Silk Dyed Eggs

It's so exciting when you get that very first egg from your chickens. Especially when you've tended to the chicks in their brooder, worried about them on their first night in a coop, and fed them copious amounts of treats. You're so proud of that first egg that it's almost like you laid it yourself. I felt like dipping our first one in gold and keeping it forever. Of course, I didn't, and instead saved it and the next three to make an Egg Custard Pie . . . a very worthy (and delicious) end for them.

I did save the first few eggs from my Serama hen (and the Marans' pretty chocolate eggs, too). I blew them out, painted them, and made them into Christmas ornaments that we could hang on our tree for as long as they last. Not only were they pretty on the tree, but they also made great gifts for others.

But all of that painting was time consuming, and since I'm accident-prone, very messy, too. So, for this year's ornaments I decided to try something new: Silk Dying. Basically, you take a scrap of printed silk material (very important that it's 100% silk) and wrap it around a blown out egg. Then, you boil it and the design is transferred to the egg. 

In order to avoid raiding the closets here (and hearing complaints ;) ), I purchased silk ties from the local Christian Mission thrift store, instead. But anything could work (blouses, scarves, etc), as long as it's 100% silk. 

What you need:

Blown out eggs

Patterned silk fabric

Scraps of light colored fabric

Scissors

Something to tie around the fabric (twine, string, twisty ties, etc)

A pot to boil them in

Water

1/4 c vinegar

Colander

1) First, you have to essentially tear apart the tie. Using your scissors, cut through the seams on the back of the tie and remove all of the lining until you're left with just the silk. 

2) Next, you cut off a section of the tie that is large enough to cover an entire egg. Wrap that around the egg, making sure that the patterned side is against the egg. Now, tie it with a piece of string (or a twisty tie, twine, etc) 

3) Then cut off a section of light colored fabric that's large enough to cover the silk-wrapped egg. I used a light gray tank top of mine that Remy had torn (He may be a big boy now, but he still occasionally thinks his mama's clothes are toys lol.). Wrap that around the silk-wrapped egg and secure it with string. 

4) Place the wrapped eggs into a pot and cover them with water. Then, add a 1/4 cup of vinegar and bring it to a boil. After about 20 minutes, remove the eggs to a colander so they can cool down. When they've cooled enough that you can handle the eggs, remove the fabric. 

Optional 5th step:

After I unwrapped my eggs and they had completely cooled down and were no longer wet, I sprayed them with a couple coats of Mod Podge.

For now, they're sitting in a little rooster basket by the back door, but I'm going to do a few more and turn them into ornaments a little closer to Christmas. 

I love the almost watercolor, swirly way that the patterns on the eggs look.