Celebrating Easter with Family, Friends, and Flowers
Easter is a wonderful celebration of family, friends, faith, food, and flowers. Sporting your new Easter outfit for church, the first bite of that chocolate bunny ear, dressing up your poor defenseless pet, coloring eggs with your favorite ‘peeps’, and then hunting them with your 80 year old Mother!
It’s a perfect time to embrace and enjoy traditions. Easter egg dying is an ancient tradition giving a nod to spring, rebirth, and life. These colorful eggs were also used as gifts for family and friends. For some, the ease of purchasing an egg dying kit to get the job done is simply not enough. You need to let your creative energies flow, make something old new again, and go au natural! Here’s a suggestion.
Try Naturally Dyed Easter Eggs
Coloring your eggs with foliage and leftover produce provides an amazing alternative to harsh dyes, and presents an opportunity to make use of those extra foliage scraps! We chose an old Eastern European method of dying, using flowers, foliage, red cabbage, and onion skins. There are so many recipes and videos available online. We picked a super simple one:
First, hard boil the eggs. Wrap small blooms or foliage around the eggs (a touch of water might help it stick). Next, hold in place and tie with a piece of nylon hosiery (yes… they still make those). Place your eggs in a pan filled with either red cabbage or onion skins and fill with water. Bring the water to boil and then remove the pan from heat and cover it with a lid. Leave it to cool for a few hours and then place the pan in the refrigerator overnight.
Finally, remove the eggs from the pan, unwrap, and wipe them dry! Give yourself a ‘high five’, chest bump, and sing ‘Celebrate Good Times’ because it worked!
Almost! The red cabbage did not color well. Next time we would try an extra day in the fridge or beets... Have a Happy Easter and happy coloring!
