How to Dye Easter Eggs Using Silk
If you’re looking for a creative way to dye Easter eggs this year, try wrapping them in silk fabric scraps for a brilliant effect!
Your egg will take on the vibrant pattern of the silk and it’s very fun and easy to experiment with different colors. The key is to use REAL silk, so I headed to my local thrift store first to check out some inexpensive ties and scarves and used the ones labeled “100% silk” just to be sure.
Silk Dyed Easter Eggs
Supplies Needed:
- Raw Eggs (White)
- Real Silk Fabric (Thrift Store Ties & Scarves)
- Scraps of White Cotton Fabric
- Twist Ties
- White Vinegar
- Water
- Scissors
- Kitchen Tongs
Directions:
1.) If using silk ties, deconstruct them using scissors and then cut a piece large enough to fit around your egg. Wrap egg tightly with silk and secure with a twist tie at one end. Make sure the front side of fabric is touching the egg.
2.) Wrap a piece of white cotton around egg and secure with a twist tie. (This is to minimize any bleeding of colors.) Repeat wrapping process with the rest of eggs.
3.) Place eggs in a large pot and pour water high enough so it covers eggs completely. Add 1/4 cup white vinegar and bring water to a boil. Let simmer for 20 minutes.
4.) Transfer eggs to a colander in the sink using kitchen tongs and let cool. Remove the cotton and silk wrapping to reveal your cool design. This is the best part!
Things to consider:
- The designs with the boldest colors created the most dazzling eggs!
- I’ve read that you can actually re-use your silk a couple times to dye more eggs if desired, but the effect may be more muted the 2nd time around.
- For the white cotton scraps, consider using an old pillowcase, curtains, tablecloth, or scraps from another project.
- You don’t have to use just ties, any silk garment or accessory would work!
- Use your own judgment on eating the eggs afterwards as the silk dye may be different that food grade dye. Just a thought.
- Some may prefer to first blow out the egg insides, then proceed with dying the egg shells.
- The ugliest ties yield the best results!
What a creative and fun craft. Enjoy!
Wow Lina! This is an awesome idea! I’m going to try this with my kids this year. You’re so creative! Thanks!
Thanks enjoy!
Why on earth would anyone want to waste food coloring with something that MAY BE toxic. Let’s color them and throw them away. Not to mention the kids that may start eating them before they’re taken away! Should not even be posted.
I disagree. You can display them in a beautiful bow, out of reach from the children.
How do silk ties use food coloring?
Shannon, I don’t think she was referring to “food coloring” in the silk ties. I think she was saying why waste food (coloring with something that may be toxic). As in food is the noun, not coloring.
Ahh. That makes more sense. I think with kids these days it’s hard to Avoid food coloring and for something like this, very little will reach the egg.
Oh my goodness. Punctuation definitely is important here! She isn’t referring to food coloring at all here. She is referring to using something to dye the eggs that is not food safe. Hence wasting food and for the potential of a child getting a hold of them. I tend to agree with the food waste, too many ppl in this world starving for my conscience to be okay with that. They are unique though.
Hi, this was meant to be a fun decorative craft or experiment. you could always blow the egg insides out first then keep your shells. It’s okay that not every idea would work for everyone. – thanks.
That’s what we do and make scrambled eggs!
Really fun idea, Lina. Great reuse of old ugly ties and scarves. You are so creative! I would definitely blow the eggs out first, which is fun for kiddos too, and teaches them not to waste. I might even do this with my little after school art class. Have you ever tried the wax dyeing Russian eggs? They are blown out first as well.
Eggs are much easier to dye if they aren’t blown out. You usually dye pisanky with egg inside and keep them for “good luck”, varnished/ waxed or not. Unvarnished, the egg contents will eventually dry up. BUT you can blow the eggs out before use, rinse the inside, and dye the shell. You then may have to weigh the egg down with a spoon. Wasteful? Eggs are not that expensive compared to other art materials.
We use this method and blow out the inside of the eggs first, using the insides to make a quiche, omelets, scrambled eggs etc. then we dye the shells. There is no waste this way.
tschnyer47, I plan to try this with fake, craft eggs. My kids never really eat hard-boiled eggs so they end up wasted anyway. We dye them for fun and for a cute seasonal decoration for the house.
We always eat the eggs after dying them. I can’t bare to waste them. Very pretty tough.
Thanks!
I would not make eggs just to leave them out to spoil and/or stink up the house for decoration.. this is unusual. My kids would be so upset I made Easter eggs they can’t even eat.
They would have to be out a super long time, I mean weeks before they would stink. Eggs are good for a really long time. I have chickens, have for 27 years, an egg laid on Christmas is still good at Easter. Imagine an 85 degree coop with chicken eggs in it. They are good all day at that temp. I would not leave them there longer then that. Eggs last a lot long then the best by date. You can put an egg in warm water if it floats it’s bad, if it sinks it’s good.
You leave boiled eggs out? I don’t refrigerate my fresh eggs but once I boil it I would assume it will start stinking the same as a store egg does. I definitely would not eat a boiled egg after it sat out a day.
I also would not use my good fresh pastured eggs for dying. I would buy the cheap white ones for dying.
Also, to clarify, you can leave farm fresh eggs out. You can not leave store bought eggs out. They have been washed which removes the protective coating and that is why you need to refrigerate eggs from the store.
Depends what you wash them with, ever seen farm fresh eggs? They are covered with poop and mud fyi. Chickens that can go outside eat all the grass, unless you let them walk around your yard then a red tailed hawk will kill and eat your precious chickens.
Yes. I only use our eggs. I wash them right before I use them. If they are too gross I will wash them when I bring them in but then they have to be refrigerated.
We’re talking about hard boiled eggs here, not farm fresh eggs that aren’t cooked..
I (just last week) threw out the basket of Easter eggs that I dyed last year using the silk tie method. They still did not stink no smell at all. I think as long as they are not cracked at all they last forever! I was shocked, as is everyone that has been to my house over the last year!
I can confirm these have been out for over two weeks and no stink. Lol
And I realize not everyone will enjoy every craft idea. It’s ok!
Thanks Lina.
I think this is very creative!!!!!
My kids made these 10 years ago!! They made 12!! These were raw not boiled. They have never smelled!! With the exception of the one that received a crack. It was a mighty pungent odor!! We still have the other 11. They are beautiful and delicate. And get displayed every year. They will not smell if they receive loving care and no cracks!
Toxic, leaving eggs out, and wasting food…..but wait theyâre pretty! đ
We use this method and blow out the inside of the eggs first, using the insides to make a quiche, omelets, scrambled eggs etc. then we dye the shells. There is no waste this way
We use this method and blow out the inside of the eggs first, using the insides to make a quiche, omelets, scrambled eggs etc. then we dye the shells. There is no waste this way
They are super pretty. I personally wouldn’t do it though. It’s just kind of wasteful to toss all the eggs plus destroying a silk scarf or tie.
We dye, them hide them, in the yard and the dogs help the kids find them, its funny to see egg shells from where the dogs found the eggs. I never eat the eggs we dye, we only eat the eggs from my chickens, they are brown and green so we can’t color them. We buy the cheap white ones. I don’t like food coloring, a lot of it comes from petroleum. Why eat that?
When did it become so dang controversial to dye eggs? It’s a fun activity for kids, period. Live and let live!
OMG how ageist! I’m an adult… why can’t I enjoy dyeing eggs?!
Just kidding. đ See what I did there?!
Lol.
love this idea crazy how many negative comments are posted from a crafting idea thanks I’m going to try it in my grownup home đ
I feel like the tidbit about possible toxicity should really, really be at the top of the page. I would hate for someone to accidentally overlook that part all the way towards the bottom there. Better safe than sorry, right?
I agree, them being toxic should be in the title or somewhere at the very top.
I absolutely love the idea and think it’s very cool, but I do agree that perhaps this should be something noted at the beginning so as not to be missed if people don’t read through the whole post. Not something I would’ve known otherwise. You always have wonderful ideas, Lina!
Toxicity due to maybe eating a raw egg or the dyes? One could use hard boiled eggs and natural food dyes or just know very little dye penetrates the shell.
Eggs are porous once washed, which all store bought eggs would be. Most often you get tinges of color on the hard boiled egg when you dye them. So guarantee that the dye would get to the egg.
Oh and good grief you ARE using hard boiled eggs in this craft. They are only raw when covering them in the silk. It’s the process of boiling them that causes the dye to adhere to the egg.
Hi Melissa, this is actually a very old method of dyeing eggs. I doubt it’d be a life or death situation but just wanted to point out food grade dye may be different, so use your own judgement on eating or not. Thanks
These are beautiful!! Thanks for posting Lina!
Oh thanks Emily! You’re welcome đđť
Great job Lina.. very creative. Ignore the rude posts
Oh thanks Kristy! It’s a tough crowd tonight! Lol
Eggs with dye= tradition for so many for years. The amount of dye that reaches the egg is negligible. You’re doing a great job Lina. Keep it up and enjoy those kids of toured:
Difference here? You normally dye with FOOD GRADE dye. The stuff they dye ties with is NOT.
Very cool! I’ve never heard of doing this before, but the results are great! Thanks for sharing!
Sure- I thought it was neat too! Thanks Angela
The post says to use raw eggs, but I was wondering if anyone knows how long you would need to heat if you were using blown out eggs?
I was thinking the same thing. I know I saw a video years ago on how to empty the egg with two pin holes, one at each end, and a cup that drew the insides out. Therefore, the egg could be eaten, the shell preserved for this type of craft, and the shells could be saved from. Year to year.
My goodness, I feel so ancient !! (I’m 35 lol). When I was growing up we colored a dozen eggs… 99¢. Some were eaten, some thrown out. But my memories were looking forward to the coloring with my mom and grandmother. Geez, not a food waste, not like we made and threw out the whole Easter dinner. Times have changed I guess.
Also it is a great and unique idea. I love clicking on your craft ideas !! Thanks for posting this one.
Sure- enjoy!
Thanks Kerri!
We have been dying eggs with silk ties for years. My kids each pick two or three favorites that we leave out, as part of our Easter decor. The rest go in the fridge and we eat them…. We have so much fun with this.
I remember seeing this craft on Martha Stewart’s TV show years ago. She suggested wiping the completed eggs with a cloth dipped in vegetable oil to make them shiny. What a fun idea. Thanks for reminding me of this, Lina!
Oh that would be pretty! Oh sure đ
These are BEAUTIFUL! I couldn’t pay the kids enough to eat hard boiled eggs anyway. LOL
I am definitely going to try this! I love your egg with the “telephone” design. CUTE IDEA! You put a smile on my face as I remember all the fun I had coloring eggs as a child… đ
I did this a few years ago and it turned out awesome!! I blew out the eggs with a baby booger sucker thing (don’t know the real name). It’s more time consuming but I save them and reuse them every year. They are just so pretty!
That is a great idea! Thanks for sharing đ
Where did you get that egg plate near the bottom of the post? I love it!
This was from World Market, but I’ve seen them at other big box retailers too. Thanks!
For those of you worried about wasting the eggs or food poisoning you can blow the egg out and make scrambled eggs. Just watch for shell. Then the dyed egg can be kept for longer. Especially the prettier ones. Just save your carton for storage.
I have been collecting old ties for several years. The Christmas ties are some of the best. They turn out beautiful pastel colors.
I made these over 20 years ago with my grandma but we actually wrapped the whole thing with thread as well. Fun thing is I still have a few of the eggs! The weird thing with really old eggs is the insides harden and sound like there’s a marble in them..no strange smells or anything gross!
Yes beautiful and creative idea Lina! Not for everyone obviously but I think it’s fun and creative just for the sake of doing it.. not necessarily for eating the eggs. We never eat the dyed eggs anyway, it’s just dyeing some eggs for fun and if you’re getting stuff from the thrift store it’s all good IMO! đ
Thanks Nina! đ
Lina – We LOVE doing this every year – and seriously the ugliest ties become the best looking eggs. We shop year round at the thrift store for the perfect ties for our Easter eggs =) Keep the fun ideas coming!
How awesome! Yes I agree! – Thanks for sharing đ
My aunt bought a bag of silk ties for $0.50 at a yard sale last year. We blew out the eggs and dyed them with the ties. They turned out great! Because we blew them out, I was able to save them and I have them to display this year. They are just as gorgeous as they were last year.
Great idea! Thanks for sharing Hannah!
We did this last year and I wanted to share some tips! We went to a fabric store and purchased 1/12th of a yard of several brightly colored silks. Dark and bright colors with small patterns worked the best. Those that were yellow, ivory, pastel colors etc just didn’t turn out. Be sure to look for small patterns, an egg isn’t that big. It may be possible to boil silks more than once and get color transfer if you have the time, but the process was VERY time consuming and we only ended up making 2 dozen in around 3 hours. Be sure to have twist ties or other tools to keep the fabric pulled tight. Good luck!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing đ
These are beautiful!! I will definitely try them!! I think some experiments or projects are going to âwasteâ food and thatâs ok in moderation. Itâs educational and fun. My kids certainly waste enough food as it is- just being kids- that Iâm not going to worry over a couple dozen eggs! We love to eat boiled eggs but honestly we hide and hunt our eggs so many times that most of them are very broken and unappetizing looking by the time we get done with our Easter fun anyway. Thanks for the great idea!!!
Youâre so welcome – have Fun!
I use tattoos for my eggs!!!
Everythingâs a controversy đ These are beautiful and Iâd still eat the eggs đ¤ˇââď¸
Thanks so much Rochelle!
Hasn’t anyone ever done experiments with vinegar and baking soda with their kids? That’s basically wasting the food items….but it’s fun and neat and has an educational opportunity! What about making slime or play doh? Doesn’t that actually “waste” the ingredients, since you won’t end up keeping the finished product forever. Dyed macaroni necklace? Finger paint with pudding? How is this any different or less “wasteful”? I love the idea and have wanted to try it for years! This may just be the year! đ
Thanks Stephanie!
This has been on my list of things to do for years. Over the years I’ve picked up the ties at thrift stores. Love the twisty idea to keep it tight.
Thanks for posting it!
Any ideas about how to keep the blown out eggs under the water? (maybe I just need to make sure the holes are big enough for them to fill with water) I like to try to make them small though.
I love this website not all the posts are for me, and I am okay with that. I get so tired of reading all the negative comments. If i wanted to see that, i’d read my families facebook drama. Whatever happened to “if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all?” does that not apply to the internet?
when did adults become bullies? what are we teaching our kiddos about that…teaching them about food waste is great, teaching them to be kind human beings is better.
food for thought, don’t waste it
Hip2Save is the website… This website “Hip2Save”… Is to help others… They take the time and effort to share with us ways to coupon and save… You may or may not like everything posted… But take in mind… If you were not coming to this website “Hip2Save”… You would not know a lot of things… That were being promoted… Like Sales, Discounts, Clearance… One Day Only Sales… Black Friday… Cyber Monday… Coupons and How to use them. How to achieve Reward points… Getting money back on Using Ibotta and RR… Along with Advertising with them… and so on… Did I mention… Vacations… Hotel stays… The Deals… The Stores… The Coupons… The Receipes…
The DI/Crafts… The Tips… The Giveaways… The Newsletters… The Hot Text Alerts… The Daily Recap… I could go on and on… I enjoy Hip2Save… And all they do for me… I have learned a lot along the way… I have shared there website “Hip2Save” with many others… And will continue to do so… They have taken the time out to tell us… Why this website was even created… They have opened there hearts… Shared there experiences and Family with us… So enjoy the Journey… We have taken to get to know them… From what they have shared with us… Helping the Community… All parts of the world… etc… Giving back… I Am A Hip2Saver For Life… “Big Shout Out To Collin” Hip2Save and The SideKicks… And The Crowd Goes Wild… lol… LOL… lol…
Thanks Sherri for all your kind worlds and support over the years!! I love all aspects of hip2save too!! â¤ď¸