This Easter, why not perk up the holidays with some beautiful Easter eggs dyed naturally? This is a fun experiment for parents and kids alike. The results are amazing; you will be surprised at the rainbow of color you can get from nature. Plus, you get the bonus of no added chemicals or artificial dyes.
To start off, if you are using store-bought eggs, you might want to wash them off with mild dish soap. Store eggs have a coating of oil on them that farm eggs do not. Washing the oil off allows them to hold the color better. But if you choose to skip this step, this process will still work!
What you’ll need
Now, gather your supplies. Here is a list of natural ingredients and the colors they make:
- Red-onion skins: soft lavender to red, depending on how long you boil them or how many skins are in the pot
- Red cabbage leaves: a lovely shade of robin’s egg blue (yep, blue – not red)
- Beet juice or cranberry juice: different shades of pink
- Dill seeds: brown to gold color
- Grape juice: lavender
- Strong coffee: different shades of brown
- Yellow onion leaves, turmeric, orange and lemon peels, cumin or carrot tops: yellow
- Paprika: orange
- Spinach: green
- Yellow delicious apple peels: green to gold color
- Blueberries: blue
- Grass: green
To dye eggs that you can eat, you will need:
- White vinegar
- Eggs
- Water
- Your choice of natural dye items
Here’s what you do
1. Hard-boil your eggs.
2. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of vinegar to a quart of water, along with your natural ingredients. If it is a solid, like spinach, you can use up to 4 cups. For spices, you will need about 4 tablespoons. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes. Let cool, then strain.
3. Dip the hard-boiled eggs into the dye. The longer they are in, the more colorful they will be. Turn the eggs every so often so the color will come out even.
4. Allow eggs to dry in egg cartons. Refrigerate eggs you intend to eat.
