It is Holy Thursday today and tradition has it that we dye our Greek Orthodox Easter eggs.

In red!

However, we are totally unprepared and red is not our colour. We have decided, therefore, to embark on a brave mission and create our colourful palette for this purpose by using only natural ingredients…

That means by using whatever you can find in your pantry given the circumstances!

and it worked brilliantly..

Before we start, you need to be prepared. You will need to use your own creativity for the end result, mix and match and ensure you are equipped with lots, but seriously lots of patience.

So if you are ready to go, below is our 7LR signature natural dye recipe..

INGREDIENTS

Choose your COLOURS: We opted for earthy colours and our primary colours were yellow, green and red.

To achieve this you need:

-2 tbsp of turmeric powder;

-One cup of black, seedless grapes;

-A small glass of red wine;

-3tbsp of salt;

-6tbsp of Apple Cider, mixed with some balsamic vinegar;

-a handful of fresh mint and parsley

-At least 12 eggs or more (we broke a few, but the good thing is that you can keep your colours in the fridge and dye extra eggs if you are still in the mood the next day or so!)

-1/2 x 3 times of water

-1 tsp olive oil

TOOLS

-At least 2 small casseroles

-small glass containers

-a drainer

-a paintbrush

-some other bits and bobs

-disposable gloves

PATIENCE

1. Prepare your colours: We used two, in fact three casseroles.

-Casserole No1: Add 1/2 water, 1tbsp salt, 2 tbsp turmeric, and 2tbsp of apple cider/balsamic vinegar

-Casserole No2: Add 1/2 water, 1tbsp salt, the red wine, the grapes and 2 tbsp of apple cider/balsamic vinegar

Casserole No3: Add 1/2 water, 1tbsp salt, 2tbsp of apple cider/balsamic vinegar and the parsley/fresh mint.

2. Bring each to the boil for at least 20 minutes.

3. Drain each separately

4. Add the three different colours separately in each of your glass containers and let them cool (eventually we ended up mixing the greenish mint/parsley colour with the yellow one)

5. Separately, boil your eggs as usual (low temperature and not necessarily all together to avoid accidentally breaking a few!) for approximately 10 minutes

6. Dive the boiled eggs into your colours, mix and match, improvise and paint your palette accordingly

7. When you achieve the desired colour and you let the eggs dry, you can paintbrush them with a touch of olive oil, or keep them matt

ENJOY! HAPPY GREEK ORTHODOX EASTER!