15 Natural Easter Egg Dyes

15 Natural Easter Egg Dyes
(Shutterstock*)
4/1/2015
Updated:
4/1/2015

With Easter fast approaching I have been thinking about how to dye our eggs this year and did some research. If you want to “go natural” with the egg dying this year here are some great tips from About.com:

Here’s How You Do:

  1. Place the eggs in a single layer in a pan
  2. Add water until the eggs are covered
  3. Add ~ one teaspoon of vinegar.
  4. Add the natural dye (see below) using more dye material for more eggs or for a more intense color
  5. Bring water to a boil
  6. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes
  7. If you are pleased with the color, remove the eggs from the liquid.
  8. If you want more intensely colored eggs, temporarily remove the eggs from the liquid
  9. Strain the dye through a coffee filter (unless you want speckled eggs)
  10. Cover the eggs with the filtered dye and let them remain in the refrigerator overnight

Lavender: Small quantity of purple grape juice, violet blossoms, & 2 tsp lemon juice
Violet Blue: Violet blossoms with a small quantity of red onions skins
Blue: Canned blueberries boiled with red cabbage leaves or just purple grape juice
Green: Boiled spinach leaves 
Greenish Yellow: Boiled yellow & delicious apple peels
Yellow: Orange Peels, Lemon PeelsCarrot TopsCelery SeedGround Cumin, or Ground Turmeric
Brown: Strong coffee, instant coffee, or black walnut shells
Orange: Yellow onion skins
Pink: Beets, cranberries, raspberries, red grape juice, or juice from pickled beets
Red: Lots of red onions skins

You can use fresh and frozen berries as ‘paints’, too. Simply crush the berries against dry boiled eggs.

Try coloring on the eggs with crayons or wax pencils before boiling and dyeing them.

Blueberry colored easter egg created using natural fruit (<a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-200854748/stock-photo-blueberry-colored-easter-egg-created-using-natural-fruit.html?src=csl_recent_image-2" target="_blank">Shutterstock</a>)
Blueberry colored easter egg created using natural fruit (Shutterstock)

Here are some more tips from FamilyFun.com:

  1. Pink: Mix 1 cup strained juice from canned beets, ½ teaspoon vinegar, and 3 cups water. Soak cooled eggs in the dye for ½ hour.
  2. Purple: Mix 1 cup purple grape juice, ½ teaspoon vinegar, and 3 cups water. Soak cooled eggs in the dye for ½ hour.
  3. Orange: In a pot, mix 1 cup loosely packed yellow onion skin (about 2 onions’ worth), 1 teaspoon vinegar, and 3 cups water. Boil mixture for ½ hour, cool to room temperature, strain out the onion skins, then add cooled eggs and soak them in the dye for ½ hour.
  4. Light Blue: In a pot, mix 1 cup torn and loosely packed red cabbage leaves, 1 teaspoon vinegar, and 3 cups water. Boil mixture for ½ hour, cool to room temperature, strain out the cabbage leaves, then add cooled eggs and soak them in the dye for ½ hour.
  5. Yellow: In a pot, mix 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon vinegar, and 3 cups water. Boil mixture for ½ hour, cool to room temperature, strain out stray turmeric grains, then add cooled eggs and soak them in the dye for ½ hour.

This article was originally published on www.NaturallySavvy.com

*Image of “easter eggs“ via Shutterstock

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