Dying eggs is one of my favorite family Easter traditions. I usually buy the same egg dying kit that my mom used when I was a child.
But last year I decided to try something completely different by making my own natural dyes for our Easter eggs.
It turns out the process is very simple, but there's a couple of things to keep in mind:
- Natural dyes need more time to work to color your eggs. The longer the eggs sit in the dye the deeper the color becomes. Consider leaving them in the dye overnight or even up to 24 hours to see what the difference is in color!
- Naturally-dyed eggs won't be as uniformly colored as they are when you use a kit. Instead, each egg will be unique. The color might vary -- even in the same batch. If you want your eggs more uniform, strain the ingredients out when you're done making your dye. In some cases, we liked the effect when our eggs mixed with the ingredients! We found that leaving turmeric in the water, for instance, left interesting dark flecks of colors on the eggs.
We used fresh blueberries, red cabbage, turmeric, beets, and carrots to create the colors that we wanted. You and your kids can experiment with different foods to create the colors you want!
Here's how we created natural purple, pink, blue, gold, and yellow dyes for our Easter eggs:
1. Purple dye
Add 1 pint of blueberries, smashed, and 2 cups of water to a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil. Simmer for 10 minutes and then turn off. Allow to cool to room temperature.
2. Pink dye
Add 1 chopped red beet and 2 cups of water to a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil. Simmer for 10 minutes and then turn off. Allow to cool to room temperature and remove beet pieces.
3. Blue dye
Add half a head of red cabbage and 2 cups of water to a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil. Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes and then turn off. Allow to cool to room temperature and remove cabbage pieces.
4. Gold dye
Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of turmeric and 2 cups of water to a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes and turn off heat. Allow to cool to room temperature.
5. Yellow dye
Add 2 or 3 tablespoons of turmeric, 2 grated carrots and 2 cups of water to a saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil. Simmer for 20 minutes and turn off heat. Allow it to cool to room temperature.
Place each dye in a glass container like a bowl or cup. Gently add your boiled eggs to the homemade dyes. We left our eggs in the dye in the refrigerator for about five hours. Here's how they came out:
I hope your family has as much fun as we did experimenting with homemade natural egg dyes! Happy Easter!
Maricarmen Chavez is the publisher assistant of Macaroni Kid SW Miami and Miami East.
Macaroni Kid Cleveland East is a free weekly newsletter and website focused on fun family events and information on Cleveland's east side. We gather all kinds of local family events and activities each week, and add useful information about classes, family-focused businesses, book and product reviews, recipes, crafts, school and camp guides and more. We proudly serve families in in eastern Cuyahoga County and western Lake County including: Cleveland, Shaker Heights, University Heights, Cleveland Heights, Beachwood, Garfield Heights, Bedford, Solon, Pepper Pike, Hunting Valley, Euclid, South Euclid, Richmond Heights, Willowick, Willoughby, Mentor, Painesville, Chesterland and Gates Mills!
