Decorating Easter Eggs

Egg designs have never been so elegant!

From The Make-It-Yourself Gift Book

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Getting Started

There are many ways to paint and decorate eggs, so you can please everybody with these seasonal gifts. Follow our step-by-step instructions for a fun family project you can do together.

What You Need
Eggs
Eggcup or carton
Dye or artist's acrylic paints and gesso
White glue
Clear polyurethane gloss varnish
Small paintbrushes (for painting, gluing and varnishing)
Tweezers

Blown Eggs
Needles
Medium and large straw
Small bowl
White vinegar
Warm water

Red Glitter Egg
Red paint
Red glitter
8-inch gold braid or ribbon (about 1/2-inch wide)

Découpage-Style Egg
Pale pink paint
Small pictures from wrapping paper
Fine, curved nail scissors

Beaded Egg
Small colored beads and sequins
Paint in a color to suit decorations

Icing Flower Egg
Pink paint
Small icing flowers and leaves (from a cake decorating supplier)

Stenciled Egg
Small flowers, leaves or grasses, or fabric cutouts
Dye
Bowl for dye solution
Egg white
Linseed oil or varnish
Stocking
Strong thread
Rubber gloves

Preparing the Eggs
If you intend to spend a great deal of time creating a design and you want it to last, it is best to use blown eggs (eggs from which the yolks and whites have been removed). Blown eggs will keep indefinitely, if they are completely clean and dry on the inside.

1. Use an egg at room temperature and shake it vigorously so the yolk becomes detached.

2. With a darning needle, make a hole at each end of the egg. Carefully enlarge the hole at the blunt end by breaking off tiny pieces of shell with the point of the needle until the hole is big enough to insert the blunt end of a wooden skewer.

3. Insert the needle through the larger hole and move it about to break up the yolk further. Lean over a bowl and place your lips firmly over the smaller hole. Blow the contents of the egg through the larger hole -- once they start to move they will flow easily.

4. Mix a solution of 1 cup warm water and 1 teaspoon vinegar in a bowl. Immerse the egg until the shell contains 1 to 2 tablespoons of the liquid. Hold your finger and thumb over the holes and shake the egg to wash the inside thoroughly. Then gently blow the solution out of the large hole.

5. With the blunt end facing down, place the egg shell in an eggcup or carton to drain. Do not start decorating the egg shell until the inside of the egg is completely dry.