Living in Boulder, Colorado means joining one of the most eco-sensitive communities in the U.S. With the Easter holidays coming up, wouldn’t it be great if you could host an Easter egg decorating party and skip all of the weird ingredients?
The egg decorating process puts little hands in contact with the dyes, no doubt, so we went out and found the best of the best for all-natural Easter egg dyes. Not only are these dyes all-natural, they’re made from things that are meant for eating. It really doesn’t get better than that! And you can grab everything you need at one of Boulder’s organic grocery stores.
A universal hint: for deeper egg colors, let eggs soak in the dye longer.
You’ll need
hard-boiled eggs, small sauce pans for boiling-down ingredients of natural dyes, recommended fruits, vegetables, herbs, and teas
For Purple/Lavender Eggs: Our favorite all-natural easter egg hack is made from TAZO Passion Tea. Just put 4 tea bags into 4 cups of hot water and let eggs soak for 15 minutes.
For Red Eggs: Use beets! Grate 2 large red beets into a pot of water (about 2-3 cups water) plus one tablespoon of vinegar. Bring to a boil and keep at a boil for 15 minutes. Once the water is cooled, add the eggs and let soak for 15 minutes.
For Blue Eggs: What better dye than blueberries? Take 2 cups of blueberries and add to 2-3 cups of boiling water along with 1 tablespoon of vinegar. Simmer for 15 minutes. Let mixture cool. Soak eggs for 15 minutes. For a faster hack, try using canned blueberries and add vinegar straight to the juice in the can.
For Brown Marbled Eggs: Start with a cup-o-joe. Brew a super-strong pot of coffee and add one tablespoon of vinegar for every 2 cups of dye. Let eggs soak 15 minutes.
For Yellow Eggs: For bright yellow, use tumeric.
For Orange Eggs: Calling Bugs Bunny — boil up the carrots! Bring a pot of water to boil (maybe a medium saucepan), and put 6-8 sliced carrots in. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove carrots and let water cool. Add 1-2 tablespoons vinegar for each cup of dye liquid and let eggs soak.
For Green Eggs: Skip the ham — just use spinach leaves. Bring the leaves to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Let the water cool with the leaves in it and then remove the leaves once cooled. Add vinegar like the dye recipes above and let the eggs soak for 10 minutes to start.
And here’s an added tip: to save your family the expense of putting vegetables to waste, you can save up the vegetable liquid over the week prior to your egg festivities. Just put your freshly-colored water into an air-tight container and keep refrigerated. When you’re ready to dye your eggs, just bring it out, add the recommended 1-2 tablespoons of vinegar per cup of dye water, and happy decorating!
You can find more natural Easter egg dye ideas on Blisstree. They have some beautiful ideas on how to use flowers and foliage to create stunning prints on your eggs using your natural dyes. Be sure to have a look.
