4.14.2011

kool-eggs

In the 90s, I dyed my hair with Kool-Aid. Last year, I dyed yarn with Kool-Aid. And this year, we're dyeing Easter eggs with Kool-Aid. I mean, why not? It smells fruity and awesome. It makes me nostalgic for hot summer days at the pool. Time to make some Kool-Eggs.
Not only will the Kool-Aid make your kitchen smell super sweet, you'll get some fantastically vivid results. You can usually pick up five Kool-Aid packets for $1.00, so this is a fun and inexpensive way to change up your annual egg dyeing adventures. Kids will find this soooo exciting.
So let's start with the eggs. Every year, I seem to forget exactly how long to boil them, so here are the directions I use. To make things extra simple for you.  


After your eggs are ready to go, it's time to find some small containers and get your Kool-Aid packets ready to go.
This is really all you need, because Kool-Aid has citric acid in it. No need for vinegar! Add one packet of Kool-Aid to 2/3 cup of water and stir. That's it. I used both lukewarm and cold water and it didn't really make a difference with how our eggs turned out. Keep in mind that Kool-Aid powder is pretty messy, so you should do all of the mixing over your sink to prevent your counter tops from turning different colors the next time you wipe them off. (Not that this happened to me or anything.)
Finally, you'll need to round up a willing helper or two to do the dipping.
You don't have to leave the eggs in the dye cups very long before you'll see them become quite brightly colored. The eggs will smell fruity at first but after they dry, they smell and taste like normal hard-boiled eggs.
I will warn you about a couple of colors/flavors that had less than desirable results. Lemonade on its own comes out too light (as does the Pink Lemonade) and Grape will quickly turn dark gray-ish. I remedied this by mixing things up a bit. To get a nice yellow, use one packet of Lemonade mixed with a quarter to half packet of Orange. To get light pink, use one packet of Pink Lemonade and add a little bit of Cherry or Strawberry. To turn the gray/brown Grape egg into an indigo color, add some Berry Blue to the mix.
Here's what your Kool-Eggs will look like.
Hope you have a super cool time making your own rainbow of Kool-Eggs.   :)

128 comments:

Melany said...

Oh my goodness. I absolutely adore this idea. I am totally doing this next week. Thanks a bunch!!

NerdGirl said...

This is such a great idea for coloring eggs!!! I can't wait to try it.

mandiegirl said...

SO fun! Thanks Jen for sharing!

Nichole said...

We are all over this one! I even have coupons for Kool-Aid.

Jen=Awesome.

Wendy said...

Love!

Dee said...

Great idea! You have a super cute egg dyer too! Aaron J. referred me to your blog. I look forward to reading more of your posts :)

katielicht said...

super fun idea! thanks for sharing this. It's definitely on the to do list for sometime in the next week.

erinmakesitwork said...

Suhweet. I plan on having egg dying adventures with both my nephew and the child I nanny next week. I think Kool Aid eggs definitely needs to be in the mix. Also, dying yarn with Kool Aid, tres magnifique!

Alex said...

Ingenious!

Angie said...

you are brilliant. but i'm sure you know this. ;) we are totally trying this. also... THANK YOU for telling me how to boil eggs. no. i'm serious. you have no idea how much i was stressing out about that. LOL
xoxo

MIndy said...

I'm completely stealing this idea right from under you. :o) Thanks!

Rebekah★All Thingz Related★ said...

Awesome! Thank you for the directions!

esbeads said...

Ha! I have lots of koolaid packets leftover from earlier years - my kids stopped drinking it, but I never threw them away. Thanks for a great way to use them! Love this!

Angela said...

wonderful idea! We are definitely trying this next week.

Web Gems Ltd., LLc said...

what beautiful colors and so wonderfully fun. The Photography is tremendous and instructions are clear...great job...

Carol Browne said...

Thanks for the tutorial! I'm making some red eggs right now. Hooray!

Beth said...

I love this! Totally going to have to try it.

Anonymous said...

Great colours for the eggs, but I wonder, do people really drink that stuff????

Alpacamom said...

Can't wait to try this with my alpaca fiber!

annie said...

love this, cheap and great great colors!!!!

Lori said...

wow!! kwl idea, will be using this instead of messy dye

Scrap-U-licius By Design said...

I LOVE THIS IDEA! I have actually used Koolaid in my stamping projects......as a scratch and sniff deal (will be posting a project how to do that next week hopefully on my blog.... really easy and smells great too on your projects/cards! But on eggs I would have never thought it.... love it! Will definitely try this out! Thanks for sharing! Here is a link to my blog - hop by some time and follow me, I am now following you!

http://scrapuliciousbydesign.blogspot.com

Shelley

Heather - Dollarstorecrafts.com said...

This is so cool! Love how you photographed the colorful eggs & labeled them with their corresponding flavor. :) Stumbled, shared on FB, and will post at reddit.

Mommy Jes said...

wow this is cool! :)
just dropping by when I was mistakenly went to kitchen explorers site which happens to be the same as my websites name and i saw the brilliant ideas for easter egg hunt!

Have a good day!
www.kitchenexplorers.com

sea shepherd said...

HeeHee WEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! We just did this! Thank you so much for a fun idea. I don't miss the yucky "stinky feet" smell of the traditional vinegar dye. and actually, these dye so much faster.

What I did for purple was just combine cherry and berry blue and it was perfect. I don't think I put enough orange in my yellow - but we still had a blast.

Thank you thank you thank you!

JenJenJasp

4ofwands said...

Odd. I tried this with Cherry and got very poor results. Tried adding a little vinegar to see if that would help. Nope. Tried leaving it in for a long period of time (with and without the vinegar). Both times the egg developed a vivid red skin that would wipe/wash off. Wonder if our hard water is a factor.

Dawn said...

we just finished kool aid dyeing our eggs and they are so pretty. Bonus- our house smells like fruit loops! Thank you for the wonderful idea!

Jen said...

Thanks so much for sharing this! We did these eggs and they came out great, and better yet, they smelled great too!

Katrina {In Katrina's Kitchen} said...

This is my first visit to your blog :) Thanks for your great tips - I'm SO doing this next year!!!

blogmia said...

love love love

We did less than a dozen due to dh eating all the eggs...but they turned out great! will never use vinegar again...

linked to you via my post today:
http://bit.ly/lzZFyg

Melissa @ The Chocolate Muffin Tree said...

This is Awesome! I want to try this next Easter!

Laura said...

too bad easter is over this year...theres always next year...love!
Laura
www.whimsicalworldoflaurabird.blogspot.com

Lisa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lisa said...

This is the coolest thing ever! Who would have thought? Well, I guess you did. I never liked dealing vinegar. I'll never use vinegar and food coloring again. Awesome sauce!

❀Lisa
Effective Teaching Articles Blog

Anonymous said...

The best way to start this is letting the kids color on the eggs first (use any color). Let them scribble or draw pics depending on their age. Then put in the Kool Aid, they are WAY COOL!!!

marlene said...

This is sooo kool, gotta share with the grandkids.

Misty said...

I absolutely love this idea! Thanks so much!

Ms. Kay said...

This is a great idea and we will definitely be using it at our preschool. No vinegar! Excellent Thanks for sharing!

Amy said...

Found you on Pinterest. This is how I'm coloring eggs this year. Great idea! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much, I will be doing this with my sunshines (grandchildren) I so hated using the vinegar. So very glad to find this idea. Thanks again.

BethandLuke said...

Maybe you could mix a red and a blue to get a more desireable purple? Just a suggestion! I think we'll do this for Easter this year :)

Jan Parker said...

Love this idea! And so glad you posted solutions to potential fails. my question is: How'd you get your floor so dang beautiful!!11???

SassyKay said...

These are great! And thanks for the tip about specific colors and combos. Fun!

taytay said...

awesome

Mandi Merritt said...

Could you tell me where you got the tongs for dipping the eggs in (the pink ones)? Looks perfect!

heyjenrenee said...

sure, Mandi – the pink tongs came with a Paas dye kit from a few years ago (and might still be around if you look for it?)

pammio53 said...

always worried about the dye getting on a cracked egg and on the egg and not wanting the kids eating the dye but koolaid no problem...thanks for the idea...

paniejean said...

What a great idea! I'm so gonna do this with my granddaughter. Thanks!

Debby said...

I work at a preschool, I think this will be lots of fun, thanks for the info!!

Anonymous said...

this is a great idea, thanks, and i learned a new tip that i will share with everyone, take wire whiskers and place you egg into the inside of them and use to dip your eggs instead of tongs or spoons, they are much easier to handle and they get evenly colored :)

Lone Star Mama said...

I used Kool-Aid to dye some play silks earlier this year and wondered if it would work with Easter Eggs! Can't wait to give it a try with my toddler tomorrow!

Lawyer's Wife said...

those are great colors!!!!!

Danielle said...

Hey I just wanted to let you know I featured you on Blissful and Domestic this morning. Stop by and grab a button and check it out.

Danielle
Blissful and Domestic

http://blissfulanddomestic.blogspot.com/2012/03/30-spring-crafts-and-treats.html

Zap said...

Are the colors fasted? Living in Washington our Easters are rarely dry. Getting egg dye all over our brilliant white Easter dress is a downer.

Desiree @ The 36th AVENUE said...

I love this idea... I am sharing it on my FB page!

kkreischer said...

I am going to try this with my Head Start class. And if it works with yarn, I am going to try it will coloring rice. I have colored rice with alcohol and food coloring but I hate the idea of alcohol and the smell.

Kelly @ Eclectically Vintage said...

This is fabulous! Would love you to share at our It's a Cinch link party - link here and be seen on 5 blogs!

http://eclecticallyvintage.com/2012/03/its-a-cinch-link-party/
Kelly

Multiples Mom said...

Great idea! Thanks for sharing.

Barn Owl Primitives said...

LOVE this idea! sharing with my facebook friends!
www.facebook.com/barnowlprimitives

Happy Spring! xo ~ kristi

Amy@Sassy Scarlett said...

I am totally trying this when we dye eggs next week! Thanks for sharing, this is awesome!!!

Danielle said...

Is anyone else a little unsure about the eggs tasting like the kool aid?
I love how these look, but that would absolutely ruin the huge amount of eggs I do every year.

Poopsie's Pottery said...

I'd love to know how you dyed your hair with kool-aid, I'm totally serious?

heyjenrenee said...

hi Danielle – my eggs actually did not taste fruity/like kool-aid at all, but I wondered the same thing. good luck!

and Poopsie's Pottery – LOL, awesome. in high school, I dumped 3 packs of kool-aid into boiling water (no sugar), poured that into a soda bottle and dipped my hair into it for a few minutes. it lasted *forever.* ;)

Meegin said...

Found on Pinterest...had to repin! Thanks for the tutorial and the great photos! Can't wait to do this with my littles!

picasso80 said...

If you crack the hard-boiled egg shells alittle before dipping in kool-aid, you get Dinosaur eggs when peeled. My boy loves this!

branbrumom said...

Will the yarn dyed with kool-aid be a permant dye?

anna said...

anna said..I love this idea,i'm going to try it with my great-grandson.thanks

Jessica said...

If you do get color on our counters or tables that stains, take a little bit of shaving cream and just rub it on the spot a minute or two and then wipe away. The stain goes with the shaving cream.

Anonymous said...

just curious if when you bring the eggs out of the fridge and you get condensation on them, does the sugar in the koolaid make them sticky???

Becca said...

Thanks for the idea! I had the same problem as an earlier commenter that the kool aid was blotchy and left a film that wiped off. I think it's probably because we were doing hollow eggs (for confetti filled cascarones) that hadn't been boiled??? They're not nearly as pretty as your eggs, but we had a great time. I'll have to try them with some boiled eggs soon. :)

heyjenrenee said...

Jessica – love the shaving cream idea. And yes – I've never tried Kool-Aid with hollow eggs. And condensation/cold/wet eggs can cause problems with dyeing (even with normal Paas dye.) I have the best luck with dry, room-temp eggs.

Heather S said...

Just tested this with one egg before we do it with the kids tonight and it looks awesome! Thanks for sharing!

mercoug said...

I add kool-Aid to Sprite so I have quite a few packets. I am having my daughter and neice color eggs Friday. I can't wait to try this. Thank You for the idea.

Anonymous said...

Great idea. I just had to say: I love the fact that you lined up your eggs in ROYGBIV order. It's the little things!

Sharla said...

Thank you for this! The kids and I are going to be doing this today. When I'm done, I'll post the pics. and link back to here so that people can read your super straightforward instructions!

Anonymous said...

hey jen thanks for the reply about condensation but i meant after they have been dyed and eggs go back in the fridge...once you take them out and the eggs start to get condensation on them then, is the koolaid sticky because of the sugar? we tend to have a 'buffet' if you will of all the pretty eggs and sometimes the eggs get condensation...so just wondered if they get sticky...thanks!

Anonymous said...

Anon, there's no sugar in these packets and you don't add sugar, either.

MoMi805 said...

I stumbled across this on facebook (someone pinned it through pinterest) & HAD to try it this year! The only difference I did with our colors, (for orange & blue) was adding a half packet extra & they came out fabulous! For one egg, since I noticed the purple ones were dark-ish, I dyed it blue first then put it in the purple & it came out better. I don't know if it's the same blue you used, but I used the blue raspberry lemonade one. This was SUCH an awesome idea. I love it.

anmad07 said...

I came across your idea on Pintrest. IT IS AMAZING! My daughter and I dyed our eggs yesterday and they were perfect.The best part was there was no smelly vinegar and very little mess. The colors were great! Thank you very much for sharing!! :)

Anonymous said...

Doing this right now with my three girls. They are loving it . And it does smell so delicious. We had to work on the grape. Color a little bit. Experimenting is great. We have created all kinds of color. Thanks for the great idea.

Amy said...

What a great idea! Where might I find the cute little bunny egg holder the little girl in the picture is holding? I have never seen those before and think they would really come in handy!

Linda said...

Love this idea. Thanks a bunch!

Rachel May Bailey ~ owner, creator, crafter, mommy said...

Totally trying this as well as posting on our preschooler blog for a great use instead of those messy dyes for little messy fingers!

www.BusyBagCentral.blogsot.com

Fuss Rainbowwasp said...

This is the first year we'll follow your method. We've always done the pre-made box method. Thumbs down.
Thanks for sharing your tutorail with us!

nancarts said...

Love this idea, however too late for this year! will try next year.
Thanks for sharing.

Peace and Blessings,
Nancy
Happy Easter

Maureen said...

Just did this with my kids - found your blog thanks to pinterest. We are in love with this method. We did 18 eggs tonight and decided we need to make a ton more tomorrow just so we can play around some more. And the smell is a great bonus!

Cary Grove Photography said...

Thank you so much!!!! Worked like a charm and my 3 year old son had so much fun!!!!

Anonymous said...

Have you tried this taking the shell off and dying the white part to make devil eggs? I saw on pinterest where they dyed the white part different colors then filled with yellow deviled yolk. I wonder if it would taste funny?

Anneka said...

This was so wonderful! Thank you for sharing this! We had a great time doing this tonight and it smelled so good. Will be using this method from now on! Oh, by the way, Kiwi Strawberry was a nice pink as well. Our store didn't have all of the flavors you used. Thank you for sharing!!

Anonymous said...

this is amazing!!!! thanks alot!

Trish said...

We just finished dying our eggs. Everything came out great. We couldn't find Berry Blue, so we bought a package of Mixed Berry. It gave us the most gorgeous deep robin's egg blue. We also tried the Ice Blue Raspberry, but it didn't work well at all. Happy Easter!

Anonymous said...

Just did this! and you are right, smells so good!!!! Thanks for the idea.

Anonymous said...

I just did this with my2 boys and just for a lil tip dont let ur eggs stay in but about 5 seconds or the color will peel right off!! But i am pleased with the way the turned out! Pretty colors...

Nicole O said...

I was hoping to have your permission to post about this on my blog. I would have everyone come to your site for the instructions, but was hoping to use your photo that has the packets and eggs in it. you can see my blog here before you decide: http://changingtheworldpebblebypebble.blogspot.com/
such a "kool" idea!

Sheila Shook said...

My eggs didn' turn out as pretty as yours. The color wanted to rub off. Not sure I did it right but they will be fine. Thanks for your ideas.

Melissa said...

What a great idea! We did this for the first time this year and they turned out so much better then the kits you buy in the store. Plus, they smell YUM! I didn't put enough Berry blue into the grape, so those eggs came out black, but they look really cool! ♥ this and will do this every year now! Thanks!:)

seniorpal said...

Im doing these tonight . Its really cool.

Jenni said...

Did this tonight. My daughters loved it -- and the nice smell was a plus too. :) We tried to experiment to get a "nice" purple by mixing the red and blue, but sadly our egg just turned brown. LOL oh, well. The other colors turned out fabulous! Thanks for the idea!

kimbalaya said...

Just finished dying our eggs with kool aid. I started with brown and green eggs from our own chickens. Some of the colors worked great, but many of them had a film that peeled off. Some of them still had color under that film, but it was just strange. LOL

Megan Anderson said...

Thanks for this! It was a hit: http://www.thenerdnest.com/2012/04/easter.html

Dirk and Meghan said...

Just did this with the family. Kids and adults had fun! We experimented with different combinations. Smells so much better than vinegar!

Amy said...

Very Cute idea! Found this on Pintrest.

Amy Kirchhoff said...

Thanks for the inspiration! I included your post in my Take a Peek @ My Pinterest: Easter Edition post. Hope it brings you some traffic!
http://www.amytriedit.com/2012/04/peek-my-pinterest-quick-lil-easter-post.html

Shawna said...

I think another idea with the "grape" color is maybe not use the whole packet and add the berry blue in place of it. Since Kool-aid is so cheap, it would be fun to just be creative with several colors!

Anonymous said...

Love this idea...last year I actually died the egg without the shell. Made for a fun Easter table. I wonder if this would work as well without the shell. I love the idea of not having to use vinegar. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

WOW can you imagine what it does for your inside???
I guess that's a good use for kool-aid, and NOT to drink it, it's nothing but DYE, WATTER and SUGAR

Robin Johnson said...

I love this idea with Kool Aid. I just have one question, how many packets do you put in your little cups in your pictures? In other words, did you use more than one packet per color?

Anonymous said...

I hear that you can also use Koolaide to stain furniture as long as you seal it in.

Heather Rogers said...

Very cool idea

Anonymous said...

just be careful.... heard the kool aid can stain the carpet

Stefanie said...

This is great! I have been looking for an alternative to Easter egg coloring tablets.

Momma said...

I've used Kool-aid for eggs and wool,...but would love to know how to dye hair with it!! :)

Jeannine said...

Love this idea! I had to share it on my facebook business page: https://www.facebook.com/cookingwithjj

Échantillons gratuits au Québec said...

Fantastic Idea!! I'll post this on my blog and will give you credit!!
Thank you :)

Mima said...

After the colored eggs have dried, rub them with cotton wool dipped in oil, and see the colors get even more alive

Judy Whatilivefor said...

Thanks so much for sharing...I blogged about our experience with Kool-Aid dyed eggs and linked to you. I think the smell was the best part :).

Anonymous said...

Just did this with my almost 4 year old! She LOVED it!!! Just wish I had made a better list before buying the Kool Aid, we didn’t get as many different colors as I wish we would have. But still had fun! Thanks for the idea!

Rhonda Little said...

Love it we are trying this tonight can't wait thank you and so glad to have found this blog :).

Ashley said...

Such a great idea! thank you!

Annalee said...

This is great- my daughter is allergic to vinegar and we have been looking for an alternative! She is very excited to do this tomorrow :)

Lynn B. said...

I just finished coloring my eggs. I must admit, I was unsure if this would work... and it does, beautifully. I added a little orange to the lemonade, and it is nice bright yellow...also added a drop or two of blue food color to the grape because the first one turned out gray. AND, it smells wonderful.

Anonymous said...

Not sure if anyone posted these suggestions already, but for yellow I used peach-mango kool-aid and got a great golden yellow. Next time I probably wouldn't use the whole pkg so that it was a bit lighter. And for purple, I tried your way but still was kinda grey, so I mixed 1/2 cherry and 1/2 mixed berry(blue) and got a great purple. Last one, I used the mixed berry(blue) because no stores by me had the one you suggested. The only difference was the mixed berry comes out a real vibrant shade of turquoise. Thank you so much for this idea, fabulous!

Rebecca said...

Just did this with the kids tonight and they loved it. They kept asking if they could drink the koolaid when we were done. For yellow we used pineapple flavor koolaod and it came out awesome. We will be doing our eggs this way from now on. Thank you! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi! I really loved this idea and used it today.

I had a couple issues that I ran into: we ended up with spotted eggs because we set the wet eggs on an old towel and it adsorbed the color and left spots on the bottom of the eggs; too much undissolved powder in the water makes the eggs bumpy; too much undissolved powder on the bottom of the container makes the coloring congeal on the eggs and wipe off when taken out of the dye; the orange didn't turn out very bright by itself; the cherry was very pale, almost orange looking (next year I'll try black cherry); the strawberry turned into more of a pink than the pink lemonade/cherry mix.

A nice surprise, though, was how pretty the Berry Blue, turned to a very beautiful bright turquoise blue, and lemon-lime, turned to a pretty mint green, for me.

Other than that, the colors came out great. Sure, we have some slightly spotted eggs, but oh well...they cool pretty cool!

mngirl said...

I just colored my eggs, and they turned out great! Strawberry Kiwi
and Ice Blue Raspberry Lemonade turned out the best. The Ice Blue one made the eggs the color of robins eggs. Very beautiful and so easy.

Anonymous said...

Had a wonderful experience with the kool-aid, everything turned out great. Something I did try that worked pretty well: 1 packet blue raspberry lemonade with 1/2 packet grape made a pretty good dark purple

Jackie Koll said...

I tried this for Easter this year and it was PERFECT. It smelled good and it cleaned up super easy! Thanks for the idea

Wall Flower Studio said...

What a fabulous idea! I'll try this for sure next Easter : )