How to: (Austrian) Easter Egg Blowing
I love blown eggs as they have something wonderfully delicate about them! Quite pretty I think!
I also love this craft, as it is incredibly thrifty: you still get to use the eggs! So it is virtually FREE! Only costs to you are a ribbon, a pin and some paint!
Materials: One egg, one pin (a thumb tack is actually much easier on your fingers), one ribbon/ string/ thread (for hanging), paint, skewer for painting & drying (optional)
I used acryclics – they are strong bold colours. You can use food dies and die your egg by – mixing 10-20 drops of food die with 1/2 cup of water and a tablespoon of white vinegar. Submerge egg with help of a spoon and leave for 20-40min. I found the results so so. Definitely worth experimenting with!
How to blow an Easter Egg:
1) Prick holes on either end of your eggs with a pin – I usually make the holes around 4-6 pin pricks big. You can make them smaller, but the blowing is much harder! If you get the pin prick holds big enough the blowing really isn’t too hard – can almost do it one breath!
The image shows a pin, but a THUMB TACK is much better and easier
2) If your needle reaches try and prick the yolk – this will make things easier, but don’t worry if you can’t! Huana in the comments suggested using a toothpick – great idea – piercing the yolk REALLY helps and will stop you “passing out”!
3) Hold the egg steady in both hands and blow through the top hole. This is no easy task, you may want to make your hole a little bigger. But it is possible! Out 12 eggs, I have only broken one… and that is because I got impatient and hurried it.
4) Give it a wiggle with your pin if it helps!
5) Once, everything is out, I like to rinse some water through the egg.
6) Let the egg dry
NOTE: we make the holes “bigger” now – which means my kids (10 and 8) can manage the blowing! They LOVE doing it themselves and I think this is a real memory maker for them!
Painting & hanging
I found it very useful to “skewer” the egg with a thin wooden kebab stick – this makes painting and drying much easier! Alternatively, you can hang it first, but I still find that a little messy!
1) Paint a base colour – match your decor. Darker colours provide a nice contrast to the final design, lighter colours look fabulous for spring!
And this is the result using Yellow (yes, yellow, it turned red) and Blue (?) food die! The blue really didn’t work well – key thing is to juts “pat your eggs” dry and not rest them on the paper towel for too long!
2) Paint your little flowers: they are so easy: one dot in the middle, 5-6 dots around it. Space evenly – but don’t worry too much about exact spacing – they will look nice however you do them. Let dry
3) Once dry: tie some thread/ ribbon to the pin. When it is hanging the pin and the string will form an upside down T in your egg, which is what holds it in place.
Make sure the hole in the egg is big enough to fit the knot through. If not, just gently make it a little bigger with the pin. Push the pin and knot through. The pin should then straighten out to from a T with the string and hold it in place. (the Images show that I added the string first.. Believe me, it is better at the end!)
4) Hang. Finish. Admire.
Make more:
I find these quite addictive. And since giving them a go again a week ago or so, I can’t help but blow out every egg I need for cooking. They make FABULOUS little Easter gifts too!