One of our most popular holiday posts is our tutorial on dying Easter eggs with pieces of silk. It’s a unique process that creates amazingly beautiful eggs and it’s always a shame when it’s time to toss them! Many readers have asked if it was possible to use the same process on a blown-out egg so they could be kept indefinitely. The problem that arises is that hollow eggs float, so they’re difficult to boil. But thanks to one resourceful reader, we’ve solved that problem. So today I thought I’d do a little tutorial about how to make blown eggs and then create charming little ornaments from them- including silk-dyed ones!
Supplies Needed
This is just a preview of supplies and method; keep scrolling for full printable instructions.
- Raw eggs – If you’re going to save the inside of the egg for cooking, then make sure to wash the outside of your egg and make sure that all of the tools you are using are clean and sanitized.
- Bowl of warm water – Warming the eggs for a few minutes makes the insides more loose, making them easier to remove.
- Infant bulb syringe – You know, the bulb shaped “baby snot sucker.” This is to force air into the egg and create pressure that blows the insides out the other end. You could also try a medical syringe. Personally I think the bulb syringe works better.
- Push pin – This is used to poke holes in each one of your eggs.
- Very small drill bit – I used this to widen the holes poked in the eggs after creating them with the pin.
- Paper clip – This is used to scramble the insides, making them easier to blow out.
- Decorating supplies – As needed. Sharpies, egg dyes, acrylic paints or paint pens, supplies for silk-dyed eggs, ribbons and an extra long crafting needle to thread them), beads, etc.
How to Make Blown Egg Ornaments
Step 1: Blow Out Your Eggs
- Place your eggs in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes before starting.
- Hold an egg firmly (you know, as firmly as you can hold an egg) and use your pin to gently pierce a hole in one end. It helps to gently twist the pin back and forth first to sort of screw it in before you actually push it through. Repeat on the other end of the egg.
- Once you have a teeny tiny pin hole, it helps to have a teeny tiny drill bit (seriously, the smallest one in the set). Gently “drill” through your pin hole to enlarge it.
- Now grab that paper clip and unfold it. Stick the paper clip inside the egg and swirl it all over the place. The object here is to scramble that yolk up which will help it all come out easily.
- Now grab that bulb syringe and place it directly over one of the holes and squeeze over a bowl. The egg will come right out the other end. If you meet any resistance, don’t keep blowing air or your egg might explode. Give it a shake, or stick the paper clip in again, or increase the size of your hole.
- Once everything is blown out, you might want to fill your syringe with warm water and blow it into the egg. Shake it up and then blow it out to get the inside clean.
Step 2: Decorate
- Once you’ve got your hollowed out egg you can do all sorts of crafty things with it. To make an ornament, thread ribbon, string, or twine through the holes. Using a extra long crafting needle really helps. If you need to enlarge your holes to fit the ribbon, use your pin to gently pick away at it. Just tie a knot at the bottom end and a loop at the top end.
- To make Silk Dyed eggs,follow the instructions in this tutorial. When it comes to the step where you boil the eggs in the pot, use a strainer turned upside-down to keep the eggs under the water. OR, if you can fill your eggs with water it will weigh them down as well. After they come out they will be filled with boiling water. Make sure to let them cool first, and then blow out the water. After they’re dry, thread ribbons through so you can display them!
- If you want to dye your eggs with normal colored dye, then dye uncooked eggs before you blow them out. Try adding beads to your string. It not only looks pretty, but it covers up messy holes! I love plain, solid color eggs- and they look really pretty with colored beads. These would be really cute with monograms drawn on- or cut out of vinyl.
- I’ve always wanted to learn Ukrainian egg painting, aka: Pysanka, but apparently I have too many hobbies already. So I settled for a Sharpie. Turns out all of those years of mindless doodling in school was actually useful. Way more useful than algebra at least.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I store these ornaments?
I recommend packing them lightly in tissue paper inside a larger, sturdy box.
How to Make Blown Egg Ornaments
This method empties the inside of your eggs so you can decorate and then store for years to come!
Equipment
- Bowl of warm water – Warming the eggs for a few minutes makes the insides more loose, making them easier to remove.
- Infant bulb syringe – You know, the bulb shaped “baby snot sucker.” This is to force air into the egg and create pressure that blows the insides out the other end. You could also try a medical syringe. Personally I think the bulb syringe works better.
- Push pin – This is used to poke holes in each one of your eggs.
- Very small drill bit – I used this to widen the holes poked in the eggs after creating them with the pin.
- Paper clip – This is used to scramble the insides, making them easier to blow out.
- Decorating supplies – As needed. Sharpies, egg dyes, acrylic paints or paint pens, supplies for silk-dyed eggs, ribbons and an extra long crafting needle to thread them), beads, etc.
Ingredients
- Raw eggs If you’re going to save the inside of the egg for cooking then make sure to wash the outside of your egg and make sure that all of the tools you are using are clean and sanitized.
Instructions
- Place your eggs in a bowl of warm water for about 10 minutes before starting.
- Hold an egg firmly (you know, as firmly as you can hold an egg) and use your pin to gently pierce a hole in one end. It helps to gently twist the pin back and forth first to sort of screw it in before you actually push it through. Repeat on the other end of the egg.
- Once you have a teeny tiny pin hole, it helps to have a teeny tiny drill bit (seriously, the smallest one in the set). Gently “drill” through your pin hole to enlarge it.
- Now grab that paper clip and unfold it. Stick the paper clip inside the egg and swirl it all over the place. The object here is to scramble that yolk up which will help it all come out easily.
- Now grab that bulb syringe and place it directly over one of the holes and squeeze over a bowl. The egg will come right out the other end. If you meet any resistance, don’t keep blowing air or your egg might explode. Give it a shake, or stick the paper clip in again, or increase the size of your hole.
- Once everything is blown out, you might want to fill your syringe with warm water and blow it into the egg. Shake it up and then blow it out to get the inside clean.
- Allow eggs to dry and decorate as desired. To add ribbon, use an extra long crafting needle to thread it through the holes in the eggs. Add beads to help cover the holes in the egg.
Notes
Decorating Notes
- If you want to dye these eggs in a traditional manner, I recommend dyeing them before blowing them out.
- Click here for instructions on Silk-Dyed Eggs. Use a strainer (with a small pot on top of needed) to hold the blown eggs under the water while boiling.
Did You Make This Recipe?Snap a picture, and hashtag it #ourbestbites. We love to see your creations on our Instagram @ourbestbites!
Questions & Reviews
I just watched a YouTube video that demonstrated dying eggs with silk scarves and muslin but the eggs were inedible which in my opinion is a waste. I googled to find out if the egg could be blown out and then died with silk and found your blog. Since eggs can be frozen, I would opt to save the eggs to cook at a later date and die the empty shells. I did this many years ago and covered the egg in super fine almost dust like holographic glitter for a Christmas ornament.
Btw, the blue bulbous snot sucker thingy was called an aspirator when I had my baby almost 40 years ago but doesn’t it kind of remind you of a miniature turkey baster? 😄🤣😄
Anyway, thanks for showing an empty eggshell can be silk dyed because it really does look cool although I don’t understand why there has to be a cotton outer fabric. Have a blessed day and an upcoming Happy Easter! 🐣
Hi ima! If you try it with blown eggs, let me know how it goes! And I think the purpose of the outer fabric is maybe to help keep the silk tight to the eggshell and sort of trap the color in??
I have a crafting guru kind of neighbor who swears that if the eggs are blown out (my preference) they will not last because the eggs will crumble inside the tie… What can you do to prevent this from happening? My husband recently passed away and I thought this method would be a great way to use something in his memory to have around the house…. He has a ton of silk ties from his work life that none of our SIL or grandkids wanted/needed.
I think you’d just have to be super gentle. Maybe try just one as a test?? I’m so sorry to hear about your husband, what a neat way to honor his memory. Let me know if you try it with blown eggs!
Can you use a white cotton T shirt instead of a sheet?
Sure 🙂
I do Pysanky with blown eggs- single-hole blown using a little bellows thing I picked up in Germany called a “Blas fix” (It appears there are better ones on Amazon that I may have to buy!) After blowing the eggs, then rinsing and draining them,, I put a small square of paper towel in the cups of the egg carton and put the eggs, hole-side-down onto the towel squares to finish draining overnight. You could also place the egg carton near a heat vent or radiator to hasten the drying. I then use the wax in a large-bore Kistka to seal the hole. To submerge the egg for dying, I use a glue bottle and wedge it into the Mason jar my color baths are in to keep the eggs under. It’s a good idea to let the eggs drain over a paper towel square in the egg carton in case the wax didnt fully seal the hole!. Otherwise, you may have dye on your hands when you draw more lines with the melted wax heating the egg up ever so slightly! Learn from my experience! Lol!!
I’m waiting for my silk dyed eggs to finish simmering and just read your instructions on blowing eggs. Wow!!! That’s slicker than snot, really. I’ve only done it the old fashioned way, just pucker up and blow, once was enough. Now I will try all the nifty little egg projects that want blown out eggs.