My friend Elaine is super crafty. She plans amazing themed parties for her twin grandkids’ birthdays, and when her son and daughter-in-law flew here from Colorado to celebrate their recent marriage, she whipped up a pretty spectacular wedding reception for the occasion.
When I saw these gorgeous silk Easter eggs in her Facebook feed, I had to know how she did it, and I immediately ran to my husband’s closet to see if there were any ties I could rip apart to make my own beautiful silk-dyed Easter eggs.
For someone who almost never wears a tie, my beloved is pretty attached to the silk ties hanging abandoned in his closet. I can see why Elaine bought her silk ties from Goodwill. Her husband was probably unwilling to sacrifice his ties for her crafty Easter project, too.
This method of dying Easter eggs with silk ties is actually less messy than the traditional method of coloring eggs, what with how much my kids like to spill cups filled with darkly colored liquid, and if these eggs were edible, this would be our new go to Easter egg dying method.
As it is, we’ll do a small batch of these gorgeous Easter eggs for our table centerpiece, and dye the rest in a method that is safe to eat. We’re pretty crazy about deviled eggs around here!
How to Dye Easter Eggs with Silk Ties
Ingredients
- 100% silk ties
- stretchy white cotton (like a t-shirt or jersey type fabric)
- baking sheet
- scissors
- rubber bands
- slotted spoon
- uncooked eggs
- 1/4 cup distilled vinegar
- lidded pot
Instructions
- Cut the ties down the seam and remove the wool on the inside.
- Cut the extra fabric from the bottom of the ties to ensure a squarish shape.
- Next, cut the white fabric into squares large enough to wrap around an egg and set aside.
- Now you're ready to wrap your eggs!
- Holding a cut silk tie, color side up, place an egg, pointy side down onto the silk.
- Wrap the silk tightly around the egg, twist the top, and secure it with a rubber band.
- Next, take a white cotton piece and wrap the egg the same way you did with the silk.
- Twist the top tightly again, and secure with another rubber band.
- When the eggs are all wrapped, fill the pot with enough water to cover the eggs and add the distilled white vinegar.
- Cover and bring to a low boil for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon to a baking sheet, and let sit until cool.
- Unwrap your eggs to see the beautiful designs!
Notes
Do not eat these eggs! The dye isn't food safe.
We have done these eggs for over 10 years and always ate eggs that had not cracked, no one ever got sick.
You will find it is easier to keep the silk on the egg if you wet the silk piece in cool water first, the silk tends to stick to the dry egg better, thus making it easier to keep the silk in place while wrapping and tying.