How to Change the Color of Cut Flowers with Vegetable Dye

Making the Dye

• 1

  Choose the color that you want to dye your flowers.

  Butternut squash, carrots and onions will make orange dye; beets and cherries will make pink or red dye; red cabbage and cheery roots will make a blue or purple dye; artichokes and spinach will produce green dyes; and celery, paprika, beetroot and turmeric will make yellow dyes.

• 2

  Place the vegetable of choice on a cutting board and mince the vegetable with a sharp kitchen knife.

• 3

  Measure out the chopped vegetable bits using a measuring cup. Place the vegetables in a sauce pot. Pour double the amount of water to vegetable into the pot. For example: if you chop up 2 cups of beets to make a red dye, pour 4 cups of water into the pot.

• 4

  Place the pot on the stove and turn the burn to the highest temperature. Bring the water to a boil, then lower the heat to keep the water at a simmer for an hour.

• 5

  Place a piece of cheese cloth over a vase. Place the vase in the sink to avoid spills. Carefully and slowly pour the dye over the cheese cloth. This will ensure that the dye will pour into the vase, while the vegetable bits will be prevented from falling into the vase.

Dyeing the Flowers

• 6

  Cut the stems of the flowers that you'll want to dye. Always cut the stems on a slight angle.

• 7

  Remove any leaves that are more than 3 inches from the bloom.

• 8

  Keep the stems moistened while dying your blooms. Soak paper towels in cool water. Wrap each stem with a soaked paper towel sheet. To keep the paper towel tightly wrapped around the stems, bind the stems with plastic wrap. Then, wrap tin foil around the plastic wrap to keep the water from dripping out.

• 9

  Place the flowers into the dye, bloom side down. Leave the blooms in the dye for about four to eight hours.

• 10

  Take the flowers out of the dye. Remove the foil, plastic wrap and paper towels from the stems; place the flowers into a new, clean vase filled with cool water.