Thursday, April 17

NATURAL DYE: Easter Eggs



When we decided to do a natural dye feature, one of the first things I thought of was Easter eggs.  It's something I have always wanted to try, but have never done.  With Easter just around the corner, Lauren and I decided to give it a go!  We raided our pantries at home to gather ingredients and used this website to find different dye options. This is a great project because there are so many different colors you can make with food/spices you have already.

Once the eggs dried and we saw the final results, we were thrilled!  We love the muted tones and the way color turned out looking uneven/somewhat crackled. 




Supplies:
White eggs (hard boiled)
Deep Bowls (for each different color)
White distilled vinegar

For coloring, we used:
Strong brewed coffee - brown
Blueberries (boil, mash, and let cool) - light blue
Red wine - deep burgundy/purple or dilute for a light violet
Carrots (juiced) - orange
Turmeric - yellow

In a deep bowl, add 1 cup of dye liquid to 1/4 cup of vinegar and stir.  Place an egg or two into each bowl, making sure the entire egg is covered in liquid.  If eggs are not entirely covered, add in more dye liquid (or in a pinch, we found warm water will work as well). For best results, leave eggs in dye for 24 hours.  Take eggs out after a day and let dry.
*This is not an exact science.  Play around with proportions of ingredients and amounts of dye liquid.  We'd love to hear about your results and please, ask away if you have any questions!

4 comments:

  1. This is such a great idea! I'm going to have to try it for my Easter decor.
    Nic
    www.salvageandstoneblog.com

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    1. Definitely let us know how your eggs turn out. Happy weekend, Nic!

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  2. Those colors are so pretty! In Lithuanian tradition, we would also wrap eggs in onion skins before boiling them for added colors and patterns. I bet these natural dyes would work great for that process!

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    1. Great tip Ana! Thanks for sharing. We love hearing about different traditions from around the world.

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