They Are Pretty Just The Way They Are

Coloring eggs is a fun project and a family tradition since I can remember.   I have learned of some natural dyeing techniques over the years that work for eggs, as well as wool and basket fibers.   Here are some color ideas:

Red- beets, paprika, red onion skins

Orange- any yellow ingredient plus beet juice

Yellow- yellow onion skins, tumeric (1/2 teaspoon per cup of water) celery leaves

Green- alfalfa, spinach, kale, violet blossom plus 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, tansy, nettle, chervil, sorrel, parsley, carrot tops, beet tops, or dip yellow egg in blue dye

Blue- blackberries, grape juice concentrate, red cabbage

Purple- violets, grapes

Pink- cranberry juice

Hard boil eggs with 1 teaspoon of  vinegar in the water.   Place dying ingredients in non aluminum pans, cover with water and boil 5 minutes to an hour or when desired intensity is reached, stirring and crushing the ingredients to disperse the color.   Strain the coloring ingredients out of the water.   While the dye is still hot, place the eggs in and let set in the dye until desired intensity is achieved.   Some dyes act faster than others.

Or, just go to your local farmer and buy a mixed variety of farm fresh eggs like these.

Straight from the farm, no color added!
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3 thoughts on “They Are Pretty Just The Way They Are

  1. Some of the most beautiful eggs are made by using raw eggs placed on a bed of onion skins, and some of the other things mentioned above. The egg on its bed is wrapped in a square of old sheeting and gathered up with a rubber band. Boil the egg packages for the same amount of time that you normally use for hard-boiled eggs. Lift out the egg packages. Once they have cooled enough to handle, unwrap your beautiful eggs. The colors will look even more luminous if you rub them with some cooking oil while warm. In addition to the eggs, you also have a beautifully colored square that can be used a variety of ways.

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