Dye of Natural Causes

Yes, Easter is upon us. Before you buy your egg dyeing kit consider dyeing your eggs naturally with spices and fruit & vegetable juices!

Thanks to the help of this site I was able to see what natural ingredients make perfect natural dyes.

Blue: use blueberries
Brown: use coffee or tea
Green: use spinach, liquid chlorophyll, or chlorell
Orange: use chili powder, cayenne, paprika,yellow onion skins, or carrots
Pink: use beet juice, cranberries, or raspberries
Purple: use red wine, red cabbage leaves, grape juice
Red: annatto, pomegranate juice, or red onion skin
Yellow: use turmeric, saffron, orange or lemon peels, or ground cumin

You will also need:
- hardboiled eggs
- egg carton or cooling rack
- spoon, fork, or tongs
- saucepan
- veggie/olive oil
- white vinegar, water
- possibly a strainer of sorts if you are dealing with spinach, coffee grounds, tea leaves, etc. but not necessary

In a saucepan, add a couple of tablespoons of your spice of choice to about 2 cups of water. If you are using veggies, add about 3 or 4 handfuls (chopped up). If you’re going the juice route just skip the water all together. Simmer your concoction for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until you’re happy with the colour. Keep in mind that the eggs will not be as dark as the mixture.

When you’re happy with the shade, turn the heat off. Add white vinegar to the liquid (3-4 tablespoons to every cup of liquid). Dip your hardboiled egg into the dye and wait. The longer you wait, the deeper the colour will be.

Use a spoon, fork, or tongs to carefully lift out your egg and place on a wire rack or egg carton. Let dry. Add a little veggie/olive oil for luster. Let dry again. And voila! You’ve got yourself a naturally dyed egg!

I tried this out tonight to be able to add some personal visuals for you. Luckily I had some tumeric in my cupboard so my guinea egg was going to be yellow. To the right is my tumeric mixture. It looked like a gross protein shake! You can see the egg (kinda) at the bottom soaking up the juices.

And the end result! My naturally dyed egg! Yeah, I'm pretty proud.