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This is a post by BargainBabe.com writer Yazmin Cruz.

My sister and I are heading to volunteer at our local library’s annual egg hunt this weekend. This got me thinking of our own Easter celebration. Can you believe Easter is just around the corner?

To save money on our Easter egg decorations I’m going au naturel. I’m skipping the fizzy tablets and using spices and other items that are already in my pantry and fridge. Bobbi wrote about Easter egg decorating a while back and said this method was more expensive, but I’ve found it to be cheaper and less wasteful.

I’m usingĀ egg dye recipes I found in Bon Appetit magazine. To keep cost down, I’m using items that would otherwise go in the trash. These are some of the items:

• Old spices (They lose their potency after a year.)
• Onion skins
• Lemon and lime rinds
• Carrot tops or peels

I’m also asking my local grocery store for veggie scraps of cabbage. Hopefully they have the purple kind. Fingers crossed. Check out the video below for more egg dyeing ideas. We’re also going to be enjoying eggs for a while till we have enough shells. I’m blowing out the raw eggs. Do you boil or blow out your eggs? What are your Easter plans?

makelessnoise/Flickr

By Bobbi Burger Brunoehler of BobbisBargains.

Decorating and dyeing Easter eggs is a wonderful frugal activity. For about $4-$7 you can buy dye, a dozen or more eggs that you are going to eat anyway, and create family memories.

Dyeing eggs

1.  Boil or blow your eggs. Blowing out raw eggs requires putting a small hole in one end and a slightly larger hole in the other end. While holding the egg over a bowl, gently blow into the small hole so that the liquid egg goes into the bowl.

2. Mix warm water and a coloring agent. I use 1/2 cup warm water to one dye tablet. An egg dyeing kit at your local drug or grocery store is about $1.99 before sales. Each kit includes dye tablets and a dipping tool. The best part is the box. It comes pre-scored so that you can push out holes and then put your eggs in the holes for drying. This is the only product that I actually buy FOR the box, above. Many stores have post-holiday clearance sales and some start before the holiday.  Buying your supplies at the last minute can lead to great discounts.

Tip: You can also use food coloring and the empty egg carton for drying to save even more money. Why buy dye tablets if you already have food coloring at home?

3. If you want to be more natural, use natural dyes to color Easter eggs. Use spinach for green, beets for pink and red zinger tea for lavender. Coloring the eggs in this manner is more expensive, but could be more educational.

4. Using some sort of dunking tool (use plastic gloves if you use your hands) put eggs in the dyeing liquid.

5. Wait a few seconds for light coloring or a few minutes for a deep hue. You can double dip but wait for the first shade to dry.

6. Take egg out and put in stand to dry. Drying times vary.  If you want to eat the eggs later, do not put the eggs in the sun to dry.

Decorating eggs

1. Disney’s FamilyFun site has a wonderful list of Easter egg decorating ideas that include using cotton balls, string, elastic bands and thumbprints to enhance your dyed eggs.  My favorites are:

• Dribble glue on the eggs. Let them dry, then dip in dye. Once the dye is dry, gently pull off the glue.
• Glue small stickers on the eggs. Ensure they are well stuck on. Dip, dry & peel.
• Glue string on the eggs. Let dry. Dip & dry. You may want to keep the string on for a new texture.
• Or… just forget the entire dyeing idea and paint the warm egg with crayon. The warmth of the egg melts the crayon.

2. Put bunny ears on the eggs and hide them.  Eat lots of chocolate while you do this.

3. For more decorating ideas check out these  Easter egg decorating instructions from eHow.

Is Vinegar Necessary?

All of the articles I found suggested adding vinegar to the dye mixture. However, this is not necessary for every color. My daughter and I experimented adding vinegar and it makes every color brighter except purple and red. For these colors vinegar makes the colors come out duller. Anyone a chemistry major? Why is this so?