Kool Aid Dye

Dyeing Easter eggs is a long running tradition in our house.  I have memories of dyeing Easter eggs as a kid and now I get to carry on the tradition with my own kids.  Over the years, we've tried all sorts of different methods of coloring our eggs - some methods were more successful than others.  A couple of weeks ago, I happened to stumble across a blog that described a process of coloring eggs with Kool Aid.  An inexpensive and easy way of dyeing eggs - What did I have to lose?







The Kool Aid eggs were absolutely beautiful.  They were saturated with brilliant pastel color.















We started with 3 dozen hard boiled eggs.








The recipe was simple: 1 packed of Kool Aid mixed into 1 cup of water.  (no vinegar needed)

Now for the fun part - the dyeing.

We had to be careful not to touch the wet eggs with our fingers because it was leaving marks but once the eggs dried, we could handle them. 

It didn't take long for the eggs to absorb the color.  The kids experimented by leaving some of the eggs in for a longer time to give them a deeper, more vibrant color. 

We also started mixing colors.  We mixed the red with the blue to create a lavender egg.  It came out slightly speckled and less purple than we had hoped. 

Then the kids got really creative and drizzled a few eggs with the Kool Aid dye.  The marbled effect was really great.   

 
They also some dipped some half in one color and half in another.  This proved to be a tricky strategy because they had to hold them steady in the dye on a spoon while the color saturated the egg. 

After about 20 minutes of dyeing, we ended up with 36 beautifully colored Easter eggs - and a kitchen that smelled like a fabulous fruit salad! 

 
Even though the dye smelled fantastic, it did not change the flavor of the egg.  (I tasted one just to make sure.) I assure you that these beautiful eggs still tasted just like an egg.

I put the eggs in a basket and tucked them away in the refrigerator for the Easter bunny to hide on Easter morning. 

I did want to warn you that the dye is somewhat unstable so once they come out of the refrigerator, be careful when you handle the cold eggs.  The dye tends to bleed onto whatever it touches until the eggs dry again. 

 I hope that your family will enjoy dyeing Easter eggs as much as mine did.

Ciao!