I’m back! Did you miss me? I’ve missed being here, that’s for sure. February was the month of moving to Tennessee, starting a new job, and driving back to Wisconsin a million times to clear out the rental house for good. I’m now settled in Nashville and boy, do I have some posts planned for you! Starting with this one, since Ostara is right around the corner!

This post is actually an excerpt from The Modern Witch’s Guide to Ostara, the newest course that The Witch of Lupine Hollow and I have put together. It’s only $15 to enroll, and you’ll get access to crafts, recipes, astrology, and other information that will help you celebrate Ostara in style! You can click here to enroll if you’re interested, and if not, I hope you enjoy this little tutorial nonetheless 🙂

Dyeing eggs is one tradition commonly associated with Ostara, and what better way to celebrate the season than by using seasonal fruits and veggies for the dye? You can achieve pretty Ostara eggs without having to use food coloring or boxed egg dyes!

The process is a little different depending on which color you’d like, so I’ll walk you through how to make 4 different all-natural dyes for your eggs this year! You’ll need some hard-boiled eggs and also some vinegar on hand to really make these colors pop, so stock up on that before getting started: you’ll need about a tablespoon per cup of dye.

The recipe here will result in light, pastel-colored eggs. For more intense colors, you can cook the eggs in the dye liquid instead of starting with pre-cooked eggs.

Pink:

For pink eggs, your main ingredient is going to be beets. Take 4 cups of chopped beets and boil them in 4 cups of water. Once the water is boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and keep it there for a half hour. Strain the liquid into a bowl – you can use the beets in a recipe to avoid waste!

Blue:

For blue, you’ll need some purple cabbage! Chop up 4 cups of cabbage and cover them in enough water to submerge them with about 1-2 inches of water to cover the cabbage. Bring to a boil, then let simmer for 30 minutes. (Boiled cabbage can be used in a variety of recipes, so don’t throw it away once you’re done!)

Yellow:

Turmeric is your friend for yellow eggs. Combine 4 tablespoons of turmeric in 4 cups of water and bring it to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. Transfer the dye to a bowl and let cool. A word of warning: Turmeric stains like crazy! Be sure to use a pot you’re okay with being yellow for all eternity, and don’t wear your favorite white dress to use this dye.

Purple:

For purple, use blackberries. I won’t tell you to use 4 cups, because blackberries are expensive! Instead, use what you have and use enough water to cover them with about 1-2 inches of water on top. Bring the berries to a boil, then simmer for 30 minutes. The berries probably won’t be useful for much except maybe making a sauce after you’re done, so prepare to get creative in order to avoid tossing them in the trash!

Once you have your bowl of dye, you’re ready to go! Add your vinegar to the dye, one teaspoon per cup of liquid that’s left after the cooking and straining. Arrange your room-temperature eggs in the bowl, cover the bowl, and put it in the fridge.

Let the eggs sit until you get your desired color! You’ll likely need to soak them at least overnight if not longer, so play around with it until you get the colors you like. A note: if possible, try to rotate your eggs every couple hours so they don’t develop a spot from where they were touching the bowl. 

I used turmeric to dye eggs both ways: soaking overnight and boiling in the dye. As you can see in the photo above, the ones I boiled in the dye are much more vibrant than the ones I refrigerated overnight. I will say that the color doesn’t really come out very evenly, but I think that’s part of the beauty of using natural dyes!

How do you celebrate Ostara? Any egg-coloring tricks you’d like to share? Leave them in the comments and I’d love to check them out! 😀