Natural Dyed Easter Eggs
Looking for a fun and easy Easter craft to do with the family? Create beautiful graphic patterns on your eggs using small leaves from the garden and elastic bands or nylon stockings! Make it even more special by using natural ingredients to dye your eggs, coloured by nature!
WHAT YOU'LL NEED:
-
White duck eggs or light coloured hen eggs
- Natural dye ingredients:
- Cleaned avocado seeds and clean skins x3 - produces a peach skin
- Brown Onion skins x2 - produces a bright earthy orange
- Red Onion skins x2 - produces a deep brown
- Blackberries 125g - produces a light purple
- Blueberries 125g - produces a deep blue
- Red Cabbage 1/4 - produces a deep strong blue
- Small leaves
- White Vinegar
- 1 pair of sheer nylon stockings
- A pin or safety pin
- Clean glass jars
- Strainer
- Small and medium cooking pots
- Water
METHOD:
- To make use of the fresh eggs, create a small hole in both the top and bottom of each egg. Blow the egg contents out into a small bowl to be used to make a tart or pie. Or the eggs can be boiled in the dye to save time.
- Rinse and dry the eggs. Cut the stockings up into big enough squares to cover the eggs. Place a small leaf over the egg and stretch the stocking over, tie in a knot. Repeat the process for the remaining eggs.
- Use the same dye method for each different natural dye colour.
- Combine the natural ingredients into a small or medium saucepan. Cover with water and add 1 tsp of vinegar. (Squash berries to allow the colour to come out further).
- Allow to simmer for 30 minutes with the lid slightly ajar. Once the colour has developed, strain the contents and discard the fruit and vegetables.
- If you didn't blow out the eggs, place the whole eggs in the dye mixture and allow to boil until they are hard boiled.
- Pour the hot liquid into jars with lids and add the eggs. Use small glasses to weigh down the eggs so they are completely submerged in the dye.
- Leave them to develop the colour overnight.
- Cut the stockings away from the eggs and discard the leaves.
Guide and photography by Bonnie Coumbe. Visit her site here & Instagram here. Styling by Lauren Miller. Visit her site here & Instagram here.
Adapted from our previous blog post on 7th of April 2020.
