How to Create Dyed Easter Eggs Inspired by Nature

This year be inspired by nature and plants found in the garden to create beautiful dyed Easter eggs.

Colorful Easter eggs with floral patterns on a textured fabric background

This step-by-step guide for you to follow is inspired by eggs I decorated with my mum which she was taught how to do by a friend of hers. You can read more about these two wonderful women in The Gen Journal.

Decorating Easter eggs is an easy DIY craft for everyone, whatever your skill level you can’t go wrong. It has been many years since I have dyed eggs for Easter and these turned out better than I could have expected. They look different to what I remember, the colours were more vivid in the 1970s and 1980s, I remember we had a lot of red and green eggs.

Everything You Will Need

Tabletop scene with eggs, bottles, and flowers on a wooden surface

A table full of craft items

Materials

Newspapers (if you still have them!) or something to protect the surface you are working on from the inevitable dye spills; I used brown paper I had lying around.
Paper towels
Eggs I used duck eggs as they were larger and white. It’s hard to find white chicken eggs. But you can use any eggs. Keep the egg carton, it makes handy storage during the drying phase.
Leaves and flowers
Food colouring
White vinegar
Measuring spoons
Gloves
String
Pantyhose
Glass or ceramic jars large enough to hold an egg but not too big

Instructions

STEP 1

You can use either hard-boiled eggs or blown out eggs. We always used hard-boiled eggs when I was a child and if you are doing this with children, I would suggest doing the same as egg shells are fragile and are prone to break.

I boiled my eggs and watched over them to ensure they didn’t crack. I added them to a pot of cold water with a paper towel at the base and brought the water to the boil and then turned off the heat, covered the pot and left them for 15 minutes. I then cooled them down in cold water.

White eggs in a pot with a paper towel cover.

Carefully watched eggs

STEP 2

Clean the eggs with a quick wipe with vinegar. I think it helps the dye take to the eggs.

Two cartons of white eggs on a marble surface with a decorative bowl.

Cleaned eggs

STEP 3

Go out to the garden and collect some leaves and flowers.

Tip: Look for small leaves with a lot of veins as they give the best impression on the surface of the egg.

IMPORTANT NOTE: IF YOU ARE GOING TO EAT THE EGGS YOU DECORATE PLEASE MAKE SURE TO CHECK THE PLANTS ARE SAFE TO USE BEFORE YOU START.

I WAS MAKING PURELY DECORATIVE EGGS SO I USED A RANGE OF PLANTS FROM MY GARDEN.

Assorted flowers and leaves on a white fabric background

STEP 4

Set up your work area with the leaves all laid out so you can see what you have to use. Gather your eggs, cut up your pantyhose into sections approximately 12 cm long. You don’t have to be precise. If you cut them too short just make the next one bigger. And have string at hand that has already been cut to tie up the egg.

Carton of eggs on a rustic surface with greenery

Time to start decorating

STEP 5

Select your leaves and dip them in water to help them adhere to the egg. I found having the leaves facing up made them easier to stick. Wrap the cut up pantyhose tightly around the leaves and adjust if needed. I didn’t really move the leaves; I just liked how they randomly moved as I used the pantyhose to secure them. Then gather and tie the opening with a piece of string which will be handy later in the dyeing process.

White egg with green leaves on a textured white surface

Egg with green leaf design on a white cloth with green leaves

Egg wrapped with panty hose tied with string on a white cloth with green leaves

Decorative eggs with leaf patterns on a white fabric background with flowers and leaves.

STEP 6

Boil a kettle and set up your dye station by first laying down either newspaper or something to protect the table you are working on. Gather the following items: the egg carton, containers for the dye baths, food colouring, vinegar, measuring spoons and the decorated eggs.

Decorative eggs, dye and glass jars on a brown paper table.

Almost time ...

Make sure you have your gloves on and paper towels handy because accidents happen…

Easter egg decorating with blue paint and egg carton on a table

Like this!

Before I even started I spilt the blue food dye when I opened the bottle. It went all over a few eggs and the table. I didn’t have the dye bottles with droppers and used a syringe to measure the dye. After this accident I just used my measuring spoons and did away with the syringe.

STEP 7

Time to get dyeing. Pour 1 cup of boiling water (250 ml) into your dyeing container. I added ½ teaspoon of dye to begin with in each container and 1 teaspoon of vinegar. I dipped an egg and if I felt the colour took quickly I didn’t add any further dye.

I just dipped my egg and then after about 30 seconds to a minute I would use the end of the panty hose, or string, to lift it out and look to see if there was enough colour. If there wasn’t I just left the egg in the dye for a little longer. No egg was in the dye for longer than about 3 minutes.

Red liquid dye in a glass on a textured surface with a spoon and other items in the background.

Messy but magic ...

Tip: with my dye I found yellow and blue took colour very quickly, as did green but with the red dye I had to add a bit more dye to the water bath. I really think there is no hard and fast rule here, start off with a small amount and add more or leave the egg in for longer in the dye bath. I was excited, and a little bit impatient, so I took the eggs out when the colours weren’t too dark. Ultimately, it’s all a matter of preference and patience or impatience.

Use your egg carton to drain and hold the eggs whilst they are drying. At this stage you can’t be impatient. Don’t unwrap the eggs until they are completely dry. Make a cup of tea, or have a coffee, as mine took about an hour to dry.

Glass of red liquid with a yellow egg on a textured surface

Easter egg dyeing setup with bottles, a glass of dark liquid, and colorful eggs on a brown paper background.

Easter egg dyeing setup with colored eggs, bottles, and containers on a table.

Don’t be afraid to experiment. I dipped some eggs in two dye baths. One longer than the other and it created wonderful effects which I didn’t really expect. As did the accidental splashes of the blue dye. Look at the image gallery at the end to see the unexpected results.

STEP 8

The big reveal. After your eggs have dried, cut away the string and carefully remove the pantyhose and leaves.

Blue egg with string, scissors, and paint splashes on a textured surface

Exciting ...

Be careful in case the dye is not fully dry so that you don’t smudge your beautiful work.

Blue decorative egg with greenery on a white cloth with blue paint splashes

Be gentle

Blue egg with floral design on a textured surface

Ta da!

Colorful Easter eggs in a cardboard carton with flowers on a rustic background

Worth the wait!

You can see the smudges created by the blue dye splashes on the yellow egg and the orange egg. The orange egg was originally dipped in yellow dye briefly and then the red dye and it created an unexpected result. The lilac egg was first dipped in blue dye and then the red dye. All other eggs were only dipped once.

I hope you find this guide useful and easy to use. You really can’t go wrong so I hope you give it a go and have fun doing it.

Happy Easter.