Easter Eggs 'Au Naturel'

Some of my best memories as a child include dyeing Easter eggs with my family. I have continued that tradition with my own children, and this year we are trying something completely different, natural dyes.

Instead of purchasing the usual packages of razzle dazzle fizzy dyes, our family is exploring options of making our own natural dyes. For me, this is easy, I’m just thinking about everything that stains our laundry and kitchen countertops.

Let’s see, there is coffee, beets, strawberries, grape juice, spinach, blueberries, and grass. I’m off to a good start. My youngest is even wondering if cola will dye an egg. Hmmm, capital idea! I’m thinking I can get a dental lesson out of this. My guess is that the cola is going to eat right through the egg shell.

We’ve scrambled to gather our resources. We’re ready to get started. I’ve boiled our eggs and let them cool to room temperature (not for any scientific reason I could find, just for ease in handling).

I am adding a tablespoon of white vinegar to all of our dyes. Some of the research I did recommended this for a fixative so the colors would be more easily absorbed into the shell. For me, it just wouldn’t smell like Easter without vinegar.

My hubby was happy to brew a pot of coffee for the cause. I mixed the grounds with the last of the pot for our dyeing purposes. He was not equally as happy about the prospect of mowing the lawn for the fresh cut grass.

He did, however, like the idea of me using the remainder of the boiled spinach to make spinach dip.

My son was only too happy to contribute by drinking the remainder of the grape juice. We also had a great excuse for making ice cream sundaes since I splurged and bought maraschino cherries for the cause. This also worked well since I needed the cherries for bunny eyes for my platter of pear bunny rabbits with cottage cheese tails. (Hokey perhaps, but another valued Easter family tradition).    

The eggs were slow to dye; I told my son a watched pot never boils. He looked at me like I had the sense of a carrot. I didn’t bother to explain the phrase because I remember thinking it was a stupid when I was growing up too.

We experimented with several items, boiling most of them first to extract the deepest colors. We tried carrot shreds, onion skins, cabbage, citrus and apple peelings, various berries and teas.

I read that spice Turmeric worked well for a brilliant yellow color. I didn’t happen to have any in my pantry, so I checked out the spice section while shopping for supplies. Since that’s not a spice I regularly use, I wasn’t willing to spend much. I finally found it, but the price made me gasp. Needless to say our eggs are turmeric-free.

Once the eggs reached our desired shade (which was mostly dependent on how long we wanted to leave them in the dye), we rinsed them off and returned them to the carton. If you use your carton to dry your eggs, I would recommend purchasing eggs in a cellulose carton rather than styrofoam, which tends to pool up the excess water instead of absorbing it.

All in all I would consider our natural egg dyeing experience a successful one, although I will say the natural colors were not nearly as vivid and bright as the store bought brands containing red dye #3 and monosodium glutamate.

I spent more on purchasing the items we used to color our eggs than I would have on a package of dye, however, all of the items I bought were useful in other ways so I consider that a wash.

 The important thing I took from our experience is that Peter Cottontail won’t be hopping down the bunny trail forever. Take time to create your own special family holiday memories. Make the most of your time as a parent. Happy Easter Y’all.

 For tips on natural egg dyes, you can visit the following websites:  

 http://chemistry.about.com/od/holidayhowtos/a/eastereggdyes.htm

 http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/natural-egg-dyes-668314/