Eggsquisite, Egssortic Eggshell Craft

If you are into the egssortic but can’t afford to eggshell out big bucks, then you've come to the right place as I will be showing you eggsactly how to make the most eggsquisite Faberge eggs you never thought you could make…

It will take some patience and practice but before you know it, you will become quite the eggspert! And with a little egging on from some folks around, you might just be ready to hold an eggsibition of your own! 

Many, many years ago, as part of a science lab, we were required to cut a window into the shell of a newly fertilized hen’s egg to observe the developing embryo. We even grafted a heart from one embryo onto a less developed one and could see the heart continuing to beat for at least a day. Now I’ve always been this very confused person who could not decide whether I was more in love with science or with the visual arts… So, like a mother, who agonizes over that infernal question of which child is her favorite... even today, if you were to ask me whether I preferred science or visual arts, my answer would be “Yes”

No sooner had we done this lab when the cogs in my brain began turning and I said to myself, ‘if we can cut square windows into a chicken’s egg, why can’t I cut any other shape, into any other egg?’ I could not get my hands on a hen’s egg fast enough to try this out... But we had white turkeys - that we had hatched at home, and collectively, they laid quite a number of eggs! Interestingly, the very first 'other' shaped window that I cut into an eggshell, was a heart! Perhaps in part because the image of that beating heart stayed with me for a very long time and also because these turkeys’ eggs were somewhat conical, which lent themselves really well to accepting a heart-shaped window! Soon I was cutting all sorts of other shapes including crosses.

Not long after that, I began eggsperimenting with different types of eggs like duck and goose eggs, discovering that duck eggs, with their tougher membrane, are not only less fragile than hen’s eggs but have a much more uniform texture with a slight sheen that makes the final product look like porcelain. Goose eggs are much larger and thicker. I did not find their texture any nicer than that of (white) turkey or duck eggs, which I found to be the best. 

Whole Raw Egg:

You can use any kind of poultry egg. Here’s the lowdown on the various shell types that I have worked with: 

1. Hen eggs: Most easily available, often uneven/bumpy surface
2. Double-yolked hen eggs: Longer than a standard hen’s egg (I was able to do some cool stuff with those.) 
3. Turkey eggs: Slightly thicker with a smoother surface than a hen’s egg. Typically speckled. They are also somewhat conical, so lend themselves nicely to teardrop and heart-shaped windows.
4. Duck eggs: My favorite since their shells are porcelain-like. Also, the membrane on the inside is tougher, which not only affords the shell much better protection while it is being cut but might just save the finished product from curious hands - both little and big... Ask me how I know!! 
5. Goose eggs: Larger, even thicker shell, more symmetrically oval, harder to find.

For Marking the Egg:  

A) For slicing in half (or close to half): 2 mm wide, flat rubber band of perfectly even width and pencil 

B) For symmetrically shaped windows: Thin paper, pencil, scissors, and water 

For Cutting the Egg: 

1) PATIENCE: A hefty supply!!!

2) Cutting Implements. Here's a bit about the blades I’ve used for cutting egg shells. 

When I first started, I was using my mother’s kitchen knives which got dull pretty fast and probably did not make her too happy... but she was eggstremely encouraging of all my crazy pursuits and never really complained. I also used my dad’s razor blades, which made for some stubborn stubble when he later tried to shave with them! You might want to choose your cutting implement based on the type of project:

A) Rough Work: While Serrated Kitchen knives, Hacksaws, and Scroll/Jigsaw blades (yes, I actually use these) make relatively quick work of cutting the shells, they are best used on projects where a) the eggs are essentially being sliced in two - be it equal or unequal pieces and/or b) the cut edge will be covered up with embroidery floss, metallic cord, or some other decoration 

B) Fine Work: Heart-shaped windows, crosses, and such are best done with a Razor blade, Utility cutter, or Eggsacto knife as these produce a much cleaner edge, albeit taking more than double the time to cut. This is especially so if the edge will not be covered with some sort of decoration

Note: Use a NEW razor blade to slice through the membrane and dedicate it for this purpose ONLY. Do not attempt to slice through the membrane with a blade that has already been used on the shell as it will tear the membrane rather than neatly slice through it. 

For Cleaning the Egg:

1) Toothpaste and an old toothbrush for removing stains from the shell - preferably before cutting 

2) For soaking the shell after cutting, to get rid of the ‘eggy’ smell and to protect it from critters 

3) OxiClean, Pine-sol, orange oil, bleach, or white vinegar will work equally well

For Decorating the Egg:  

1) Acrylic spray paint

2) Spray varnish - clear or gloss

3) Magazine and catalog pictures of flowers or whatever takes your fancy

4) Scissors - preferably curved like those used for embroidery

5) Painting supplies: Acrylics, brushes, etc

6) Colored pencils that can be moistened and used like paints

7) Felt-tipped markers and gel pens

8) Discarded/broken junk jewelry, trinkets, knick-knacks, etc.

9) Embroidery floss in various colors; 1mm Metallic cord

10) Glues

 i. Slow-drying, flexible, water-based liquid glue that can be diluted and brushed on (like Elmer’s) and 

 ii. Quick-drying glue (cyanoacrylates work best)

For joining the two halves of the shell or re-attaching the window:

1) Jewel box hinges - if you can find them… and

2) Metal cutter to cut the jewel box hinges in half

OR

3) Embroidery floss; 1mm Metallic cord and

4) Cyanoacrylate glue

NOTE: If you are wondering why I listed the decorating materials before those for joining/attaching the eggs halves/windows respectively, it is for the following reason. You will find it much easier to decorate the window, top half, or both halves (if you so choose) ‘before’ reconnecting them because the window or halves can be set down on a flat surface and worked on independently of each other. You might choose to spray paint only the window or have it a different color from the main egg. This would be a lot more difficult once it has been attached.

The same goes for painting or decoupage. However, if you find it easier to work on the assembled egg, then do whatever works for you.

1) Wash the shell and take off any stains using toothpaste and an old toothbrush

2) Mark your pattern to be cut. Depending on whether you want to merely slice the shell in two or create a window, you will go about this slightly differently:

A) To mark for slicing the egg in two - typically along its length - you will use the ‘rubber band’ method. For this, you find its best ‘face’ by turning the egg around and inspecting it (not all eggs are perfectly symmetrical). Then place the rubber band on the egg with one edge defining the ‘seam’ along which you would like to cut the egg. Run your thumb-nail along the edge of the rubber band to gently nudge it into place until what represents the cutting line looks straight and smooth. When you are satisfied with the way it looks, trace a line along this edge with a pencil

B) To mark for cutting a window (assuming you prefer symmetrical shapes) do the following:

i. Draw your desired shape freehand on paper, making it slightly larger than your window would be

ii. Cut out the shape.

iii. Fold this cut out in half and trim off any sections where the edges do not line up. You will now have a perfectly symmetrical template. Open it up and see whether you like the shape and size. If not, you can make another pass just to smoothen out the shape and adjust the size.

iv. Unfold your shape and dip it in water to make it pliable. 5

v. Drape it over the eggshell at the location where you would like to make your window and trace the outline with your pencil

NOTE: The egg must be cut Whole and Raw so do NOT blow out the contents, rather cut an intact egg. I believe it helps absorb any mechanical shock associated with the cutting process. And don’t boil the egg either, because you will NEVER be able to get the contents out through a window! Though, now that I think about it, if you are merely cutting it in half, boiling might just work. But even though it would definitely make the cutting process easier and the contents could actually be removed, one would need to be extremely careful not to break the shell while cleaning out the contents. It would probably be necessary to remove the entire membrane, which could be pretty tricky… I’ve obviously never done it that way so if anyone tries it and is successful, please let us know!

1) Grip the egg in your non-dominant hand, just firmly enough to keep it steady while being cut but not with so much pressure that you crack it! 

2) Start sawing in one spot. This initial part is the most tedious because until you ‘find your groove’ - and the one that has finally formed on the shell - the blade tends to keep slipping and sliding all over the place. You have to really concentrate to stay on your pattern. Have patience, you’ll get there - eventually! As soon as the blade stops trying to get derailed, you will find it much easier to progress along the pattern - which is what you need to do. 

3) Do not cut all the way through the shell in any one spot. Instead, keep moving along your pattern sawing lightly as you go.

4) Keep sawing until you have sawn all the way - through the shell ONLY - along your entire outline. You might have to make several passes to get here.   

5) Stop sawing when you can barely see the membrane all along the pattern. At this point, you use a very sharp blade to slice through the membrane. This should be a new blade or one that is saved for this purpose alone.

NOTE: If you attempt to cut the membrane too early, the contents of the egg will start oozing out and not only make the rest of the sawing process really messy but almost impossible without resulting in disaster. The first problem related to the mess is obvious - it becomes very difficult to grip the egg as it wants to slide around in your hand. But more importantly, once a little of the white is out, the rest of it kinda tries to escape and that creates some pressure at that very small opening. This could lead to the shell cracking or breaking open. Translation - ruined project!

And here's the important part - you do not have to discard the contents of the egg... just do what you normally would, cook and eat it! The only difference here is the time it takes you to access what's edible!

Soak the cut egg shells in strong detergent or cleaner for at least an hour - the longer the better. It will keep critters from destroying your handiwork, especially if you live in the tropics! Washing them with soap and water like I used to do initially, was not enough and I lost a couple of my creations to house lizards whose keen sense of smell attracted them to the shells! Yeah, those old adobe homes in Goa/India have very high roofs that are not sealed because they serve as natural ventilation. But they can also let in some unwelcome guests…

This is up to your imagination... You can:

Paint with acrylics, or draw with markers and gel pens

Use colored pencils moistened with water to create what looks like a watercolor painting

Apply decoupage - alone or combined with paint

Decorate with rhinestones, Swarovski crystals, and/or old trinkets.

Create leaves and flowers with embroidery floss and glue them on

Fashion words, names, or symbols out of embroidery floss or metallic cord and apply them to the shell

Combine any of these methods. I often combine acrylic paint with decoupage, where this thick paint helps blend/hide the cut edges

Do whatever takes your fancy!

Here are a few eggsamples of what you can do with eggs

Two of the eggs that I have included here were decorated with recycled materials - one with decoupage using pictures from some catalog that landed up in my mailbox and the other with a heart that was once a piece of junk jewelry from my youth...

Some of the eggshell halves or windows are joined together using jewel box hinges that I cut in half, while I attached most of the others with either braided/twisted embroidery floss or metallic cord. Here is how you do this (for the sake of simplicity, I will refer to the material we are using as braid):

      1) Starting with one half-shell, place one end of the braid at the approximate midpoint along one of the shell’s long edges and glue it down. 

      2) Continue gluing down the braid, working your way around the shell until you reach back to where you had started

      3) Keep gluing the braid down beside/onto the first layer creating an overlap of about 2mm

      4) Now, pick up the other half of the shell, line up the edges of the two shells and hold them in position.       

      5) Gently nudge the braid over to the midpoint of this second half-shell and start gluing it down along its edge, while making sure to hide the original (starting) end of the braid 

     6) Continue gluing the braid onto the edge of the second half, following a figure of eight path between the two half shells

     7) When you reach back to the midpoint of the second half-shell, snip the braid, apply some glue and tuck the end under

Don't panic if you accidentally get glue on the outer edge of the braid (between the two eggshell halves) resulting in a window that is permanently sealed! It can be easily fixed by gingerly running a razor blade between the two half-shells once the glue is dry.

[The egg shown here was a casualty of curious little hands that sadly, were able to reach the egg while being carried by a parent! :( In this case, the metallic cord was purely decorative and the heart window was attached with a jewel box hinge that had been cut in half.]

 With all the corny egg jokes on here, I might just have to egg you on to vote!😅😜