Follow the instructions below to use fruit and vegetables to make natural dyes for eco-friendly Easter Eggs!
Dye Ingredients
Blue dye: 2 cups purple grape juice
Brown dye: 2 cups strong brewed coffee
Green dye: 2 cups strong brewed green tea
Yellow dye: peel of 6 lemons
Orange dye: 2 cups chopped carrots
Red dye: 2 cups chopped, raw beets (or drain 2 cups of juice from canned beets)
Directions
Hard boil eggs and refrigerate them. In separate pots, heat grape juice, coffee, green tea and beet juice to boiling. Place the chopped beets, lemon peels and carrots in separate pots and cover plus two inches with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Strain out veggies and peel, reserving the liquid. Pour all the hot liquids into bowls deep enough to cover an egg. Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to each bowl of dye. Immerse eggs in dye and place in the refrigerator for at least several hours. The longer the eggs soak, the darker they will be (though they will be lighter than with commercial dye). Remove carefully and dry on a rack or in an egg carton. Rub them lightly with vegetable oil to give them a pretty sheen.