If you’re using your own farm fresh eggs, let the eggs soak in water and a few tablespoons white vinegar overnight to remove the protective layer of bloom from the egg. If you’re using eggs from the store, you can skip this step.

Collect one cup of dye material per color that you wish and bring it to boil with two cups of water. Simmer for 30 minutes. Then cool to room temperature, then strain out the material. Pour the water in a wide mouth jar.

Place hard boiled or blown out eggs eggs carefully in the prepared dye water. If using blown-out eggs, you will need to weigh them down to keep them submerged. We found a shot glass filled with a bit of water worked quite well.

Natural dyes take much longer to soak up on the eggshells than those little dye tablets you can buy at the store. Soaking overnight will yield the richest colors, but you can soak for as few as 15 minutes before you notice color. I’d recommend checking after 15 minutes, then at the one hour, then at the two hour mark. If you’re still not satisfied with the color, let the eggs soak overnight.