Dyeing Easter Eggs Using Silk Neckties (Seriously)

Friday, April 2,2010

I recently saw an intriguing tweet from @DawnSandomeno on Twitter. (She and Elizabeth have a fantastic blog with great ideas and info on a variety of topics for home entertaining.)

The tweet that I saw from Dawn involved using silk neckties to "tie dye" Easter eggs.

EXACTLY.

After scrounging in my husband's tie drawer and then making a trip to the thrift store for 100% silk ties, we finally got around to making them tonight. And I have to tell you:

It was a huge hit!

It was so great that I had to stay up and blog about it tonight so you can try it by Easter!




You cut up silk ties, wrap them around uncooked eggs, and then cover that with another piece of cloth--like a cut-up pillow case or sheet. After boiling the eggs (in the cloth), you take off the cloth and TA-DA, you have some of the most beautifully and uniquely colored eggs you'll ever see. (Head over to Party Blu Prints Blog for the full instructions.)









Our tie-dyeing session turned into an impromptu friend/pizza/egg coloring party. Everyone not only enjoyed the process, but they were also extremely excited with the results. We're already planning another tie-dyeing session! We've determined that these will be great for summer parties and barbecues, too.

Here are our eggs all together:

Looking for tips? Here are some things that we'll do again, or differently, next time:

• The blog was right, the uglier the tie, the better. Something you think no one would (or should) wear will make the best eggs.


• In places where the material doesn't stay against the egg, the egg will be white. Next time, we are going to try cutting 4 slits into the tie material (one cut in the middle of each side of the square) so that it folds more smoothly over the egg. (One of our friends said, "Think upholstery.")


• Consider the time. The 20-25 minutes of simmering time is after the eggs come to a boil. With the eggs and the cloth, the water took quite some time to come to a boil. (We got a late start and found ourselves with sleepy kids waiting for their eggs.)


• Stick with ties that say 100% silk. We had one tie that claimed "all silk" -- none of the color transferred to the egg.
• We had multiple adults and children participating, so we wrote our names on the outer edge of the white (outside) cloth with a permanent marker prior to boiling. Then, we took turns going around and "unveiling" ours. This was definitely part of the fun.


• DEFINITELY use the blog tip about "shining" the eggs after. We used vegetable oil and it made the colors even more vibrant.


• The boiled egg smell along with cooking fabric isn't pleasant. Open a window or two before you start.

HAVE FUN! Come back and post a link to pictures of your eggs so we can see how they turn out!