Naturally dyed beads.

 

The girls and I have been playing with unfinished wooden beads for the past few weeks.  The girls make necklaces with them, count them, and play all sorts of games with them.  Best $3 I've spent in a while!

The other night I thought it would be fun to add some color to them.  I tried painting them a while back and the process was messy and I wasn't very happy with the finished look (if you have tricks to share, please do!).

I remembered these recipes for natural egg-dyeing and decided to try it out with beads.  I wish I had more ingredients on hand, but I love how these turned out.  I used turmeric, paprika, frozen cranberries, and dried lavender as dye (following the recipe instructions for similar products), and left the beads soaking overnight.

I decided to string about 6 beads on to elastic cording to make some festive napkin rings, but the possibilities are endless!

P.S. We're on a plane to Seattle this morning, so I'm signing off a bit early this week.  Best wishes for your weekend!