I have been collecting decorated eggs on my travels abroad for some years, but I recently decided to try decorating my own. It is so much fun, and the only limit is your imagination.
Best of all, during this coronavirus crisis, you are very likely to have most of the materials you need already without needing to leave your home.
Materials
- Eggs (please only buy organic or genuinely free-range eggs)
- Pin/needle
- Small nail
- Couple of bowls
- Eggcups (handy to hold eggs while you work)
- White vinegar (optional - to whiten a brown egg)
- Wash-up liquid (dish soap) and warm water
Anything you want to use to decorate e.g.
- Markers or paint
- Fabric scraps (preferred), patterned napkins, old magazines/newspapers - plus scissors to cut them and glue (e.g. PVA) to stick them
- Stickers
- Ribbon/string
- Glue (e.g. hot glue/super glue)
- Hairdryer (to speed up drying times for glue and paint)
- Optional: a vase of twigs to display your decorated eggs.
PIN THIS!
Blowing Out the Egg
Firstly, we need to empty the egg so that it will keep for longer. Start by using the pin to make a hole in the top of the egg.
It will take quite a bit of force to puncture the egg, so don't be afraid to press hard with the pin - just be careful not to squeeze the egg between your fingers. Use only the tip of the pin to apply pressure.
Turn the egg upside-down and make another pin-hole in the bottom.
Next, we need to widen the hole using a small nail (you can also use the pin to pick at the edges of the hole to widen it.)
Turn the egg upside-down, using a finger to plug the hole that is now on the bottom (to stop the contents of the shell leaking out). Use the nail again to widen the second hole.
Now comes the fun part - blowing out the egg! Holding the egg over an empty bowl, blow in through one hole and allow the contents of the egg to run out of the other hole.
If you're finding it too difficult to blow out the egg, you may need to widen the holes.
Because we want to keep the shell for a long time, we need to wash out any remaining contents. Place the empty shell into a bowl of warm, soapy water.
The shell will float, so you will need to hold it under the surface to ensure that some of the soapy water gets inside. Using your thumb and a finger to trap the soapy water inside, lift it out, and shake the eggshell so as to sloosh the soapy water around inside. Then drain/blow the water out of the shell.
The egg is now ready to decorate. Strong colours, such as red, dark blue, or green, can easily be painted onto a brown egg. However, if you prefer a paler colour, it is a good idea to whiten the egg first.
Whitening the Egg
Place the empty shell(s) in a saucepan containing a mixture of half white vinegar and half cold water. The empty eggshell will float, so you will need to place something on top of it to submerge it. Bring to the boil, cooking it for 10 minutes total. The vinegar dissolves the calcium on the outer layer of the egg, revealing the white underneath. Don't cook it for too long because the more calcium that is dissolved, the thinner and more fragile the eggshell becomes. Skim any scum (the dissolved calcium) off the surface of the liquid as it boils as the scum makes the liquid tend to boil over.
Be careful removing the shell from the pot, as some of the hot liquid will have gotten inside the shell and will spill out. Rinse the egg in cold water. If it still has some residue on the shell, you can scrub it gently with a kitchen sponge.
If the egg is still not entirely white, you can return it to the pot of vinegar-water and boil it for another couple of minutes.
Allow the shell to dry completely. If using a hairdryer, hold on firmly to the eggshell so that it does not blow away!
Here are two eggs from the same carton, one of which was boiled in vinegar to whiten it.
Decorating the Egg
You can use anything you like to decorate your eggs. I find that permanent markers (like Sharpie brand) and acrylic paints work very well. You can use PVA glue to decoupage napkins or other paper products onto the shell, although I prefer working with fabric because it won't tear when wet.
If painting an egg, hold it at the top and bottom and paint a strip all the way around the centre. You can use a hairdryer to dry it quickly. Then hold the egg at the centre, where it was already painted, and finish painting the top and bottom of the egg. This helps to avoid getting fingerprints in the wet paint.
For this egg, I cut a little bunny motif out of a scrap of fabric. Oval shapes fit best onto the shape of the eggshell.
I used PVA glue to stick the fabric to the shell, smoothing the fabric onto the surface by rubbing from the centre outwards. A hairdryer speeds up the drying process.
I added an extra detail by using hot glue and braid to trim around the cut edge of the fabric.
I did the exact same on the opposite side of the egg, so that both sides of it were decorated.
I wanted to hang my decorated egg from my little easter tree, so I added a bow on top. I made the bow by tying it around the neck of a bottle of wine!
Then I glued the bow onto the top of the egg.
A vase of twigs makes the perfect "tree" to display your decorated eggs.
If you do happen to break a shell, don't discard it - I put my thumb through this one, so I made a little nest out of it and it turned out to be one of my favourites!
Save the empty egg carton to store your decorated eggs. They will last for years and will make a lovely addition to your easter celebrations.
As always, if you decide to try this project, do please tag me on social media because I love to see your creativity at work.
Happy easter everyone!
