Natural Dyes aren’t just for fabric! Easter is the perfect time to create some beautiful colors and natural designs on eggs since flowers are blooming and the outdoors is full of young leaves that are small enough to fit nicely on an egg. We dyed leaf printed eggs at our weekly homeschool class yesterday and they turned out so beautifully! It was an easy process that boiled and dyed the eggs at the same time.

We used onion skins and turmeric with the kids and today I dyed a few more with beets. We started with light brown eggs from our chickens so the results would be even more dramatic if you dye white eggs. Here’s how we did it.

You will need:
eggs
dye material - beets, turmeric, onion skin, red cabbage all work well
pantyhose
small leaves and flowers

Place leaves and flowers on eggs and secure with pantyhose. (We cut ours into sections 3-4 inches long.) Don’t use any poisonous plants!

Prepare dye materials.

Beets: grate or chop into small pieces.
Red cabbage: Chop into small pieces.
Onion skin: Tear into small pieces.
Turmeric: We used a few tablespoons of powdered turmeric.

Place each into a pot and add enough water to cover eggs.

Bring to a gentle boil and boil for 20 minutes. Turn heat off and leave eggs in the dye water to allow deeper colors to develop.