Welcome to the ONIONEGGS treasure page.
Early in the year 2000, one of our staff members came in with the eggs you see above. She layed them out on the table and proceeded to crack open, peel, and devour one right before our eyes. We knew she was just teasing us by pretending that there was nothing special about the eggs. However, we could not withstand the temptation to ask her WHAT IN THE WORLD THEY WERE!
Needless to say, she was pleased that we were so curious, and she triumphantly replied, "These are called 'onioneggs'. They are made with dye created by onion skins."
We said, "No way. You mean ONIONS did that?"
"Yes, and it is soooo easy to make them you can't believe it," she replied.
It turns out she read how to do it in a book. Well, the rest of us tried it, and she was absolutely correct. These eggs are very easy to make and extremely impressive.
So here is your gift. You can print out this page and make them for yourself. They will amaze all your family and friends.
*The following directions are taken from the book NATURE CRAFTS for KIDS by Gwen Diehn & Terry Krautwurst. We highly recommend this book. It is filled with great projects.
What You'll Need
- Onion skins from yellow or red onions. *(we did a dozen eggs with the skins from about 6 medium onions)
- A pan
- White eggs
- Leaves or flowers
- Oldpantyhose or knee-highs
- Twist ties
What to Do
- Put the onion skins in a pan, and add about 3 inches of water (enough
to cover the eggs when you add them the next day). Bring the water to
a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer the onion skins for about 5 minutes.
Remove from the heat and let the pan sit overnight.
- Cut a piece of old pantyhose about 6 inches square.
- Now attach a leaf or flower to an egg. To do that, dip the leaf in water and lay it on the egg. (The water helps hold it in position.) Wrap the square of hosiery over the leaf and around the agg, twisting the hose in back and tying it with the twist tie.
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Put the wrapped eggs in the pan of dye. Dye only one layer of eggs at a time, and use the wet onion skins to keep the eggs apart.
- Put the pan of eggs and dye on the stove and bring almost to a boil.
Quickly reduce the heat (don't let them bang around, or they might break),
and simmer about 30 minutes. Remove them from the heat, let them cool,
and unwrap the eggs. Dry them off and coat them with a thin layer of
vegetable oil to make them shiny.
- You can use the dye over and over again. When you're through with it, you can dump it in the garden to help mulch the plants.
This tremendous book is packed with WONDERFUL projects to make with things from nature. Check it out at this link. Usually ships in 24 hours.
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