DIY NATURAL EASTER EGG DYE
One of Easter’s traditional celebrations is the coloring of chicken eggs, which symbolizes the blood of Christ that was shed during his crucifixion. Since then, coloring eggs has been a fun tradition for kids all over the world. Today, we color our Easter eggs using artificial coloring and we even have chocolate eggs decorate our homes. These modernized traditions are convenient but not healthy at all! If you want an healthier alternative, try our DIY natural Easter egg dye.
There’s no need for artificial colors when you can get almost any color you want right from kitchen. Before artificial coloring was accessible, people used common ingredients, such as vegetables and fruits to get their colors. In combination of natural foods, we’ll use olive oil with your dye to achieve the famous marble effect. You may notice the colors won’t be as vibrant as with artificial colors but on the plus side, you’ll get to eat all the eggs you’ll dye!
DIY Natural Easter Egg Dye Process
Look for natural foods that contain your desired color. Depending on the color you want to achieve, you can use various ingredients, even a combination of some.
Any fruit or vegetable is a good candidate to use and extract their color, but not all fruits and vegetables give the same colors each time. So don’t be afraid to experiment with quantities and timing. You will be amazed by some of the hues you can create just by using foods already in your fridge!
Don’t have time to experiment? We took our the guesswork and listed some of our favorites to work with:
Strawberries and beetroots are great for the color red or pink
Red cabbage and blueberries for blue and even light purple
Spinach are ideal for green
Turmeric is used for yellow and easy to prepare. Just add warm water!
Ingredients
1 cup of warm water
3-4 cups of chopped ingredients
2-3 tablespoon vinegar
In a separate cooking pot, cover your chopped ingredients in water, add the vinegar and bring to boil, for about 20-30 minutes. Strain the ingredients from the water and let it cool down a bit. Temperature plays a great role in preventing the egg shells from cracking.
Once your DIY Easter egg dye is ready, just drop the hard boiled eggs into the mix and be patient. Stir occasionally. Let it soak up the colors! The longer you let the eggs soak, the darker the color you will get. Take your eggs out and let them dry on a paper towel.
DIY Easter Egg Dye Marble Effect with Olive Oil
To achieve the marble effect, you’ll need a first color or ‘base color’. (Tip: you can can use the white egg shell as your ‘base color’.)
Ingredient
3-4 tablespoon olive oil
First, dye your eggs with the base color. Your base color should be lighter than your second color that you’ll use as your olive oil dye to create marbled eggs.
In a wide bowl, add your second dye (the one you want for the marble effect), just enough to cover around half inch. Add 1 teaspoon of vinegar and stir. Then add 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil, but don’t stir this time. Watch as the oil floats on the top but be careful not to cover the whole surface. Dip one egg in the olive oil dye mixture by swirling it around with a toothpick for a few seconds. Once you like the way it looks, remove the egg and let it dry, then repeat with the rest of the eggs, refreshing the oil dye mixture frequently, if necessary.
Keep in mind, you will need to leave the eggs to dry, even the whole night for some colors. However, if you’re going for the marble effect, it’s better to get pastel hues for your base color.
We hope you loved our DIY Easter egg dye as much as us! Now that it’s natural and healthy, I won’t need to worry about anyone eating the Easter eggs this year. It’s so good that I’ve even used this dye in some food or dessert recipes, like our favorite sea salt ice cream!
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