Eco Egg Dyeing, Wrap Up!

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Natural Egg Dyeing Method

This was not the first time I’ve dipped my feet in the natural realm of egg dyeing with veggie, fruits, and spices as a base. Tristan’s first Easter the chicks started laying eggs (imagine that) so needless to say I used their brown eggs the first time. I was only experimenting so I didn’t go crazy with colors. I used what I had on hand in our kitchen. I also didn’t want to spend a ton of money. I’m pretty sure having little peeps around didn’t make it any easier on the TIME factor.

The eco tot had the opportunity to dye eggs with his grandparents on Saturday using food coloring and vinegar as a base. I’d forgotten about that method until my mother in law mentioned it. Not a non toxic option but something more likely to be in your pantry then having to buy new dye packs. I wasn’t going to bother dyeing any more eggs until I realized we had a half of a red leaf cabbage head about to spoil, so, I figured I’d give the natural dyeing a whirl again. I wanted to try white eggs as a base rather than brown like the our first year so I purchase white eggs for this method. I then began to think up how I could create other colors.

I’m quite proud of my reducing efforts during the eco egg dyeing task… I recycled the boiled egg water and onion skins I peeled off from an onion earlier on. Then, I remembered; I used red wine to color the brown eggs the first year, so, I quickly reached for a bottle of red wine sitting in our cupboard and reopened it.

WHO KNEW?

All twelve of the eggs, stayed  in their eco dye baths overnight.  The result of each natural dye turned out mildly bright in color. Turns out the red wine is my favorite way to dye eggs!!! Okay, really… not for drinking… dyeing… yes….MOVE over glitter packs because red wine makes eggs sparkle and shine like diamonds. FOR REAL, no kidding!!!

picture does not do the red wine dyed eggs any justice!

Red wine did not affect the taste of our deviled eggs (which I meant to photograph) either. They were yummy. Seriously, though, another great decorative and fun way to dye eggs. The effect of these eggys would make a great centerpiece, like their counterpart, silk dyed eggs.

Easter basket filled with food coloring dyed, natural, and silk dyed eggs!

Eco Dye Lineup

cumin: yellow

red leaf cabbage: blue

yellow onion: yellowish to light brown

red wine (Xplorador Cab Sauv. Merlot from Costco): maroon to mauve with glitter sparkles!!!!! (the sulfates)

to get a list of more colors, a how to & ideas you can go here & here!

My decision to do this was last minute so I didn’t really have a method to my madness with the colors which is why I only did 2 red wine eggs. We HAD six blue eggs but a certain doggy I know ate two of them. Which totals four since we started our adventures. Silly dog! Oh, and we ended up with dots on the blue eggs because I left a few cabbage leaves in the pot. Pretty cool, huh?!

All and all, eco egg dyeing (cold method) is as simple as the ever popular store bought packages. Your little ones may not get instant gratification but you’ll be saving them from any toxic crud. Make sure you have other activities planned to keep the little ones entertained while you wait. I’m really intrigued by the natural processes and hope to try out more colors in years to come.  I also think it would be fun to dye them using a non toxic food coloring like this one.

bunny pose!

that Easter Bunny sure does get a lot of credit… 

~Stay tuned to find out what incredible event took place during our Easter brekkie!

the {upcycled & recycled} Easter Egg Dyeing, au naturale!

Hola!

Happy weekend to you!

Can you believe that Easter is just a couple weeks away?!  I can’t. I still can’t believe it’s the end of March either. What the heck happened to the first three months of the year? I’m ALSO in disbelief my “Baby C” is going to be ONE. Holy moly, a true toddler in 2 wks. Aye carumba!

{Anywho}

I remember looking forward to Easter, as a kid,just so I could dye eggs for our family egg hunt. We always used the traditional boxes of egg dye as I’m sure most did. Due to the birth of Baby C, last year;  we were unable  to do anything fancy with our eggs. We wanted to do the natural method but our time was very limited with a newborn. Instead my mother in law happened to pick up an organic egg dye pack from the health food store and we called it good. It was better than the toxic kits nothing.

This year, I’m hoping to plan ahead and try out a new (to me) natural method. Most commercial kits contain chemicals, artificial ingredients and have petroleum based products  (crayon) which aren’t earth friendly and are usually labeled non-toxic; so beware.

For this weeks, edition, of the {upcycled & recycled}; I ran (not literally) across another way of having fun with eggs for Easter…

Silk dyed!

Thank you, Martha Stewart’s site. The other day, I was browsing for craft/sewing ideas for the boys birthday parties and found this gem…

You’ve gotta see the video on how to do it! EASY PEASY.

I can’t wait to find a few silk ties or blouses from garage sales or thrift stores for this project. No finger staining  whatsoever. Doesn’t that sound enticing? ! But, then again a little nostalgia without the chemicals does too!

Now, check it out; if you don’t have time to go thriftin’ or to yard sales …

a silk dye kit is available through …drumroll, please… ETSY!

My favorite place to  find {upcycled & recycled} goods.

The silk dye kits are recycled & reusable. Did I say, how much I loved this idea!

I LOVE this idea!!!

Upcycling at it’s finest.

AND if you’re interested in au naturale egg dye kits…

check out one of my fave companies eco-kids

who now has an all natural plant, fruit and veggie based dyeing kit!

Jupiter’s Child also has an all natural kit with a twist!

Pretty eco rad, if you ask me.

P.S. this is Part 1 of Eco Egg Dyeing, au naturale… stay tuned for my personal experience!

Have you silk dyed eggs before?  Please share!

Have a great weekend! 

{tidbits of green}

Welcome to another edition!

There’s all sorts of eco and exciting new to share this week.

Where do I start?

A new campaign popped into my radar called TakeOut WithOut

Join the campaign to reduce restaurant waste!

If you’re like me than you try to remember to bring your own take out box or even utensils/kitchen towel when necessary. Quite commonly, I get dirty or blank stares for REFUSING a  plastic bag, fork, spoon or even condiments sometimes. I feel like I’m saving the employee time by taking away a few extra steps (apparently those extra steps are really important & personal to some.). When I go to the deli I take my containers with me. They love not having to package up my requests.

I’m happy to see a campaign out there like this! Reducing waste is what it’s all about!

According to their website:

It takes approximately 20 seconds to put our food into take out containers? Convenient? No, it’s actually inconvenient since the packaging can remain in our landfills forever, causing continued damage to us and our world. The American population tosses out enough paper bags and plastic cups, forks and spoons every year to circle the equator 300 times (www.cleanair.org). TakeOutWithOut exists to help you to fill your stomach, not the landfill.

Read more

Summary of Summer

Hey guys! Happy 09-09-09!  Still around. Database crashed and I wasn’t able to get to it until last night. Sorry about that!!

We had a jam packed weekend full of fun!

We took Tristan bowling and I even wore Clark for part of it. Don’t worry, I played it safe… & Tristan had a ball… LOL!

And as a last consolation for the summer and because our  membership is going to expire at the end of the month; we went to the zoo!

We BBQ’d yesterday at my in laws. I made a nice spinach salad and the neighbors actually made a raw dish! I was so impressed. It was a zucchini salad with lemon zest and sun dried tomatoes. Yum, yum!

This summer I’ve tried a few raw dishes and some new cooked ones. Our garden didn’t do as well as we’d hoped. This is the first year in five years that we’ve planted a garden and have not had much of a harvest. The insane high temps killed most of our plants or slowed their growth. We normally have tons and tons of tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and peppers.  We hardly had any harvest of what we planted.  It was a bit discouraging but also part of gardening and the challenges you face. We’re determined to research some of the challenges through winter in hopes of a more successful garden next year. Hopefully, we  master composting by then and are able to provide the much needed nutrients we were possibly lacking and time of all things.  Thankfully, my mother in laws garden was flourishing because we’ve been eating some of her bounty.

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Teething Tales and To Do’s!

My precious darling is STILL teething! It’s been 6 wks!!!

And today, my tooth hurts! I’m due for a dental appointment that I keep putting off- the dreaded ROOT CANAL. Yes, that’d me! *sigh*

I can’t put it off any longer. I need to get it over with. I’m actually really comfortable at the dentist. It helps that Dr. Li is really nice I’ve been going to him since I was 8 years old. He’s a great guy. I was once part of the “no-cavity” club but those days are long gone. O’well!

Today, I have so much do I don’t even know where to begin! Yikes. Tristan is at my parents and I should be utilizing my time wisely (this counts).

Like a bad mommy,  I missed Clark’s 4 month appt. last week… I completely forget to write it down on my calendar. Oopsie. They sent me a letter threatnening to charge me $50 buckaroo’s! Garsh. It was one of those things I had totally thought about to but never confirmed my suspicions.

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