Dyeing Easter Eggs Naturally with Onion Skins

It has been a VERY long time since I've dyed Easter eggs. Probably about fifteen years. However, I have always loved the look of the blood-red Easter eggs that are traditional in the Greek culture. I know they use special dyes for their eggs, but I had heard about an interesting method for using yellow onion skins that I thought would be easy to try. They didn't come out as red as the dye would have made them, more of a dark reddish-brown, but I'm still impressed with the outcome. Check out the process below, plus an awesome tip involving pantyhose to make natural imprints on the shells.

Ingredients:
• Yellow onion skins (skins from about 10-15 onions, depending on how many eggs you are making)
• White cage-free, organic eggs
• a few dashes of salt (to prevent shell breakage)
• 1 tablespoon of vinegar (to prevent egg seepage)
• regular old pantyhose
• some flora of your choice--make sure none of it is poisonous. (I used cherry blossoms and ferns).


Cut about four inch sections of the pantyhose (enough to wrap around an egg and make a knot).

Place whatever you would like to imprint (in my case, a mini fern) over the egg to your liking.

Gently wrap the pantyhose over the fern and pull tight to keep it in place and allow dye to soak through. Tie a secure knot in the back.

After you are finished positioning your imprints of all of your eggs, place them in a stew pot on top of the onion skins. I left a few uncovered to be able to see the color change accurately, as well as to have some simple ones. Fill the pot with water just enough to cover the eggs, and place the burner on high.

After the water reaches a rapid boil, decrease the heat to medium and boil for about 12-15 minutes. Check the color at 12 minutes and if it is to your liking, remove the eggs and place them in a colander. Turn cool water on over them and gently remove the pantyhose.

You're done! Happy Easter!