Natural Dyes for Easter Eggs

[PancakeMom]

Thought I would share this for anyone not wanting to use chemical dyes for their eggs this year!

Natural Food Dyes:
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. You can throw all the beets into the mix for added color, let mixture sit for a while, and then strain them out before you dip the eggs.
Purple: Mix 1 cup purple grape juice, ½ teaspoon vinegar, and 3 cups water. Soak cooled eggs in the dye for ½ hour.
Orange: Boil 1 cup yellow onion skin, 1 teaspoon vinegar, and 3 cups water. Boil for ½ hour and let cool in pot; strain out the onion skins. Add the previously made hard boiled eggs and soak them in the dye for ½ hour.
Light Blue/Teal: Boil 1 cup red cabbage leaves, torn and loosely packed, 1 teaspoon vinegar, and 3 cups water. Boil for half an hour and let cool to room temperature; strain out the cabbage leaves, then add the hard boiled eggs and soak them in the dye for ½ hour.
Yellow: Boil 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon vinegar, and 3 cups water.
Boil for half an hour and let cool to room temperature; strain out stray turmeric grains, then add hard boiled eggs and soak them in the dye for ½ hour.
Some other ideas:
CD = cold dye; just soak the previously made hard boiled eggs in the dye.
BD = boiled dye; boil the food just like the recipes for orange, light blue, and yellow and then when dye is cooled, soak the hard-boiled eggs.
Blue: Canned Blueberries (CD), Red Cabbage Leaves (BD), Purple Grape Juice (CD)
Brown: Strong Coffee (CD), Instant Coffee (CD), Black Walnut Shells (BD), Black Tea (CD)
Yellow Green: Yellow Delicious Apple Peels (BD)
Red: Lots of Red Onions Skins (BD), Pomegranate juice (CD), Canned Cherries, with syrup (CD), Raspberries (BD)
Yellow: Orange or Lemon Peels (BD), Carrot Tops (BD), Chamomile Tea (CD), Celery Seed (BD), Green tea (CD), Ground Cumin (BD)
To make the eggs have a design or pattern, before dyeing the eggs, draw on them with crayons or a piece of wax. The wax won’t absorb the color so the designs will show through. Using a crayon, simply draw a design onto your eggs and then dye as you would any other Easter egg.
Happy Dyeing!
Olivia March Dreizen, © 2008 But You Dont Look Sick?

[Jessica]

Love it! Thanks for sharing! Yay Ostara my favorite time of year!

[Mabel]

thanks Pancake. We usually just boil the eggs in onion skin, but then they all turn out the same colour. It iwll be nice to have a few different colours this year!

[PancakeMom]

Personally I like the 'Celebration of Trees' but that could just be the Horticulturist in me

My Grandmother tho was instrumental in teaching me to decorate eggs and feel pulled to pass on the pysanky skills to my DD. Fingers crossed that my hands hole out for it!!!

[Mrs.Crunchy]

thanks for sharing! I love decorating easter eggs!