Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs

As a child growing up in Romania, Easter was a truly enchanting time of year. The entire village would come together, working tirelessly to bake cakes and paint eggs for the special blessings at church. Everyone would don their best outfits, and before heading out, they would cleanse themselves with a bath filled with a red egg and coins. These treasured memories will forever be ingrained in my heart.

Naturally dyeing eggs is an eco-friendly way to celebrate the holiday, and makes for a gorgeous Easter table centrepiece. Turn to nature’s colour using food waste and ingredients straight from your kitchen. The whole family will enjoy this ritual, especially the little ones and you can rest assured that your hard-boiled eggs can be snacked on or turned into delicious egg salad because all items involved are natural and plant-based!

 

What You Will Need

    Eggs
    (white for brighter colours, brown for warmer/darker colours)
     Clean Tights
    Flowers and Leaves of your choice
    Vinegar
    Onion Skins - red dye
    Red Cabbage - blue dye
    Avocado Skins - soft orange dye
    Flowers and Leaves (of your choice)

    Preparing The Eggs

    Fill a saucepan with cold water.

    Place the eggs in a single layer at the bottom of the saucepan making sure the eggs are covered by at least an inch of water. 

    Heat the pot on high heat and bring the water to a full rolling boil.

    Turn off the heat, keep the pan on the hot burner, cover, and let sit for 10-12 minutes.

     


    Decorating

     

    Once the eggs have cooled down, it's time to decorate them.
    Cut the tights into 5-inch pieces.
    Place a flower or leaf of your choice over a boiled egg.
    Wrap the tights over the egg and pull and tie tightly to hold the flower or leaf in place.
    Repeat the steps for the rest.

    Preparing The Dye Baths

    Transfer the onion skins, cabbage and avocado skins to separate pots.
    Fill up the pots with water and add a dash of vinegar.
    Bring the pots to a boil over medium heat for 30 mins. Turn off the heat and cover the pots with a lid and allow them to cool down.
    Place the eggs deep into the dye baths and leave for 5 hours or overnight to achieve darker colours.
    Once you have achieved your desired colour, cut the tights off the eggs and clean the eggs gently with a napkin.
    To finish it all off, rub the eggs with a little cooking oil on cotton wool for extra shine.

     

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