Natural egg dyes

Dyeing Easter eggs is a fun tradition that’s been around for centuries. So, how did our ancestors make all of those bright colors back before commercial egg dyes were sold in stores every spring?Making natural dye colors out of fruits, vegetables, and other everyday items you can find in your home or garden is both easy and fun. Everything from onion skins to grass can be used to make vibrant all-natural colors. Just throw the raw materials into the boiling water while you cook the eggs – you’ll need to boil each color separately – and you’re good to go!

 For really vivid color, be sure to add at least a half a cup of dyeing material, and two teaspoons of vinegar, for each cup of water you use.In a medium pan, put in a single layer of eggs, enough water to cover them, and your dyeing materials. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat and let the eggs and dye mixture simmer for about 15 minutes. If you want the color on your eggs to be darker, let the eggs soak in the dye mixture in the fridge overnight.

Here are some natural ingredients you can use for various dye colors:

Purple: Grape Juice, Red Wine, Violets (works best mashed into a paste with lemon juice).
Blue: Canned Blueberries (including the juice), Red Cabbage Leaves.
Green: Grass Cuttings, Spinach Leaves.
Yellow: Carrot Tops, Ground Cumin or Turmeric, Orange or Lemon Peels.
Brown: Coffee.
Orange: Carrots, Chili Powder, Paprika. Yellow Onion Skins.
Pink: Canned Beets (with juice), Cranberry Juice, Raspberries.Red: Canned Cherries (with juice), Pomegranate Juice, Red Onions Skins.

***Do you have any favorites? Post them!!

I didn't forget ya'll!!

Crap!! It's taken me two days to write this post...how redonkulous is that???

Mercy!! How long has it been? At least a good 2 months...where has the time flown? I will try to update what's been goin' on here...it may not be pretty but it'll give you an idea:O)

Let's see...O-I changed the batteries in my diesel truck and now she runs!! After havin' dead batteries for almost a year and used as a feed bin and dump truck, I finally got it done. But talk about a job!! Each battery had to weigh about 50lbs...which is almost half my weight. Yeah, needless to say I wasn't feelin' too well muscle wise the next couple days. But I did get it done and Brandon didn't have to help me:O) And the fact that she started after not runnin' for almost a year...I'm in love with her all over again!! I think I may try to get into mudd boggin' with her but we'll see...lol. Brandon is gettin' tranny fluid and a filter for it and we'll change it today maybe. It's shiftin' rough right now, so I hope that will get things flushed out and lubed up again...I pray:O) This truck is a love of mine and she needs a lot of tlc...lol.

I started 7 eggs yesterday in the incubator. Hopefully they'll hatch out and we'll get a few more eggs. Our flock has dwindled and now the suckers aren't layin' (or where I can find'em;O) too many eggs. Though Midnight did bring an egg to me this mornin'...naughty girl!! I wonder where she found the damned thing!

Still waitin' on Brandon to fix the 4 wheelers. And hopefully the batteries don't need replaced. He got the filters and spark plugs...now he just needs to do it;O) I have really missed them! I also need to look for a rifle/gun rack or holder to put on the big one. We really need to get some traps set up in our neighbors pasture bottom and collect some hogs!! And there's even someone here who will take the live hogs from us and pay too. So we get free meat, clear up the area of nasty, mean hogs and get paid for it. That is a true win-win!

I've also been really busy with dentist appointments for the kids (Colton had his visit today and is still gettin' over the numb/big face:O) and eye doctors. And I tell ya, remembering every one's birthdays and all the other numbers, I'm lucky I get them straight! But I couldn't ask for better children and they have done really well. Even Baylar who can really have a strong mind of his own and doesn't mind lettin' us know what that is...little bugger anyhow!

What else has been goin' on?? DUHHHHH...I joined  Scentsy as a consultant and if you haven't heard of the wonderful flameless candles yet, take a gander on over to my website. And normally I don't like fragrances because they stuff my nose up and just smelled funky. But with Scentsy , there are so many fabulous smellin' scents, that are never too much for my nose and you can control the amount of fragrance released as well! Even Brandon is a fan! I know I'm in love with the stuff and I hope I can find time (and get organized) to have a few home parties and basket parties. It should be a lot of fun.

O-I also got a job cleanin' the church the kids go to. How sweet is that?? Get paid to strap on my walkman and jam out to my favorite tunes while doin' somethin' I enjoy and the best part...I don't have to deal with a bunch of people and their crap;O) Sweet job!

I guess that's all that's goin' on around here. Waitin' on Spring...even though we had a pasture all winter long and it just recently started gettin' colder. I hadn't worn my coat all winter until the other night when I went out...it was frosty cold:O)

Anyhow, I hope all is well in ya'lls world and things are warmin' up outside. Got any garden plans this year??