Quantcast
Channel: Stitching Hearts Together » 101 Ways to use eggs
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10

How to Dye Eggs Naturally for Easter

0
0

dye eggs naturally

Turmeric dyed eggs!

While we have a great selection of egg colors right in the carton, brown, tan, cream, assorted greens, and an occasional white egg… For Easter we like to liven it up a bit, and dye eggs naturally. Here I share with you my very real results. :)

Our regular carton- a lot of variety!

My summary so far… Fun project! Dying eggs naturally is very kid friendly and really gets the kids thinking of things they want to use to make dyes. They are also going to be fantastic at hard boiling eggs when we’re done!

My children were able to participate extensively in the process. It does encourage patience, some of the dyes take time to develop good color.

Dyeing eggs naturally is great for a variety of reasons, use real food you might have in the house (no buying special kits), use scraps to make beautiful designs (food art?) and you don’t need to worry about what your child is handling and ingesting.

I checked out a lot of blogs and sites before I actually dove in to the dyeing process. I’ve included the other links at the end so you can check them out as you wish…
A bit of background… I have a hearty fear of hiding and then never finding an egg. Yes, there’s a reason for that fear- we had a fun history, while growing up, of finding rock hard marshmallows years after the marshmallow fight was done, plastic eggs in July and the occasional Christmas candy cane in March- my parents always took careful note and especially careful count of the real eggs to make sure we didn’t miss any! But the thought always lingered… what if we missed one! So, count carefully and make sure you remember where you’ve hidden them. :)
There are two ways to dye eggs naturally- hot or cold. Details are below, but an important difference is that for cold you preboil the eggs and for hot, they are boiled in the process. Here’s the how to for hard boiling eggs in case you missed it)
Basics:
You’ll need ingredients for dyeing, water, vinegar, eggs, a few pots/pans, bowls or mason jars- just be sure not to mix the one you’re drinking out of with the ones you’re dyeing in… Mason Bar Company tumbler lids will help with this!
Methods:
Hot method: Put chopped/diced/shredded dye materials in water with a tablespoon of vinegar for each cup of water. Bring to a boil, add raw eggs and set the timer for 10 minutes (you’re essentially hard boiling them in the dye). Pull the eggs out of the hot water and let them cool on a wire rack (to prevent puddles of color) I suggest putting a disposable or washable towel under the rack unless you want a multi-colored counter top… :)
Results: I found this results in a brighter egg, faster and is fun and efficient because you are multi-tasking. Another neat feature is that you can save the water to dye more with the cold method and get a slightly different shade.
Eggs and onion skins in pot together- hot method

Cold Method:

Prepare your dye by putting chopped/diced/shredded dye materials in a pot and boiling then simmering for 30-60 minutes. Pour through a strainer to remove materials, add vinegar to colored water- about 1 tablespoon per cup of liquid. Remember your eggs will be lighter than your dye color so go for vibrant! Then put hard boiled eggs in the dye and let them sit- 30 minutes to overnight depending on the color level you want…
 This method might be good if you’ve got little ones- you prep the dye and have them put the eggs in- and everyone gets to practice patience… :)
Eggs in coffee- cold method
A couple of fun tips-
After you’ve done most of your dying, add a splash of liquid oil (like olive) to your dye, when you dip, dunk or soak your egg it creates a marbled pattern!
If you write on the eggs (gently) with a wax crayon the dye won’t adhere where you wrote, so if you use white crayon you get a reverse image!
You can also add a leaf or paper cutout to a damp egg or put modge podge over it to hold in place…
Wrapping the eggs in onion skin (yellow or red) makes a neat marbled pattern
Egg wrapped in onion skin and secured by rubber bands
I learned- use 2 rubber bands, in case 1 is kind of old and breaks…
Marbled onion skin wrapped egg

Eggs in red onion- pretty pinkish brown color, marbled when wrapped…

Dyed in turmeric- bright yellow, very pretty and easy to do, these are done with the hot method, but the color is also vibrant with cold method…
Eggs dyed in paprika cold method… They are supposed to be orange, but I think this would work better with the hot method. They didn’t pick up much color- but the neat part is- you can redip them as often as you like and in a variety of color combinations!!
Many of the colors so far came out with a brownish tone to them (except turmeric), but they all have a really pretty, natural look to them….
When you’re all done- handle carefully until the dye is set, otherwise some of the color will come off and lighten your results. Give the eggs a quick rub down with coconut oil- It gives a beautiful finish and luster to them!
 
Dye ingredients to try…
Pinkish Brown: Red onion skin and the parts you’d throw away
Yellow: Turmeric, yellow onion skins and ends
Orange: Paprika, curry, the kids want to try carrot juice
Blue: Trying red cabbage, blueberries are also reported to work
Green: Trying spinach or going back and forth between blue and yellow
Pink: trying beets, raspberries, pomegranate juice
Tan/Brown: Coffee, ours came out really light- more of an ecru, it was pretty, but I can hide some of our farm eggs for that color, so we’ll try something more vibrant with those…
Hibiscus flowers, dill seed and rose hips are also reported to be beautiful, but I didn’t have them handy to test… :)
Enjoy and please let us know how your eggs come out!
We’d love to have pics on our FB page (add them here)!! :)
Articles and Ideas:
Linked up at:
“This post is linked to Sunday School at Butter Believer!”
Check out the ebook “Adventures With Kids! In the Kitchen”  and Chara with her adventures on FacebookTwitter, and Pinterest.

Some of these posts contain affiliate links, you can think of them like leaving a tip. :) It doesn’t add any cost to your purchase and helps cover the costs of blogging. Thank you for visiting!

The post How to Dye Eggs Naturally for Easter appeared first on Stitching Hearts Together.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images