Natural, Beautiful Easter Eggs

The last few years, we've gone the natural route to create our Easter egg masterpieces. OK, "masterpiece" may be taking it a little far. In our house, with a son not usually into crafts, our eggs all end up brown because he turns the process into some sort of battle where the eggs get dunked in every color before ending up exiled on the carton to dry. BUT, in my mind, my eggs will all look like the ones in this picture!

We've used several of the food items listed in the links below, but this year I was thinking of trying beets (because they stain my hands when I cook them), maybe artichokes (I noticed very green water after steaming artichokes) and red wine.

Here are some great links to get you started and to spark your creativity. Look through all the links because each offers some different info, and you can pick and choose colors and your preferred dyeing process.

From Serious Eats, "A couple of beets, some ground turmeric, and a red cabbage, and I was turning out gorgeous eggs in all three primary colors."

Natural Easter Egg Dyes from About.com Chemistry - "It's fun and easy to use foods and flowers to make your own natural Easter egg dyes."

All-Natural Easter Egg Dye Recipes from Better Homes and Gardens. "Use these all-natural dye recipes made from household ingredients to create Easter eggs in beautifully subdued shades. Leave eggs soaking in the dye in the refrigerator overnight for the richest colors."

How to Dye Easter Eggs Naturally from PBS.org states that "The color difference between dyeing eggs naturally versus the commercial dyes is noticeable.  The different subdued hues of the naturally colored eggs have a beautiful look to them that cannot be replicated by the store bought options."

Get coloring this week and enjoy your beautiful eggs!