Lacey Eggs

So these turned out to be a slop doggin mess, but we had fun making them. The end results were beautiful too. Oh and I have tweaked the directions because we learned through trial and error (More error than trial).

Here's what you need:

Several different colors of embroidery floss

Liquid Starch

Cornstarch

Water Balloons

Toothpick

Bowl or deep pan

Newspaper

Balloon Pump (unless you are ambitious and want to blow those balloons up yourself)

 1) Lay out the newspaper on your table.

 2) Fill your bowl/pan with 2 cups of liquid starch. You may not need that much but it gives you room to push and soak the thread into.

 3) Have your child(ren) wear smoks. This gets really messy and you don't want them to go home with stiff clothes.

 4) Unwind the embroidery floss in such a manner so it will not get tangled. This was one of those trial and error things we experienced.

 5) Blow up 20 or so balloons.

 6) Roll each balloon in cornstarch. You'll thank me later as it will help the starch not stick to it. We learned the hard way and had several balloons collapse because the string stuck to the balloon and when we popped the balloon the string followed.

 7) Place a pile of the floss in the bowl of starch and let soak for about 30 seconds. Press the floss firmly into the starch as it will float and will not be fully covered otherwise.

 8) Carefully start out by holding the starting end with the rest of the string in the starch. Wrap it around the balloon going in different directions. I found working with smaller cuts of floss, maybe 2 feet or so, worked best.

 9) Once the balloon has been completely wrapped with the floss, lay it on a cookie sheet or hang it on a dry line (we did both) to dry.

 10) It takes at least 3 hours for it to dry fully.

 11) Make sure you wrap the balloons tightly.

 12). Once they are dry, use a toothpick to pop the balloon. If the balloon is stuck to the string follow the next step.

 13. Our trial part...Our string stuck to the balloon collapsing many. Considering we made 19 and five collapsed before realizing what we did wrong. Use a toothpick to slide between the string and the balloon. Be careful - the balloon will pop we found this out too).

 14) Once the string has been separated, use the toothpick to pop the balloon at the end away from the stub (the end you blew it up at). You should be able to remove the balloon from the tip sticking out.

 Enjoy the rest of the pictures.