Silk Dyed Easter Eggs

I recently learned to dye eggs using 100% silk material (ties, scarves, skirts, etc). I used some of my dads old ties. They're so fun I just had to share - here's my little tutorial:

First, if you're using ties, open them up and cut them apart so that it's just the thin silk material. Cut them into egg-sized pieces (big enough to fit all the way around the egg, but small enough where there's not too much excess material).

After rinsing off the eggs and wetting the silk pieces, wrap each egg in a piece of silk, print-side against the shell, making it as smooth as possible. Take a strip of an old white t-shirt, and wrap the egg like a mummy, securing the end with a straight pin: snug as a bug in a rug. Make sure all of the silk is covered and is as tight as possible (without cracking the egg).

Put the covered eggs in an enamel or stainless steel pot (NOT aluminum or other "reactive" metals). Cover eggs completely with water. Add at least 3 Tablespoons of white vinegar. I'm pretty sure I added at least double that (especially if you're using a big pot). Bring water to a boil, then set a timer for 30 minutes.

When your timer beeps or buzzes, take the eggs out of the water (with tongs, please, they're hot) and place carefully in a bowl. Put bowl in the fridge, and wait at least 15 minutes before unwrapping the eggs. Don't peek - you'll survive. They will probably look something like this (notice the white t-shirt is pink now because of the abundance of burgundy silk my dad had in his closet) when ready to be unwrapped:

Now's the fun part!!!

Carefully unroll the t-shirt strips:

Then peel off the silk:

And wa-la! You've got a gorgeous dyed egg in your hand!

Tips:
~ To make them shiny, rub a little oil of some sort on the eggs.
~ You can reuse the silk scraps a couple times, but they probably won't transfer quite as dark. You can also reuse the cotton strips.
~ you can use any light-colored cotton material for the outer wrapping (old sheet, pillow case, table cloth, whatever). It's basically just to keep the silk securely in place.
~ Lighter-colored silk tends to not work as well. Same with thick woven silk (the flimsier and smoother the better it seems). The one really light egg in my bowl is from a thicker silk material - it made an awesome pattern but it's REALLY faint even though the tie was mostly navy blue)

Go do it - it's fun, cheap, and impressive to your friends and family!