natural dye eggs for easter, part 1
This is something we’ve been wanting to do for years – dyeing Easter eggs using vegetables and spices. After seeing how beautiful my friend Jen Causey’s eggs turned out, we planned our yearly egg dyeing activity over the weekend. Here’s the basic method and recipe that we used for our four colors:
Blue: Simmer 4 cups of water with 1 small red cabbage (roughly chopped) for 15 minutes.
Red: Simmer 4 cups of water with 2 medium red beets (grated) for 15 minutes.
Yellow: Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and stir in 1/4 cup turmeric. Boil for 1 more minute.
Brown: Bring 4 cups of water to a boil with 1 cup ground coffee, and simmer for 10 minutes.
When each of the mixtures have cooled down, mix in 1/4 cup white vinegar and strain each of the colors into cups for dyeing. We left the eggs in the color baths overnight as per Jen’s suggestion. Stay tuned tomorrow to see how they turned out…
Can’t wait to see the result! Did you ever try onion skins as well? They create a beautiful, mottled, antique-y effect-
How interesting! Can’t wait to try this! Do you think it will change the taste? Thanks for sharing!
…loving the suspense!
doing beets+blueberries myself.
Dried onion skins make wondres. They give rich, brick red color. And they are used as a primary dye method in Ukraine, where I come from.
Cleaver idea. Also, no chemicals are involved. I cannot wait to try this.
I’ve been wanting to try this for years. Not sure if this year is the year either, unfortunately. Does your house smell like cabbage? Can’t wait to see results!
I tried this last year and it was fun! The red cabbage results were the most beautiful!
I mean to try this every year. All I had time for this year were glitter tie dyed eggs that are made in a plastic baggie. Not quite as lovely, but there was no mess.
Maybe next year will be the year. Can’t wait ti see hte results.
how awesome! i love home made tips like this
gets me so excited!
I’ve seen a lot of this this year. I want to try it too!
What a brilliant idea. Thanks for sharing,
this is so great. thank you!
Good ideas! I think rhubarbs make “dusty rose” colour! And definitely for orange, annatto (achiote) seeds or powder!
love it. very passionate.
Hi,
I used your egg dye formula for eggs–then on strips of fabric. I posted it on my work blog. We make quilting cotton, so I’ll probably make something cool out of the fabric, too. Thanks for posting that! Oh–and I used blackberry which was really effective. I tried lime zest-no dice. Didn’t really even color the water! Anyhow, totally enjoyed it and thanks again.
Oh yea, check out my dyed fabric here: http://www.clothworks.com/blog/?p=3544