How to decorate a blown egg

A few weeks ago we talked about how to blow out an egg so that you can keep it as a memento or decoration. Today I want to talk about decorating blown out eggs. Easter is coming up and I'm always scrambling for new ways to decorate farm fresh eggs. They're just not as easy to color as white eggs, especially the Marans eggs and I am not buying eggs from the store for this! lol This year I'm leaving the dyes alone and instead I'm adding decorations to the eggs.

The great thing about decorating blown eggs is that they keep well for next year. Just store them the same way you'd store delicate ornaments...a little bubble wrap and they'll be fine. 

I really like this idea because I no longer have young kids that want to decorate Easter eggs each year! Plus, you can get a little fancier with more elaborate decorations since they'll be used more than once.

The art of egg decorating is practically as old as time. The oldest eggshells that were decorated were actually engraved with patterns. They date back to 60,000 years ago! Although, back then they only really only decorated emu and ostrich eggs. They're much larger and stronger than a tiny chicken egg, so it make a lot of sense.

We're working on a much smaller scale here though, so instead of carving we simply blow out the eggs and decorate them.  

It's really simple to decorate hand blown eggs and only takes a few supplies. You'll need extra long needles, ribbon or twine for hangers and whatever beads or decorations you want to add.

Decorating a blown egg

To add a ribbon or string to hang the egg with, you'll need a really long needle. I bought a set of doll needles at Walmart for under $1, but any craft store will carry a selection of needles. Choose ones that are longer than the egg, you'll want to be able to hold both ends of the needle with the egg in the middle.

Thread the needle with the ribbon. Push the needle through the egg from narrow end to wide end then make a loop. The loop needs to be long enough to hang the egg on something. Bring the needle back through the egg and cut and tie off the ends. You might need to make the holes in the egg bigger depending on what size ribbon you use.

Click on any picture to enlarge it.

You can add beads to the ribbon if you'd like. They can go on the top of the egg, the bottom of the egg or both. I like to hold it all together with a dab of hot glue at each end to keep them in place. 

I used mostly plastic or wooden beads that I had in my craft stash, but the fabric stores have some amazing glass beads (Pandora style) that I picked up relatively cheaply that look amazing on the egg!

You can also decorate these eggs before you add the hangers if you want more of a festive holiday look. I brushed modge podge on the bottom half of one egg and dipped it in glitter which turned out cute. You can also add feathers or other craft notions. If you're artistic enough (and have a steady hand, I don't) make designs on the eggs with metallic paint pens. 

Feathers are another decorative option. I decorated one of my hens eggs with a few feathers she dropped during her last molt. Feathers are best added with modge podge by painting a bit on the egg first then pressing the feather down. 

I use 2 different modge podge techniques in How to make a feather candle holder, so head on over there if you need complete instructions. 

Really, you can add whatever types of decorations you happen to have on hand. Many times when we're decorating traditional Easter eggs we have to worry about the paints or glues being toxic. Since the contents of these eggs have been removed, that's not an issue.>
Use those metallic paint pens if you want! Slather it in glue, it does not matter. I might even try modge podge and some tissue paper designs. How will you decorate your eggs?

If you decide to display your decorated eggs on a branch or tree like in these pictures, you can also make elegant single feather ornaments to hang with them! Since these only call for ribbons and beads, you can choose whatever color scheme fits the holiday you're decorating for! Pastels for Easter?

Want more ideas for using feathers and eggshells? Check out my other chicken craft tutorials.

~L

Ever wonder why we decorate eggs at Easter to begin with? Well, theres no 1 answer...but check this out from Mental Floss: 5 theories about why we dye eggs at Easter

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