In a trend of “life hacking”, everyone is always looking for new ways to make life easier, save money, or going green. Holidays are no exception. If you are low on Easter egg dyes or simply want to reduce your carbon footprint, look no further than your cupboard! If you have a large collection of teas and want to use up old ones or make room for new teas, then this is a perfect time to use them up!

Introducing tea-dyed Easter Eggs! As an American, I grew up dyeing hard boiled eggs and then eating them for Easter. We always used store bought color tablets and mixed them in vinegar. Sometimes you may run low on vinegar, so tea and water can also be the best solution. Here’s how to do it:

• Eggs
• 1 or 2 teabags of your favorite tea. Depending on the type, you would be surprised at what colors will come out!
• 1 cup of water for each egg
• 1 cup or deep bowl for each egg

To boil the eggs*, place them in a saucepan that should allow them to be in one single layer. Pour water up to about 1 inch above the eggs and turn on the burner, letting them cook until they start to boil. Let them stand for about 12 minutes for large eggs or 15 minutes for extra large eggs. If you want to cool them at a much quicker pace, run them under cool water or put them in a bowl of ice water.

Brew your tea as you normally would, but let it cool completely. Once the tea is cooled, pour into either a glass, a bowl, or leave it in a mug. Place the eggs in and let them sit for about 8 hours, or overnight for a good coloring. If you want to add patterns, use a crayon and draw lines or swirls!

When I made my tea-dyed eggs, I was surprised at how mine came out. I used teas like chamomile, Bingo Blueberry, and PG Tips along with a few others in my cupboard. The chamomile egg came out a light yellow while the Bingo Blueberry egg turned blue (the blueberries in the tea help). The PG Tips egg came out very vibrant, as well, with a nice hue of brown. I had used a mango strawberry tea but it also turned the egg blue, which was very surprising. But felt these were festive colors for Easter.

Try this out on any tea you have and see what colors you get! Don’t forget to include the kids! Have a Happy Easter!

*Source: http://www.incredibleegg.org/

-CD