The Art of Decorating Eggs
Famous Faberge Egg
The Art of Decorating Eggs
Decorating eggs has become a fine art. Many artists are now challenged in this new media. The simple egg has become a fragile canvas for painted, decorated, and sculptured masterpieces.
The everyday eggshell is fast becoming a new hobby or profession for artists and craftsmen.
Did you know that people have been decorating eggs for thousands of years? There are many cultures around the world that color, decorate, or scratch designs on their egg shells.
The ostrich egg was used heavily for transporting water for various tribal peoples. Each person may have marked their egg with scratches to identify their owner. These eggs may also have functioned as containers for many different items. Pictures may have been drawn on these eggs for identifying the contents or for fun.
As cultures and people evolved the egg became a part of religion. For most religions the egg represents birth of life.
The egg has and continues to serve mankind as he or she wishes.
What is the purpose of your decorated egg?
Coloring Eggs with an Egg Coloring Kit
Coloring Eggs
Most everyone is familiar with coloring egg shells. The Easter celebration welcomes the egg hunt which is a treat for children finding their treasures to fill their baskets. Contests add to the excitement of being the winner with the most eggs, the prettiest, and the unusual.
Egg coloring kits can be purchased or use onion peelings to color the eggs yellow. Simple drawings can be made with permanent liquid ink.
Crayons are the next common coloring tool. And then one advances to using water colors, acrylic paints, nail polish, and whatever crazy ideas one has for changing the common white egg shell to other vivid colors.
Sorbian Easter Eggs
Colorizing and Decorating Process
Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt to each quart of water and place a pin hole on either side of the egg. These two items will make easy peeling of the hard boiled eggs.
Colorize with either food dye or a store bought dye kit. Regardless of which you use you will need distilled vinegar to add to the dye. Prepare one container per color.The normal recipe is 1/2 cup boiling water to 1 teaspoon distilled vinegar. Add as many dye drops as you wish for the desired color.
An easy method of decorating picturesque eggs is to purchase commercial decorated film. The plastic film is placed around a dyed boiled egg then immersed into hot water. The wrap will shrink around the egg. The pictures may be simple or ornate.
Hand Painted Eggs
Natural or Man-made Egg Shells
All egg shells can be used. What do you have access to? Will your eggs come from the ostrich, turkey, chicken, duck, or another bird? Or would you prefer man-made eggs designed from Styrofoam, plastic, or wood?
Egg decorating can be kept simple or quite complex. As an artist or craftsman where will your talents and skills take you into this fragile and detailed form of art?
5 Steps to Create Your Masterpiece:
- Prepare and clean your egg forms.
- Plan and organize your design.
- Sketch the drawing directly onto the egg shell.
- Have your favorite media at your fingertips and start painting, papering, ribbon and trim decorating, fabric swatches, small ornaments, decoupage, paper mache, or carving.
- Place your finished masterpieces on egg holders, in baskets, small pottery, on cushions, or any type of holder which will compliment or enhance your creation.
Fashionable Eggshells
Eggshell Ideas and Recycling
Other decorator and recycling ideas for eggshells:
- Egg shells can be decorated for any holiday, celebration, gifts, or special occasions. There are endless ideas for decorating egg shells. It is your creativity and imagination which can give an egg shell new life.
- Marking pens, crayons, paints, nail polish, and various inks can be used for those who enjoying drawing and then filling the spaces with colored inks or paints.
- Textiles of fabric, notions, ribbons, buttons, snaps, and more can be glued to the eggshell.
- Use or make miniature lights and attach to the interior of the shell to create lit lanterns.
- If there are extra egg shell halves which are not being used, puncture a hole in the bottom of the shell and fill with soil to start your favorite seedlings.
- Damaged or broken shells can be thrown into the flower or vegetable garden as a calcium additive to the soil.
- Broken colored eggshells can be placed into an empty jar, tie the lid area with a fancy ribbon and this jar can be used for a home décor.
- Make unique jewelry.
- Use eggshells as a mosaic.
