How to paint eggs for Easter in an original way: 10+ ideas

Easter this year is unusual for Ukrainians - military. But the war in Ukraine is not a reason to abandon this bright holiday. Vice versa. It is in such difficult times that our soul very much asks for communion with God.

One of the main Easter traditions is colored eggs. They must be on the festive table along with Easter cakes. Eggs for Easter symbolize the Holy Sepulcher: under a dead shell at first glance, new life is hidden. Therefore, our ancestors did their best to decorate this symbolic product, inventing different ways of coloring eggs.

Today, this is not a particular problem: before Easter, the stores are full of powdered dyes. However, we advise you not to follow the path of least resistance. Natural dyes are absolutely safe for children, are prepared without difficulty and from products that are in every kitchen.

How to dye eggs with natural dyes

Where the tradition of cooking krashenki for the Easter table came from is not known for certain. There is a legend that the Virgin Mary was the first to paint eggs, inventing toys for baby Jesus from improvised materials. The official Christian version says that Mary Magdalene brought the egg as a gift to the Roman emperor Tiberius. When she told him about the resurrection of the Savior, the emperor said: "It is as impossible as the fact that your egg will turn red." At the same moment, the gift changed color in front of Tiberius, proving the truthfulness of Magdalene's story.

Try to choose only fresh eggs for coloring / istockphoto.com

To this day, not only children, but also adults are enthusiastically watching the magic: how an ordinary egg turns into a beautiful holiday attribute. And in order for Easter eggs to turn out successful the first time, you must adhere to a few basic rules:

• Eggs for coloring should be as fresh as possible. It is best to buy them just before painting day. In the store, pay attention to the labeling and take eggs with the letter "D" (dietary) - they are fresher than eggs marked with the letter "C" (canteens). If you buy eggs in the market, then you need to choose them by weight: fresh eggs are always heavier than those that have already lain for several days.
• When choosing eggs, carefully inspect each of them so that there are no chips or cracks. Firstly, when cooking, the shell will disperse, and it will not work beautifully to paint such an egg. Secondly, even the smallest crack in the shell is a risk that bacteria have entered the egg. Such a product can be poisonous.
• A few hours before dyeing, the eggs should be taken out of the refrigerator and left at room temperature. Then they definitely will not crack during cooking.
• To make the color “grab” on the shell better, be sure to wash the eggs with soap. In addition, the shell can also be degreased - to do this, lightly wipe the eggs with medical alcohol or alcohol tincture without color.
• To prevent eggs from bursting, many housewives recommend putting them in cold water and boiling with salt (about a teaspoon per 2 cups of water). Physics does not confirm this in any way, but the method works.
• After dyeing, wipe each egg with a napkin with a small amount of vegetable oil, and then polish with a cotton cloth. So the symbol of the holiday will acquire a beautiful glossy sheen.

What natural dyes are best for eggs

The most popular dye for eggs is onion peel / istockphoto.com

The most famous and popular dye for eggs is onion peel. With it, you can get a variety of colors, from light yellow to deep burgundy or dark brown. The saturation of the shade directly depends on the amount of husk that you use for coloring, as well as on the onion from which the husk is taken. For example, ordinary onions will give you a range of orange colors, but red onions will give the eggs shades of red and crimson.

In addition to onion skins, there are a lot of plants, which contain in their composition a rather powerful color pigment and are able to give the eggs completely different shades. Without any chemistry, but only with the help of natural materials, you can paint eggs in almost all colors of the rainbow.

Beet. Beetroot juice has very strong coloring properties. With it, you can paint eggs in all shades of red: from light pink to rich carmine. To get a decoction of beetroot juice, grate the beetroot, add a little water and boil for 20-30 minutes. Strain, add two tablespoons of vinegar and a pinch of salt. Eggs in this broth can be boiled from 10 minutes to half an hour, depending on the desired color.

Spinach. Every mother knows how young green grass paints children's things. The most intense pigment of the "herbal" dyes contains spinach. A decoction of it is prepared according to the same principle as beetroot: cut the spinach leaves into strips and boil for 30-40 minutes. Then boil the eggs in the broth. The result is a rich and vibrant green color.

There are many plants that will give eggs different shades / istockphoto.com

Red cabbage. We prepare the broth in the same way: chop the cabbage, boil it and put the eggs there. You can get a wide variety of shades of blue.

Birch and nettle. These plants also give the eggs a beautiful green color. Moreover, you can use both fresh and dry leaves for a decoction. Pour boiling water over them and leave to boil until the water “pulls” saturation from the leaves. After that, turn off the water and leave the coloring solution for half an hour to infuse. Strain and boil the eggs in it for 10 minutes.

Lemon and chamomile. With the help of these plants, you can get delicate and sunny yellow shades. We prepare a decoction of chamomile in the same way as from birch. When painting with lemon, we make an infusion of grated lemon peel (as from beets and spinach).

Coffee. With the help of instant coffee, you can give eggs shades from beige to chocolate. Pour a few teaspoons of the product (optimally 1 spoon per 1 egg) into boiling water and cook for up to 10 minutes. Cool, dip the eggs there and boil them for 10-15 minutes. Get a gentle light brown tone. If you leave the eggs in the solution for another half an hour, they will become a beautiful dark brown color.

How to paint eggs for Easter with a pattern

Beautiful patterns on eggs are quite easy to get / istockphoto.com

Krashenki with various patterns and patterns look very original. This method of coloring does not really require any special skills or labor. The only caveat: before preparing for painting, the eggs in this case must first be boiled so that the shell does not crack at the most crucial moment.

Marble eggs. To get a beautiful marble pattern on the shell, cut the onion skins (preferably from onions of different colors) into arbitrary pieces. Also cut plain paper and mix it with the husk. Moisten the eggs in water and roll in the resulting mixture, tightly wrap the resulting “lump” with gauze or nylon. The blanks need to be cooked together with the remaining onion peel for about half an hour.

Krapanki. To get a shell with an interesting dotted pattern, roll the soaked in water eggs in rice. To do this, use round, not long-grain rice. In the same way, place the eggs in nylon or cheesecloth, wrap tightly and boil in any of the broths for 35-40 minutes.

Striped eggs. One of the easiest ways to get stripes on the shell is to wrap them with rubber bands. You can use cutters for money, or you can cut a medical glove (then you will get strips of different widths) or stick narrow strips of stitches not on an egg. To make the striped pattern more tender, you can wrap the eggs with threads. Such blanks in the coloring solution should be kept for no longer than 10-15 minutes, otherwise the pattern will be smeared.

Patterned eggs. With the help of adhesive tape or children's stickers, a variety of pictures can be applied to the eggs - hearts, stars, butterflies, geometric shapes. As in the case of stripes, stick the selected images on the shell and dip in the coloring solution for 10-15 minutes. But the leaves or twigs (dill and parsley are well suited for these purposes) need to be wrapped around the egg with gauze or nylon. Such blanks can be kept in a decoction for up to half an hour.

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