At iPlay America, we know Easter is a great time for family fun! This year, make the holiday extra-special and have some fun with your kids by teaching them about the natural dyes that can be found and created by using items you probably already have in your own kitchen. Common items like carrot tops, red cabbage, coffee, blueberries and onion skins can help produce colorful dyes that will make your children’s Easter eggs beautiful and provide you with a fun and educational bonding experience.
Get Started
To get started you’ll need a bottle of white vinegar and a healthy supply of white eggs. It works best (and you can be sure to avoid any broken-egg accidents) if the eggs are hard-boiled before dyeing. Remember that natural dyes are often unpredictable and can produce different and sometimes unexpected results. The fun is in the process!
Ingredients
Using natural dyes involves lots of experimentation, which means fun for the whole family. Here are ways to get a variety of colors:
- One cup of frozen blueberries will give you a lovely bluish colored egg.
- A quarter head of chopped red cabbage will yield an even richer blue.
- The skins of of six red onions will create a jade green, but add an extra tablespoon of vinegar for best results.
- The skins of six yellow onions and an extra tablespoon of vinegar should let you create a very nice orange colored egg.
- Four or five ounces of chopped carrot tops can give you a rich yellow hue.
- A quart of strong dark coffee when used to boil the eggs in directly will produce a very nice brown egg.
- Easter eggs boiled in 3 tablespoons of turmeric can create a golden tone, where eggs soaked at room temperature in a turmeric solution can create a chartreuse when you then combine soaking them in the red cabbage dye for a short period.
Make the Dyes
Once you have chosen which home ingredients to use to create your dye, place that ingredient in a pot and and add one quart of water to two tablespoons of white vinegar, more if needed in proportion to cover the ingredients. Bring the pot to a boil and reduce temperature. Let the ingredients simmer for one half hour and then strain the liquid into a bowl. Repeat to make all the different colors you want!
Create Beautiful Eggs!
Dip hard-cooked eggs in dye for about 5 minutes, but keep in mind that the longer the eggs remain in the dye, the deeper the hues. Next, use a slotted spoon, wire egg holder or tongs to remove eggs from dye, then allow them to dry.
You can also try using birthday candles or crayons to draw shapes and patterns on the eggs, which will show up nicely after dyeing. Fresh berries can also be pressed against the eggs to add fun patterns and give you some very interesting color combinations.
The main objective is having a great time experimenting and creating lovely Easter eggs. Be sure to post your photos here, or share on our Facebook page!