A recipe for onion skin dye to colour playdough might seem an unlikely idea but it's an interesting
way to discover how these brown flakes of peel do not carry the same strong
odour their bulbous contents do and as with tea, the brown outer leaves can
be steeped in hot water or simmered to soak out the pigmentation and create
a mixture that works well if blended (although optional) and strained, separating
a brownish tincture from a squashy mulch!
Once the liquid has been measured, added to the rest of the playdough ingredients
and cooked, it produces a subtle peach coloured dough, a little lighter than
the rosehip recipe and whilst we didn't try staining fabrics with the dye
this time around, a search on google images suggests there are a variety
of lovely hues that onion skin dyes can be used to achieve.
Onion skin dye recipe
30g onion skins
200ml water - if simmering over heat
Brown onion skin dye, playdough recipe
- 150g plain flour
- 120g salt
- 120ml grass dye liquid
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 tbsp cream of tartar (optional)
- Hand moisturiser (optional)
Place all the ingredients except the hand lotion
into a saucepan and cook over a medium heat until everything comes together
in a ball. Leave it to cool and then knead until smooth. At this stage add
a few spoonfuls of hand cream and enjoy the squelchiness as the two combine
into a soft pliable dough.
This was an activity we thoroughly enjoyed and for once the compost
heap took second place as the nest of crispy layers at the bottom of our
onion basket were repurposed for alternative crafting and to cap off the
activities there was an inspired rewatch of Shrek!
Making natural dye recipes from plants
Grass dye
Rosehip dye
Blackberry
Elderberry
Blueberry
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Spinach
Carrot
Red cabbage
Raspberries
Onion skin dye
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