How To Make Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

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There are plenty of pretty amazing, craft-tastic Easter egg ideas online and in magazines, making it entirely possible to devote days to creating museum-quality ova. But I prefer a less design-y and more rustic approach. If you have a small child in the house, this is not a project likely to involve X-Acto knives and tiny electrical tape stencils.

Easter is a reminder of fertility and abundance, so I say turn on nature’s color (in the form of using scraps and food you probably already have on hand) and let loose.

(Image credit: Sara Kate Gillingham)

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Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

The tradition of dyeing Easter eggs has wandered in many directions throughout history, from the early practice of staining eggs red in remembrance of Christ’s blood to what a lot of kids will tell you now: They color eggs to make them look like jelly beans.

A long time ago, I wrote about dyeing eggs with onion skins , which gives the eggs a pretty spectacular result, especially if you rub them with oil to add shine. Then, I decided to take coloring eggs with vegetable scraps a step further and created a larger palette. This year we’ll push it further, and as the kids around me get older, we just might add a few extra flourishes. No razors and making tape, but maybe a few of those rubber band tricks. I’ll let you know.

Keep in mind the effect of the dyes varies depending on how concentrated the dye is, what color egg you use, and how long and how many times the eggs are immersed in the dye. I used half a purple cabbage, shredded, to dye four eggs. Err on the side of more material rather than less when creating your dye. Here’s a handy guide to follow.

The Formulas for Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

Per cup of water use the following:

1 cup chopped purple cabbage = blue on white eggs, green on brown eggs
1 cup red onion skins = lavender or red eggs
1 cup yellow onion skins = orange on white eggs, rusty red on brown eggs
1 cup shredded beets = pink on white eggs, maroon on brown eggs
2 tablespoons ground turmeric = yellow eggs
1 bag Red Zinger tea = lavender eggs

Add one tablespoon white vinegar to every cup of strained dye liquid.
For every dozen eggs, plan on using at least four cups of dye liquid.

(Image credit: Kitchn Video )

Getting the Coloring You Want

Kitchn editors have tested this method several times and have found that the number of dips in the dye is even more important than the duration of time spent in the dye. The more stints in the dye, the deeper the color will be. Our point? You can really play with the final color.

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Gather your ingredients : You can make separate batches of different colors or one large batch of a single color. Follow the ratios given above for each ingredient to make more or less dye. (Image credit: Leela Cyd )