Thursday, April 9, 2009

All Natural Egg Dyes (I know, not jam, but colorful and fun like jam)


The time of year for egg dying is upon us! Letting your creative inhibitions free on some little hard-boiled eggs is great fun, and using all natural ingredients that are lying around the kitchen makes beautiful colors and easy dying.

Shades vary and are often more vibrant than commercial dyes.

Patterns: Try wrapping a fern frond or flower petal around the egg and putting it in the cut-off toe of a pantyhose. Wrap rubberbands around for a striped effect. Draw on the egg with a crayon or oil pastel. Double-dip for crazy shades!

Blue:
Canned Blueberries

Red:
Cabbage Leaves (boiled)

Purple:
Grape Juice

Brown or Beige (any one of these):
Strong Coffee
Instant Coffee
Black Walnut Shells (boiled)
Black Tea

Brown Gold:
Dill Seeds

Brown Orange:
Chili Powder

Green:
Spinach Leaves (boiled)

Greenish Yellow:
Yellow Delicious Apple Peels (boiled)

Grey:
Purple or red grape juice or beet juice

Lavender-ish (any one of the below):
Small Quantity of Purple Grape Juice
Violet Blossoms plus 2 tsp Lemon Juice
Red Zinger Tea

Orange:
Yellow Onion Skins (the filmy outer dry skins) (boiled)

Pink (any one of the below):
Beets
Cranberries or Juice
Raspberries
Red Grape Juice
Juice from Pickled Beets

Red (any one of the below):
Lots of Red Onions Skins (boiled)
Pomegranate juice
Canned Cherries (with syrup)
Raspberries

Violet or Purple (any one of the below):
Violet Blossoms
Hibiscus tea
Small Quantity of Red Onions Skins (boiled)
Red Wine

Yellow (any one of the below):
Orange or Lemon Peels (boiled)
Carrot Tops (boiled)
Chamomile Tea
Celery Seed (boiled)
Green tea
Ground Cumin (boiled)
Ground Turmeric (boiled) or Saffron

2 comments:

Unknown said...

that's so cool! that's a great red, too! xo

hillary said...

oh goodie! these ideas are great, and the colours in your photo look beautiful. i can't wait to experiment!