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Learn how easy it is to dye eggs with food coloring!  Skip the store bought kits, and enjoy customizing your own fun colors.  Let me show you how!

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

Growing up, dying eggs at Easter time was one of my most treasured childhood memories.  Sometimes we did it with my mom, sometimes we did it with my Grandma.

But every time was an absolute joy.

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

Our creative adventures always started with a store bought dying kit, with all the fun little stickers and a handful of vibrant colors.

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

Now with my own children, dying eggs has also become a yearly tradition.  They look forward to it with the same excitement and anticipation as I did as a child, and I love to help them experience this tradition.  (Even though a little motherhood anxiety may come with it.)

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

I remember it was just 2 years ago, when Easter Sunday was quickly approaching, and my oldest daughter reminded me that we had yet to dye eggs and it would possibly be the end of the world if we didn’t before Easter.

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

Sympathizing with her feelings, but knowing I had no dye kit available and no time for a trip to the grocery store, I quickly did a search online to find out if there was possibly any other way to dye eggs without a dye kit.  And much to my amazement, there were several!  The egg dying creative possibilities were seemingly endless!  I didn’t have to resort to poke-my-eyes-out-bright neon pinks, purples, blues, greens, yellows . . . etcetera etcetera.

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

By summoning my long lost preschool skills of mixing colors, we could create a rainbow of limitless colors in all shades and varieties . . . all with the small box of food coloring in our pantry.

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

We have been dying eggs with food coloring ever since that discovery 2 years ago.  It is by far my favorite method, and I’m excited to show you how today.

Many of you wondered how I achieved the subtle light blue color from my Spring Home Tour, and this is exactly the method I used.

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

Once those eggs are dyed, I never can resist playing around with my camera to capture the fun colors and creative compositions.

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

For this batch of dyed eggs, I opted to try to achieve very light and subtle earthy tones, all by mixing different food coloring and leaving my eggs in the dye for a very short period of time.

I think the results are just lovely and the process was so enjoyable and therapeutic.  I’ll be letting my kids join me next . . . which will still be enjoyable . . . but far from therapeutic . . . if you know what I mean.
How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!
How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

I’d love to have you watch this short video clip that will take you through the easy steps of dying eggs with food coloring, then I’ll walk you through the easy instructions.

STEP 1:  GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

You will need to prep your area to avoid any catastrophic dye stains.  With kids, I lay out several garbage bags flat all over the table.  Then I place all the dying supplies on a cookie sheet and prep another cookie sheet with a cooling rack on top for the eggs to dry.  Here are the other supplies you will find helpful:

  • Distilled White Vinegar
  • Food Coloring
    • Any variety will work.  We have loved this set of gel food coloring (affiliate link).  It gives us plenty of colors to work with and a little always goes a long way.  This one set has last us years!  But feel free to use the more common food coloring drops you find at grocery stores.
  • Boiled Eggs (given)
  • Glass or plastic cup
  • 1/2-3/4 cup of water
  • Plastic spoons
  • Toothpicks (if you are using gel dye)
  • 2 cookie sheets
  • 1 cooling rack

STEP 2: ADD A TABLESPOON OF VINEGAR TO THE 1/2 – 3/4 CUP OF WATER

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

STEP 3:  ADD A SMALL AMOUNT OF FOOD COLORING TO THE TIP OF A TOOTHPICK

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

STEP 4:  STIR THE TOOTHPICK INTO THE VINEGAR WATER

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

STEP 5:  USE A PLASTIC SPOON TO STIR THE COLORED WATER AND EVENLY DISPERSE THE DYE (ADD MORE COLORING IF DESIRED)

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

STEP 6:  WITH A SPOON, SLOWLY LOWER THE BOILED EGG INTO THE COLORED WATER

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

STEP 7:  LET THE EGG SIT IN THE WATER UNTIL THE DESIRED COLOR IS REACHED

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

STEP 8:  REMOVE THE EGG FROM THE WATER WITH THE PLASTIC SPOON

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

STEP 9:  PLACE THE EGG ON TOP OF THE COOLING RACK

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

STEP 10:  REPEAT THE STEPS WITH MORE EGGS

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

STEP 11:  MIX OTHER COLORS INTO THE SAME WATER FOR MORE COLOR VARIETY, OR SWITCH OUT THE WATER AND TRY OTHER COLORS!

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

I would love to hear how you prefer to dye your eggs!  Next year, I would like to try using natural dyes found in food like cabbage and spinach.  Those can yield some beautiful results as well.  Do you have any special egg dying traditions or memories?  I always love to hear from you!

Thanks so much for joining me today.  I’m going to leave you with a few more pictures of colored eggs in my decor (because I can never resist), and then please be sure to look below to see other easy and fun DIY crafts you can make for Easter and Spring, all provided by some of my dearest blogging friends.  Big thanks goes to the sweet and talented Annie from Zevy Joy, for arranging this inspirational project gallery for us!

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!
How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

Feel free to stay and click awhile!  Enjoy!

Kid’s Easter Table by Summer Adams

How To Dye Eggs With Food Coloring by TIDBITS | Easter Wreath by Shades of Blue Interiors | Easter Egg Decorating Idea – Mini Floral Bunny Ears by A Burst of Beautiful | DIY Easter Sign – Hello Peeps by My Sweet Savannah

DIY Bunny Napkin Rings by Craftberry Bush | A Kindred Easter with Kindred Vintage & Co. | DIY Metallic Easter Eggs with Maison de Pax | Spring Garden DIY Easter Centerpiece by Elliven Studio

Bunny Ears Bags and Free Printable by Ella Claire | Free Printable Easter Cards by Boxwood Avenue | Simple Modern Easter Tablescape by Cherished Bliss | DIY Vintage ‘Happy Easter’ Eggs by So Much Better With Age

Printable Watercolor Easter Banner by Nina Hendrick Design Co. | DIY Bunny Garden Easter Basket by Zevy Joy | Easter Cake – Paleo Coconut Pineapple Cake with Topper by Nesting With Grace | Moss Wrapped Candle by Design, Dining and Diapers

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

How to dye eggs with food coloring. Skip the store bought kits and customize your own colors!

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17 Comments

  1. These are simply GORGEOUS!!!!
    And yes, I can see both my daughters (both now in their 30’s) dying eggs. The look on their little faces when they took the egg out of the water ……..priceless.
    I know it’s a “hair-pulling-out ” experience,
    but trust me, it’s worth it.
    The blue eggs in the white bowl, are they real? (hard boiled?) If so, what do you do with them after sitting out?
    Such a beautiful lady,
    Thank you for sharing
    Kathy from Pennsylvania

  2. Towards the end of day 5 his spirits turned. He had a few cousins and relatives come by. He didn’t say much, but just having a room full of relatives that were goofing off and telling stories made him feel better. This was the 1st time I’ve seen LA man since the divorce and it was still a fun afternoon. I was surprised there were no awkward moments.

  3. Red: Boil 4 cups of purple onion peel and 2 teaspoons of vinegar in 1 liter of water for 30 minutes, let cool. Filter the water and dye the eggs.

    Beige / brown: soak eggs in cold-brewed coffee. Or add 1 teaspoon instant coffee and ½ teaspoon vinegar to 1 cup of hot water. Leave to cool and dye as usual.

    Light orange: Mix 1 cup of onion shell, 1 teaspoon of vinegar, 1 cup of water. Boil the mixture for an hour and a half, cool and filter the onions. Place the cooled eggs in the solution and soak for 30 minutes.

  4. Wow, I must be really old! That was the only way we did it when I was growing up. Years later I tried the kits but yes, I prefer the food coloring. Plus I always have it on hand. I got your video and all the words but could not get your pictures, except for a couple. Wonder what happened.

  5. Absolutely gorgeous photos and I love how you dye your eggs! Great tips, I need to use some of these.

  6. So glad to hear I’m not the only one that finds dying eggs with kids a little nerve wracking! And you most definitely should get some boiled and play! It’s a lot of fun no matter how grown up we are!

  7. You have your own way for making things beautiful Annie! Thanks so much for everything! You are a gem!

  8. These are some really nice eggs that you created with your littles, I am going to steal this idea so that I can make these memories with my boys.

  9. your pastels are gorgeous.

    Since I raise brown egg-layers, I’ve experimented with dying the brown eggs and get some amazing jewel-tones. Make dye stronger and leave them in longer. Also sponged on some gold glaze from a kit and they’re gorgeous in their own way.

    there’s more info on my facebook page, with pictures.

    1. You’ve made me what to get some brown eggs and try! I can imagine they would be so lovely! Thank you for stopping by!

  10. Wow, I must be really old! That was the only way we did it when I was growing up. Years later I tried the kits but yes, I prefer the food coloring. Plus I always have it on hand. I got your video and all the words but could not get your pictures, except for a couple. Wonder what happened.

    1. Haha! How funny how our childhood brains hold onto things. Sorry you had difficulty with the video. I tried using a different player so I hope it works good now for you, if you want to give it a try. Thanks for stopping by!