On Eggshells

See these eggs?

I've had them for over a year.  Gross, right?  Nope.  They're blown-out eggs -- eggshells.

I've flipped the eggs over in the picture above so you can see the holes.

These lightweight eggs are full of potential for Easter decorating.  Most basically, you can dye them just like regular boiled eggs.  Here are a dozen I did, using a marbleizing technique I discuss below:

So how does one blow out an egg?  A lot of people use the two-hole method, where you poke a hole in each end of the egg and force the contents out with your mouth or with a bulb-like contraption. 

I prefer the one-hole method, because who wants two holes in your egg when you could just have one?

I use this little tool, which is made specifically for one-hole egg-blowing:

You poke a hole in the egg with the little green drill, and then you carefully force air into the hole with the yellow hand pump.  The air creates pressure inside the egg, which forces the contents out the same hole.  You can buy the egg blower here for $8.95.

After rinsing and drying your eggs, you can get to work on your masterpieces.

I learned how to get that lovely marble effect from the crafting diva herself, Martha Stewart.  See her tutorial here.      

[Photo from MarthaStewart.com.]

Basically you dye the egg all over with a "base coat," and then give it a quick roll in a bowl that has oil mixed in with the dye.  The oil prevents the dye from sticking in parts, giving you a nice mottled appearance. 

I made these brown beauties using regular brown chicken eggs and layering on a darker layer of brown dye using the marbleizing technique.

Of course, one of the nice things about blown-out eggs is that they're super lightweight.  You can easily hang them on Easter trees.  Just try doing that with a regular hard-boiled egg! 

Those little metal caps on the eggs are called findings.  I hot-glued them over the holes on the eggs and tied gold embroidery floss on for hanging.  You can buy findings at this site (24 findings for under $4.00).  They even have findings sized for goose eggs.  God bless the Internet!

I don't have an Easter tree this year; the 17-month-old would find it too irresistible, and I don't have a good place to keep it out of his reach. 

But a bowl of these on an up-out-of-the way table is a nice, understated Easter decoration.  And the best part?  I don't have to worry about them spoiling, and I can enjoy them again next year.

Happy Easter decorating!