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monica
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it is a few weeks early, but i knew some of you 4realers probably have some great ways to dye eggs with natural ingredients. i am thinking dandelions, beets, other easily obtainable things (remember, i live in romania!) here the traditional color for dying eggs is red, for the blood of christ, and some believe that other variations are heretical  so we will do mostly red, but if there are some fun other ways to dye eggs, we might get creative.
any ideas??
monica
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graciefaith
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Here are a few sites i found for you.
Natural Egg Dyes
One with pictures
HTH!
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bfarmmom
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My Lithuanian Grandmother used to use onion skins. I don't know how though. I believe she used to boil the onion skins.  It makes me so sad now that I did not learn more from her while she was still alive.
And she did use beet juice also. They were such beautiful eggs.
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JennGM
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I always wanted to try this, but never have found the time. Great links, Graciefaith!
Maria Von Trapp mentions briefly what they do.
I know I have directions in other places, The Easter Craft Book by Thomas and Petra Berger (anthroposophically based) has wonderful directions, that I'll reprint here.
Colouring eggs with Plant Dyes
Materials
Tea, coffee, camomile, onion skin, juice from spinach, beetroot and so on.
Method
Everyday plant-products used in the kitchen are suitable for dying eggs, such as tea-leaves, coffee, camomile and onion skin, or vegetables like spinach and beetroot. Exotic plants and insect-dyes such as tumeric from Indian, sandalwood from Africa, or cochineal from the West Indies will also produce very beautiful colours. Some of these products are sold as egg-dyes. In general they need only short time on the boil.
Put the material to make the dye into a pot of cold water and bring to a boil. Then carefully immerse the thoroughly cleaned egg into the boiling water. Of course white eggs will take on better colours than brown eggs.
You will have to experiment a bit first especially wit the length of time for boiling.
Plant dyes cannot be used indefinitely. After five or six eggs have been boiled in them the colour begins to fade. So it is better to use a small saucepan and make sure that the eggs are fully immersed, or turn them over regularly.
In this way you can obtain a whole range of colours:
--light yellow: camomile flowers, marigold petals
--light brown: onion sin (five to ten minutes)
--dark brown: strong black tea or coffee
--red: beetroot juice very good, pokeberries
--green: boiled liquid of spinach or nettles
--violet: huckleberries, grapes
In all cases, the colours can be made more intense by a dash of vinegar.
Once the eggs have dried off thoroughly after their colour-bath they can be rubbed with a cloth dipped in salad oil. This will give them a soft sheen and the colour will not rub off so easily.
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There are loads more ideas in the book--I highly recommend it. You might be able to find a copy pretty easily since it was originally printed in the Netherlands, and then a UK version.
Of course, to keep eggs immersed in the water and since the water is boiling, these will be hardboiled eggs, instead of blown eggs.
There are added directions for batik style eggs, which is what the Trapp quote above mentions. Take brown onion skin, fresh leaves and flowers, old nylon stockings and thread. Lay some leaves and flowers in arrangement on the raw egg, then wrap a large onion skin and cover the leaf and the egg with it. then add more onion skins around the egg until you can't see it anymore. Then put the whole thing into a stocking, tie up tightly so egg can't move around.
Make a bed of onion skins in a saucepan filled with water, lay the egg on the bed. Fill with water, bring to a boil, allow to boil for 10 minutes, then turn off heat. Egg needs to coll off before removing the wrapping. After removing, the egg will have a brown color and lighter spots where the leaves have been...quite pretty. Use the salad oil to give a little sheen.
But I'm wondering...what would red onion skins do?
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Corrine
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We put onion skins around our eggs, wrap them in tinfoil and boil gently for 45 minutes. I've also used cabbage leaves, tumeric, blueberries, and beets this way. Sometimes we glue little leaves to the eggs before we dye them to make reliefs, but it doesn't always work. We've mixed materials too - blueberries on one end and onion skin on the other. Tumeric over powers everything, so we only use it alone.
The best part is the surprise of opening your package.
Quote:
| But I'm wondering...what would red onion skins do? |
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Jenn, red onions make a pinky color if I remember correctly.
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JennGM
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| Posted: March 19 2007 at 7:58pm | IP Logged
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Found some more natural egg dyeing.
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momwise
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Here's another article, very similar to those already posted, and Dyeing with Celestial seasoning teas.
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MaryM
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That's really cool, Gwen. But can't decide if it's a waste of a great cup of tea! And from the tour of the CS factory, I know that the red color in the teas is from hibiscus.
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marihalojen
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Country Home Magazine, April 2007, has a brief article on natural egg dyeing. The trick with their eggs is to place them in the fridge overnight in the dyebath for vibrant pastels. Is that an oxymoron?
PINK - 1 cup pickled beet juice and 1 Tbsp vinegar
BROWN- 1 cup strong coffee and 1 Tbsp vinegar
BLUE - Cut 1/4 head of red cabbage into chunks. Add cabbage to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 Tbsp vinegar. Let cool to room temp. Remove cabbage with slotted spoon.
DARK PINK - Cut 1 beet into chunks. Add beet to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 Tbsp vinegar. Let cool to room temp and remove beet.
YELLOW - Remove the peel from 1 orange. Add peel to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 Tbsp vinegar and let cool to room temp. Remove peel.
LAVENDER- 1 cup grape juice and 1 Tbsp vinegar
BLUISH GRAY- Mix 1 cup frozen blueberries with 1 cup water. Bring to room temp and remove berries with slotted spoon.
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Matilda
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I am so excited! We are definitely doing this! I love all the colors. Pastels are not my favorite; I much prefer jewel tones. Thank you for all the resources and the great idea!
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JennGM
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Matilda wrote:
| I am so excited! We are definitely doing this! I love all the colors. Pastels are not my favorite; I much prefer jewel tones. Thank you for all the resources and the great idea! |
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I love the vibrant colors. The next step up would be the pysanky eggs, which have the most tremendously bright, vibrant colors. Just gorgeous! I had some links and info posted here: Easter Eggs Traditions
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extremeknitter
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bfarmmom wrote:
My Lithuanian Grandmother used to use onion skins.
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my German in-laws (i.e. Germans in Germany) use red onion skins. boiled the eggs with lots of skins.
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Matilda
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I just read the Celestial Seasonings article and I am curious why they recommend using a non-aluminum pan. Any ideas?
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Corrine
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Matilda, you don't want to use aluminum pans with vinegar or any other acidic substance. The pans can release metals in to the liquid, and you don't want to eat that. It will also discolor your pans. Calphalon and the like are treated to not do that, though I'm sure if you googled it you could find a web site claimimg that it doesn't work. I have a few Le Cruset pans I use for acidic foods, just to be on the safeside
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Matilda
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I haven't figured out how to post a picture , but I tried to dye an egg using the cold method and blueberries. It looked great when I pulled it out of the dye, but as it sat out, the color seemed to disappear. It started getting lighter and lighter almost as if it was being absorbed and in some areas started looking brown . There was a little bit of color on the paper towel, but I don't think the color dripped off since I dried it thoroughly when I removed the egg from the dye. Is this a problem with the cold method? I used vinegar.
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marihalojen
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Oh Matilda! I'm so sorry it didn't work well! You tried the blueberry one? It is called "bluish gray" would you say that the end result was gray at all? (like more gray than blue but where does that leave us with the brown that showed? ) I did think it was a tiny bit odd that the blueberry one went from frozen to room temp with no boilage to bring out the color. Do you think that would have helped?
I checked the magazine and I copied out what they had correctly.
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Matilda
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I used the Celestial Seasoning's cold method. I boiled the blueberries, but not the egg since it was one that was already cooked. They boiled for a good 20 minutes with vinegar then I let it cool. I let the egg sit in the dye overnight in the refrigerator. I would call it bluish-gray, but the brown was definitely brown. I will try to post a picture.
I intend to try again and experiment with the different methods and colors to hammer out any kinks.
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Alison
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How do you dye hollow eggs. I got them to stay in the solution but the eggs just got this sort of scummy stuff on them which easily rubbed off. We paint blown eggs with acrylic paints (my son even did one for St. Pastrick's day!!) but I'm thinking dyed ones would be nice too. Suggestions please 
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marihalojen
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Alison, I've always dyed the egg raw, then blew it after drying. I figured it would either float or fill and need draining if it was emptied prior to dyeing!
The above is generally for the base coats, for detailed work I finally figured out that placing the egg on a skewer works wonderful for keeping fingers out of paint! When the egg is finished, just place the skewer in florist foam or a jar of salt or beans or rice and it will stay upright and dry all sides nicely.
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JennGM
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Alison wrote:
| How do you dye hollow eggs. I got them to stay in the solution but the eggs just got this sort of scummy stuff on them which easily rubbed off. We paint blown eggs with acrylic paints (my son even did one for St. Pastrick's day!!) but I'm thinking dyed ones would be nice too. Suggestions please |
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marihalojen wrote:
Alison, I've always dyed the egg raw, then blew it after drying. I figured it would either float or fill and need draining if it was emptied prior to dyeing!
The above is generally for the base coats, for detailed work I finally figured out that placing the egg on a skewer works wonderful for keeping fingers out of paint! When the egg is finished, just place the skewer in florist foam or a jar of salt or beans or rice and it will stay upright and dry all sides nicely. |
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Boiled method will obviously cook the egg. If you are doing cold water method, you need to dye it while raw and then blow out the contents of the egg. Or, if you're brave enough, leave the egg inside and it will eventually evaporate. That is, if no one breaks it before that.
Hollow eggs only float. If you have patience you can keep spinning the egg to make sure all sides keep getting even amounts of dye. I wear gloves for this, but it's not a perfect coating. OR...add something on top to weigh down the egg, but you'll need a small cup so that it can't pop up somewhere else in the container.
Having done a few pysanky eggs over the years, I'll tell that blowing by mouth takes a long time (and sore cheeks). You poke both ends with small holes and blow. Martha Stewart has a quick summary. There is a great tool called Blas-Fix One Hole Egg Blower which is so easy and fabulous, not expensive. I wish I bought this thing years ago.
There's an egg drying board that you can make so easily. Some book suggested just taking three push pins and arranging them on a board/cardboard so the egg sits up in the middle and dries.
If you're getting really fancy with decorating, there's such thing as an egg lathe.
Many times I use a soft cloth (like diaper) to hold the egg while decorating. And I save those paper egg cartons--foam and plastic make the eggs sweat.
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4Real Forums : Our Lady's Loom, Larder, and Laundry
Topic: natural easter egg dyes?
