Guest guest Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 Lately I've been getting eggs fresh from the farm, and they come in all sorts of colors - brown, green, blue, and occasionally white even But, there are other ways to get colored eggs without using synthetic coloring agents. There are a number of herbs, spices, fruits and veggies that will make wonderful natural dyes for your Easter Eggs! This is a really fun craft for kids and grown ups alike! Happy Easter! *Smile* Chris (list mom) http://www.alittleolfactory.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Natural Dyes for Easter Eggs All you need is the kitchen by Marion Stirrup Natural egg dyeing is as simple as making a cup of coffee, with ingredients from your kitchen or your garden. Naturally dyed eggs with their subtle earth tones look elegant. You can turn eggs into beautiful gems using onion skins, paprika or shredded cabbage. Rubber bands make plaid and stripe patterns; strips of cloth produce a Sixties tie-dye look, and masking tape yields batik eggs. Experiment with stick-on vinyl letters and numbers, or etch designs through paraffin wax. Most of all, have fun. Dye techniques: cold dip Vs hot dip There are two ways to dye Easter eggs naturally. The first is the cold-dipping method, which produces soft, translucent shades. The eggs and ingredients are boiled separately. After the dye has cooled and been strained, the eggs are dipped for 5 to 10 minutes, then dried on paper towels. To avoid uneven coloring, continuously rotate the eggs. The second method involves boiling the eggs in the dye. This technique allows for darker colors. As the eggs roll around in the hot water, they take on a more uniform color. Here's the basic hot-dye method (with variations to follow): To dye 8 eggs, use 2 tablespoons of white vinegar per quart of water. Place eggs in non-aluminum saucepan and add water until level is at least 1 inch above the eggs. Add natural dye ingredients and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water. How to create different effects Batik eggs: Batik is an Indonesian method of hand-printing cloth by brushing melted wax on to the parts that are not to be dyed. Making batik eggs also uses melted wax, where the eggs are alternately dipped in colored dyes, and designs are added by painting on melted wax. You can also use masking tape to produce very interesting results. Cut out designs from masking tape, or use vinyl stick-on letters and numbers (available from art and office supply stores) and stick them onto your egg. Dip the eggs into dye. Remove them from the dye and blot any drips that form with a paper towel. When they are dry, remove the tape or stick-ons. With batik dyeing, it's a good idea to start with the lightest dye and work your way to the darker ones. If you want to keep an area a certain color, you must cover it so it resists the dye. Use masking tape, crayons or hard paraffin to draw on the designs. Half-and-half eggs: Dip dyed eggs into a second coat of darker dye to add a whole new color. The first coat is boiled and the second is cold-dipped for 5 to 10 minutes. To cold-dip, place egg in a small glass bowl or paper cup and prop it up against the side. Some great color combinations include coffee and blueberry; turmeric and red cabbage; and onion skins and cranberry. Onion wraps: Rub eggs with vinegar and wrap in onion skins. Secure the skins with cotton string, dental floss or narrow rubber bands. When boiled, the skin’s dye colors the shells giving a natural tie-dye effect. To achieve a full, rich effect, practice using many layers of onion skins. Pre-dampening the skins also helps them stick to the egg. Tie-dye and plaid stripes: There are many techniques to create a strong tie-dye effect. The first is to double-dip eggs wrapped with rubber bands to create contrasts. For example, fasten a band around a white egg. Dip in red cabbage dye. The exposed area will turn blue, leaving the covered areas white. Or soak an egg in red cabbage juice until it turns bright blue. Once dry, wrap a rubber band around the egg, and dip in cold onion dye for a dark mustard color with bright blue stripes. Dampening strips of cloth with water and wrapping it around the egg creates another tie-dye look. With an eye dropper, drop spots of different colors on the cloth. Twist or tie the cloth strips tightly around the egg so the colors blend together. Gently unwrap the egg and let it dry. Free-form stripes: Wrap eggs with dental floss and/or different sizes or rubber bands. Blotchy pastels: Rub berries such as blueberries, currants, cranberries or blackberries right on the shells for soft blues and pinks. Dye colors and recipes: Ingredients from the kitchen often yield surprising results. For example, an egg dipped in red cabbage solution will turn blue, not red. A brown egg, boiled in red cabbage dye and then soaked overnight, will come out a deep royal blue. Red: red onion skins, pomegranate juice Pink: cranberry juice, 3 to 4 cups of rhubarb stalks, raspberries, red currants, or shredded beets. (If those same " beet " eggs are rinsed with lukewarm water right after boiling, they will turn beige.) Lavender: purple petunias or pansies, violets, grape juice. For a darker lavender use 4 cups frozen or fresh blueberries Yellow and gold: For each quart of water add 3 tablespoons of turmeric and 2 tablespoons white vinegar. Also try yellow mustard, curry powder, dandelion and daffodil blossoms. Rich brown: boil eggs in 1 quart coffee Green: Add a few eggs next time you cook spinach (chopped frozen works great) Blue: Coarsely chop 1/2 head of red cabbage; soak overnight for a deep royal blue Chartreuse: Boil in 3 tablespoons of turmeric, then cold dye in red cabbage Brick red-orange: 4 tablespoons paprika per quart of water Experiment with different fruits, vegetables or spices for color. You can generally add up to 4 cups of fruits and vegetables per quart of water. Look to your yard and garden for other possibilities such as ferns, grasses and flowers. Easter egg safety -Keep eggs refrigerated before boiling. -Wash your hands thoroughly before handling the eggs. -If you won't be coloring the eggs right after cooking them, store them in the refrigerator. -When hiding eggs avoid areas where they might come into contact with pets, wild animals, birds, reptiles, insects or lawn chemicals. -Refrigerate your eggs again after they have been hidden and found, and don't eat cracked eggs or eggs that have been out of the refrigerator for more than two hours. -Don't eat eggs that sit around in hot water for many hours or overnight. Save those for decorations only. -If your egg hunt involves hard-boiled eggs, it's wise to keep track of how many the Easter Bunny hides. If you don't find an egg on Sunday, you might be smelling it by Wednesday. " Over the Hedge " : " April comes like an idiot, babbling and strewing flowers. " Edna St. Vincent Millay " Spongy April. " William Shakespeare Here's a great Easter egg activity for family and friends: Gather around a table. Each person takes and egg and draws " hair " on it with a permanent marker or crayon. Then each one passes their egg to the person to their right. That person draws the eyebrows. Pass the eggs around, drawing eyes, noses, freckles, glasses and so on until all the face parts are done. Dip in dye if you like. If you need inspirations, get the Sunday comics. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Natural Dyes For Easter Eggs Dyeing eggs with vegetable material takes more time than using commercial egg dyes, but it is truly amazing to see the colors hidden in the plants around us. General directions: a. Wash and rinse eggs before dyeing to remove any oil or coating which may prevent the dye from taking. b. Boil eggs 3 hours, if you wish to keep them. · If the eggs do not crack, over time the contents will dry inside the shell. c. Boil the plant material until you have a good rich color. d. Strain the dye, discard the plant material, return the dye to the pot. e. Use enamel or Teflon coated pot for dyeing. · Metals such as tin, aluminum, and iron will change the color of the dye. f. After your eggs dry, use a vegetable oil and soft cloth to polish them. g. Remember that natural dyes can also be toxic. h. The safety of the following dyes was verified through the Poison Control Center. i. The colors: 1. A soft, robin's egg blue is obtained by boiling red cabbage. SAFE · Slice the cabbage. · Cover with water and boil for 30 minutes. · Let the cabbage dye cool. · This dye will look purple, but will dye the eggs blue. · Cabbage dye does not work when it is very hot. It will only dye the eggs when it cools. 2. Orange and a rich, reddish brown are obtained from onion skins. SAFE · Gather the dry outer skins of onions. It takes several cups of skins. · Cover with water and boil for about 30 minutes. · Add the eggs. Watch the color. · You can dye various hues of orange to brown depending on length of time in the dye. 3. A clear, bright yellow is obtained from the inner bark of apple branches. SAFE · Prune a few small branches (not limbs) from an apple tree. · Scrape the bark into a pot. · Cover with water and boil for about 30 minutes. · To roughly 3/4 cup of bark and 2 quarts of water, add 1 scant teaspoon of alum. · The alum will bring out the yellow dye. Please remember that some dyes are toxic. If you experiment with other plant material, please do not eat the eggs without verifying the safety of the dye. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ For vibrant hues, use natural ingredients as dye By JESSICA STUMP Avalanche-Journal Skip the messy artificial dyes when making Easter eggs this year. Instead of going to the store for supplies, check your kitchen for the ingredients to make beautifully colored eggs. Mother Nature is offering a rainbow of colors that can be produced with all natural ingredients. Dying eggs with natural ingredients is a simple process. A variety of foods can be used, ranging from fruits to vegetables to spices. Heinz Vinegar recently conducted a survey about the most popular ingredients used to dye eggs naturally. Top pick was using fresh blueberries. The berries give the eggs a dark purple sheen. Next in line was raspberries which give the eggs a lovely shade of pink. To color the Easter eggs with natural items, the coloring ingredient is added to the water. The coloring agent and eggs are boiled together. This allows the eggs to be cooked and dyed at the same time. Heinz Vinegar offers some tips for making Easter eggs with natural ingredients. ±``Remove impurities from raw eggs by wiping them gently with a clean cloth dipped in vinegar. Place 6 to 8 eggs in a single-layer saucepan and fill with tap water until level is 1 inch above eggs. ±``Add 2 tablespoons of vinegar per quart of water which provides insurance against cracking. Then add your natural ingredients for custom colors. ±``Bring the mixture to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove eggs with slotted spoon on paper towels to dry. For even deeper shades, strain the mixture and refrigerate eggs in liquid overnight.'' For youngsters who want more than plain colored eggs, patterns can be added to the orbs by using more natural elements, according to Heinz. Adhering leaves or other natural items can add patterns to the eggshells before cooking. The decorations can be held on the raw egg by simply wrapping fine thread around it. After the eggs are done and ready to be put on display or hidden, rub the eggs with a soft cloth dipped in vegetable oil to produce a radiant shine, according to information from Heinz. Parents should take care if the eggs are to be eaten. Salmonella enteritis can infect eggs left out too long, according to wire reports. To ensure that eggs eaten are safe, they should not remain at room temperature for more than two hours, ``or one hour if the temperature is 90 or above,'' according to the report. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dying Easter Eggs--the Natural way! This Easter, why not color your eggs using nature's very own dyes? It's possible to come up with a great number of colors using natural ingredients that can easily be found in almost any kitchen. Pale Red: Fresh beets or cranberries, frozen raspberries Orange: Yellow onion skins Light yellow: Orange or lemon peels, carrot tops, celery seed or ground cumin Yellow: Ground turmeric Pale green: Spinach leaves Green-gold: Yellow Delicious apple peels Blue: Canned blueberries or red cabbage leaves Beige to brown: Strong brewed coffee To dye the perfect Easter eggs the natural way, here's what to do: 1. Put eggs in a single layer in a pan. Pour water in pan until the eggs are covered. 2. Add about a teaspoon of vinegar. 3. Add the natural dye appropriate to the color you want your eggs to be. (The more eggs you are dying at a time, the more dye you will need to use.) 4. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. 5. Remove the substance you used to color the eggs. Put eggs in a bowl. If you want your eggs to be a darker shade, cover them with the dye and let them stand overnight in the refrigerator. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Play With Your Colors Dyeing eggs is not an exact science. If the color of your dye isn't precisely what you were looking for, add more ingredients and continue to boil. Keep in mind that the color in your bowl of dye will be darker than the color the egg will become. If the color on your egg isn't as deep as you like, try dipping into another color as a top coat. Or, you can leave the eggs in dye for several hours or even overnight to obtain a deeper color — but eggs kept in dye for hours are not for eating. Once you are satisfied with your colored egg, allow it to completely dry and then rub all over with vegetable oil for a nice decorative sheen. Coloring Fun Here are some natural ingredient suggestions to get you started. Feel free to use fresh or frozen vegetables, as the result will be similar. Also, be sure to experiment and see what colors you can create and have fun! Just remember, wear protective gloves to prevent dyeing your fingers and cover your work area well. Pink/Red Cranberries (or cranberry juice), fresh beets, raspberries, pickled beet or red cabbage juice, red onion skins, radishes Orange Yellow onion skins, paprika Gold 3 TB turmeric Light green Spinach leaves Pale Yellow Orange or lemon peels, carrots, golden delicious apple peels, celery seed Lavender or Blue Red cabbage, blueberries, blackberries, purple or red grape juice Purple Hibiscus tea Green Dye gold or yellow and then in blue; dry between colors Beige/Brown Coffee, tea, walnuts, dill seeds Brownish Orange Chili powder, ground cumin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 27, 2005 Report Share Posted March 27, 2005 Then again one can be a lazy bugger, buy the magic pills with the extra fuzzy bunny stickers and call it quits! From the lazy Bugger! ;-) (searching frantically in her in box for certain whey cheese article - hint-hint! LOL ) Cheers! Kathleen Petrides The Woobey Queen The Warming Touch, Therapeutic Pillows http://www.woobeyworld.com > Lately I've been getting eggs fresh from the farm, and they come in all > sorts of colors - brown, green, blue, and occasionally white even > > But, there are other ways to get colored eggs without using synthetic > coloring agents. There are a number of herbs, spices, fruits and veggies > that will make wonderful natural dyes for your Easter Eggs! > > This is a really fun craft for kids and grown ups alike! > > Happy Easter! > > *Smile* > Chris (list mom) > http://www.alittleolfactory.com > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > > > Natural Dyes for Easter Eggs > All you need is the kitchen > > by Marion Stirrup > > > > Natural egg dyeing is as simple as making a cup of coffee, with > ingredients from your kitchen or your garden. Naturally dyed eggs with > their subtle earth tones look elegant. You can turn eggs into beautiful > gems using onion skins, paprika or shredded cabbage. Rubber bands make > plaid and stripe patterns; strips of cloth produce a Sixties tie-dye > look, and masking tape yields batik eggs. Experiment with stick-on vinyl > letters and numbers, or etch designs through paraffin wax. Most of all, > have fun. > > > > Dye techniques: cold dip Vs hot dip > > > > There are two ways to dye Easter eggs naturally. The first is the > cold-dipping method, which produces soft, translucent shades. The eggs > and ingredients are boiled separately. After the dye has cooled and been > strained, the eggs are dipped for 5 to 10 minutes, then dried on paper > towels. To avoid uneven coloring, continuously rotate the eggs. > The second method involves boiling the eggs in the dye. This technique > allows for darker colors. As the eggs roll around in the hot water, they > take on a more uniform color. Here's the basic hot-dye method (with > variations to follow): To dye 8 eggs, use 2 tablespoons of white vinegar > per quart of water. Place eggs in non-aluminum saucepan and add water > until level is at least 1 inch above the eggs. Add natural dye > ingredients and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 > to 30 minutes. Rinse with lukewarm water. > > > > How to create different effects > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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