I’ve seen people dye eggs naturally for years, and always wanted to give it try. Since my daughter can now participate in a lot more activities than she could at age one, I thought this would be a great opportunity to introduce a new family tradition for Easter.
Although, most egg dying kits are safe for kids, always make sure that your kit uses natural ingredients. Or you can just use ingredients from your home, follow this tutorial, and not think twice about it 🙂
Step 1 – Choose your color source. Here is a key to show you what color different food items produce. This is your opportunity to experiment with anything in your kitchen, so get creative and have fun!
2. Chop up the vegetable/fruit that you are using for your color source. For spices and teas skip this step.
3a. Add chopped fruit/vegetable to a pot. Cover with water, just enough so it barely covers all of the food.
3b. For spices and teas, I used equal parts. For 1 tablespoon of seasoning, I’d use 1 cup of water. For 1 teabag, I’d use 1 cup of water.
Example
1 tbs tumeric = 1 cup of water
2 tbs tubers = 2 cups of water
4. Add 2tbs of white vinegar
Method 1
5. Add soft boiled egg to the pot. Make sure the water covers the eggs as well.
6. Boil for 20 minutes, this will create your dye.
7. Either leave everything in the pot. Or transfer to a large bowl.
8. Leave eggs in the dye until they reach the color that you desire.
Method 2
5. Boil for 20 minutes, this will create your dye. Let cool for 5 minutes.
6. Add hard boiled egg to a bowl, mason jar, etc.
7. Pour dye over the eggs. Make sure the dye covers the eggs completely.
8. Leave eggs in the dye until they reach the color that you desire.
9. Shine your eggs with a little bit of olive oil or vegetable oil and a napkin.
Done!
Tips
- If you want to lower your chances of cracking the eggs, Method 2 may be safer.
- Adding vinegar before the boil or after, made no difference
- If you use Method 1, make sure you soft boil your eggs.
- The longer you keep the eggs in the dye, the stronger the color will be.
- Do not expect perfection with these eggs. Remember this is a natural dying process, so the eggs naturally transform into something unique.