Natural Easter Egg Dye

Are you sick of letting chemicals get too close to your food and does it upset you when you read in the media that a substance once deemed safe is now a health risk? Here's a simple way to spruce up your Easter eggs while making sure you don't contaminate your food supply with dye. You might think this is an impractical idea because it's so much more inexpensive to buy coloring kit for $2 at the store and the egg shell doesn't technically touch the egg whites inside. Unfortunately, in my experience, when you're cracking your eggs open to eat them, the color will bleed inside to the egg and end up in your food, not to mention that you will be carrying it on your hands while you're eating.

Healthy vegetables and spices, which can reduce your chances of cancer and heart disease as well as a myriad of other health problems, can make gorgeous natural Easter egg dyes. For each color you want to use, simmer 2 quarts of water and 1/4 cup of white vinegar with the dye ingredient for at least half of an hour. This is a much more time consuming process but the longer you let the ingredient summer, the more intense of a hue you will achieve. Drain the liquid when you deem the color to your liking and allow to cool to room temperature before using.

Red: 1 cup red onion skins (saved from 2-3 onions), 1/2 cup strawberries

Deep blue: 1 head of cabbage
Purple: 2.5 cups blueberries
Magenta: 1 large beet (diced)
Orange: 4 tablespoons ground paprika, 1/2 cup carrot ends
Yellow: 4 tablespoons ground turmeric, 2 lemon skins
Brown: 2 tea bags or 1/2 cup coffee
Light Green: 2 cups of spinach


When you're finished making your color, place each one into a jar or bowl (preferably one that you don't mind getting stained, don't use your fine china for this process) and dip your hard-boiled eggs into each color, letting it sit for at least 10 minutes for a lighter hue. To achieve a more saturated hue of the color, make sure that you let the egg sit inside the dye for longer.

These eggs aren't going to be as bright as unnatural chemically dyed eggs but the trade off for the time it took for you to achieve natural dye and slightly less vibrant color is health. That is definitely a trade off I'm willing to make!

Newest Obsession: EOS lip balm!

My newest choice of lip balm to apply to my lips after applying makeup in the morning, before going to bed and numerous times in between is the EOS lip balm. This delightful little ball-packaging resembles a cute little Easter egg and this gave me the idea that they would probably make amazing little gifts or party favors for your upcoming Easter shindigs. The design is literally so out-of-the-box and the rubbery container has such a pleasant feel in your hands, with enough grit that it will not just slip out of your hands. The bottoms have a sturdy base so that they don't roll off your table. EOS stands for "Evolution of Smooth" and you can find their product-line here. I'm not sure if these are sold in Canada, but in the US, I have found them all over the place, Wal-Mart, Rite Aid, QFC and ULTA to name a few. They can cost anywhere from $2.99 to $3.79 US each. They last you a long time and there's a lot of product inside of them so it's not a waste of money. I do agree that they are more expensive than your regular Chapstick lip-balm but the flavors are fantastic and they claim to be all-natural.

The manufacturer's page claims that they contain long-lasting moisture due to their contents being full of shea butter, jojoba oil and vitamin E. They do go on clear and colorless, so if you're expecting a pigment from your lip balm, this will not provide one. The products are gluten-free, without parabens, petrolatum and phthalates.

They come in the following flavors:

•  Summer Fruit
•  Lemon Drop SPF 15
•  Strawberry Sorbet
•  Honeysuckle Honeydew
•  Medicated Tangerine
•  Sweet Mint

My favorites are Strawberry Sorbet and Honeysuckle Honeydew, and I am not a huge fan of Medicated Tangerine or Lemon Drop but they are the ones that are probably most useful because the tangerine one is a super-moisturizer and lemon drop protects your lips from the harmful rays of the sun by being SPF 15. Really whichever ones you choose depends on what's available at the store and what your favorite flavor-profiles are. I usually like very sweet lip balms but some people really dislike very flavored makeup. I know that over the summer they had a pack that contained a purple balm which was in "Strawberry Sorbet" but I haven't seen that one in stores, it sounds delicious though.

When you're not looking to splurge on anything but you want to get something for yourself or your friends, these are a great purchase because they are useful and don't make a huge dent in your pocket. Many articles I've read have chosen these as the lip-product to purchase, especially during this recession.

You can purchase them here: