Cool: natural dyeing for Easter eggs
I dove into the kitchen to experiment with different ingredients to dye Easter eggs naturally. I have to admit, it was quite a bit of a mess, but it was definitely worth it. The eggs look beautiful!
Tools
- cup full of red onion peels(reddish brown)
- cup full of peels of yellow onion(yellow/orange)
- cup full of sliced red cabbage(blue, with brown eggs it turns greenish)
- cup full of sliced beetroot(pink) (you can also use beetroot juice)
- 2 tbsp turmeric(yellow or orange for brown eggs)
- coffee(brown)
- cup of blueberries or blueberries(fresh or frozen) (purple)
- vinegar
- (coconut) oil
- glass jars
- colander
- boiled eggs(I used white eggs, both can be done, but the colour effect will be a bit different, the colours are darker with brown eggs).
- possibly: old tights and leaves or flowers
Instructions
- Put your desired paint material (i.e. your chosen food) in a saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring to the boil and leave it on low heat for about 20-30 minutes. Keep the lid on the pan so that not too much evaporates.
- Let cool and then pour your paint mixture through your colander into a glass jar. You don't need to boil the turmeric, you can just dissolve it in the water. The same goes for the coffee. Use nice strong coffee.
- Add 2-3 tablespoons of vinegar to your paint mixture, this helps to fix the colour to the egg.
- Dip your boiled egg into the dye mixture and leave it chilled for a few hours. If you put several eggs in one dye bath, make sure they do not lie against each other. (Ver(3)double the recipe if necessary).
- Cool the eggs! As I didn't have enough space in my fridge, and it still cools down quite a bit outside, I put the jars outside overnight. You can turn them a bit in the dye bath every now and then so they colour more regularly. I particularly like the blotchy effect. If you want a darker effect, let the egg dry and repeat the dye bath again.
Notes
Extra: You can add another fun effect to the eggs! Tip: Before putting the eggs in the dye bath, put a twig or some leaves on the egg. Tie a piece of pantyhose around it to keep it in place and knot it. When you remove the pantyhose after the dye bath, you will see the imprint of the leaf. Super cute! You could also wrap the egg with string or rubber bands for a fun effect.
When the eggs are completely dry, you can still rub them with a little coconut oil to give them a nice sheen.