All Natural Easter Egg Dye

When you really stop to think about it, aren’t Easter eggs a truly unusual holiday tradition? Just pondering the act of dying boiled eggs makes me ask the classic Seinfeldian question…”What’s the deal with Easter eggs?”

According to Wikipedia, Easter eggs are another fun activity inspired by the Pagans. Pagans believe Eggs are symbolic of the rebirth of the earth in spring. Over many centuries, other cultures and religions have adopted eggs into holiday traditions, including the Persians who painted eggs to celebrate spring equinox.

Now that we know where egg painting originates, lets dive into using natural products to dye this year’s Easter eggs.
Here are some suggested natural products and the colors they will create. BTW – if you’re the creative type, try coming up with some other food/spice combinations that create interesting dyes and leave the recipes in the comment section!

• Orange: 2 Tablespoons Paprika
• Blue: 1.5 Cups Blueberries
• Pink: 1 Cup Chopped Beets
• Green: 1 Cup Blueberries, 2 Tablespoons Turmeric

To make your dyes, combine each color’s ingredients with two cups of water and two tablespoons of white vinegar in a saucepan, bring to a boil.

Remove from heat, cool and strain the liquid into an appropriately-sized bowl. Submerge your eggs in the dyes for up to 30 minutes to get the proper color darkness. Lay the eggs on a cooling rack to dry and drain.

Don’t forget about the White House’s Easter Egg Roll on Monday, April 13th from 8-5. Maybe Michelle used some veggies from the new garden to make natural dies. Everyone knows she’s a huge CityRenewed fan.

Photo Credit: Flickr CC User Robert S. Donovan