When we think of egg-dyeing, we normally think about the neon colors available every spring in supermarkets, but there are much more natural ways to make colorful festive eggs.  In this blog, we're exploring natural plant dyes for eggs—in particular, tea!

Using natural dyes such as tea will give your eggs a more muted color than what you may expect from over-processed, store-bought egg dyes. There are a few ways to bring out brighter color, though. White vinegar's acidity dissolves a tiny bit of the outer part of the shell, making it rougher and allowing it to hold more dye.  Salt can help, too, by helping bind the dye to the egg shell.  When you take the eggs out of the dye, be careful handling them—the fresh dye can scrape off easily, leaving you with an egg much paler than you expected.  Once the egg shells are dry, take a touch of veggie or olive oil and rub it over the egg shells—it will make them shine, and the color will stand out even more!

Ready to add some color to your spring?  Boil the following for 15-30 minutes in four cups of water with two tablespoons of white vinegar and two teaspoons of salt to make your dyes:

• Two tablespoons of strong black tea, like our Turkish Tea – the resulting eggs will be brown.

• Two tablespoons of Japanese-style green tea, like our Japan Sencha – the eggs will turn bright yellow-green.

• Two tablespoons of Chamomile – the eggs will turn pale yellow.

• Two tablespoons of Hibiscus – the eggs will turn lavender-grey.

• Two tablespoons of Turmeric – the eggs will turn bright gold.

• Two tablespoons of Honeybush – the eggs will turn red-brown.

• Two tablespoons of Elderberries – the eggs will turn grey-purple.

You can even try combining different dye components to get more color variation.  If you feel like raiding your local grocery store, red onion skins make gorgeous brick-red eggs and two tablespoons of red cabbage—believe it or not!—will give you bright blue eggs.