Onion skins and Easter eggs. Eco friendly DIY colouring

Ester is only a little more than a week away and I am sure just like most hostels ours will be full of backpackers and other funny creatures looking for a good time and maybe even some Easterly fun.
Here is my one of my favourite things to do in a hostel (or where ever else I am) for Easter.

Colouring Easter eggs. Of course you can just get out the arts and crafts box (you don't have one? EVERY HOSTEL NEEDS ONE!) and let everyone be creative and see what they come up with. Or you can buy die and dip the eggs into that and have the classic shades of Easter eggs.
My favourite way to colour eggs though, is one I learned from my late grandmother: Onion skins! It's cheap, different, it's eco friendly and so DIY!

How you ask? Pretty easy actually. When being boiled the skins release the pigment, that makes them brown and turn the eggs a really pretty shade of red-ish brown. But here is the step by step guide:

Collect the dry brown onion skins for a while, depending on how many eggs you want to die you may want up to a small shopping bag full of skins. Make sure you store them in a basket or something similar airy that will prevent the skins from growing mold, should there be any moisture left in them. If you're living or working in a hostel it's pretty easy get your hands on that many onion skins. Just ask around, let people know what your are up to, maybe even organise an onion soup competition or make "tarte du flambet" for everyone (yum!).

You will also need some flowers, leaves and maybe grass blades as well as a pair of tights (they can be cheap or even old, since their going to be boiled don't worry too much about germs). Yes, they will survive the boiling water.

Carefully take your raw eggs and place flowers, leaves and grass blades on your eggs. I usually just put them on one side which is going to be the front, but if you want you can put them all around the egg.

Now comes the fiddly part: cut off a piece of your tights and wrap it tightly around the entire egg. Tie the ends together, but remember, be careful the egg is still raw. Where the knot it sitting you will get a pretty cool thai die effect.

Once all your eggs are decorated and covered in tights, place the eggs in a large pot, add the onion skins and cold or lukewarm water and bring the whole thing to boil. Since you probably want hard boiled eggs, let the whole thing boil for about 8 minutes. Stir the whole thing every now and then, so all sides of your eggs get a bit of colour. Be careful not to get any of the onion water on your clothes since it might leave stains you won't get rid of.

Take out the eggs and hold them under cold water for about 30 seconds. That will make it easier to peel them later on and to touch them to get off the tights. Which is my favourite part, because until the tights and flowers are off you never know how your eggs turned out.

If you want to make them nice and shiny you can rub some oil or butter on them. 

Hostel winter blues

The silly season is over and it's nice and quiet at the hostel. Too quiet maybe. Between the end of the winter holidays (if your on the northern half of planet earth) and the start of the spring/summer season a lot of hostels are as empty as hunted mansions with the occasional short term guest and a bunch of long termers bored out of their minds - especially, if they have been around for a while. Everyone is sitting on their laptops and smart phones, watching movies and talking nonsense. Apart from the weekend, where you maybe manage to almost fill the place and the occasional event (Six Nations Rugby in our case) you struggle to keep things interesting. So what can you do to keep your customers happy and the kids (aka the longtermers) busy?

Tourist board:
There are a number of events all year round in most cities, you just have to find them. Usually the local tourist board knows what's going on and put up events on their website. Just have a look every morning and put things that sounds cool on your notice board or print off the event's poster and put it in a place where everyone can see it.

Local magazines:
A lot of cities have magazines that keep you informed about the local cultural scene - the newest hottest bands, artists, galleries and gigs. Quite often they have a printed version but their websites are even more up to date and offer a bigger data base. And just like with the tourist board, check their events in the morning and pick something you think your guest might fancy and let them know about it. Who knows they might go and see someone in a small club that becomes the real deal a few months later...

Local pubs:
There are always events in your favourite pubs but quite often they don't make it onto the websites I've mentioned above, sometimes not even onto their own website. But their facebook or twitter pages might be better maintained. You can either like or follow them through your personal account or even better as your hostel's. That way you can easily share events and promotions. That does not only inform your guests about what's going on but also creates a positive relation ship with the venue and who knows, they might think about hostel discounts in the future, because let's face it, they are struggling too in the quiet season. Or simply pick up a flyer next time you're there..

Start your own events:
Of course there is the standard pub crawl almost every hostel has and it is an integral part of hostel life, because it is one of the easiest ways to bond. Getting buzzed and making out with total strangers from halfway around the world...
But there are endless options. How about a games night where you dig out your Monopoly, the old Chess board and the Poker cards and save them from disappearing all the way in a pile of dust. Or have a potluck where everyone contributes something. It can be themed as in everyone brings something from their home country or has to invent a disgusting name for their dish.
Dig up the old dress up box and have an impromptu party, chuck paper and pens on the table and let them draw and paint, especially for events like Valentines Day or Easter. They generally enjoy anything children enjoy... bubbles, lego, arts and crafts, sometimes even jig saw puzzles...

The important thing is to bring a little color into the cold and grey winter days and motivate your long and short term guests to do something beyond the same old same old every day. It creates a positive atmosphere that everyone will appreciate and keeps things fresh and exciting. And who knows, it might even influence your ratings on one of those booking websites...