What kind of bird layed these eggs? Here are the pictures of our Naurally Dyed Easter Eggs

The naturally dyed Easter eggs we made turned out beautiful! I love the colors and the patterns the natural dyes imprinted on the eggs. I was able to compare our dyes with the girls' grandma's store bought dyes and I have to say that the natural dyes are well worth the time, as the colors are so much more vibrant, realistic, and healthy! Here is what I used to achieve the dyes:

Speckled maroon/rich pink: 2 cups frozen blackberries, 1 1/2 cup water, 2 TBS white vinegar, cook for 30 minutes at slow rolling boil. Cool the mixture then add hardboiled eggs and leave them in the dye overnight. The blackberries in the liquid will make the speckled look. Strain the liquid for a more even colored look.

Sunshine Yellow: 3 TBS turmeric, 3 cups water, 2 TBS vinegar. Cook all ingredients for 30 minutes at slow rolling boil. Set aside until cooled and then add hard boiled eggs. Leave in dye overnight, making sure to turn eggs if liquid doesn't cover them. This will make enough to color 3-4 eggs and to have some leftover to mix with the recipe for blue (below) to make green.

Earthy Brown: 4 TBS ground coffee, 3 cups water, 2 TBS vinegar. Cook all ingredients for 30 minutes, cool, then add hard boiled eggs. Leave overnight. Use brown eggs to make the color look more natural and rich.

Baby Soft Pink: 2 beets chopped, 3 cups water, 2 TBS white vinegar. Cook for 30 minutes at low boil. Cool dye and then add hard boiled eggs, leave overnight. I used beets that were white and red striped on the inside, and I would recommend using red beets only. So I added some blackberries to the final dye before adding the eggs to make the dye stronger. These eggs are the white ones with a few pink spots on them in the photos.

Midnight Blue: 3 cups blueberries, 4 cups water, 2 TBS vinegar. Cook for 30 minutes at low boil. Cool then split the contents into two containers. One will be for blue and one for green. Add hard boiled eggs to one then add the yellow turmeric dye to the other in equal parts to make the green. The blue dye was the only dye that I did not leave the eggs in overnight. It was very strong. I left them in for 5-6 hours. Makes a dark blue with hints of purple.

Ever-Green: Blueberries and turmeric, I used some of the leftovers from the blueberries and the turmeric dyes (described above), in equal parts, to make my green. What an incredible green! See picture. Leave eggs in dye overnight.

Above: closeup, naturally dyed Easter eggs

Above: The girls get excited over the colorful eggs

Recipe for Colorful Easter Eggs, Naturally Dyed: Fun with the Kids!

A fun craft to do with the kids, a learning opportunity, and healthy eating all in one! There are many foods & spices that you can use to make natural Easter egg dye, and kids can learn about where dyes first came from.

I am going to put in the extra effort this year and make the dyes myself with the kids' help. Here is a list of some natural items straight from your kitchen that you can use to dye your eggs:

Blue: red cabbage (leaves) and/or blueberries:

Red-Pink: blackberries

Green: mix blueberries and turmeric

Beige or brown: Tea, coffee

Red: Beets, cranberries

Orange: Outer skins of onions

Light Yellow: Carrot tops, orange or lemon peels

Dark Yellow: Turmeric

Marbled Effect: Add a little vegetable oil to the dye

To make the aforementioned colors, boil the ingredients in water with 3 tablespoons of vinegar per quart. The vinegar will help the colors adhere to the eggs. using white eggs is recommended, as the colors show more clearly. Dip the eggs into the bowls of coloring until desired color is reached. Natural colors usually take longer to dye the eggs than do the ones from the store. The colors you make will look like they came right out of the field or out of an exotic bird's nest!

You can leave eggs in the dye overnight if they are refrigerated (I recommend doing this for deeper hues). Checkout Amy Gates' website for pictures of beautiful home dyed eggs and for more information on colors and methods: http://crunchydomesticgoddess.com/2009/04/04/how-to-dye-easter-eggs-naturally-a-tutorial/