Things You'll Need:
- Emu eggs
- Cooking bowl
- Food coloring
- Vinegar
- Acrylic paint
- Craft glue
- Decorations, such as sequins or rhinestones
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Step 1
Empty the egg. Blow the yolk and white from it just as you would a chicken egg, making small holes in either end (one slightly larger than the other). Expel the insides by blowing air into the end with the small hole, holding the larger hole over a bowl to catch the egg insides as they fall from the shell.
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Step 2
Clean the egg. Rinse with cold water (to remove protein without cooking it into solidity), then rinse again with warm, soapy water. Allow the egg to fully air-dry before decorating.
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Step 3
Decide how much of the egg's original color you want to preserve. Emu eggs have a natural bluish-gray, slightly speckled pattern and sheen, which you may decide to incorporate into your design. Keep the decorating simple if you want to do this, and avoid too much coloring or carving that may obscure it.
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Step 4
Pencil-sketch your design on the egg before you decorate it. Make a light line of pencil to prepare for particularly intricate or complicated designs in order to make sure you get the shape right before you do anything irreversible to the egg.
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Step 5
Design dying effects. Color emu eggs using dark dyes (food coloring is good) diffused in a vinegar bath. Use patches of wax (to be melted away later or just apply thinly) or rubber cement (to be peeled away afterward) if you want to keep the dye from adhering to portions of the shell and preserve the natural color in specific areas.
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Step 6
Paint the egg. Use a paint that will dry waterproof, such as acrylic or enamel paint.
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Step 7
Consider carving the egg. Use a delicate, sharp, fine-tipped craft knife and a light scraping motion to avoid cracking the shell.
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Step 8
Choose items like rhinestones, glitter, or gem cabochons to glue to the egg. Use white craft glue and hold each item in place until the glue sets.
