One of my most viewed posts on this Tweetle Dee blog is the natural egg dye post. You know I love my natural dyes for fabric and thread, but to see the colors on eggs is soo pretty and soo easy, it is a must do for the week of Easter. I mean, seriously those subtle greys, and greens could only come from nature.
I wasn't so sure when I started chopping wilted cabbage and peeling onion skins, but it did work and and I love the colors and results. They are so pretty! The best part is they really are easy to dye.
I first started with white eggs from the coop and the store and soft boiled them. To soft boil, I add the eggs to a pot with cool water. I heat the water up to boiling and then shut off the heat and cover the pot. I let the eggs sit in the hot water for 10 minutes and then drain off the hot water and rinse with cool.
Here is what I used for each color, and again all of these ingredients were what I had on hand. You can get creative in mixing colors, adding leaves and flowers or all sorts of other things to decorate your eggs. I wanted mine plain and as bright as possible.
Natural Easter Dyes
Yellow - 1/4 cup Turmeric powder, 4 cups water, 1/2 Teas. vinegar
Green - 1 bunch of fresh spinach (chopped), 4 cups of water, 1/2 Teas. vinegar
Tan - 1 cup instant coffee grounds, 4 cups of water
Purple - Half a head of red cabbage chopped, 4 cups of water, 1/2 teas vinegar
Blue - 2 cups of frozen blueberries, 4 cups of water, 1/2 teas. vinegar
Orange - skins of 4 yellow onions, 4 cups of water and 1/2 teas vinegar
Red - 4 cups of red onion skins, 4 cups of water and a 1/2 teas of vinegar
In all of these dye baths, I added the ingredients for the color I wanted, heated it to boiling and let it simmer for 30 minutes. Then I added the vinegar. Let cool and added the eggs. The color will vary depending on how ling you leave them in the solution. I left mine in for five hours. If I had left them in overnight...the colors would have been more intense.
I hope this gives you a little encouragement to try dyeing your own eggs naturally. You will love what you create and so will your littles. Happy Easter and stay safe while staying home. xoxo
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