This being my first Easter as a mama… it was also the first Easter I’ve dyed eggs since I was a little one. And for the first time, I attempted to make my own natural dyes for our Easter Eggs. I was inspired to do this after reading a fellow photographer’s blog entry Emily Weaver Brown, who is also a mom to young kiddies, on naturally dyeing eggs. With everything we’ve been hearing and reading lately about all the crazy things that are in commercial dyes, and what they are linked to healthwise…I’ve been looking to natural/alternative methods whenever I can, when it comes to the things my family eats and is exposed to on a daily basis. I never even thought of natural egg dyeing before or knew it could be done so easily, inexpensively and that it’d be so fun!
After reading Emily’s blog entries of her attempts over the past few years, I began researching online and found that there are tons and tons of articles and recipes and techniques out there on making your own dyes. Who knew! I wish I had started the project earlier than three days before Easter Sunday…there are so many techniques I’d like to try, ingredients I’d like to experiment with… will have to try them all next year. I’m a big lover of traditions, and of fun interesting crafts like this, that I can do with my family for years to come. So we will definitely be doing this every Easter instead of using artificial food coloring. (Especially after the FDA has released such scary information about the contents of what goes into dyes and that they have been linked with ADHD, tumors, and other health conditions!)
So here’s what I did after digesting all that I read and saw online. It was SO MUCH FUN. My family and I were thrilled with the results and STILL have the eggs displayed proudly in the kitchen. They’re so beautiful no one wants to see them go!
I used a small assortment of the MANY flowers/plants/fruits/veggies out there that produce fabulous dyes, next year I plan to experiment with more. Here’s what I used this year:
So basically what i did (and this is just one of many techniques) is boil the chosen substance (beets, cabbage, etc) in a medium-large pot of water for about 10-15 minutes, until you can really see the color in the water. Strain the cabbage or beets or whatever out, and put the liquid back on the stove, to reduce it down and really concentrate the liquid. Then I took my pre-hard boiled eggs (white), and placed them gently in a jar, filled with enough liquid to cover them by at least an inch. I used a variety of different jars we have in the kitchen, and labeled each one. Although next year (you always learn by trying things out) I plan to come up with a more uniform jar & labeling system…gonna think on that one)
Following Emily’s advice, I let the eggs steep in the Natural Dye “Teas” overnight. I started jarring them early in the evening, and took them out at 9am the next morning… so they were steeping for about 13-14 hours. (I’ve read articles/blogs that say anywhere from 4 to 24 hours, but 13-14 seemed to work well for most of the dyes)
And then after they had completely air dried:
After the eggs air dried for about four-five hours, the colors seemed to fade a bit. Some of the eggs had this gooey film on them, which I gently rinsed off with cool water in the sink. Underneath I often found the really cool speckled eggs.
The next step is to rub a tiny bit of Canola oil on the eggs, and I have to say I was really shocked by the result of doing this!
The Canola oil really made the colors and speckles POP on the eggs, and gave them such a pretty sheen.
Some of the colors I had hoped to achieve didn’t quite turn out… no pretty pinks or vibrant purples. Also, didn’t get a bright green, which seems to be the color that a lot of people have had a hard time achieving. From what I tried, have seen others try, and what I’ve read, it looks like the only way to get a really bold green is to use live chlorophyll. I will definitely try that next year. I tried to get a bold green by making a tea of (1) saffron (for yellow)
- purple cabbage (for blue)
- Mint (Obviously- green)
- and Parsley
Here’s what I got for green eggs, they aren’t a bold Irish green but look more like Dinosaur eggs to me for some reason…I liked them a lot, but hopefully next time can get a really bold green.
The color of dyed eggs will depend on the pH level of the dye and how it reacts with the pH level of the eggshell. I read a few articles about this and about adding vinegar to the beet/cabbage/turmeric etc liquid, but didnt find consistent information (or any in some cases) about EXACTLY how much vinegar to add. So I kind of guess-timated. Some jars had the “tea” without any vinegar, some with a little bit, some with a lot. Next year I am going to be more exact about the vinegar. I think I will try a different version of each dye, with varying levels of vinegar, and see what happens that way.
All in all I was extremely pleased with my naturally dyed eggs. I can’t wait to try them again and again and play around different substances. Also, I’d like to try playing around with using egg-whites, which you can use almost like a liquid stencil apparently…that could be really fun.
Another method I will try is wrapping the eggs in onion skins and then in cheesecloth, and hard-boiling them just like that…its supposed to elicit a really cool marble effect.
I took this picture (above) on Easter morning and as you can see, the Canola oil has chilled out a bit and the eggs just look really beautiful and… natural 🙂 Love them!
Hope everyone had very Happy Easter!