This is the first time that Mekhi really "gets" the idea of Easter Egg hunts and the Easter Bunny. He had a ball at school running around finding candy filled eggs. This year I decided to dye some real Easter Eggs so he can enjoy the experience of egg dying too! I've always wanted to make naturally dyed eggs but I wanted to wait until Mekhi could appreciate it. I like natural dyes because I have no idea what is in the dyes that you buy in the store! And I had everything that I needed in my kitchen to make my own dye at home!
Today I took my first foray into naturally dyed Easter Eggs and I must say I am happy with the results! I started by raiding my kitchen and found the following items:
Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Turmeric, Paprika, blueberries and wild Blueberry Acai tea. I use the same method for each color. I used approximately a cup and a half of water added the color and boiled for five minutes.
I then poured the colors into my cups for egg dipping and added about a tablespoon of vinegar. Green was my favorite - I mixed turmeric dye and blackberry dye. The orangey color in the middle there? That made GREEN dye! Amazing!
I knew that because I was using natural dyes I had to let the eggs soak for awhile so I put them in and took Mekhi to an Easter fair. When I returned I had beautifully colored eggs!
I'd say if you let them soak for an hour you can still get nice color but of course, the longer the eggs soak, the deeper the color. Have fun with this and let me know how your eggs come out!
P.S. - there are multiple other ways to make natural dye if you do a google search you will see people use veggies as a base too. I liked using spices, I have them around and blackberries I eat daily so they are on hand too. Next year I might experiment with the skin of red onions, I hear that dye comes out fabulous!
