Washington, DC area has lots of good sources, like Giant, Safeway or Harris Teeter. They come in cool containers with an individual holder for each egg. You'll probably want to go with large eggs, although you'll also find a variety of sizes are available including medium, extra-large and jumbo.

Check the sell by date so you know you're getting fresh eggs. You want them to last a few weeks. The pack date is really critical so make sure you can read Julian dates. For best results, get eggs that were packed on a Tuesday or Wednesday. And pay attention to the plant number. The higher, the better. Trust us. There's nothing worse than getting some nasty eggs from the sloppy packers at plant #7.

Step Two
Obtain priceless jewels and gold. Try your eccentric aunt's actic or eBay, but you can really find these almost anywhere.

Step Three
Using your glue applicator, stick jewels and gold to your egg in a tasteful manner, with a touch of whimsy. You want your egg to sparkle so really load up on the diamonds until your egg screams, "Look at me!" Pearls are always a classy touch, too. Just remember to let your handiwork dry overnight before hiding them in the park for an Easter egg hunt with your buddies.

With Easter right around the corner, you're probably thinking about decorating some eggs. Why settle for lame pastels from a kit when with just a teeny bit of effort you can create some spectacular eggs? And in the process, you can capture some of the materialism of Christmas that somehow is often missing during Holy Week.

To get started, all you need are some common items you probably already have at home or are at least close at hand.