Easter Eggs from the kitchen....

We love to dye eggs.  I don't wait for a certain time of year, I don't wait for much.  If I am going to boil eggs, I dye 'em.  Usually I just reach for the food coloring that I inherited from my mother in law when she retired.  (apparently she used it in her class rooms)  This year, for the first time, we made our own dyes!  So fun.  Why haven't I done this?  Maybe because the process took up a better part of the day?  Ya, that's probably it.

We made three dye baths.  One from beets for pink, one from turmeric for golden yellow, and one from London Rocket (weeds) for yellow green!

I started first with the weeds...  I should have boiled the dye for much longer than I did, but it turns out I couldn't stand the smell.  With all the windows open, the vents on, it was still over powering.  I was just much to pregnant for the odor.  I should have just used spinach, but I thought I was being resourceful (possibly just selfish).

The beets made a lovely aroma.  I love beets!  I used too much water for the amount of beets that I was willing to part with.  Next year I'll keep in mind that I want something more concentrated.  Either way, it was very pretty to work with.

Our third dye bath was turmeric.  Yummy to both my nose, and my eyes!  Its pretty much the rock star of natural dyes, or so I'm lead to believe after some quick googling.

I tried to keep us occupied today so we could keep the eggs in the dye for as long as possible.  Some lasted longer than others.

The end result of our home made dyes left us with subtle, pretty shades.  Next year I'll change a few things, maybe even follow some directions... maybe.

Or maybe I'll just keep doing things my own way... 

Here's to all of us finding the line between 'their' way, and our own!