Learning to Dye Easter Eggs with Tea: A Journey of Discovery
As we begin our journey to learn how to dye Easter eggs with tea, I want to share with you that this is not just about decorating eggs for Easter. People have been using natural dyes for centuries, and today, I'm excited to apply ancient knowledge to a modern project.
One common practice when dyeing eggs is hard boiling them before applying the dye. However, I've encountered a problem – my eggs always crack after hard boiling. That's why I decided to skip this step and start with completely raw eggs. The end result will require a special touch to ensure they last longer. But for now, let's get started!
I'm using teas that you can find easily at your local natural health food store or online. My favorite one is Butterfly Pea Flower Tea, which I found for about $5. I'll make sure to include the link below so you can try it out as well. To begin, I have a tea strainer and a beautiful tea cup, both perfect for brewing loose-leaf tea. I'll fill it up with water and add a little bit of the tea, watching in amazement as the water starts changing color.
The waiting game begins! Now that my tea has reached room temperature, I've added a couple more teaspoons to create the dye. The way we transform this tea into a dye is by adding vinegar and a pinch of salt for every cup of tea created. You can adjust the amount of vinegar according to your preference. Next, I'll add my eggs to the tea, using small little eggs that will fit nicely inside these teacups.
You might be wondering why I'm not using bigger containers. The reason is that if an egg touches any surface or another egg, it won't take the dye evenly. To avoid those white spots on our eggs, we need to dye them one at a time. Now, let's give these eggs a stir and wait for the teas to develop.
While waiting, I thought it would be fun to create a marbling effect using natural ingredients like coconut oil. With just a paintbrush and some coconut oil, I can add a little schmutz to my eggs and watch them come alive. The colors might change once they dry, but that's part of the magic.
The next step is more waiting – we have to let our eggsto dry completely before the next step. All right, here we are! Our eggs are now dried and in three beautiful baskets. It's time for you to choose your own adventure with these stunning Easter eggs. You can leave them for a long time, allowing them to be nice and dark, or less time, making them muted. Whatever your choice, remember that one important step is essential to ensure they last longer: blowing out the egg.
To hollow out an egg, take a push pin and start at the smaller end of the egg, gently pushing it in. As you can see, it's just one small little hole. Turn the egg over and repeat the process on the wider end, wiggling it around to create more room. This will help break up the yolk, making it easier to remove. I'm not going to cut a way; instead, I'll just do it! And that's how you get ahollowed out Easter egg.
The final step is to enjoy your beautifully decorated eggs and experiment with different natural ingredients. The next time you make a cup of your favorite tea, why don't you throw an egg in there and see what happens? Let me know in the comments, and don't forget to like and subscribe for more fun DIY projects like this one.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enWhew, hi there.I'm Laura with Handmade.And today, I'm going to beyour eggs-pert as we learn howto dye Easter eggs with tea.People been dying withnatural dyes for centuries,eons, millennia, for ever.And I just wantedto see if I couldapply some ancient knowledgeto a modern project.You're probablyused to hard boilingyour eggs before you dye them sothey last a little bit longer.But I have a problem.When I hard boil myeggs, they always crack.So I'm just goingto skip that stepand start dying with eggsthat are completely raw.And at the end ofthe dying process,I'm going to dosomething kind of specialto help make sure that theylast a little bit longer,but we'll get therewhen we get there.I know you can use theseother food products,but for this project,I just wantedto use teas, stuff that youcan find just strolling downthe aisle at your localnatural health food store,or that you can pick up online.My favorite one that Ifound during my egg journeywas something calledButterfly Pea Flower Tea.And I got this little bagonline for about 5 bucks.I'm going to make sure thatthe link is included below.You're just going toneed a couple of thingsto get us started.I have a little tea strainer,because this is loose leaf tea,and a really beautiful tea cup.And you're justgoing to want to fillit all the way up, like that.You're going to add alittle bit of water.And you can seealready, with justthe most minimalamount of contact,the water starts changing color.And now, it's justkind of a waiting game.You're going to wantto wait till your watercomes to roomtemperature before youput your eggs in there to dye.OK, so my tea has cometo room temperature,and I've added acouple of more the mix.We have to transformthis tea into a dye.And the way we do that is byadding vinegar and a little bitof salt. For every cupof tea that you create,you're going to want to addone tablespoon of vinegar.You could just add alittle pinch of salt.The next thing that you can dois add your eggs to the tea.And I'm just usingsmall little eggs.They'll fit very nicelyinside of these teacups.You might be sayingto yourself, Laura,why aren't you usingbigger containers?Who wants to dyeone egg at a time?Well, you're going to wantto dye one egg at a time,because everywherethat the egg touches,it doesn't take the die.So if you have a largecontainer full of eggs,then every pointwhere the egg toucheseither the side of thecontainer or another eggisn't going to take the dye.So once I put these guys inhere and give them a stir,they won't get those weirdwhite spots all over them.This is a slow DIY process.So while we wait forthe teas to develop,I thought we might do somethingfun with the ButterflyPea Flower eggs.Using more naturalingredients, like coconut oil,I can create a marbling effect,which gives a little dimensionand character.All you need is a paintbrush and some coconut oil,and you can just adda little schmutz here.And you can justdrop it right in.And we're going to give thatabout five to ten minutes,and then pull it out andsee what it looks like.Now, I'm going to pull outthese beautiful babies.These colors areprobably going to changea little bit once they dry.They won't be asshiny or iridescent,but they're still goingto be really beautiful.And the next step is, youguessed it, more waiting.So we've got towait for our eggsto dry before the next step.All right, here we are.All of our eggsare dried and in--well, three baskets.And it's totally choose yourown adventure at this point.You can leave themfor a long time,and they'll be nice and dark.You can leave inthem for less time,and they'll be nice and muted.You can do one color.It's up to you.No matter what youchoose, though, youhave one importantstep to make surethat your eggs willlast for a long time,and that is blowingout your egg.So what you're goingto do is take an eggthat has been completely dried.And I like to use a push pin.Right, you start at the smallerend or the top of the egg,and it just kindof goes right in.You might break afew eggs, so youmight want to practice on somethat you haven't dyed first.And as you can see, it'sjust one small little hole.You're going to turn it over.And on the wider end of theegg, you'll do the same thing.Yeah, but this time,you're going to wiggleit around a little more.You're going toneed a little bitmore room, becausethis is the holethat the yolk comes out of.Unlikely, but true.And when you do this, ithelps break up the yolk.You can see, not a hugehole, but definitelybigger than this one.Already, it'sstarting to come out.And there's really no cuteway for me to do this,so I'm just gonna do it.And that's it.That's how you get ahollowed out Easter egg.So there we have it.The next time you guys makea cup of your favorite tea,why don't you throw an egg inthere and see what happens?Let me know in the comments.I'm Laura.Thanks for letting me serveyou this hot tea today.Make sure you likeand subscribe,and I'll catch youon the flip side.\n"
