Haven't gathered your onion skins yet?

 If the Armenians in your neighborhood have gathered all of the onion skins to be had at your local market, (see http://marashgirl.blogspot.com/2011/04/have-you-started-saving-your-onion.html), never fear!  There are other possibilities which Marash Girl takes the liberty of copying below.  She has not tried these methods, as she practices the Armenian tradition of using brown onion skins when dying Easter eggs naturally, but here are some other options -- courtesy of Whole Foods.

Red = Beets, paprika, rose hips

Yellow = Yellow onion skins, 1/4 tsp. turmeric, chamomile, sage

Orange = 3/4 cup yellow ingredients (above) plus 1/4 cup beets

Green - Spinach, kale, parsley, carrot tops

Khaki Green = Red Onion Skins

Brown = Tea, Juniper Berries

Blue = Blueberries, red cabbage (note -- allow dye to cool for this color)

Light Purple = Blackberries, Concord or red grapes (note - simmer for full hour)

According to the directions whole foods printed up, this is what you should do:

Prepare the Eggs by boiling white eggs (or brown for making deep golden or dark brown hues) with 1 tbsp white vinegar in the water and let cool to room temperature.

Pick your color from the chart above and prepare the dye:
1. chop or crush the dye ingredients correlating to your desired egg color.
2. Place dye ingredients in a saucepan with 2 cups water.
3. Simmer for 5 minutes or up to an hour until water is deeply colored.
4. Strain sediment and add eggs to dye while dye is still hot.
5. Leave eggs in dye until they reach the desired color (which will not necessarily match the color of the ingredients used to dye the eggs -- usually the eggs are far lighter.)

Oh, and another hint if you're coloring eggs with onion skins -- add a teaspoon of salt, a teaspoon of oil, and a teaspoon of vinegar to the water, and make sure your water and your eggs are both at room temperature before beginning to boil!

It should be here noted that one year, early in their marriage, Marash Girl and Marash Boy, while living in Smiths Ferry, Massachusetts, travelled to nearby Northampton to gather herbs, not really knowing how to color eggs except with onion skins.  Randomly selecting various dried herbs, Marash Girl and Marash Boy created the most beautiful array of subtly colored eggs for Easter. . . so don't feel you have to follow the above suggestions (as Medzmama used to say, recipes were not made in heaven) . . . go ahead and experiment!