Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

Follow the recipes below to make the dyes, using individual stainless steel, glass, or enamel saucepans for each color. Combine the ingredients and boil each color mixture separately for 15 minutes before dyeing eggs. The vinegar acts as a fixative — without it, the dyes won’t stick to the eggs.

• Before dyeing, hard boil white eggs and let them cool.
• For uniform color, strain each dye mixture through cheesecloth or a fine strainer.
• For a mottled, tie-dyed or spotty effect, leave all the ingredients in the pans.
• Trace personal designs with beeswax/white crayon before you color for a unique touch.
• Use various leaves and flowers to make special designs.  Ferns work beautifully, as do long-petaled flowers like Shasta Daisies.
• The longer the eggs remain in the dye, the deeper the color.
• For special effects, dip half the egg in one color, the other half in another.

Natural Dye Recipes for Easter Eggs

RED

2 cups beets, grated
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 cups water
Substitute: strong Red Zinger tea, or chopped fresh or frozen cranberries

YELLOW TO GOLD

3 large handfuls of yellow/brown onion skins
1 tbsp white vinegar
3 cups water
Substitute: strong chamomile tea, or 2 to 3 tbsp ground turmeric

BLUE

1 pound frozen blueberries, crushed
1 tbsp white vinegar
2 cups water
Substitute: red cabbage leaves, coarsely chopped, create lavender

OTHER COLORS

Mix combinations of the primary dyes (in separate cups) to make secondary colors: red and yellow for orange, yellow and blue for green, and blue and red for violet. The proportion of one color to the other determines the shade.