How to dye egg shells the easy (and cheap) way.

This simple tutorial shows you how easy it is to dye egg shells using materials found in the kitchen cupboard.

Easter is approaching, and I see lots of images of gorgeous dyed pastel eggs both online and in magazines. The good news is there is no need to buy an expensive chemical dye kit to make coloured eggs for Easter. Most homes will have everything you need in the kitchen, and if you don’t, they are readily available at your local food store.

This simple tutorial shows you how easy it is to dye egg shells using materials found in the kitchen cupboard.

Our dyeing eggs’ method works equally well on broken pieces of shell, blown eggs and hard-boiled eggs. You can also use it to colour both white and brown shelled eggs, so I have used both to give you an idea of what colours you can expect from the different coloured shells,

What you need to dye egg shells

Food colouring (any type)
Vinegar (any kind and optional – see tips below)
Warm water
Egg Shells.

I used gel food colouring and apple cider vinegar, which I have in my cupboard, plus a mix of white and brown shell pieces.

This craft is a food-safe craft due to the materials used, so it is also perfect for dyeing hard-boiled eggs. And if you want whole empty eggshells, here is a guide showing you how to blow an egg.

This simple tutorial shows you how easy it is to dye egg shells using materials found in the kitchen cupboard.

Tips for dyeing eggs with food colouring

Food colouring has a habit of staining everything it comes in contact with. I used glass bowls to mix up my egg dye and protected my surfaces well. I also used disposable gloves to avoid staining my hands.

The vinegar reacts with the eggshell, which in turn makes it easier for the colour to adhere. If you don’t use vinegar, the colours you achieve will be paler.

This simple tutorial shows you how easy it is to dye egg shells using materials found in the kitchen cupboard.

Our method for dyeing egg shells.

Mix two teaspoons of vinegar per litre of hand-hot water and use to fill your bowls. Add a dollop of food colouring gel (or 10-15 drops of liquid colouring) and stir to mix.

Submerge your eggs or pieces of the shell in the solution and leave to sit for a few minutes. The longer you leave your shells in the dye bath, the more colour they will take up.

This simple tutorial shows you how easy it is to dye egg shells using materials found in the kitchen cupboard.

I left my shells for 10 minutes, and as you can see from the photos, the colours are pretty vibrant. So if you are hoping for very pale dyed eggs, check after just a couple of minutes.

This simple tutorial shows you how easy it is to dye egg shells using materials found in the kitchen cupboard.

Remove the coloured eggs from the dye and set them on some kitchen towel to dry.

This simple tutorial shows you how easy it is to dye egg shells using materials found in the kitchen cupboard.

The photo above shows the dry dyed eggs shells. The left hand column are the while egg shells, the middle are the brown, and the right hand colum show the inside of the shells. As you can see, the white shells have dyed true to colour, whereas the colour of the brown shells has combined with the dye to give more complex (and gorgeous) tones.

This simple tutorial shows you how easy it is to dye egg shells using materials found in the kitchen cupboard.