Easter is by far, my favorite holiday of the year. Celebrating our Risen Savior, family time, brunch, warmer weather, egg hunts, and candy-filled baskets- what's not to love! It's a time of new life that always leaves me refreshed.
Dying Easter eggs has always been my favorite activity of this season. It's a great chance to be creative with a blank canvas. Although it's super convenient to purchase pre-made dye, I really enjoy using and experimenting with natural, color creating ingredients.
^^ First, start with hard boiled eggs. I boil mine for about 9 minutes, turn off the heat, and let them sit in the hot water another minute or two. Then I drain the water from the pot and let them cool.
Do not worry about exact measurements when making natural dye. The goal is to achieve your desire pigment (darkness & lightness) by playing with the qualities of foods/spices. Have fun with it! If you discover more items that would aid in creating a certain color, just add them to the pot!
^^ For the yellow dye, I used a couple table spoons of turmeric, and two bags of green tea.
^^ For the green dye, I used two handfuls of chopped spinach, green tea bags, and fresh basil.
^^ For the pink dye, I used 3 cubed red beets, 1/2 cup frozen blueberries, and 8 oz pomegranate juice.
^^ Place the dye ingredients into seperate sauce pans and fill with water one inch above the ingredients.
^^ Bring the dye mixture to a boil.
^^ Cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes to 1 hour- periodically check on them to see when your desired color is achieved.
^^ Place a colander or strainer over a bowl and drain your dye.
^^ Add 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar to teach dye while they're still warm.
Fill dipping jars with the dye, and lower the eggs inside using a small ladle or spoon. I used larger mason jars so that we could dye 2-3 eggs at a time.
^^ Let the eggs sit for 15-45 minutes depending on the color you want. I let these sit for about 30 minutes, placed them back into the carton cups to drip dry, and then back into the refrigerator. (For egg salad tomorrow!)
We had a lot of fun watching the white egg shells slowly turn into these beautiful colors. The best part of it all was that we 'made' these colors using natural ingredients! I really look forward to experimenting with new items each year, and I hope you have fun customizing your own colors, too!
Happy Easter!
xo- Monica
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