Color Me Organic

Easter is coming and you've got your free-farmed or organic eggs—so why not dye the shells naturally, too? There are a number of vegetable- and fruit-based dyes that offer a broad range of beautiful colors and are better for you and the environment than artificial colors.

Easter eggs can be dyed using either a hot method or a cold method. If you choose the hot method, hard-boiling the eggs prior to dyeing them isn't necessary; they're "cooked" as they're boiled in the dye. The cold method is safer for younger children who want to be part of the process; in this case, eggs should be hard-boiled first. In either situation, never plan on eating the eggs if they will be un-refrigerated for more than two hours.

Before dyeing your eggs, wash them with soap and water to remove any dirt or oils that might prevent the dye from sticking to the shell (this is also a good sanitary measure, should you decide to make an Egg Tree; see below).

Making Natural Dyes

For 4 cups of dye, you'll need:

1 tablespoon of a spice or 4 cups of a chopped fruit or vegetable (see list below; adding more of these ingredients will give the dye a darker hue)

4 cups of water

2 tablespoons of white vinegar (to help the dye adhere to the eggs)

Combine the ingredients in a pot, and bring them to a boil, then reduce heat and let the mixture simmer for 15 to 30 minutes. The longer you allow the ingredients to simmer, the darker the color will become. If you choose to dye the eggs using the hot method, you can add raw eggs to the mixture while it's being prepared. If using the cold method, remove the dye from the heat, allow it to cool, then run it through a strainer. Dip your hardboiled eggs in the dye for at least 15 minutes—longer if you want a darker color. When finished, you can rub the eggs with vegetable oil to give them a soft sheen.

For a little variation, you can have kids decorate the eggs with crayons or wax pencils before boiling and dyeing them. Or, wrap a rubber band around the egg to create contrast, either on a white egg, to prevent coloring, or on a dry, dyed egg, where it will give you a stripe of the original color if it's redipped in another.

Egg Trees

Older kids who can handle delicate egg shells might be interested in making an Easter Egg Tree, a tradition native to Germany and Austria.

Start by puncturing both ends of a raw egg with a pin. Work the pin a bit to make two small holes, and then blow out the egg's contents into a bowl. Because of salmonella risks, it's best if the adults handle this step, but to avoid it completely, you can purchase an egg blowing tool, sold at craft stores, or you can try Martha Stewart's trick of using a rubber ear syringe from your local pharmacy to remove the contents. Once the shell is empty, dye it per the procedures above.

For your tree, use branches collected from your yard or an obliging roadside, and place them in a pot or vase filled with sand or pebbles. Tie a piece of twine or ribbon around half of a broken toothpick, and insert the toothpick into one of the holes you created initially. Then tie the other end of the twine or ribbon around one of your branches, and you can admire your eggs indefinitely.