Naturally Dyed and Cooked Easter Eggs in 3 Easy Steps

You don't need artificial chemicals to dye Easter Eggs at home. All the ingredients you need to make safe, all-natural dyes can be easily found in any kitchen. The best part is that because the dyes are natural, the eggs can be eaten afterwards without any worry of the chemicals in synthetic dyes. In addition, these dyes have way more personality than your average, run-of-the-mill food dyes! I'm a 32 year old male and I did this five different colors of eggs in less than 20 minutes -- take that, Marthe Stewart!

Boil a pot of water. Scoop boiling water (enough to submerge eggs) into another pot. Add a tablespoon of vinegar for every two cups of water. Add anything you have laying around to color the mixture. (See below for inspiration, but be creative - whatever color you turn the water is a darker shade of the final product.) Add raw eggs to this mixture of water, vinegar and dye. Bring to a boil.

Pour mixture into labeled jar. Gently place eggs into jar. Leave on counter until cooled. Eggs will be hard-boiled at this point. Place jars in refrigerator overnight. I dyed my eggs for 6 hours and the color turned out great.

Drain mixture. Allow eggs to air dry. Rub a little cooking oil on them for protection and to add a nice sheen. Hide eggs around your house and snicker gleefully as you wait for your significant other/children to find.

1. If you use more than tablespoon of vinegar and allow the eggs to marinate long enough, the shell will start to dissolve. Interesting but gross.

2. If you want to start with already hard-boiled eggs, then pour the boiling dye into your jar and add ice cubes. When it's cooled down, add the eggs and refrigerate.

3. Since your dyes are all natural, eat your eggs after Easter! They will take on some of the color and taste of the dye, so keep this in mind for your recipe. Deviled eggs are awesome. Or celebrate Easter with slices of your hard-boiled eggs atop a bagel smeared with smoked salmon cream cheese.

List of Natural Dyes:

Orange - yellow onion peels, paprika

Brown - coffee grounds, black tea

Pink - beet kvass, grape juice, red chard stems, rasperries

Green - red onions, fennel tops, spinach leaves, basil

Blue - red cabbage, petunia

Yellow, turmeric, Orange or lemon peels, carrots, chamomile tea, celery seed, green tea, ground cumin, saffron

Red - strawberries, Rose hips, pomegranate juice, raspberries