A Seasonal Living Craft

While I’m sequestered at home during this pandemic I’m on a mission to occupy my time with any seasonal nature-based craft that I can. I love crafting with plants and finding new ways to use up old kitchen scraps to minimize my food waste. Because of our economic circumstances, I’ve been inclined to be a bit more thrifty - to use every last lit bit and use what resources I already have wisely (instead of going out and spending money on non-essentials). Because Easter is right around the corner, I decided to dye easter eggs using only a few natural and readily available ingredients from my kitchen. This seasonal craft is insanely easy to do, and the color possibilities are so limitless that it’s the perfect nature craft for both adults and kids.

I used only four simple ingredients from my fridge and pantry to get a range of bright beautiful colors. Purple cabbage, blueberries, black tea, and turmeric was all I needed to create a variety of blues, greens, yellows and rusty browns. In the past I’ve used beets, red wine, red onion skins, paprika, and avocado pits (and skins) for various shades of auburn, terra cotta, mauve, pink, and nude. I’ve found that acorns, coffee, and yellow onion skins create beautiful shades of yellow, grey, and brown. Green herbal tea and spiced teas make earthy browns and greens, while spinach and parsley make brighter greens too. The making of the dye baths are the same no matter the ingredient, and once the dye is created the color mixing opportunities are endless!

My favorite natural dye color that I’ve created is definitely the forest green and light blue colors from this dye experiment. Thanks to the added vinegar, the speckled royal blue turned out stunning. In this dye process, I discovered that no matter the color of the dye bath, simply adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar creates a variegated or speckled effect on the eggs.

This craft was so much fun and so easy that it can easily be done with kiddos while they're being schooled from home these days. It felt like a nature-based art project because I mixed the blue dye bath from cabbage with yellow turmeric to create a vibrant green. It was also science experiment because the colors turned out a bit different than the colors of the original ingredients, and it was fun to see what happened when I added vinegar and experimented with soaking times. It was a perfect spring seasonal living craft that saved me a trip to the store (or an online purchase) for a plastic fake-dye kit. Here are my instructions and recipes for my naturally dyed easter eggs.

Ingredients & supplies

18 White Eggs
1 Head Purple Cabbage
1 Cup Blueberries
1 Tbsp Vinegar (apple cider or white)
1/3 Cup Black Tea
5 1/2 tsp Turmeric
Glass Jars
Pot
Fine Mesh Strainer
Spoon

Instructions

Begin by boiling eggs for 15 minutes, then soaking the eggs in an ice water bath. After soaking eggs in their dye baths for up to 24 hours, remove them from their jars and let them air dry completely before storing them in the fridge. Also, a word of caution: be careful with turmeric - it can easily dye fabric and countertops if the spice is not wiped up quickly. I kept an old rag handy to wipe up any dye spills.

For Light Blue

Boil ¼ head of chopped purple cabbage for 30 minutes. Strain into a jar and let cool before adding hard boiled eggs to the dye. Cover with a lid and store in the fridge for 24 hours to get the deepest color.

For Speckled Bright Royal Blue

Boil ¼ head of chopped purple cabbage for 30 minutes. Strain into a jar and let cool. Add 1 Tbsp of vinegar to the dye bath, then add hard boiled eggs. Cover with a lid and store in the fridge for 24 hours to get the deepest color. Because of the vinegar, air bubbles will form on the eggs which gives the eggs the speckled look after drying. The vinegar instantly turned my hot dye bath to a magenta color, but overnight the color changed to a rich purple, but it still created a royal blue dyed egg. I also pulled one egg out after 4 hours and let it oxidize over night, which created a pretty speckled teal color.

For Soft Warm Blue

Soak 1 bag of dry black beans in cold water for 24 hrs. Ladle out water and pour into jar. This is the dye. Soak hardboiled eggs in jar for 24 hrs.

For Midnight Blue & Inky Grey

Blend 1 cup of fresh blueberries and 1 cup of water until smooth. Pour into a pot and boil for 30 minutes, stirring regularly so as not to burn the dye. Strain into a jar and let cool before adding hard boiled eggs to the dye. Cover with a lid and store in the fridge for 24 hours to get the deepest color. Eggs will look like a deep purple directly after removing them from the dye, but then they’ll oxidize and turn into deep midnight blue. I pulled one egg out of the dye after 4 hours and let it oxidize overnight, which turned it brown. Then, I put the egg back into the dye for another 6 hours and it turned out to be a beautiful inky grey color.

For Lime Green

Boil ¼ head of chopped purple cabbage for 30 minutes. Strain into a jar and add 2 tsp of turmeric. Shake to mix the colors. Let the dye cool before adding hard boiled eggs to the dye. Cover with a lid and store in the fridge for 24 hours to get the brightest color. The turmeric will settle at the bottom of the jar, so shake it up a few times while the eggs are in the dye bath. For pastel shades, remove eggs from dye after 3 hours; or after 8 hours for a medium toned lime green.

For Deep emerald

Boil ¼ head of chopped purple cabbage for 30 minutes. Strain into a jar and add ½ tsp of turmeric. Shake to mix the colors. Let the dye cool before adding hard boiled eggs to the dye. Cover with a lid and store in the fridge for 24 hours to get the deepest color. The turmeric will settle at the bottom of the jar, so shake it up a few times while the eggs are in the dye bath. For lighter shades of forest green, remove eggs from the dye bath after 3 hours; or after 8 hours for a medium toned forest green.

For Dark Earthy Green

Steep 3 hibiscus tea packets in 2 -3 cups of boiling water to make hibiscus tea. Transfer tea to a jar and soak hardboiled eggs in tea overnight. The tea begins as a pink, but changes to goldish green dye overtime.

For Dark Warm Teal

Steep 3 hibiscus tea packets in 2-3 cups of boiling water to make hibiscus tea. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Alum and stir to combine. Transfer tea to a jar and soak hardboiled eggs in tea overnight. The tea begins as a pink, but changes to beautiful dark teal dye overtime.

For Canary Yellow

Boil water and 1 tsp of turmeric for 30 minutes. Pour into a jar and let cool before adding hard boiled eggs to the dye. Cover with a lid and store in the fridge for 6 hours. The turmeric will settle at the bottom of the jar, so shake it up a few times while the eggs are in the dye bath.

For Sienna & Light Cocoa

Place ⅓ cup of loose leaf black tea into a strainer over a pot. Pour 1 tea kettle of boiling water over loose leaf tea, then cover the pot with a lid and steep for 10 minutes. Pour ½ of the tea dye into a jar and let cool before adding hard boiled eggs to the dye. Leave the other half of the tea dye in the pot to use for the golden yellow dye color. If you don’t want to make golden yellow dye, pour all of the tea dye into multiple jars. Cover jars(s) with a lid and store in the fridge for 24 hours to get the richest color. For lighter shades of brown, remove eggs from the dye after 3 hours, or 8 hours for a medium toned brown.

For Yellow orange

With half of the steeping black tea left in the pot on the stove, add 2 tsp of turmeric to the pot and boil for 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Pour dye into a jar and let cool before adding hard boiled eggs to the dye. Cover with a lid and store in the fridge for 24 hours to get the deepest golden yellow color. The turmeric will settle at the bottom of the jar, so shake it up a few times while the eggs are in the dye bath. For lighter shades, remove eggs from the dye bath after 3 hours; or after 8 hours for a medium toned golden yellow.

For Mauve Terracotta

Boil Red onion skins from about 3 onions in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes. Strain out dye into jar when theres no more pigment in the skins. Soak hardboiled eggs in the jar overnight.

For Golden Chartreuse

Boil Red onion skins from about 3 onions in 3 cups of water for 30 minutes. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Alum and stir to combine. Strain out dye into jar when theres no more pigment in the skins. Soak hardboiled eggs in the jar overnight.

For Blush

Chop 3 beets into cubes, then boil in 3-4 cups of water for 30-40 minutes. Strain out beets and transfer dye to a jar. Soak eggs overnight.

For Speckled Deep Magenta

Chop 3 beets into cubes, then boil in 3-4 cups of water and 1/2 cup of white vinegar for 30-40 minutes. Strain out beets and transfer dye to a jar. Soak eggs overnigh.

Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs