German Easter Eggs: Natural Dye & Decorating Tips

While it’s common to dye boiled eggs around Easter, in Germany it's just as traditional to blow out Easter eggs. This turns them into beautiful keepsake decorations you can hang from branches around your home for a traditional German Osterstrauch (Easter shrub).

This year, I experimented with different natural dyes and flower-decorating techniques, and after messing up a couple of times, I’m excited to share what worked best!

This is such a fun, meaningful project to do with kids, too. Mine helped collect, press, and glue the flowers.

To help you succeed with this fun project, I created a free downloadable Easter egg decorating guide here.

Jump to:

• Why blow out eggs?
• What you'll need
• How to naturally dye eggs
• Blowing out the eggs
• Decorating with pressed flowers
• To press flowers:
• Need German Easter recipes?

Why blow out eggs?

Blowing out raw eggs before decorating means the shells become light, hollow ornaments. You can hang them from branches for a delicate, airy look. It's a German Easter tradition we love so much and that lasts far longer than boiled eggs.

Plus, the egg mixture can still be used for recipes like a German Zwiebelkuchen, scrambled eggs, or baking a cake like my German Apfelkuchen (just strain it first in case of shell fragments).

What you'll need

• Eggs (white works best for vibrant colors)
• Natural dye ingredients (red cabbage, turmeric, blueberries, etc.)
• White wine vinegar and baking soda (if mainly using red cabbage to color - see note below)
• A needle or skewer (I use the egg pricker that came with our egg boiler - we use ours all the time!)
• A toothpick

• Bowl for egg contents
• Twine or ribbon (I love this natural hemp twine) and broken matchsticks for hanging
• Dried flowers, petals, grasses, or ferns
• Homemade glue paste (Kleister, recipe below)
• Decorative branches (I used curly willow, but these dried birch branches are pretty too)

How to naturally dye eggs

1. Red Cabbage (my favorite!)

• Shred ¼ of a head of red cabbage, add a lid, and boil it in water for about 45 minutes. I add about 2 cups of water and replenish it if needed.
• Let the mixture cool completely, then add refrigerated eggs.
• Place in the fridge for about 24 hours to achieve pretty blue shades. These will be rather muted colors, but the longer the eggs soak, the darker the shade will be.

Fun Color Science:

Red cabbage is pH-sensitive, which means you can create a whole palette of tones just by adjusting the liquid:

• No additives = a dreamy baby blue / powder blue
• Add vinegar = a soft pink tone
• Add baking soda = a beautiful green-blue

It’s so fun to experiment with these subtle shifts and kids love watching the magic happen! Okay, I do too.

2. Blueberries

• Simmer blueberries in water for 30 minutes, let cool, and soak the eggs. This method takes a longer time to work, so I typically do this overnight in the fridge. Expect a pretty grey-blue tone that pairs beautifully with bright flower accents.

3. Turmeric

• Stir turmeric powder into hot water until dissolved. Let cool.
• Dye eggs at room temperature for just a few minutes (and up to a couple of hours) for a range of pastel yellow to bold yellow hues.

Pro Tip: You can vary the color by how long you soak the eggs. I have soaked mine for up to 36 hours in the fridge. Let them dry completely before handling or decorating. This may take longer if they’ve been refrigerated and developed condensation.

A quick tip from my experience:

I actually tested dyeing the eggs after blowing them out and I wouldn’t recommend it. Because the eggs are hollow, they float to the top of the dye solution, which makes it hard to get even coverage. Since natural dyes take longer to develop color, this method was especially tricky. I now always dye the eggs first, let them dry, and then blow them out. It's much easier and more effective.

Blowing out the eggs

1. Poke a small hole in the bottom (wider end) of the egg.
2. Poke a slightly larger hole in the top (pointier end). This is where the hanging string goes.
3. Use a toothpick to break the yolk inside.
4. Blow into the smaller hole to push the egg contents out the larger hole. Yes, it works! My kids found this part equally gross and fun.
5. Strain and cook the egg mixture if you want to save it for breakfast or baking.

Decorating with pressed flowers

We used dried flowers that we had saved from spring walks and wilting bouquets. Smaller tulip petals were my favorite and they kept their color beautifully. Green accents like clover, grasses and little ferns are also a fun choice. 

To press flowers:

• Place flowers between paper towels inside a heavy book.
• Stack a few more books on top and let sit for about 3 days or longer.

Make homemade German Kleister (flour glue)

• Bring 350 ml (12 ounces) water to a boil.
• Separately whisk together 100 ml (3 ounces) cold water with 50 g (⅓ cup) all-purpose flour.
• Stir flour-water mix into boiling water and whisk until thickened.
• Cool completely before using.

Attach the flowers and hang the eggs

1. Tie a piece of string, yarn, thread or ribbon around half of a matchstick and push it through the top (wider) hole. The matchstick will now rest inside the egg, with the string attached to it, ready for hanging.
2. Brush a layer of Kleister on your dried eggs (dyed or undyed).
3. Gently press flowers, petals, or greens into place.
4. Brush more Kleister on top to seal them in.
5. Tie your egg on a branch right away. This prevents it from sticking to surfaces while drying.

Osterstrauch (German Easter shrub)

In Germany, we hang these decorated eggs on budding branches like curly willow, forsythia, or any pretty branches you can find. This becomes the centerpiece of our home for Easter and is called an Osterstrauch (Easter branch). It's a long-standing tradition in Germany and symbolizes new life and Jesus' resurrection.

We usually set ours up about 2 weeks before Easter and keep it until just after the holiday.

I also made you a free printable version of this Easter egg decorating guide and it's so good!

Need German Easter recipes?

If you're ready to go all in on German Easter celebrations, try these German Easter favorites:

• German Easter bread decorated with boiled eggs (Osterkranz)

• Traditional German Easter lamb cake (Osterlamm)
• Oma's creamy potato salad
• Rüblikuchen (Swiss carrot cake)

Find even more of my favorite Easter recipes here. Frohe Ostern! Happy Easter! I hope this sweet tradition brings joy and a beautiful, unique twist to your home this season.