Happy Easter!
Happy Easter to all my celebratory Christian readers, and to all those who just enjoy the holiday as well!
One year when my son was little, I spent the week prior to Easter blowing out eggs and dying them. Now that he’s grown and away, the eggs are packed away in boxes and stored in parts unknown. If I could get my hands on them I’d photograph them for you, because even all these years later they are beautiful, with dyes both subtle and unsubtle, interesting etched patterns and rainbow effects—definitely one of my finest crafts hours (to tell the truth, I didn’t have so many fine crafts hours, although there was also a gingerbread house we made that was stored in the attic and alas, eaten by small creatures–and not human ones, at that.)
Blown-out eggs are well worth the trouble, and why? Because they last. And nothing eats them. You only have to make them once, and you’re all set. They are a bit fragile, but not so very.
So here’s my Easter present to you (not that you couldn’t find it yourself): the instructions for blowing eggs:
First, you’ll need to make a tiny pin hole on each end of the egg. A pin works well, or a wooden kitchen skewer or even the tip of a sharp knife. Gently work the tip of the pin/skewer/knife in a circular motion until a tiny hole appears. Repeat on the other side. Then insert the pin or skewer (the knife will be too big here) far enough into the egg to break the yolk. Use your mouth [blow] to expel the contents of the egg.
And here is a more complex–but perhaps better–way, for those obsessive-compulsives among us.
These aren’t mine, but they’ll have to do as substitute:
[NOTE: This is a repost from Easters past. But it still works for me.]
A lovely memory. I hope that someday you will also be able to retrieve the eggs themselves.
Happy Easter,
Jim
Happy Easter to you, Neo!
Happy Easter, Neo.
Happy Easter!
Happy Easter, Neo.
Do you do this before or after you boil the egg?
Okay, seriously, I’ve seen these things at craft fairs that my wife drags me off to every now and then and have wondered how you deal with the residual egg left inside. Do you have to do anything else, or will the residue just conveniently degrade without any smell? Also, did you paint the egg before you blew them out?
I know, I can look all this up somewhere, but it’s more fun to comment.
daniel: the residual egg just dries up inside and really there’s very little of it anyway. You color the eggs after they have been blown.
We made eggs like this when I was a kid, but I doubt any of them have survived (too many moves).
This post reminded me of a childhood friend’s mother who made jello Easter eggs by draining the egg contents as you described and then refilling the rinsed egg shells with different colored jello. We always had such fun cracking open the eggs to get to the jello inside at Easter dinner (never underestimate how interesting something like this is to little kids). I wish I could find a picture of this online.
Wow, I *love* the idea of jello Easter eggs! Will try that next year.
Neo, what were your favorite methods for dye-ing the eggs? I’ve done marble-ized eggs, used onion skins (very subtle….) and just letting the eggs sit in coffee for a few hours. Those look wooden. But I’d love to hear what you used, especially to get bright colors and patterns.