The weather has been absolutely perfect over here on the East Coast this week and it has me feeling everything spring – open windows, soft florals, outdoor dining and of course, Easter. Now, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; I’m a sucker for any and every holiday tradition. (Need proof? See here, here, and here). Dying eggs is always on the Easter prep list. Over the years I think I’ve tried every type of boxed egg dying kit you can think of. You have the standard colors, the stickers, the thick wax crayon that never works, the glitter eggs which always equal a huge mess, the tie dye eggs, and the marble eggs. So this year, I wanted to try something a bit different and pulled some inspiration from the Queen of all things pretty, Martha Stewart. I mean have you seen the eggs her magical chickens produce?! Check them out here. When creating my dyes I used all natural ingredients to try and get that Martha Stewart-esque egg hue. Most of these ingredients I already had in my cabinets making this a super easy DIY.
PREPARATIONS
- Hard boiled eggs
- 2 cups of water per dye
- 1 tablespoon of white vinegar per dye
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries (I used frozen)
- 4-5 green tea bags (I also used green tea with pomegranate)
- 1 1/2 cups red onion skins
- 1 – 2 tablespoons of turmeric
- Cheese cloth or strainer
- Bowl or jars for dipping eggs
The making of each dye followed a similar process but I have broken down the steps for each below.
Blueberry
In a small saucepan bring 2 cups of water, 1 1/2 cups of blueberries and 1 teaspoon of salt to a boil. Let boil for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain out the berries and keep the liquid. I used mason jars for each dye but any bowl or cup will do. Once cooled, add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to the liquid. Gently place eggs into your blueberry dye and let soak for the desired time. The longer the egg soaks then darker the color. Gently remove with a spoon and let fully dry before handling.
Tea
Boil about 16 ounces of water. Steep 4 -5 tea bags for every 8 ounces of water. I used two different types of tea so I split the water between two jars and steeped 5 tea bags of each flavor – green tea and green tea with pomegranate. Let steep for 15 – 30 minutes, remove tea bags and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to each. Gently place eggs into the tea dye and let soak for desired time. Out of all the natural dyes I tried, the tea needed to soak the longest, about 2-4 hours. You can continually peak on them until you’ve reached your desired color.
Turmeric & Red Onion Skins
The turmeric and red onion skins followed the same process. In a small saucepan bring 2 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of turmeric or 1 1/2 cups of red onion skins to a boil. Let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain each mixture into a jar or blow and add 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Gently place eggs into your natural dye and let soak for desired time.
I was surprised with how each color turned out. I think my favorites are the purpley blues that came from the blueberry dye and the greenish from the green tea with pomegranate tea bags. Next time I definitely want to experiment with different teas!
Yarn eggs pictured are available on my Etsy shop here.
Enjoy!
Meghan
