It is that time of year again—time to dye eggs and decorate for spring. I cannot believe this will be my third post about natural Easter preparations (the first was in March of 2007).
Not much has changed in my plans. We are going to continue to experiment with natural egg dyes made from foods. I heard about a nice set of natural dyes sold at Nova Natural, but I didn't plan ahead to order them in time. I think I will try half our eggs with the boiled method and half with the cold dip method. I need to go pick up some beets and cabbage. I already have onion skins and tumeric. I've not had good luck with a natural green color. I know spirulina can make a good green cookie icing dye...I wonder if it would work for egg coloring? In the past I've tried spinach and it came out too light.
For the kids' Easter baskets we'll put some shredded green paper which we save and reuse each year. If I had planned ahead, we could have grown some real grass in the basket. It is easy to do (my kids do it at school). All you need is a plastic liner in the basket, some soil, and some wheatgrass seeds. They grow quickly and sturdily (so well in fact that my husband and I joke about sprinkling the seeds on the dirt patches in our yard).
I wish I knew about an alternative to plastic eggs for egg hunts. Lots of people have asked me about that. Using a more eco-friendly material would be a great business opportunity since the demand is there! I envision a safe metal, kind of like these vintage metal eggs or maybe some kind of biodegradable material. In the meantime, I think people should keep reusing the plastic eggs they have (don't toss 'em!)
I mentioned a few posts ago about some cool crayons I plan to put in the Easter baskets. I'm sure some sweet treats will be in there, too.
2 comments:
We used to hide the decorated hard-boiled eggs! This is what I did when I was a child, and then again with my children. After the kids had found the eggs, they would take turns hiding them.
Not until the grandkids did I join the plastic egg brigade. And yes, have been wondering whether there's an alternative.
I think re-using the same plastic eggs year after year is a reasonable solution. That's what we're doing this year. In the not too distant past, though, we've hidden the hardboiled dyed eggs--that's what my mom did all those years for us. My gripe with that is that they stay out in the sun too long and then maybe never get eaten. I've seen vintage-y looking cardboard eggs (kind of like the metal ones you show) at places like Cost Plus World Market. Also, there's a tutorial for fabric stuffed eggs with an inner pocket for hiding a small treat, I think on Purl Patchwork.
Happy Easter, Amy!
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