Easter Eggs!

Listen up all of you Easter egg dyers.  You, too, can have Easter eggs like this...assuming you want Easter eggs like this.

Meagan found this dying procedure on the internet and brought it to my attention.  Quick and easy and no mess.

Of course, I had to use brown eggs.  With all the eggs produced around here, it would be a crime for me to go and buy eggs.  So, I sorted through our vast collection of eggs and selected 18 of the lightest of the brown eggs.

Earlier today, I ran to the Goodwill store and bought several ugly old silk ties.  They must be silk, not polyester, so make sure you check the label and don't buy any that aren't marked.  When I got them home, I cut the seams out so that we could use the wide ends flattened out.

Wrap each egg tightly with the back side of the silk fabric facing out.  Tie the tops tightly with string or wire.  Twist ties were recommended, but we didn't have any, so we just used thin wire. 

Then wrap each bundle with some other fabric.  An old pillowcase cut into small squares was recommended.  I didn't have any, so I used a piece of drapery liner.

Here's one of the eggs, double wrapped.

Put them all in a pot with enough water to cover, then add 1/4 cup of vinegar.  Bring to boil on medium high heat.  When the water starts to boil, remove from heat and let set for 20 minutes.

You can unwrap them as soon as they are cool enough to handle.

I lifted ours out of the water with tongs and set them on a plate, then put them in the freezer for a few minutesto cool.

How cute are these?

I'm sure the brown of the eggs muted the colors a bit, so the results will be different with white eggs.

The dyes that transfer onto the eggs from the silk are not food grade, so do not eat these eggs after your Easter egg hunt...assuming you'd even want to after they've been unrefrigerated for several hours while being hidden and hunted several times by the kiddos.

Oh, don't eat them before your Easter egg hunt, either.  Eggshells are porous and whatever gets on the outside of the egg permeates the shell.