How to Antique Easter Eggs using Tea

My kids are grown up and on their own, and I still dye Easter eggs. Is that strange? Not that it matters because I will keep doing it anyway. Easter eggs are fun, and it wouldn’t seem right not to have them. It is also fun to come up with new ways to decorate them. There are a couple of fun tutorials on SomeTyme Place for speckled eggs here and shimmery eggs here you can read as well. Today’s tutorial is on using black tea to give your eggs a bit of antiquing. Black tea is something I’ve used in the past to dye paper and fabric and give them an antique look. Why not antique Easter eggs?

Using tea to dye is easy and inexpensive. The depth of the color achieve depends on how long you keep the egg in. A variety of shades is always good and more natural and antique looking. But also, you can color the eggs with other colors and then dip them in the tea for a bit to antique it. For this tutorial I dyed eggs in rose and moss green and then soaked them for a minute in the tea dye. The result was subdued colors with a light Sienna antique look to them. It was lovely.

In addition to dyeing eggs with tea I also tried in with coffee. Both provide different results which the pictures show. With coffee you need to soak it longer but it also comes out rather spotty. I liked the look and it added interest. Keep reading for the how-to and feel free to ask questions in the comments below!

How to Antique Easter Eggs Using Tea

To make tea dye:

Add 1/4 cup of loose black tea to a mug. Splash in a couple tbsps. of white vinegar (you can eyeball this). Fill the rest with boiling hot water. Use to dye eggs. Keep the egg in the dye until you reach the color achieved. This one works quickly, so the egg doesn’t need to be in a long time. To achieve a natural look dye eggs in various shades of tea.

To make coffee dye:

Add 1/4 cup of used coffee grounds to a mug. Splash in a couple tbsps. of white vinegar (you can eyeball this). Fill the rest with boiling hot water. Use to dye eggs. Personally, I keep the eggs in the coffee for a few minutes as it takes a bit longer. Experiment and see what works for you!

Have a beautiful day!