Updated date: How to Craft Beautiful Easter Egg Ornaments You Can Keep Forever

I love crafting, especially for the holidays! Making simple crafts is a great way to spend time with your kids.

These non-traditional Easter egg ornaments can be displayed at any time of the year. Some would make great Christmas ornaments.

Eggs That Last After Easter Is Gone

Each year, after painstakingly decorating all those gorgeous eggs, it's sad to see them smashed and scattered, nothing but some shell remnants ground into the carpeting to remind you of their former grandeur. But you can keep these unique and eclectic egg ornaments around long after Easter is gone.

How to Empty out the Eggs Poking the Hole 1 / 3

You'll need to poke a small hole in each end of the egg. Try to center the hole for the best-looking results. I used a screw for this; you could use a needle or a drill, but the screw worked well. Twist it back and forth till you get the hole going, and be gentle. Once you have pierced the shell, break up the yolk to make it easier to blow out. Blow in one end of the egg until all the insides are on the outside. Once the eggs are all empty, I run some tap water through them, and then I soak them for a while in a bleach solution. After the eggs are dry, I squirt a little white glue inside one of the holes and roll the egg around to coat the inside; that will strengthen your eggshell a little. Once the eggs are empty and clean, you can decorate them in many different ways. The only limit is your own imagination. After I am through decorating, I coat the eggs with polyurethane or spray varnish to shine them up and add even more strength.

Below, I have shown how I made my silk-dyed eggs, decoupage eggs, and hand-painted eggs.

Decoupage Eggs

Decoupage Eggs

This is my first try doing decoupage eggs. One big advantage to them is that they are much less fragile than the others; they won't shatter if you drop them. All you need is some colorful pictures and white glue. I used pictures from magazines for my decoupage eggs. You can do traditional-type Easter designs like flowers and bunnies, but I chose to go more unconventional with these eggs.

I thinned the glue, about half water/half glue. If you thin it too much, it takes it longer to get tacky and stick, but it will eventually. Tear or cut the paper into small pieces and dip one piece at a time into the glue solution until it's saturated. Then just stick the pieces of paper on the eggs, overlapping them and smoothing them down with your fingers as you go. Try to get the air bubbles out and the edges to lay flat as much as possible, but avoid too much rubbing, as that will wear out the paper. Once your egg is covered, let it dry, then re-coat with more thinned glue. As you add more coats of glue, the paper edges will begin to disappear.

Silk Dyed Eggs

Silk-Dyed Eggs

You can get some interesting effects using silk to color eggs. For this technique, you must use real silk (at least, that is what I've been told; actually, I have not tried any other fabric). I got some silk ties at a thrift shop; usually, you can get them for 50 cents or a dollar, and one will make several eggs.

Cut a piece of silk that will cover the egg. Wrap the silk around the egg, right side touching the shell, then wrap the whole bundle snugly in white cloth and secure at the top with a twist tie or rubber band. You're trying to ensure that the silk is making good contact with the egg for the best transfer, but be careful; hollow eggs are more fragile than intact eggs, and if you squeeze too tightly, you may crush them. Place your little bundles in a pot of water with a little vinegar added to it. They will float, so I used a cooling rack with a colander on top of it to hold them under water. (Before I thought of this I did some without anything to hold them down, and it actually worked OK, I just rolled them around every time I thought about it.) Boil them for 20-30 minutes, and then allow them to cool before unwrapping.

How to Dye Eggs With Silk: Step-by-Step Photos Silk ties are easy to find in thrift shops. 1 / 7

Hand Painted Eggs

Hand-Painted Eggs

I used oil paints on these eggs, just because I happened to have some around. You can use any kind of paint. Drawing on them with markers is a good option, too. After I was through decorating the eggs, I gave all of them a coat of polyurethane to shine them up and make them a little less fragile.

Bamboo Skewers and Paper Beads

I put all of the eggs on bamboo skewers with beads in between to hold them apart whenever I needed to coat them with glue or poly or let them dry between coats.

All of the beads I used in this project are paper beads I made myself. They are easy to make, beautiful and practically free!

Bamboo skewers are perfect for drying eggs between coats.

Some Tips for Making the Hangers

After your eggs are all finished and dry, you are ready to put the hangers on them.

You can achieve different effects by varying the type and texture of strings you use. I used ribbon, twine, and waxed cord.

If you use stiff ribbon or waxed cord, you can poke it right through the egg from one hole to the other. For softer ribbon, I looped it though the waxed cord and used the cord to pull it through.

If you have trouble getting your hanger through the egg, you could tape it to the bamboo skewer and pull it through with that.

A bead on each side of the egg will look pretty and help cover the holes.

Displaying Your Treasures

These ornaments look nice in a window hanging from hooks in groups. You could make an Easter tree or a mobile to hang your eggs on. I'm sure you can think of lots of ways to display them.

I had fun making these beautiful Easter egg ornaments that I can keep forever. I hope you have fun with them, too.

© 2012 Sherry Hewins

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 21, 2020:

Certainly Maureen. I doubt if anyone could copy any of these exactly, but you are welcome to come as close as you can.

Maureen Rich on April 16, 2020:

These are fabulous!!!! May I copy the photo of the hanging eggs please. I'd like to try to paint in watercolour. I won't use your designs, just the set up to use as reference. Thanks for considering. Maureen dumontlass@yahoo.co.uk

Peggy Woods from Houston, Texas on January 06, 2019:

When I was a youngster we used to paint eggshells and displayed them on a branch. Reading your article brought back those memories. I really like your silk tie idea of transferring patterns to the eggshells. Pinning this to my craft board.

Deborah Minter from U.S, California on March 21, 2018:

I love egg crafts. Nice article!

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on February 01, 2015:

peachpurple - Poke a hole at both ends

peachy from Home Sweet Home on January 31, 2015:

So do i have to poke another hole at the top of the egg?

Phyllis Doyle Burns from High desert of Nevada. on April 14, 2014:

Sherry, I really like this hub. The eggs you decorated are beautiful and your instructions are easy to understand. I am so glad I found this hub, thanks to cloverleaffarm and Rebecca. Wonderful job you did on this . Thank you for this very useful hub. All votes up except funny, and shared.

Healing Herbalist from The Hamlet of Effingham on April 14, 2014:

Wonderful! I've hand painted eggs for years. I also hand paint and decoupaged them. Never blew them out though. Always just did the hard boiled thing. You can still hear the inside...lol.

Loved the tie dyed ones. Have to try that one. Thanks for the great ideas.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on March 03, 2013:

Thanks for the generous sharing Denise. Hard to believe this hub's season is almost here again. I saw a Robin in my yard yesterday, and the cherry trees are blooming in town.

Denise Handlon from North Carolina on March 02, 2013:

Sherry-these are absolutely beautiful! What a great guide for egg decorating. Congratulations on a well deserved HOTD award. Sharing. :) UP/A/B/U/I

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on February 04, 2013:

Thanks for visiting teaches12345.

Dianna Mendez on February 04, 2013:

So very beautiful! I only wish I had the time to make some of these eggs. Thanks for sharing the idea.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on November 18, 2012:

They would adapt well for Christmas. Perhaps a change in color palate would make them more Christmasy. The decoupage ones are a little more durable than the others. Thanks so much for pinning

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on November 18, 2012:

Thanks AudraLeigh. Those were really fun to make, very delicate though. I broke a few eggs making that hub. Thank you so much for pinning

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on May 25, 2012:

Thanks for commenting sadie423. I have a tradition of making Christmas ornaments with my kids, and now grandkids. Maybe I will do egg ornaments this year.

sadie423 from North Carolina on May 25, 2012:

I've been making egg ornaments for Christmas for years. I love them and my kids won first prize at the fair with theirs. Yours are beautiful! I have never tried silk dying, but would love to, they turned out really nice.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 28, 2012:

Thank you for your kind comments Maralexa, I got the idea for using the skewers from the tutorial of how to make paper beads at the bottom of my hub.

Marilyn Alexander from Vancouver, Canada on April 28, 2012:

This is a great hub! Your writing is clear, easy to follow. I love the bamboo skewers!

I will try these for Christmas too. Voted up interesting, useful, beautiful and awesome.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 19, 2012:

I'm glad you enjoyed it Melovy. I think you could make these at any time, and adapt them to any season depending on how you decorate them Have fun, and thanks for visiting!

Yvonne Spence from UK on April 19, 2012:

These are beautiful. I love the water colour effect of the silk ones. I had no idea you could do that. Decoupage sounds like a good way to start and I think my daughters would enjoy that too. We just might not wait till next Easter to try this out!

Thanks for all the useful ideas.

Rosa Marchisella from Canada on April 06, 2012:

That is correct, Sherry. Some fabrics hold dye better and the purer the silk content, the easier it will be to get the dye to boil out.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 06, 2012:

Hi I Am Rosa, So you're saying that other fabrics might work but not as well as silk? I've noticed that some pieces of silk work better than others.Thanks for the info, and the comment.

Rosa Marchisella from Canada on April 05, 2012:

Very cool and congrats on Hub of the Day! Silk is probably best for colour transfer because it doesn't keep the dye very well; it "bleeds" the colour.

We used to boil the eggs in tea to give them a nice base colour.

Voted up :-)

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

Thank you AnnaCia, it's been an exciting day for me.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

You're right RTalloni, the egg is just the canvas, it could used for any occasion, or no occasion at all. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

Oh Cerenity, thanks for commenting, yep that's you blowing out the egg, and you took the picture I used of the eggs in the bowl too. Unfortunately I dropped and broke the beautiful egg you painted, along with one of my own.

Cerenity thomas on April 05, 2012:

I helped

homesteadpatch from Michigan on April 05, 2012:

We just emptied out some eggs a few days ago to fill with candy, we just might turn some into ornaments! Great idea!

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

Thank you for commenting Joy M, I think the hand painted ones require more innate creativity, but there are always examples of patterns you can try to mimic. I had really never done decoupage before, but if you pick nice colors the designs really kind of seem to take care of themselves.

dbuddhika on April 05, 2012:

This is Really creative hub. Congratulations on Hub of the Day and Voted up!

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

Thanks urmilashukla23. I'm so excited about HOTD!

Joy M from Sumner, Washington on April 05, 2012:

I love this hub. I've done hand painted eggs before, but never thought to do decoupage or silk transfer before. Thanks for the ideas.

SJmorningsun25 on April 05, 2012:

Great Hub! This is a well-deserved Hub of the Day. Love all your beautiful egg designs! You make the traditional Paas coloring kit look so 1990. :-) Well done!

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

coffeegginmyrice, enjoy your lunch. You're right that all of these techniques could be adapted for Christmas, and make unique and personal gifts which could also be quite inexpensive.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

Thanks homesteadbound. Egg cartons come in handy a lot during this process.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

I hate to see you cut up your antique silk tirelesstraveler. Silk ties at the thrift store are super cheap.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

Thank you so much moonlake. So that was you Pinning me. I have gotten a ton of traffic from pinterest on this hub, I think crafts hubs are good candidates for it. Feel free to pin my hubs, I am not a professional photographer, and my photos are to draw people to the hubs.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

ChristinS, thank you. The decoupage eggs are my favorites, even though they are the most work.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

Stephanie, Necessity is the mother of invention, it's true. I needed some way to dry the eggs without having them stick to anything. The bamboo skewers were perfect for that. Thanks for the vote and the pin. Pinterest has been great for this hub.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

Thanks tammyswallow, I'm certainly not the first to do silk-wrapped eggs. But I'm glad I could introduce them to you. Thank you for the congrats.

Jamie Brock from Texas on April 05, 2012:

I love these beautiful ornaments! Thank you for sharing t hem and congrats on receiving hub of the day :)

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

Well, I'm no competition for Martha I'm afraid. But I just use what I have on hand. I think I saw where she uses a drill, and has some contraption for blowing them out so you don't have to use your mouth. I guess it's a good way to monetize something people can do for free.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on April 05, 2012:

pstraubie48, Thanks for the congrats. I don't really consider myself the 'craftiest.' I just keep trying.

Marites Mabugat-Simbajon from Toronto, Ontario on April 05, 2012:

I was half reading your hub awhile ago and have to leave for the kitchen. My eggs are shaking in the pot of boiling water. Now, I'm back. Oh, but it is for my lunch, not for Easter decorating, hahaha!

I love your ideas in this Easter egg craft. They can also be great for the Christmas tree or to give-away as gifts (4 in a box), with a personal touch and labour of love! Voted up! Cheers!

Cindy Murdoch from Texas on April 05, 2012:

These are very beautiful. I have not seen the silk application before so that was very intriguing. You have created a beautiful hub with lots of great information on how to create these incredible easter ornaments. A good way to store for next years use could be in the egg cartons they came out of.

Congratulations on hub of the day!

Stephanie Henkel from USA on April 05, 2012:

Congratulations on your well-deserved Hub of the Day! The eggs are beautiful and artistic. I love the idea of using silk ties to transfer colors to eggs, and drying them on bamboo skewers is something I never would have thought to do. Great hub! Voted up and pinned!

Tammy from North Carolina on April 05, 2012:

These are gorgeous! I never saw a silk wrapped eggs. Congratulations on you hub of the day. This is stunning!

Mary Hyatt from Florida on April 05, 2012:

Thanks for the great ideas, and congrats on Hub of the Day. I was watching Martha Stewart yesterday, and she used a handy tool for making a hold in the egg. Made the job easier, she says. I'm trying your ideas. I voted this UP, etc.

Paula from The Midwest, USA on April 02, 2012:

Hi Sherry, you are so right about how we take time to create eggs that are just gone then so soon after. The idea of making eggs to last much longer is a great one.

I liked the ideas you gave, and this hub came at a perfect time as I was just thinking about wanting to learn new ideas to decorate eggs for the long term. Great hub.

moonlake from America on March 29, 2012:

silk-dyed eggs is so neat. I have never seen that before and easy to do. Something I could do. Loved it. Voted up and Shared.

Sherry Hewins (author) from Sierra Foothills, CA on March 29, 2012:

Thank you bizwin. I've been working on this for a while. Taking the pictures was actually the most challenging part. That looming Easter deadline finally made me get it together.

Christabel Evans from England, UK on March 29, 2012:

These are great easter eggs decoration. I wish i've seen this some weeks back when my girl's school was doing an easter egg competition. Voted up.

Ishwaryaa Dhandapani from Chennai, India on March 29, 2012:

Wow! This is an extremely creative and economical idea in creating Easter eggs and preserving them! Your egg-creations are amazing! The step-by-step procedure in creating silk-dyed eggs are detailed and well-explained with clear pictures. Look like you had a happy and fun-filled Easter!

Thanks for SHARING. Useful, Awesome & Beautiful. Voted up and Socially Shared.

Janet Pecoraro on March 29, 2012:

This sounds fun, Sherry! When we were kids, my mom would dye eggs with onion skins, too. I want to tell my daughters and daughters-in-law about your techniques.

Happy Easter to you and your family!

Janet =)