How to Dye Easter Eggs With Hibiscus

Hibiscus flowers are all over Hawaii. They are native to the islands as well as a few other tropical locations. Growing up in Southern California, they were actually quite common, but it wasn’t until recently that I thought about using them for dye.

I tried a few different methods to see what works best.

Gather materials.

Yellow hibiscus is abundant where we stay in Hawaii. There are also red and pink varieties too.

Since I wasn’t sure how the flowers would work, I bought hibiscus tea as well.

The tea shown above in the photo is more yellow than I wanted so I bought Tazo Passion tea. It is a blend of hibiscus and other ingredients. I’ve used it in the past on fabric and liked the almost dusty rose color that it produced.

Under the photo are links to dried hibiscus in case the plant isn’t readily available in your area. Tazo tea is linked as well.

Boil eggs.

I read that you can boil the flowers together with the eggs, but I spaced out and boiled the eggs alone. Mom brain!

Boil flowers and or tea in enough water to submerge eggs.

Remove the stems and place in the boiling water.

I first tried the yellow hibiscus. The water instantly turned yellow and I was really excited that I would get deep goldenrod yellow.

In reality the eggs are a muted mustard yellow.

I only had six flowers; more flowers would provide more intense color.

Soak eggs as long as you like.

To get deeper colors, soak eggs overnight.

You can use soup bowls or plastic containers and store in the refrigerator.

After trying the yellow hibiscus, I tried a combo of pink and red flowers.

I had high hopes for this mix, but the result was very lackluster.

The result is sort of a light brown.

The only reason I can think of is that I let the yellow flowers dry out about two weeks longer than the red and pink.

Next I tried the tea. This yields the most dramatic result; an indigo almost black color. I was surprised because my cloth dye projects were much lighter and more pink!

Can I eat my hibiscus flowers?

Yes! As a kid I first tasted hibiscus as agua fresca de Jamaica (pronounced ha-my-i-ca in Spanish), which is a Mexican drink made of hibiscus. You can also try it in tea form as mentioned above. So it will also be suitable to dye eggs!

Are plant dye projects good for kids?

My son is five and he was totally interested in this. He wanted to help place the eggs in and out of the dye and he wanted to see how they turned out. With some adult guidance, even younger kids could participate.

What other plants can I use to dye Easter eggs?

There are quite a few! Indigo, fennel, yarrow, dahlia, chamomile, avocado seeds, and more.

Thanks for reading! Hope to "see" you over at my site This Dear Casa and over on my Instagram.