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Celebrate Spring with Naturally Dyed Eggs




With April just around the corner, signs of spring abound. The first, shivering crocuses are starting to bloom in my flowerbeds, and my resident woodpecker has taken up his knocking anew. I love to celebrate the coming of spring with natural art projects at Clementine Studio.

Coloring eggs has long been a favorite. Recently, I’ve been exploring natural dyes for my eggs. I was amazed by the vibrant colors I got from simple household vegetables, fruits and spices.

Use this egg dying chart below from Lakewinds Natural Foods to get perfectly vibrant colored eggs with natural dyes. Use hard cooked brown or white eggs. After eggs are cooked, quickly cool the water or rinse in cold water. This helps to prevent "greening" of the yolk. Natural dyes take a bit longer to color the egg, so plan on extra time, or leave the eggs in the refrigerator overnight.

Natural Colorant

Egg Color

Directions

Hints

turmeric powder

bright yellow to deep gold

Put -1-2 tsp. ground turmeric powder in heat proof cup. Fill 2/3 full with boiling water. Add 1 tsp. white vinegar.

Works quickly.

Turmeric stains.

Wipe dusty spice residue from eggs.

chopped red cabbage

blue/teal

Put 2-3 tbsps. chopped red cabbage in heat safe cup. Add boiling water. Add 1 tsp. white vinegar.

Let sit overnight.

Avoid excess handling.

onion skins, yellow

light peach to gold/orange

Use 1 large handful of onion skin for each cup of water. Simmer 20 minutes then add 1 tsp. of white vinegar.

A perennial favorite.

Easy.

grape juice

blue to purple

Add 1 cup frozen juice concentrate to 1 tsp. vinegar.

Eggs may be simmered right in the juice to cook.

grated red beets

magenta red

Put 2-4 tbsps. freshly grated beets in heat safe cup. Fill 2/3 with boiling water. Add 1 tsp. white vinegar.

Speckled design.

Dye may be strained before use.

Orange beets may be used to obtain saffron color.

red cabbage & turmeric

green

Pour scant tsp. of turmeric and 2-3 tbsps. of chopped red cabbage in a heat safe cup then add boiling water.

Speckled design.

Wipe vegetable off with damp cloth.

red cabbage & beet

purple

Put 2 tbsps. grated beet and 2 tbsps. red cabbage in heat safe cup. Add boiling water.

Striking and intense.

onion skins, red

pale celadon green

See directions for yellow onion skins.

Allow long steeping time.

7 comments:

☮ mOOnflower said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
*Mom's Best Bets said...

We love the beautiful color beets make

wendyg said...

I saw some beautiful naturally died eggs that had pressed images of cilantro on them. They placed the leaves on the eggs, wrapped them in old nylons and then set into the dye. They were so beautiful! I'll try that with these dyes next time.

wakelym said...

I love the idea of natural dyes, but do you use any of the leftover dyes for cooking? Any recipes?

wakelym said...

I love the idea of natural dyes, but do you use any of the leftover dyes for cooking? Any recipes?

wakelym said...

I love the idea of natural dyes, but do you use any of the leftover dyes for cooking? Any recipes?

Jason Dingley said...

I tried dying eggs with beetroot last year with no success. Looks like all I needed to add was vinegar. I have my own eggs, veggies, and kids so this is right up my ally.