Easter is upon us and with it, many traditions! Easter egg hunts, chocolate bunnies, Easter baskets and everyone’s favorite: dyeing eggs. Over the years I’ve picked up many tricks for this past time from using white crayons pre-dip to make designs to using different liquids from vinegar, water, soda or vegetable oil! The most popular way of doing this, which there is no shame to is going out and buying a simple kit with food dye’s, stickers a tray and everything else you could possibly need. But! If you’ve procrastinated, like I have this year, there are ways to naturally dye your eggs with things you may already have around the house.
I know what you’re thinking, “but Matt I’m gonna peal the shell anyway, why would I care for using natural ingredients?” Good point, but if you don’t normally keep artificial food dye’s around the house, these tips could be very useful. Also, there’s something about these natural dyes that give a more subtle/ soft earth tone and personally are my new preference. No bright florescent colors, which are maybe sought after for kids but personally these aesthetically look nicer.
There are tons of vegetables or food products you could use from onion peels to red cabbage but for this post I decided to use what I naturally had laying around the house.
Blackberries: About a cup of blackberries to about 1 ½ cup of hot water. Let fruit sit and steep in water for at least 5 minutes before mashing or blending them together. Strain the water before dying. Color: Light Purple Soaking Time: 30 minutes
Turmeric: I have a turmeric supplement I keep in my medicine cabinet for medicinal purposes but using fresh turmeric would probably be better and have a bright color. But note, fresh turmeric stains very easily so handle with gloves and don’t let it get on your clothes. I added about 1 ½ cup water to 1 tablespoon of turmeric powder. Color: Pale Yellow Soaking Time: 30 minutes
Black Tea: Simply steep 3 teabags with 1 ½ cup water for 10 minutes. It’s actually impressive how much color and oil’s come out from a tea bag! Color: Golden/Light Brown Soaking Time: 30 minutes
Coffee: Make yourself a strong cup of coffee to result in 1 ½ cup of liquid. This color can vary by how long you keep your egg submerged. Anywhere from 10-20 minutes gives you a nice even brown shade, almost like a regular brown egg, or longer times like 60 minutes result in a deep earthy brown tone. Color: Deep Brown (varies) Soaking Time: Based on preference
Red Wine: Add 1 cup of red wine to ½ cup hot water. Like the coffee, the color really depends on how long you leave your egg in. This egg was for about 30 minutes but even a quick 10 minutes will give you a nice soft purple. Color: Dark purple/red Soak Time: Based on preference
Beet’s: Take 1 fresh beet, peeled, and slice it roughly; reserving any liquid that might escape. Soak for 20 minutes in 1 ½ cup of hot water. Color: Light Purple Soak Time: 30 minutes
* Using brown eggs will start you with an even darker/matted tone and could also be a fun variation to play with! *
