Easter eggs {tie-dyed}

Some of our best results this year

Last Easter, Leslie and I tried dying eggs with silk ties. They turned out so well that we wanted to do it again this year! I know this post is a bit late for Easter, but better late than never.

Leslie bought ten silk ties with really cool designs. We were so excited to see how the patterns would turn out on the eggs! Most of them turned out beautifully. Some of them turned out crappy. That's part of the fun- you never know exactly how they'll look. Some eggs are disappointments and some turn out much better than expected! It's so cool to unwrap the eggs and see what happened.

Here are the eggs we dyed this year:

1. This one turned out very true to form, except the green is lighter. It's amazing how clearly the pattern transferred.

2. This one didn't have a lot of surprises either. I like that it's a traditional Easter egg pattern with zig-zags and bright pastel colors.

3. I really liked this one. The pale pink and all the swirls and designs turned out so pretty. This is one of my favorites.

4. I really liked this one, too. I'm amazed at how clearly all the colors and patterns came out!

5. Here's one that didn't turn out quite so well, but I think it may have been our fault. The intricate gold pattern transferred well, but I don't think we got enough contact with the tie on a lot of areas, so that's why it looks kind of splotchy.

6. Here's one that was a surprise. The egg on the left had a cool swirling effect. I'm not sure what we did or why it turned out that way, but it was very cool!

7. This one turned out better than expected. Green is a color that often doesn't transfer very well, but this green turned out to be very pretty.

8. Here's one that was a disappointment. I was excited about this tie because I thought it would have a cool watercolor effect, but the colors didn't transfer well and the egg came out splotchy and ugly.

9. This is another disappointment. The colors are too light and faded.

10. This pattern was probably my favorite. Even though the blues turned out really light, the pattern is incredible, and the bright spots of pink add a pop of color. I love how these two eggs turned out!

Dying eggs this way is so easy! All you need to do is cut up some old silk ties (or anything that's 100% silk), wrap the tie pattern-side-down on the egg (make sure to get as much of the tie directly in contact with the egg as possible without wrinkles), and secure with a twisty tie. Then wrap the egg/tie bundle in a piece of pillowcase cloth and hard boil all the eggs in a pot of water with 1/4 cup vinegar added for 20 minutes. Let them cool, unwrap, and discover what patterns you created!