Easter Eggs

This year we (I) decided using natural dyes would be fun. Searching the internet brought up so many different recipes it was difficult for me to choose. But I persevered and narrowed it down to just eight different colors. So being the mad scientist I am I whipped up the dyes, put them in jars, and commenced the dying. The kids got to choose which colors to do and I put the eggs in with a spoon. We left them to dye for hours as we ran errands all day.

From left to right: beets, red onion skins, chili powder, paprika,
turmeric, turmeric plus red cabbage, red cabbage, yellow onion skins

The hoped for colors would be, from left to right again: pink, deep red, red-orange, orange, yellow, green, blue, and mahogany brown. Results were not as expected but lovely nonetheless. The beet solution was the biggest disappointment, ending up as a murky brown rather than a vibrant pink. Tip: Do no boil the beet solution. Try blending the beet in a blender, straining it, then adding the vinegar to set the dye.

The beet dye results. Boo! Not the pink I was going for.

Everything from beets to paprika resulted in brown.

Red onion skins

Chili powder

Paprika (the egg in the foreground had the dye rubbed off by moi)

The rest of the colors, however, dyed beautifully.

Red cabbage

Yellow onion skins

Turmeric mixed with red cabbage

The Hubby and I decided to buy another dozen eggs and just focus on the yellow, green, blue, and mahogany. So that's what we did. We put them in and let them dye for about seven hours. This was the result of the second dying.

This next one is my favorite. Remember the paprika egg that I wiped the dye from? It still had an undercoating of brown, very similar to a regular brown chicken egg. I tossed it in the blue dye and this is what happened:


Stunning!

Oh, and the blue eggs match our chicken coop, like so:


Never mind the flopped over greenhouse. We had a windstorm and, well, it just died. We're going to try to revive it.

I'm sure this will have to become a family traditions. In the coming years I'll even let the kids mix up their own secret potions to dye their eggs. We'll be like alchemists.

I hope you enjoyed your Easter celebration and enjoy the spring to come!