Buried rebar makes magic

I was gardening in my back yard and unearthed a foot-long length of rebar, rusted so heavily, where the shovel hit it, a piece of rust 1/16 of an inch thick chipped off.  I hung on to it for a few weeks trying to decide what to do.  I didn't know if I wanted to chip the rest of the rust off of it and use the bits or do something different.

In the end I decided to take a silk scarf, dunk it in vinegar, then wrap it around the rusty rebar.  As I wrapped it, the scarf twisted on itself.  I wrapped it loosely in Saran wrap to keep it from drying out, and left it in the sun.  

At the end of a week, I removed the plastic wrap, uncoiled the scarf, washed it and pressed it.  And I was delighted at the results!  I had no idea rust could do such beautiful things to a plan white silk scarf.