You don’t have to go to the store to decorate the holiday table with beautifully colored eggs. If you like, you can color Easter eggs in all the shades of the rainbow.
Once the children are on Easter vacation, there’s more time for them to get creative together. Egg painting should not be just a must-do routine; you can build a whole afternoon of fun around it.
Depending on the color and the concentration of the dyes you mix, the end results may be different. No two eggs will look the same, unlike is you use the ready-made dyes you can buy in stores.
A favorite for natural egg dyeing is still the traditional onion dye. Before the eggs are immersed into the dying solution, leaves or flowers can be fastened to them for patterns. It’s always a surprise to see what the imprint of the plant will look like, as you only find this out when you completely clean the eggs of the residue.
Before you get to the coloring, it’s worth experimenting with the children to see the different impressions. You can use rubber bands, waterproof glue or self-adhesive stickers to create different patterns, or can even try drawing with melted wax. Of course, you can also stick to the method mentioned earlier, where you attach the plants to the eggs using pieces of sheer stocking.
What materials can be used to obtain different colors?
Yellow: to color eggs in yellow, you can use turmeric. This exciting and very healthy spice can now be bought in any supermarket. A pinch of turmeric turns food golden yellow. You’ll need a little more to dye eggs, but look no further if you want beautiful yellow eggs on your table.
Brown: onion skins are perfect for dying Easter eggs a deep burgundy-brown color with irresistible shades. Obviously, the more onion skins you use, the more pronounced the brown color will be. If you want brown eggs without the burgundy tinge, strong coffee will serve you well.
Red: beetroot juice makes the most beautiful red eggs. You can cook beetroots for a side dish, strain the vegetables, then boil up the water again and let the eggs stand in it. The more concentrated the colored water, the more vibrant the color of the red eggs will be.
Green: green eggs are the most vibrant if colored with green herbs. Parsley is probably the best choice. When chopped, parsley will color your cutting board because of its rich dye content, and it’s also perfect for dying eggs. Just chop up some parsley, cook in a little water, then strain and dip the eggs into it.
Blue: purple plants will dye eggs to a bluish-purplish hue, depending on how concentrated the solution is, as well as the base color of the eggs you choose. If you’re aiming for this color, blueberries (especially frozen wild blueberries), hibiscus flowers and purple cabbage will deliver the expected results.