DIY Time
It’s DIY Time again, where I post something you can do yourself rather than buy, which is a money saver, and can be VERY REWARDING. Some of these posts are crafts, sewing projects, re-purposed ideas, homemade cleaners, homemade health aids, tutorials, and the like.
We got to dye eggs today! I guess this is a great day to dye eggs since we are on spring vacation, and most importantly to celebrate today being Good Friday. Since we are out of town, we had limited resources, but we determined to color some eggs today anyway.
I think this will be better next year just because we probably won’t be on vacation, but we still got the experience, which is really important! There are many, many resources I read, but was most inspired by This Chick Cooks, and P. Allen Smith.
What You Will Need:
- 4 (or whatever number of colors you choose) glass, ceramic, non-stick or stainless steel pans (the color will be altered by tin and iron)
- the natural ingredients for dyeing such as raspberries, blueberries, yellow and red onion peels, red cabbage, spinach, turmeric, cumin, beets, the list is endless… (let’s say you choose 4 ingredients)
- strainer
- water
- vinegar
The Instructions:
- Hard boil eggs as you normally would. (We leave eggs out on the counter until they are room temperature, put the eggs in a pan covering them with water, bring water to a boil, turn off the water, and leave the eggs in the boiled water for 17-20 minutes.
- Let the eggs cool. I did this a week early.
- Boil water in the four pans.
- Add the ingredients for dyeing in each of the four pans of boiling water. Add at least a handful- 4 cups of the fruits and vegetables. If using the spices, try 1-2 teaspoons.
- Reduce heat, simmering until the water changes color. It takes approximately 15 to 30 minutes.
- Strain out the colored water, returning it back to the pans.
- Mix 2 T of vinegar to the colored water for maximum color absorption. Do this in each of the 4 pans.
- Add the boiled eggs to the colored water of choice. Keep them submerged until desired color is achieved. Turn eggs periodically for even color. It might takes 30 minutes; it might take overnight. You can refrigerate the eggs in the colored water overnight.
- Air dry the eggs, and enjoy those beautiful colors.
The Verdict: I LOVE using the natural items to dye. It’s really fun. I have to admit this small guilt factor, though, of not being able to eat the berries later. This does take more time than the dye kits. In fact the last couple of years we just added water and vinegar to food coloring which is also fast, but since we are getting away from using food coloring, I wanted to give this a shot. We will do it next year again when we have more available to us.
Our Modifications: With our limited access to pots and pans, I mashed up a handful of blueberries, and a handful of raspberries, Ellie shredded a handful of spinach, Abbie tore a handful red cabbage, and we used some of JSarr’s instant coffee powder. We put them in them each in their own mugs. I poured 2 T of vinegar in each of the mugs and along with boiled water. Then we let the eggs sit in there respective mugs for about 8 hours. The coffee impressed me the most with the blueberries, second!! I didn’t strain the food. It’s still in the mugs with the next set of 5 eggs in the fridge.
What projects are you currently working on? Have you tried to make your own book markers?
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Sonja
I’ve dyed eggs using cabbage before… It was so fun!
Happy Easter to you and yours…. hugs x Crystelle Crystelle Boutique
Hi Crystelle, Thanks for sharing and visiting! Happy Easter, as well!
We enjoy using beet juice and blueberries… need to branch out a bit this year! I’d love it if you’d share your post with us at Eco-Kids Tuesday Link-Up
Thanks for sharing, Hannah, and visiting! What a great idea!