With Easter just around the corner, I've decided to celebrate than by making my own decorative Easter eggs. In this blog post, I will document my step-by-step process of creating hollow painted Easter eggs.
Back when I was living in Czech Republic, I would see traditional Czech Easter eggs (or 'Kraslice') being sold at craft markets just before Easter - they were colourfully dyed and intricately decorated eggs that were at the same time so delicately light. I remember wanting to purchase one of those eggs before being discouraged by how much they were priced at. However, I now realise that it is possible to create my own painted eggs in a much more affordable way, and that they can make a lovely Easter's gift for my in-laws.
Without further ado, let's get cracking!
Materials:
A carton of eggs (keep the carton!)
A thin screwdriver
Ribbon (ideally the same as, or slightly wider than the diameter of the screwdriver's head)
Tape (ideally masking tape)
Scissors
Bowl
Acrylic paint
Paintbrushes
Steel Wire (can be a guitar string, floral wire, beading wire etc.)
Something to hang the eggs (e.g a mug tree)
Step 1: Preparing the eggs
First of all, wash the egg with soap to prevent salmonella. Stick a piece of tape on the top and bottom ends of the egg, this will help keep the eggshell together. Punch a hole on both ends of the egg with a screwdriver, then blow through one of the holes until the egg is empty (you'll know it is empty when you can hear the 'whooshing' sound). Fill the emptied eggshell with some soaped water, then shake and empty it again.
Tips: Shake the eggs before punching the holes, to make the contents of the eggs easier to blow out.
Step 2: Threading the eggs
Take a piece of steel wire and bend one end into a hook. Poke the hook end of the wire through both holes of the previously emptied eggshell. Once through, attach a piece of ribbon to the hook, and pull the hook back through the egg, taking the ribbon along with it, leaving just enough at the end to be tied into a knot. I would recommend double- or triple-tying the knot, so that it doesn't pass through the hole.
Now that the egg has been threaded, it can be hung (on a mug tree, for example) to let out any excess water from within the eggshell. Repeat Step 1 & 2 for rest of the eggs, as the next step will be batch-painting the eggs.
Step 3: Painting the eggs
Now the eggs are ready to be painted! This is the time to coat the eggs in a base colour (e.g white), or the main colour of your intended design. Depending on the acrylic paint used, more coats might be needed for the best result. In my case, I found that 2~3 coats of paint were needed to completely mask the original colour of the eggshells.
Having the eggs already threaded at this stage also helps, as I could hold onto the ends of the ribbon to avoid touching the egg. This however does lead to hand cramps after a while. Alternatively, you can paint the eggs in parts, allowing the paint to dry in-between.
Tip: Use a hairdryer to speed up the drying process.
Next, add details to the eggs with a finer brush. There are many design ideas on the internet that can serve as inspiration. In my case, I decided to use this opportunity to experiment with different styles, so each of my eggs ended up with a different style.
Behold!
Painting Easter eggs is a fun and therapeutic DIY project that's also in-eggs-pensive! With just a few materials and some creativity, I was able to create beautiful and personalised Easter decorations.
Happy Easter!
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