I just made some homemade plant dyes today and thought I would share how to make it. It's SO simple, just time consuming. I will show you in my next post how to make crayons with these dyes.
Plant Dyes
Boil water in four different pots.
Add one vegetable or fruit to each pot.
(You don't really have to be exact with measurements on this, so sorry I do not have measurements.)
For yellow, I use carrots & turmeric.
For red/pink, I use beets.
For green, I use spirulina.
For blue/purple, I use blueberries.
Bring to boil, and then simmer for around an hour.
Strain out vegetables and fruit, and keep remaining liquid.
Pour each color into a separate canning jar leaving about an inch on top of space.
Pour white vinegar and fill remainder of jar.
Use in place of dye!
*I am not sure the exact shelf life, but they last a while with the vinegar. They don't keep forever of course because they are natural and plant based.*
*Other colors you can make are strawberry pink, coffee ground brown, weeping willow bark peach and oak galls black.*
*If you use this dye for dying clothes it will eventually fade.*
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Fun! Purple cabbage also makes agorgeous light purple hue for dyeing playsilks for your little one to be. :)
ReplyDeleteMoon mama- Thanks! I really wanted to do purple cabbage but didn't have any so just used what I had :) I had extra beeswax after making some candles yesterday so I wanted to make crayons. I think I am going to try making stone crayons because I have a tiny Easter egg mold that is the size of tiny pebbles !
ReplyDeleteWow, this is so cool!!! THanks for sharing!!! Can't wait to try it!!!
ReplyDeleteOhhhh this is SUCH a good idea! I love getting my craft on so this is definitely one for me to try!
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Color wheels- No problem! Let me know what you do with yours :)
ReplyDeleteNicola- What have you been making?
Too ambitious for me, but I admire your craftiness!
ReplyDeleteThis is really cool, Carissa!
ReplyDeleteSo cool!
ReplyDeleteCiao
A.
Fun! Do you keep these in fridge? I make impromptu colors sometimes when I'm out of natural food coloring I purchase, but I've never went all out such as this - adding vinegar and such. Look forward to hearing about the crayons.
ReplyDeleteWell honestly, I love making anything really! But I make clothing, jewellery and accessories for a living so this is right up my street. Plus, recently I've been planning some craft workshops thatI'll be starting to teach soon, so any new techniques I can pass on I'm really thankful for :-)
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I've done something similar in the past and wrote a little about it on a blog a while ago (natural food colourings), but i have to say these look awesome - especially all jarred like that. I'm lookign forward to the crayons post!
ReplyDeletestacy-I'm sure you could. It was REALLY simple :)
ReplyDeletemolly-Thanks!
alessandra-:) Glad you like!
jenny-I don't keep um in the fridge because it takes up too much room, but they would last longer if I did.
nicola-you should post some of the things you make!
shaheen-It was fun to make! It's very light though. So it helps if you soak the fruit/vegetables for longer.
this is really super cool. do you just use the colors for crafting or have you tried using them to color icing and things like that?
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