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Some time back I made myself a really pretty painted chicken egg. For me, it was a spiritual item to signify change, growth and rebirth. Even without the spiritual significance, it’s a beautiful item and a project that anyone could do. I figured it was about time to teach the world how I made it.
What you’ll need: An egg (I used a jumbo chicken egg) I piece of 18 gauge wire, some aluminum foil, some acrylic paints, a can of clear spray lacquer, a small drill bit, some crap paper, a paint brush, some sand, some polymer clay, fiber-fill stuffing – (Yes, I know these are not specific amounts, I didn’t measure during creation. Sorry abut that.)
First you need to drill two holes into your egg, one on each end. You have to be super careful doing this so that you don’t break the egg. I etched a mark into each end with a needle so that the drill bit wouldn’t slip, then rotated the bit in my fingers to slowly drill the hole. I don’t recommend using a power drill or Dremel unless you have nerves of steel and very steady hands. Don’t make the holes too big.
Next you’re going to take the egg and hold it over a bowl to get the center out. Take the wire, which needs to be a few inches longer than the egg, and slip it in one hole and out the other. Now you’re going to move that wire up and down really fast. Be careful not to pull it back inside the egg and whack it around. Keep one end poking out the bottom and into the bowl. This will break up the insides and make them slide out of the egg. It is not a fast process, but it works and doesn’t require the lung power of blowing out the egg.
After you have the egg as empty as you can get it, you’ll need to wash the egg. Be very careful, and use warm water to clean the egg. I covered the top hole and ran water into the bottom hole, swished it around, then let it drain out. I did that a few times before setting it in the dish drainer to dry overnight.
The next step is filling the egg. This is a slow process. First, use a small bit of clay to plug the hole in the top of the egg. use something flat to smooth it off as much as possible. Flip the egg over and you’ll fill from the bottom. What I did was to make a bunch of really thin snakes out of some scrap clay. I slid each snake into the hole in the egg, and shook it to settle it down. After every few snakes, I used a paper funnel to get some sand into the egg and shook it to make it stick to the clay. (If you’re doing this as a magical item, the filling process is a great time to focus on your intentions for what the egg will bring you.) I kept doing this over and over until the egg was full enough to please me. I could still hear the contents moving, but not a lot. Then I plugged and smoothed the bottom hole.
After this I baked the egg. I placed it in a bed of fiber-fill stuffing on a baking pan and baked it for 15 minutes at 250 degrees. When it was done I set it out to cool for a couple of hours. If needed, you can gently sand the ends where you put the clay in, just be careful not to damage the shell. Luckily, I did mine really well and the ends were totally smooth.
After the egg is filled you’re going to want to use your brush to paint on whatever base color you want to use. I chose black for mine, but you can use whatever you like. (If this is a spiritual item, you should choose either your favorite colors, or colors that align with your intention.) To keep from messing the egg or my hands up I placed the egg in a shot glass, then painted as much of the egg as I could without touching the rim. I let that dry then flipped the egg over and did the other end. Then I did another coat, making sure that there were no seam lines in the paint. Then let that dry too.
Now we’re on to the decorative paining. What you need to do is crumple up several pieces of aluminum foil. Crumple some tightly, some loosely, and have several balls for each color you want to add on, as they will crush with use and you have to toss them. Pour small amounts of paint onto your scrap paper (I used a sheet of card stock) and dip a ball into it. Blot it a bit on the paper, then start tapping it onto the egg. You’ll have to play around with how hard to tap and how often. You can practice on the paper if you’re not sure how it will look. I used three different shades of blue on mine, two of them being metallic, to get the desired effect. You can do as you see fit. Let the egg dry between color to make sure that they don’t smudge or blur.
If you want, you can add veins and splatters to the egg. After my second layer of blue I took a fine brush and made some delicate gold veins here and there. I also used a large, soft brush to splatter tiny drops of gold all over the egg by flicking the bristles with my finger, then I did the final layer of blue.
Once you’re satisfied with the paint job, you’re going to do the gloss coat. For mine I put it in a bed of fiber fill stuffing and sprayed what I could see. after that dried I flipped it over and did the other side. I did three total overall coats to get it really shiny and add durability.
So there you have it. That’s how you can create your own magic egg. I highly recommend these if you’re doing any growth or change magic. I put mine in a small candle holder on my altar, and it has gained an amazing charge. I hold it whenever I need a boost for positive change in my life. Of course, you don’t have to be spiritual to make one of these. You could easily use this tutorial just to make decorative eggs for yourself or as gifts.
