Extremely Awesome Easter Eggs!

So I'm thinking, I bet you would like to make something super impressive to celebrate Easter, right? But you don't have a lot of time and it needs to be easy. I've got the thing for you! 

Here's what you do:

Eggs, raw (as many as you care to make)

water

vinegar (any kind will do)

rubber bands

old t-shirt (preferably white cotton)

silk neck ties (they must be silk, 100%)

enamel or glass pan for boiling (this is very important)

Begin by taking the neck ties apart. Cut off the labels and slit the seam up the back side. Remove the inner fabric and the lining fabric at both ends and discard. This doesnt have to be precise, just hack them out with scissors. Chop the silk part into lengths roughly 6-7" long.

Wrap each egg in a piece of silk. The silk must be placed with the "right" side against the egg. Wrap as tightly as possible and secure with rubber bands. Wherever you have wrinkles or folds, the pattern will be interupted; this can be a negative or possitive result depending on what you are trying to do with the design.

Cut the t-shirt up into pieces slightly larger than the neck-tie pieces. Now secure the t-shirt material around the egg. I generally do this by making a little "pony-tail" and putting a rubber band around that. The t-shirt keeps the silk tighter on the egg and also prevents the colors from bleeding from one egg to another.

Fill the pot with COLD water. Put in at least 1/2 cup vinegar or more for a very large pot. Gently place as many eggs into the pot as will fit. Place pot on the stove and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, drain and rinse in cold water. Leave eggs to cool in the sink.

Now comes the fun part! Carefully cut the rubber bands and unwrap the eggs to see your beautiful designs. I like to keep the egg cartons for storing the eggs in and also letting them dry in. Once the eggs are dry, you can rub a little bit of vegetable oil on each one to make them shiny if you like.

Voila. The hardest part is the rubber band process. I like to find the ties at Salvation Army or garage sales. You could also use silk yardage from a fabric store if you can find small prints in 100% silk.

The silk scraps can be rinsed and dried and put away for use next year. Each piece should have enough color to die 3-6 eggs before tossing.

Happy Easter everyone!