Before clothing companies, back when people still had to make and sew their own clothing, people used natural dyes to color fabric. A similar process can be used to dye Easter eggs! If you didn’t make it to the store to grab your normal egg-dyeing kit, this is a great alternative. Use up some of your kitchen scraps to make beautiful natural colors to brighten up your holiday!
What you’ll need:
- White vinegar
- Dye materials (see list below), select some or all to dye with
- Water
- Saucepan
- Strainer
- Paper towels
- Cups or bowls
- Hard-boiled eggs or hollow eggs to dye
Dye Materials:
- Shredded purple cabbage: 1 cup
- Red or yellow onion skins: 1 cup
- Shredded beets: 1 cup
- Ground turmeric: 2-3 tablespoons
- Brewed strong coffee: 2 cups
- Ground chili powder: 2-3 tablespoons
- Spinach: 2 cups
Step One:
Bring 1-2 cups of water to a boil in your saucepan.
Bring 2 cups water to a boil.
Step Two:
Pick your dye material and add to boiling water. The higher the ratio of dye material to water, the stronger the color will be. *Note: coffee does not need to be added to water. Skip to step 5 if dyeing with coffee.
Add dye agent. Pictured: ground turmeric.
Step Three:
Reduce heat and simmer dye materials in water for about 30 minutes. For stronger colors, simmer longer.
Simmer dye.
Step Four:
Place mesh strainer over bowl. Pour contents of saucepan through strainer, unless using ground spice. Cool to room temperature.
Step Five:
Stir 2 tablespoons white vinegar into strained liquid.
Add 2 tablespoons vinegar to dye mixture.
Step Six:
Soak eggs in dye mixture until desired color is obtained. For rich colors, place bowl (or jar) with dye material and eggs in the refrigerator and leave 8 hours or overnight.
Soak eggs. I rotated these every hour.
Step Seven:
Remove eggs and dry with paper towel. To give eggs a shiny finish, rub lightly with vegetable oil.
Finished eggs dyed with ground turmeric.
~Kami Ahrens, Assistant Curator