How to Blow Out Eggs and Decorate Them Using Acrylic Paint

Painted Egg

Egg decorating is a unique and beautiful hobby that, with a little time, practice and effort, can even become a way to make a living. A lot of people know how to blow out eggs but not many take the time to do it neatly so the eggs are ready to decorate. This article will show you how to make two neatly drilled holes in each egg, blow out the contents and paint a decoration on the egg.

Things You'll Need

• A raw egg, whatever size you desire
• A hand-held drill with a small bit
• A bowl
• A long, sharp needle
• Pencil and stencils (optional)
• Acrylic paints
• Egg carton/cup
• Clear spray coating

Instructions

1. Get a small, hand-held drill with a tiny bit in it. This is what will drill the holes, one at either end of the egg. Try to get the holes squarely on the rounded tips of the egg if at all possible. Drilling is very painstaking work and requires a steady hand and the patience of Job. You should always choose an egg that has a reasonably tough shell, otherwise, if the shell is too thin, your drill will most likely crack it instead of making a neat hole. Goose eggs are terrific for drilling because the shells are very hard, but when you get to the blowing stage, you will have a difficult time of it. Duck and chicken eggs are good as well. Tiny bantam chicken eggs are not so useful because the drill is likely to slip right off the shell, which can cause injury.

2. Find a bowl to catch the egg drippings. Take a sharp needle and poke it up inside the egg through the hole in the bottom. Do this several times as it will puncture the tough inner membranes and assist you in blowing out the drippings. Now you can do the actual blowing in one of two ways. You can put your mouth over the top hole and blow as hard as you can or you can use a tiny straw and do the same thing. Either way, you will need considerable lung power. Keep using the needle to help break up the sticky egg white and yolk. Chicken eggs blow out the easiest, followed by duck; goose eggs are the hardest of them all to blow out.

3. Rinse the egg throughout with water to remove any excess egg material from the interior; let the egg air dry and drain.

4. Decorate the egg. Feel artistically challenged? Don't worry. The secret is to always keep it simple. Draw a simple tree, or a simple flower or a butterfly. The more simplistic the design the cuter it will be. It does not have to look perfect in order to be artistic, in fact, art is such an eclectic thing, with so many different points of view, that pretty much anything you draw on your egg can qualify as art. Just make a pretty design on the egg if nothing else occurs to you. You can also use a stencil placed over the egg to create your picture. Simply hold the stencil in place, and draw the design through it.

5. Paint the egg. Make sure you keep your paint moist by not leaving the cap off too long. In fact, it's a good idea to replace the cap after each color is used. Make sure you paint your background first, a light layer only, so that your pencil markings still show through the color. Set it upright in an egg carton or egg cup to dry, making sure you don't get fingerprints all over the wet paint. A thin layer should dry very quickly and then you simply choose your fresh color, making sure to use a clean brush for each new color. Keep a little pot or glass of water handy to rinse your brushes in. Allow the paint to dry by resting it in the egg cup again.

6. Seal the egg with a clear spray-on coating. I usually use plain, ordinary clear spray paint, but any number of things could be used, including varnish or clear nail polish. Just make sure you are painting in a well ventilated area if you decide to use nail polish as the odor is quite strong and can be very toxic. Set the egg up for about 24 hours to dry. In very humid weather it could take longer, depending on the medium used to set the paint. You should now have a high-gloss finish to your painted egg. If you have a plastic egg cup, use it as the egg's base and decorate it by gluing small beads to it. Glue the egg to the inside of the cup using an industrial strength glue. Let dry overnight.

Tips & Warnings

• Make scrambled eggs with what you catch in the bowl, especially if you are planning to blow out a lot of eggs all at once.

• Don't be afraid to experiment with blown-out eggs. If you break one, try another. They are fragile and break very easily.

• Try using colorful stickers on the eggs as well as paint. If the stickers are small enough they will lie flat against the curved surface.

• Be extremely careful with the hand-held drill. This is small work on a rounded surface so it is very easy to slip with the tool and injure yourself. Try using the lowest speed setting.

Resources

• Find examples of painted eggs.