For the better part of 40-something years, I’ve been a PAAS girl, getting that indelible green dye everywhere and writing crooked names with the invisible crayon, but three years ago I was saved. A friend sent me a link to a fantastic blog with an article, here, about how to make the most gorgeous Easter eggs with silk ties. What?! No, green dye going everywhere? No invisble crayon? I’m in!

I enlisted the help of two friends and we set out in search of silk ties, boxers, shirts, anything silk we could get our hands on, raiding local salvation army’s, garage sales and good ol’ dad’s closet. This project is not for the faint of heart and takes a while but it is so worth it and will elicit ooohs and aaahs from whoever sees them.  The level of details that transfers to the eggs from the silk is amazing.  We’ve been doing it for three years now and it still takes our breath away.

 

 

So what started out as a fun project one weekend has turned into a yearly tradition that now spans two generations—my friend’s four-year-old daughter is in charge of unwrapping the eggs for the big unveil. OK, ready to roll?! Here are the instructions. Have fun! I’m sure the Easter Bunny will appreciate it when he hops on by.

 

Items you’ll need: 100% silk, kitchen twine or twisties, 100% white cotton, white eggs, vinegar, vegetable oil, large pot, small sharp scissors

 

Step 1. Gather (buy, borrow…) silk ties, scarves, boxers, shirts, etc… For the ties, you’ll need to unravel the seams, take out the felt, and spread out the silk. You can usually get 3 small or 2 medium eggs covered out of one tie. I’d do this the day before as it is a bit tedious and takes a while.

 

 

Step 2. Cut the silk into squares and wrap them INSIDE OUT around the eggs (the outside bright pattern should be against the egg) as tight as you can without crushing them. Secure with a twistie or kitchen twine at the top. Try to get the silk as flat as you can against the egg.

 

 

Step 3. Cut 100% white cotton (sheet, pillow case, cloth) into squares and wrap each egg again and secure tightly with a twistie or kitchen twine at the top.

 

 

Step 4. Gently place eggs in one layer standing up in a pot, cover with water plus a 1/2 inch, add 1/4 cup white vinegar. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes.

 

 

Step 5. Take eggs out gently and set on paper towels to cool completely, about 20 minutes. You’re going to want to peek, we sure did (!), but resist the urge and let the color set. You’ll be glad you did.

 

 

Step 6. The Unveil! Unwrap the eggs and gently pat dry with a paper towel. Rub with vegetable oil to make them shiny and the colors come alive. Wait for oooohs and aaaahs…

 

 

The Easter Bunny would be proud! I know we were!

Laura Pauli is a dot com refugee who left the crashing world of hi-tech in 2003 to follow her dream of a culinary life to New York City’s French Culinary Institute and then over the ocean to France for three years to cook in a three Michelin star restaurant, a lobster boat, at the Cannes Film Festival, at the DaVinci Code chateau, and at the sweetest place in the world, Pierre Herme Patisserie, home of the world famous macarons. Laura divides her time between Paris and San Francisco doing hi-tech marketing consulting to fund her culinary passion Laura blogs at Cucina Testa Rossa where you’ll find more photos of these eggs, here .

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19 Responses to Most Beautiful Easter Eggs!

  1. […] Alexandra Saceanu mi-a dat pe Facebook un link foarte fain cu o alt? idee eco-friendly de colorare! Click aici […]

  2. Kayla says:

    Are they edible?

  3. amy g. says:

    wow! these are truly beautiful. but, are they edible, and can you reuse the same ties year after year? or do you just chuck the spent ties?

  4. laura says:

    kayla, amy ~ it was recommended not to eat the eggs as the silk dye can be poisonous. also I leave them out during the day and put them in the fridge at night so I wouldn’t eat them anyways. this year is the first year we’ve kept the silk so I’ll let you know next year :) give a shout with any other questions! thanks and happy easter, laura

  5. kellie says:

    Anyone know if we can do it with blown out yolk eggs so we can keep them from year to year? Also want to know if these are edible like Kayla asked.
    Thanks!! HOW FUN!

  6. Sarah says:

    Very cool!! Do you really think they aren’t edible, I would think the shell would protect the egg?!
    Do you wrap the eggs uncooked…or do you hard boil them first?
    Thanksfor sharing:)

    • Elizabeth says:

      I wouldn’t risk eating the eggs. It may be tricky with hen’s eggs, but goose eggs – and maybe duck eggs, when you can get them, are easy enough to blow.
      Those eggs are just so beautiful – imagine, one could be given for a baby’s first Easter, by the time the girl was a teenager, what a beautiful display she’d have. A boy – collector’s items. Hey – they need beauty in their lives to appreciate us !

  7. Jan says:

    Oh, what a bummer that you can’t eat them; I’m afraid I won’t make these because of that (my husband would have a hissy if I decorated eggs we wouldn’t be eating afterwards; he’s all male that way). @Sarah – egg shells are porous; toxins can leach through them to the egg inside.

  8. Sasha says:

    Silk dye (or acid dye) isn’t poison in this form but it is a carcinogen. You could eat these eggs without poisoning yourself…but you would certainly increase the chemical load in your body. It would depend on what your personal tolerance level is for that fr eating them. I would guess you would get around the same amount of toxins from eating a bunch of conventional grapes from South America as eating one of these eggs :). Not going to kill you today but maybe down the line, not the best idea.

  9. Sharon says:

    I’m also wondering if this would work on blown eggs??

    • tanya says:

      I once liked an easter egg so well that I just poked a hole in it (after it was boiled) and kept it. Someone told me the egg inside would dry to a pea size. It did. I still have the beautiful shell.

  10. Mary says:

    I use a fine dremel saw to cut boiled eggs in half, then glue them back together with rick rack. Doesn’t help with the wanting to eat them.

  11. shauna Reisewitz says:

    we tried these, but the colors didn’t really leach onto the eggs. I just left them boiling the whole 20 minutes. could that have been it?

  12. They are lovely. So wonderful. I have to try this someday.

  13. […] Most Beautiful Easter Eggs!Apr 18, 2011 … Here is another really cool idea I would love to try for silk-dyed eggs: http:// thewonderofchildhood.com/2011/04/most-beautiful-easter-eggs/ … […]

  14. buyecig says:

    I love your thewonderofchildhood.com

  15. […] up for making these eggs?  Apparently it’s easy.  We just need to find some […]

  16. […] With Easter here, there was no way to avoid all sorts of lovely egg inspiration. Know what I mean? […]

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