A Fun Easter Pantry Project!

All-Natural Easter Egg Dye

Maybe you are looking for a natural way to dye those easter eggs this Spring. Here is how we do it at our house. The best part is…there are no special ingredients! Just Ralston Family Farms Red, Purple, or Nature’s Blend.

Supplies:

1.       Hard-Boiled Eggs

2.       Rice- Ralston Family Farms Red, Purple, or Nature’s Blend…or some of each!

3.       Water

4.       Distilled White Vinegar

For this recipe, put 1 cup of rice and 4 cups of water into a pot and bring to a boil. Simmer with the lid on for fifteen minutes. Once the fifteen is up, strain off roughly two cups of water from the pot. Set this water aside in a separate container for your natural dye. Be sure to recover the rice and continue simmering for 30 minutes to finish making the rice. You get beautiful Easter Eggs AND delicious rice with this method! This is a creative way to work meal prep into your seasonal crafting 😉

Ingredients

1.       1 Cup of rice

2.       4 Cups of water

3.       ½ Cup Distilled White Vinegar

4.       Desired number of eggs

Instructions

1.       Take 1 cup of rice to 4 cups of water- for a larger amount of dye just add more water to it but try to keep a 1 to 4 ratio.

2.       bring to boil and simmer for 15 minutes covered.

3.       Remove lid and strain off about 2 cups of the water, place in a storage container for the natural dye.

4.       Once the natural dye has cooled, add 1/2 cup of white distilled vinegar to the dye.

5.       Place in boiled eggs for a minimum. of 30 minutes for a pale color, or overnight in the fridge for a deeper hue.

6.       That’s it! This recipe can be done with Red, Purple, or Nature’s Blend

**To finish cooking the rice, cover and simmer an additional 30 minutes.

Easter Egg with Rice and Food Coloring

Skip the kits this year and make pretty speckled Easter Eggs with rice and food coloring! These easy, low mess eggs are so much fun for kids and you probably already have everything you need to make them for Easter!

Here’s what you need, I bet you already have most of these sitting in your pantry:

1.      Hard-Boiled Eggs

2.      Food Coloring – Any colors will work. If you are using gel though, be sure to use half as much or it could get messy!

3.      Rice– Roughly 1/2 cup per color you would like to use.

4.      Vinegar- Rolling the hardboiled egg in a little bowl of vinegar before you put it in the bag helps to set the colors not to bleed.

5.      6-8 Plastic Zipper Sandwich Bags– The bigger the bag, the more speckly it will be.

6.      Tray or plate lined with a paper towel – to dry the eggs on

Be sure to add the color before the egg, or you will end up with extremely concentrated food coloring splotches.

The rice is so pretty and colorful once you finish dying your eggs! Here are some ways that you can use it…Just be sure to lay it out on a cookie sheet for a while to dry first.

1.      Make a sensory bin for your kids full of rainbow rice.

2.      Layer the rice in a jar or vase as a centerpiece.

3.      Make an “Eye Spy” jar, adding a few little toys and craft items to your jar for your kids to find. Seal it tight!

4.      Use it for crafts! Cut out egg shapes of paper, then let your kids add white glue and colorful rice to make an Easter egg craft or just a fun swirl!

Ingredients

• Boiled eggs

• Food coloring 

• 3-4 Cups of dry rice

• 2-3 Teaspoons Vinegar

Instructions

1.      Open your plastic zipper top bags, one for every color you would like to have!

2.      Fill each bag with ½ cup of rice.

3.      Add 10-12 drops of food coloring into each bag. Choose one color per bag or mix the colors up to see what colors you can create.

4.      Roll the egg in a small bowl of vinegar (1/4 cup works!). This will help to set the colors on both the egg and the rice.

5.      Add one hard-boiled egg to each bag and close the bag tightly.

6.      Add about 1/2 teaspoon of vinegar to each bag. This will help to set the colors on both the egg and the rice.

7.      Gently roll or shake the egg around until the egg is colored completely.

8.      Remove each egg from the bag and set it on a tray to dry.

That’s it! Feel free to experiment with color combos, just make sure to do your single-colored eggs first. Be sure to tag us on Facebook or Instagram when you make these little beauties! We would love to see how they turn out. Looking for a natural alternative? Check out our blog on dyeing Easter eggs using only Ralston Family Farms Rice!

Have a blessed Easter!