4.03.2012

Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

It has been years since I've dyed eggs for Easter. Years! This year, it was time to get back to the good ole days.



Why don't I dye eggs every year? Well, mostly because it can be a huge mess, but this year the allure of trying naturally dyed eggs won me over. Naturally dyed eggs get their color from spices, fruits, and vegetables. They're often less bright or consistently colored than kit-dyed easter eggs, but that's exactly what I love about them!



Instead of hard boiling my eggs, I blew out the yolk so that I could save them for future decorating. For dyes, I used red cabbage, yellow onion, red onion, blueberries, and cranberry juice.

There are tutorials all over the internet for making your own naturally dyed eggs. Here I the ones I found the most helpful:
1. Dyeing with Red Cabbage by Curbly
2. This pretty amazing tutorial for the two basic dyeing techniques by Lady Yum Yum
3. A compilation of tips by Debs Cook on Herb Crafts



For a little hands eyes-on taste of how it works, above you can see my cranberry, blueberry, and red onion dyes.... and below, the dyed end result!



(blueberry, cranberry, onion, and un-dyed for color reference)

Who knew cranberry would turn out a lavender grey!? I'm actually really happy with the range of colors I was able to achieve :)



On a few of my eggs I also added some parsley and wheat grass impressions using this method. It's not a fail-safe technique, but I love how it turned out.



Just a few tips in case you want to try these tutorials for yourself...
1. Be prepared for a mess! Drips, dirty dishes, lots of prep space - this project can get big fast!
2. Be gentle with your dyed eggs while they're wet - it's easy to rub off the color before it dries.
3. Experiment with how long you leave your eggs in the dye. That way you can get a huge range of color with much less work!



Now my eggs sit in my living room as a happy reminder of spring :)

Have you naturally dyed eggs before? What foods did you use and how did they turn out?