When I heard about this technique from a fellow Vancouver mama, I almost didn’t believe it was possible.  But after doing a little bit of online research, it seemed many people had had great success with it (some inspiration here and here), so I thought we’d give it a go.  And while the finished eggs are far from perfect, I think they turned out quite beautifully.

The first part of the project involved thrifting some 100% silk ties.  Luckily, the task was an easy one…  After scanning the rack at a local thrift store, we had over 30 different options to choose from.  

These are the ties we ended up choosing…  A black one covered with strawberries, green leaves, and mustard flowers, an intricate paisley{ish}-patterned blue one, and a bold raspberry-coloured polka dotted one.  Each had a tag clearly stating that they were made of 100% silk and they were all between $4.99 and $6.99 (though I think they would have been less expensive from a smaller, less popular thrift store).

Before actually dyeing the eggs, the ties needed to be deconstructed first.  Using some small scissors, I snipped apart the thread at the back, removed the tags, and removed the innards (saving them for later), and ended up with some nice, big pieces of silk.

With the help of my little lady, I carefully wrapped a small piece of the silk around a raw egg (printed side touching the egg) as tightly and neatly as I could. Next time we attempt these, we’ll definitely do two things differently.  First off, we’ll wet the silk in order to have it cling to the egg during the wrapping process, and secondly, we’ll use smaller pieces of silk in order to avoid all of the extra bulkiness and folding we had this time around.

Next, we took the tie innards and wrapped the silk-covered eggs like you would a mummy and secured everything with a generous amount of jute.

While Grae happily helped out for the first couple of silk-wrapped eggs, I must admit, it’s really not the most toddler-friendly process…  Decorating eggs with good ol’ fashioned wax crayons was much more Miss G’s style. ☺

With all of the silk-wrapped eggs done, we popped them into a crockpot filled with cool water and about 1/2 a cup of white vinegar, turned it on high, and put the cover on.  You could easily do this part of the process on the stove if you prefer, but the key is using a pot that is non-metallic.

As we waited for the water to heat up, we dip dyed Miss G’s wax crayon decorated eggs… Pretty colours, hey?

Once the water reached a good rolling boil (it takes quite a while in a crock pot), we turned the heat down to low and kept it gently boiling while covered for 4 long hours. Then we turned off the heat, and left the pot covered for another 4 hours (talk about patience!)

After nearly 9 hours of waiting, I slowly began unwrapping the layers to discover that the technique had in fact worked (quite well might I add!)

The white wrinkly sort of spots you can see are where the silk wasn’t laying perfectly flat against the egg, but I think it adds a little bit of character.  ☺

What I love is how apparent the tiny details are…  Even the silk’s texture and the teeny paisley patterns are visible.

Silk dyed eggs will definitely be anEaster tradition in our house from now on.  The preparation, anticipation, and surprise are too much fun not to make it one.  Now to begin my collection of beautiful silk ties…

♥ 

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