Planning on dyeing Easter eggs this year? Try making colors from natural household ingredients! These awesome natural Easter Egg Coloring tips come from Rosalind Creasy of Los Altos California. Visit her page and see more of the LOVELY Easter eggs she created!
Dyeing and Decorating Tips
Use individual stainless steel, glass, or enamel saucepans for each color. Combine ingredients & boil each color mixture separately for 15 minutes before dyeing the eggs. The vinegar acts as a fixative — without it, the dyes won’t stick to the eggs.
- For uniform color, strain each dye mixture through cheesecloth or a fine strainer.
- For a mottled, tie-dyed or spotty effect, leave all the ingredients in the pans.
- Use crayons to make designs — circles, geometrics, your name on the egg. The crayoned part will not take up any dye! White crayons work especially well.
- The longer the eggs remain in the dye, the deeper the color.
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For special effects, dip half the egg in one color and the other half in another.
Natural Dye Recipes for Easter Eggs:
Reds ~
2 c beets, grated
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 c water
Substitute: strong Red Zinger tea, or chopped fresh or frozen cranberries
Yellows & Golds ~
3 large handfuls of yellow/brown onion skins
1 tbsp white vinegar
3 c water
Substitute: strong chamomile tea, or 2 to 3 tbsp ground turmeric
Blues ~
1 lb frozen blueberries, crushed
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 c water
Substitute: red cabbage leaves, coarsely chopped, create lavender
Other colors ~
Mix combinations of the primary dyes (in separate cups) to make secondary colors: red and yellow for orange, yellow and blue for green, and blue and red for violet. The proportion of one color to the other determines the shade.
**a PS to this–I also heard spinach works for the green. If you try dyeing Easter eggs with natural colors this year we’d LOVE to see your results! Feel free to post your pics in the comments!