02 April, 2007

Silk Tie Dyed Easter Eggs

It’s really a shame that some holiday-type projects are shown so close to the actual holiday that you really never have a chance of doing the actual project. I mean, come on. Don’t show me a great project on Good Friday and think I’m even going to have a shot at completing it by Easter Sunday. And such was the case with these amazing eggs I saw Martha and a guest do last year on her show.

So what made these dyed Easter eggs so special was that they weren’t actually dyed at all. All they did was use some old ugly silk ties and scarves, wrap them around the eggs with some cotton squares, boil them and that’s pretty much it. And I’m sorry, but if you tell me I can dye Eater eggs with the mini’s with zero mess then you had me at hello. When you unwrap your little silk wrapped eggs, the designs left of the eggs are truly unbelievable. I must say, I was a little skeptical myself when the mini’s and I started this project this morning, but all three of us were so excited when we opened each egg and saw the surprise it held, that I was picking up the phone and calling just about everyone I knew!

You Will Need
- raw eggs
-Glass or enamel pot (very impt! Can’t use a metal pot for some reason. I had to borrow one from my neighbor)
-Silk ties, blouses, or boxers, cut into pieces large enough to cover an egg (the uglier the tie, the prettier the egg it made for me)
-White sheets (or pillowcases or old tablecloths), cut into pieces to cover silk-wrapped eggs
-Twist ties
-3 tablespoons of white vinegar
-Warm water
-Vegetable oil
-Paper towels
-Tongs or spoon
Instructions
1. Cut silk into a square (or a piece) large enough to wrap around a raw egg (I used a seam ripper to rip the ties open from the backside, and was able to get about 4 good sized pieces of silk from each tie)

2. Wrap a raw egg with a piece of silk, making sure the printed side of the material is facing the egg. Silk can still be used if it doesn't fit perfectly around egg.

3. Place the silk-wrapped egg in a piece of white sheet, pillowcase, or old tablecloth and secure tightly with a twist-tie.

4. Place the egg(s) in an enamel or glass pot. Fill pot with water to cover eggs completely. Then, add three tablespoons of white vinegar.

5. Bring water to a boil, turn heat down, and simmer for 20 minutes (longer if you plan on eating the eggs).

6. Remove eggs from water with tongs or spoon and let cool.

7. Remove silk from cooled egg.

8. For shiny eggs, wipe with vegetable oil after completing step 7.
Now, I have to tell you. Light colored ties (ie. Yellow) don’t turn out all that great. The colors that turned out the best were the dark colors like navy, burgundy, dark green, etc. Don’t worry though, they don’t transfer on the egg that dark. In fact, it’s quite the opposite! The navy turns into a pretty shade of denim blue, the burgundy a pretty red, the dark green turns into a grassy green. Oh, and anything black will just turn out grey so that was an ugly egg we did but hey! Live and learn!


P.S. Yes! These are our eggs! I'm back in business with my new camera so no more "stock" photos-Yippie!

22 Comments:

Alyson said...

Wow! Those look amazing! I will have to do it with the kiddos this week!

Cricket Mc: Stay at Home Mom said...

WOW! Wish I didn't already do my eggs. These look fab! Will put this in the project file for next year!

Elizabeth H. said...

Okay, I am soooooo not crafty, but I would do this. I may do it tomorrow.

How was the school interview? I have done more pre-k/k social visits than I can count. As long as mini uno did not a. steal a snack, or b. pretend to shoot the teachers you are probably okay.

Meg said...

Those are amazing! Maybe I can give them a try if I ever finish the egg wreath. It's gotten a little derailed, and now I have less than a week. I've overextended myself in the egg department.

Monogram Momma said...

I hear 'ya Meg. I am egg-sausted with eggs this year and I just finished stuffing 24 for the mini's for their pre-school easter egg hunt on Thurs.

Monogram Momma said...

elizabeth, honestly. If you can boil and egg and cut some sqaures you can for SURE do this. I am never dying eggs the old messy way ever again. Even my husband was impressed and he typically isn't too impressed by my crafty projects!

Thanks for asking about the school interview! Well, it was interesting, lets just say. I sure hope he gets extra points for looking cute but I'll keep you posted! ;-)

Unknown said...

OK, I saw Martha do this on The Today Show last week and was totally impressed! I must say, though, I think she was a bit frustrated with Meredith Viera, who kept asking silly questions! :)

Unknown said...

OK, I saw Martha do this on The Today Show last week and was totally impressed! I must say, though, I think she was a bit frustrated with Meredith Viera, who kept asking silly questions! :)

Entries said...

Cool! I'll have to go raid the bargain tie bin at Marshalls and the Salvation Army.

Susan said...

This is so cool! I'm heading home this weekend from school for Easter weekend and cannot wait to try this. I even went down to Goodwill and bought some old silk scarves, I was happy to read that the uglier the better!

susan said...

I love this project, thanks for the idea. The kids are off on Friday, so this will be a fun thing to do.

Anonymous said...

Saw you linked on nursery.apartmenttherapy.com - this is an amazing project! thanks for writing about it!

CFB said...

I'm going to try this today!

Marissa said...

These are just beautiful, thank you for the lovely idea ;)

Anonymous said...

To dye the eggs the cloth must touch the egg. I cut enough silk to fit around the egg and long enough to put a twisty tie on each end. Roll the egg in the fabric and secure each end with a tie, pulling the fabric tightly with the second tie. The dye will also set as the egg cools. Don't be too quick to unwrap your eggs!!

Anonymous said...

Yay Martha - she always has such beautiful projects.

And MM those eggs are gorgeous - i can't believe that the actual fabric made such funky colours and patterns! Wow!

Th. said...

.

Must it be silk? Would, say, polyester work?

Monogram Momma said...

Yes, TH, it must be silk. So look for silk ties, silk boxers, silk shirts, silk scarves, etc..And the other thing I figured out was that the darker the silk patterns/colors the brighter and more colorful the egg.

Have fun & Happy Easter!

sherry said...

Ok, what did I do wrong? Half of the 18 eggs I colored the silk tie method didn't turn out and the ones that did, the design didn't show up. Help. I'm down to the wire on this.

Carin McKenna said...

So, does this only work with silk that's printed, or does it work if the pattern is woven in, too? In other words, is it the dye in the fibres, or the dye on the surface that transfers?

And, btw, an egg is hard-cooked after 10 minutes in boiling water, started from cold. You do *not* have to boil longer than 20 minutes if you plan to eat the eggs!

Amanda said...

While I think the end result is gorgeous, I can't help but have a tinge of concern about possible contamination here. Silk ties are not made with food-safe dyes. Egg shells are porous, even though they're hard--whatever you put on the outside gets inside. (For example, if you rub the exterior of an egg with a paste made from curry powder and butter and let it sit for a while, your egg will have curry flavor.)

Even though you're cooking the egg after-the-fact, I'd be concerned about what exactly gets in and how much.

Unknown said...

I already hard boiled my eggs. How can I do this?

Thanks!