Dyeing Easter eggs, naturally!

Here’s a post from lovely Jenny from the Peaceful Housewife about a way to naturally dye your Easter eggs!

We’re on the countdown to Easter, and if you’re like me, you’re making plans for that fabulous mess known as dyeing Easter eggs. I can’t help you cut down on the mess made (although I do have some fabulous cleaning products to help you clean up after the mess), but I can help you make that mess, and the egg dyeing, much more naturally.

Here’s to one less thing to dread, right? First up, let’s touch on how to boil the eggs. There are a million different schools of thought out there on how to hard boil eggs, and frankly, I’m not an expert. Around here, we put the eggs in a pan and cover them with water. Then we bring them to a boil, reduce the heat, add a lid and let simmer for 10 minutes. Once the timer goes off, remove the pan to the sink and run cold water into the pan until the eggs are cool enough to handle. You can either hard boil all of your eggs at once, or you can hard boil your Easter eggs in smaller pans with the (natural) dye in the pan. If your kids love to help dye the eggs all kinds of pretty colors, I would suggest hard boiling them all together and then dyeing them. Now, instead of grabbing those little packets of colored tabs, let’s have some fun! The color possibilities are endless, so let your imagination run wild. Think of all of those beautiful fruits and veggies that you love to eat. In general, you’re going to take the fruits or veggies and boil them in a couple of cups of water to get your beautiful colors. When you’re satisfied with the color of the water, add 1/2 tsp. of vinegar and gently dip or soak the eggs in the water. Use shorter soak times for more pale, pastel colors and allow the eggs to soak longer for deeper, more vibrant colors.

Here are some of my suggestions for natural coloring.

Red Lots of red onion skins, boiled Purple cabbage, shredded and boiled Fresh cranberries, boiled mashed Ground paprika, boiled Beets,boiled Fresh raspberries, boiled Chili powder

Blue Canned or fresh blueberries, boiled and mashed Violet blossoms, boiled Purple grape juice

Green Spinach leaves, boiled Asparagus boiled

Yellow Orange peels, boiled Lemon peels, boiled Celery seed, boiled Carrot tops, boiled Ground cumin, boiled Ground tumeric, boiled Chamomile tea, green tea Yellow delicious apple peels, boiled

Purple Fresh blackberries, boiled Grape juice

Pink Ground paprika, boiled Peeled beets, boiled Cranberry or raspberry juice Fresh cranberries, boiled Fresh raspberries, boiled Red grape juice Juice from pickled beets

Brown Strong tea Strong coffee Black walnut shells, boiled Black tea

Orange Yellow onion skins, boiled Cooked carrots Chili powder Paprika

I know this sounds like a lot of extra work, compared to just opening a package, but try to slowly work preparing the natural dyes into your week as you prepare meals for your family. If you peel onions for a meal, go ahead and boil them while you’re cooking that night. Need carrots for your veggie dip? Throw some in a pot to simmer while you prepare your dip. Most of all, relax and enjoy your family! Make lots of memories, laugh and love. Capture those memories. I would love to see photos of your family dyeing your Easter eggs, no matter what you use to dye them! Just e-mail them to jenny@thepeacefulhousewife.com or share them on my Facebook page.