Tie-Die

Tonight, Sarah and I tie-died Easter eggs.  With real ties!  It was a lot more fun than those stupid tablets you put in vinegar, and it was a lot less mess, too.  Here's how it worked...

First, we got some ties from the thrift store (and Grandpa Jeff's closet!).  That was the tricky part.  This will only work with 100% real silk ties, so I had to try to find labels on all the ties!  Eventually, we gathered this collection:

Then, I cut the ties apart while Sarah helped.  And by helped, I mean clung to my legs and whined.  (It's a new stage she's trying out.)  Then, Sarah supervised while I wrapped the eggs in the ties (front/printed side against the tie) and then tied white fabric around the whole thing.

She was very interested in what I was doing, so I wrapped up one of her plastic Easter eggs for her to play with.

In the meantime, I took my little fabric/egg bundles and put them in a big pot.  Then I covered them with water (at least 2 inches above the top of the egg!) and added 1/4 cup white vinegar.  Then I brought the water to a boil and simmered the eggs for 20 minutes.  Hope that was enough to hard boil them AND get the dye to transfer onto the eggs!

While the eggs were boiling, we had a surprise visit from the early Easter bunny - our friends the Eastlands!  They dropped off a flower pot full of our dessert for the evening.  After Adam and Margo convinced me that it was "okay" to feed a baby dirt, Sarah got to try a few bites.  YUM!

Sarah wants MORE!!!

Luckily, the eggs were done just about the time that Sarah started really getting upset about saving dessert for...well...dessert!  I pulled them out of the water and let them cool on some paper towels.

We took a walk around the block and when we got back, it was reveal time! 

I really wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm so thrilled with the way these turned out!  This might have to become an Easter tradition at our house!!!

 Another tradition?  Daddy invited the boys over for drinks and cigars on the deck tonight.  After Mommy got the fire going for him, it seemed pretty cozy!  (And yes, that is a fire on a wood deck...Tom was never a Boy Scout!)