Silk-Tie Easter Eggs

I saw this technique for decorating Easter eggs last year on Martha Stewart. I loved the idea and wanted to try it, but is was too close to Easter for me to realistically get it done in time. I kept it in the back of my mind for this year. The kids and I went to the local DI thrift store and bought a bunch of silk ties. We had fun sifting through the many, many ties looking for the colors and patterns that struck our fancy and for the tags that said 100% silk (which was most of them). Friday was a day off from school, so I told the kids we could spend that day decorating the eggs. They couldn't wait. Right after breakfast they were ready to go. We spent a good half of the day blowing out eggs and boiling them wrapped in the silk remnants. Unwrapping the eggs was like opening a new surprise every time. We did, however, discover that a couple of the ties we picked out didn't transfer, despite being 100% silk. Martha's instructions say to use raw eggs, but I wanted ours to last. We used blown eggs, which worked just fine. I did have to put something heavy on top of them to keep them immersed in the water. The instructions also said to use an enamel or glass pot. However the enamel pots I found gave a warning not to use on a glass stove top, which is what I have. I used my regular pot, and it all seemed to work just fine. Martha also had instructions on how to easily blow out eggs, no mouth needed. Instead of using a craft knife, I just used a pin. It was pretty quick. I bought 5 dozen eggs for this project. We went through about half of them today. Only two casualties due to the blowing process, more as a result of the kids feeling like their new creations were toys. I realize now that if I want to have any left for decorating they have to be "my" eggs. The one's the kids make are "theirs" to do whatever they want with, or so I'm told. Eliza's eggs have almost all been broken or crushes. I was able to snag Ian's before disaster struck. I might have to secretly make more of my own while they are at school. I'm thinking of trying a couple other techniques, too.

*The license plate number on the Volkswagen that appeared on the cover of The Beatles' album 'Abbey Road' is 281F.*